Stereotypes, Prejudice, and Discrimination
Learning Outcomes
- Explain the difference between stereotypes, prejudice, discrimination, and racism
- Describe white privilege
The terms stereotype, prejudice, discrimination, and racism are often used interchangeably in everyday conversation. Let us explore the differences between these concepts. Stereotypes are oversimplified generalizations about groups of people. Stereotypes can be based on race, ethnicity, age, gender, sexual orientation—almost any characteristic. They may be positive (usually about one’s own group, such as when women suggest they are less likely to complain about physical pain) but are often negative (usually toward other groups, such as when members of a dominant racial group suggest that a subordinate racial group is stupid or lazy). In either case, the stereotype is a sweeping overview that doesn’t take individual differences into account. Where do stereotypes come from? In fact new stereotypes are rarely created, but are instead recycled from earlier applications to subordinate groups that have since assimilated into society. They are then reused to describe newly subordinate groups. For example, many stereotypes that are currently used to characterize Black people were used earlier in American history to characterize Irish and Eastern European immigrants.
Watch It
Watch this video to learn about racism, prejudice, and discrimination in the United States. We’ll learn about each of these terms in more detail in the reading that follows.
Prejudice and Racism
Prejudice refers to the beliefs, thoughts, feelings, and attitudes someone holds about a group. A prejudice is not based on experience. Instead, it is a prejudgment, originating outside actual experience.
While prejudice is not necessarily specific to race, racism is a stronger type of prejudice used to justify the belief that one racial category is somehow superior or inferior to others. It is also a set of practices used by a racial majority to disadvantage a racial minority. The Ku Klux Klan is an example of a racist organization. Its members’ belief in white supremacy has encouraged over a century of hate crime and hate speech.
Other types of racism are much more difficult to perceive. Institutional racism refers to the way in which racism is embedded in the fabric of society. For example, the disproportionate number of Black men arrested, charged, and convicted of crimes may reflect racial profiling, a form of institutional racism in which the practice of law enforcement in determining whether to stop and detain someone is based on race alone. Color-blind racism refers to “contemporary racial inequality as the outcome of nonracial dynamics” (Bonilla-Silva, 2003), which is generally professed as, “I don’t see race–I see everyone as equal.” The vast majority of Americans (some sociologists suggest up to three-quarters) profess to be “color blind,” which sociologists see as deeply problematic because it fails to recognize