Racial and Racist Stereotypes in Media
Racial and Racist Stereotypes in Media Not all stereotyping is bad. Stereotyping arises out of the need to generalize in order to make sense out of a very complicated environment. It allows people to easily categorize new things into comfortable spaces already defined by their experiences. This process was described in 1922 by Walter Lippmann, who first coined the term "stereotyping." Lipmann wrote, "the attempt to see all things freshly and in detail, rather than as types and generalities, is exhausting, and ... practically out of the question." Societies construct hierarchies of value and power so that some races are perceived to be more dominant and others are subordinate. We sort people into different races based on genetic traits: skin color, hair color and texture, and facial features. What these different racial categories mean to us is a product of social collaboration. We are conditioned to believe that people are defined by race and so we draw boundaries...