Stereotypes & Labels
2012 Presidential Candidates Slinging Mud With Bigoted & Racist Comments
Why is being a social and fiscal conservative synonymous with being a racist and a bigot?
Archie Bunker was the archetype. He was the easily recognizable fiscally conservative blue-collar worker with a limited education and unlimited racist views. In the arena of sitcoms, this stereotype played for laughs. But in real life, it’s no laughing matter.
Holiday Celebrations Often Include Family Related Stressors
You know how it goes if you’ve seen the movie “Christmas Vacation.” Clark Griswold and family are having enough problems buying a Christmas tree and putting up lights. Then, the in-laws show up and increase the stress tenfold.
That 1989 holiday movie favorite is intended to be a comedy. But many a truth is told in jest it’s been said. Visiting In-laws can sometimes add stress to the holidays for many families and it’s not always a laughing matter.
The 2012 Presidential Election, Race Relations, And A Recovering Economy
With the election of President Barack Obama, there are many of us who would like to believe that race and interracial issues are no longer a major problem in this country. But if we just look around us, we would witness incidents almost on a daily basis that whisper or scream to us that bigotry, prejudice, and racism are not just alive and well, but thriving.
In Today’s Economy Are Boomerang Kids Returning Home To Help?
As Americans settled into neighborhoods after World War II, the nuclear family, consisting of a father, mother, and pre-adult kids, developed into the ideal model. The Pew Research Center finds that multigenerational homes declined, determining that cultural norms shifted after World War II. In 1940 multigenerational homes accounted for 25 percent of households. In 1980, households identified as multigenerational was at 12 percent. Gone was the multi-generational household. Gone were all family members working together to provide the highest standard of living.
What Is The Mentality Behind Our Desire To Hold Onto Stereotypes?
There are plenty of e-mail items and jokes circulating through the Internet that remind us of our most common racial stereotypes. Not that many of us forget.
Stereotypes are memes in which we consciously or subconsciously transfer our beliefs about others to others until they become popular assumptions. And the assumptions stick — no matter how many times we see evidence to the contrary.
Thanks to the Internet, thoughts and ideas become memes faster. However, many of us long hold on to beliefs about not only other races, but also other sexes and even professions.
Nobel Peace Prize Winners Transcend Race, Culture And Ethnicity
“We the women of Liberia will no more allow ourselves to be raped, abused, misused, maimed, and killed!” If these words are an indication of the ferocity with which Leymah Gbowee fights for human rights, it is little wonder she was awarded this year’s Nobel Peace Prize. She and compatriot/co-recipient, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, though differing in their approach, remain united in their opposition to those who prey on women and girls.
Communities Overcoming Apathy And Fear To Improve Race Relations
Despite the daily barrage of racist incidents, the continual practice of institutional and social racism and discrimination, there are communities that not only care enough, but are also committed enough to confront racism head-on. They are to be commended.
Perhaps, if the major media would shine the light on the good news about race relations as often as they do about the bad news, we might advance into finding some meaningful solutions.
Despite The Election Of A Black Man As President, America Is Not A Post-Racial Society
A group of white Mississippi teens caught on video beating a black man before killing him by running over him with a pickup truck. This sounds more like a headline from the 1960s when racial incidents such as these were commonplace, rather than from today‘s newspapers.
It’s ironic that this recent racial incident fairly coincides with the movie release of “The Help.” The movie, based on book by Kathryn Stockett, chronicles the plight of black maids, “the help,” who weathered racial abuse and discrimination in 1960s Jackson, Mississippi.
Race Relations In Los Angeles: Did The 1991 Beating Of Rodney King Create Change?
March 3, 2011 was the 20-year anniversary of the highly publicized Rodney King beating on a Los Angeles freeway. Ironically, King was again arrested on July 12, 2011 on the same charge of driving under the influence. However, this time he was not beaten, but merely charged with a traffic offense. Does this more equitable treatment of Rodney King indicate a different environment and thought pattern about race relations in the City of Angels? It depends on who you ask.
Boomerang Kids: College Grads Moving In With Parents Due To High Unemployment
The proverbial post-child rearing empty nest is statistically likely to return to its previous, crowded nest state because of a growing population of boomerang kids. The term “boomerang kids” refers to adults – mostly those in their 20s and 30s – who return to their parents’ home.
