Preconceived Stereotypes Of A Particular Culture

Can’t we all Just Get Along

Ames, Armbruster, Benitez, Bielski, and Borghese

For countless generations, we as humans have inhabited this world. As a species we have made numerous scientific, cultural, and technological advances. As a species we have made it our goal to not only understand the world around us, but to also understand that which is within us. Some take this task seriously, and others pay little attention. Although as a species we truly have mad some fantastic advances, we have also experienced our fair share of shortcomings. We have spent the better part of our existence fighting, feuding, or going to war over a variety of different reasons. One of those reasons is culture. This paper aims to identify some of the preconceived stereotypes of a particular culture, in this case the Irish, and look in depth as to the source of those stereotypes and into reality of them.

Our individual cultures play a tremendously important role in all of our lives. To some extent, it can be said that our culture defines how we exist. The unfortunate part truth about culture is that there are some that are far less tolerant of others. This stems from a plethora of reasons. Sometimes cultures view each differently due to socio-economic differences, while others see skin color and pass judgment. In either case, preconceived notions and stereotypes exist in nearly every race and culture.

The Irish culture proved to an extremely interesting case study in culture and stereotypes. Not only are the Irish victims of stereotyping across the world, but they also discriminate against their own (North Ireland vs. South Ireland conflict). As a team we all discovered that much like any other stereotypes, the stereotypes about the Irish have their ori...

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... many great traditions, many of which have bled over into American culture, such as St. Patrick’s Day.

After learning all of this about the Irish culture, how do we go about eliminating stereotypes of it? After 200 plus years of existence, the USA still has a pretty large problem with discrimination. We are a country comprised almost entirely of immigrants, yet we perpetuate these stereotypes and create tension among different cultures. Like any culture, the responsibility to change these stereotypes lies in the Irish and Irish American’s collective hands. As an old colleague of mine used to say, perception is everything. In order to change these preconceptions, the Irish must be more vocal about defending themselves against them, much in the way Latino and African American’s have fought against stereotypes against them. The squeaky wheel gets the grease, after all.