How Stereotypes Affect Black People

 

    How Do Stereotypes Affect Black People? 

                                                       By Samir Ramessar    

Stereotypes are harmful presumptions made by society, often stemming from racial rhetoric and exaggeration.They have an effect on those subjected to them. Today, we will be discussing how stereotypes affect black people. Black people are greatly affected by stereotypes.I will be using evidence from The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore and personal experiences.

  

In the book, The other Wes Moore by Maryland Governor Wes Moore. There are several 

instances in the book where stereotypes affect the characters who are black. In chapter 1, pages 

19-22, Wes Moore discusses the unfortunate death of his father. His father’s death was due to the

negligence of the hospital. Wes’s father was dealing with acute epiglottis (swelling of the

epiglottis,causing the passageways to lungs to close); however, doctors disregarded his

symptoms and claimed that he needed rest. To ease his pain, they anesthetized his throat.But this

made matters worse, he could no longer feel his throat closing. He was sent back home without

proper treatment and later collapsed just mere hours after being released from the hospital. Wes’s

(the author) father was pronounced dead at the hospital. His father’s death, which was

completely preventable, was caused by him being stereotyped by the hospital. As the author,

(Wes Moore), says in his book, “My father had entered the hospital seeking help. But his face

was unshaven, his clothes disheveled, his name unfamiliar, his address not in an affluent area.

The hospital looked at him askance, insulted him with ridiculous questions, and basically told

him to fend for himself.” The hospital staff looked at Wes’s fathers appearance, and assumed that

he was not worth helping. They even tried to claim that he might have been exaggerating his

symptoms. Hospitals have an unfortunate history of not giving African American patients proper

treatment,often dismissing patients due to their skin color or making the stereotypical

presumption of black people having a “higher pain tolerance”. 

 

Another instance of stereotypes affecting black people in Wes Moore’s book, is the way characters act due to stereotypes that were imposed on the black community. Throughout the book, we see Wes Moore(the author) struggle to fit in with his friends as well as the kids at his school. Wes lives in a lower-income neighborhood in the Bronx and goes to Riverdale, a predominately white private school. Most of Wes’s friends attended public schools in the area. As seen on page 59, Wes faces ridicule from his neighborhood friends for attending a private school. They make subtle jabs at him and question his toughness. Because of this, Wes decided to tell an exaggerated story of how he got suspended from school. He goes on to unconvincingly tell his friends how he slammed a boy on the ground for disrespecting him. While in reality, Wes had gotten suspended for accidentally hurting another kid while playing around. Wes had falsified the part of the boy disrespecting him, in an attempt to seem more tough to his friends. This ties into the stereotype of how black males are aggressive and dominant. Because Wes feels as though he needs to appeal to this stereotype in order to fit in, we see him go above and beyond to display his “toughness”.   While stereotypes have greatly impacted the characters in this book, I’ve had my fair share of personal experiences, whether it has been getting profiled at stores or receiving weird stares in public. These events and the stereotypes tied into them, have greatly affected me. It’s made me question my safety, as I’m often automatically perceived as a threat by many. Every time I step outside, I’m wary of what's to come; one misunderstanding or presumption can negatively affect

me. 

In all, black people are greatly affected by stereotypes. These stereotypes not only affect how they are treated but also alter how they may act and view themselves. As seen in The Other Wes Moore, these stereotypes severely affected the lives of the author and those around him. From his father’s premature death  to his chosen form of self-expression, many of the events in the book are tied to societal stereotypes and the way African Americans are perceived. These perceptions have done more harm than good for black people. 

Changing the Narrative for Black Men through Higher Education | Carl Patterson | TEDxUCO