I teach at community college. The entire sociology dept. Is like this. I take every opportunity to ridicule them when I’m on campus - they typically will form gross generalizations based on skin color rather than on individual decisions and choices. This is disrespectful, ignorant and unfair, since many “whites” fought and died in the civil war, & also helped with the underground railroad. Many “blacks” in Africa were violently involved in & profited from the slave trade ( and continue these horrific practices in many regions today). So let’s quit with the unfair and divisive generalizations, and treat each person as a unique individual with a unique history and unique pattern of conduct.
Collectivists are lazy - they would rather form racist generalizations based on skin color than treat each person as a unique individual with a specific past worth hearing about and evaluating.
Collectivists are lazy - they would rather form racist generalizations based on skin color than treat each person as a unique individual with a specific past worth hearing about and evaluating.
Amen to that. That is what bothers me so much about this stupid exercise...it smacks of Mao’s reeducation camps in which people were coerced into “confessing” their crimes against the State. And the underlying message is that if it weren’t for white people and the unfair “system” (ie evil corporations) everybody would be happy and equal. Idiotic, coercive and lazy.
To me, generalizations based on some external factor, or some imputed belief or behavior, are the very personification of bias and racism.
I do an in-class exercise in which I first ask my students whether they harbor any prejudice or negativity toward individuals or groups. Their answer in uniformly “No.” I then read a list to them and ask them to gauge their reactions to each item. Entries include conservatives, Republicans, Christians, and Rush Limbaugh. I don’t require them to report, or explain, their feelings—Just to honestly recognize them. It’s fun to watch the squirming when they realize they indeed are prejudiced.