Stereotyping Case

Stereotyping is having a certain perception about people who are different because of race, religion, cultural beliefs, personal characteristics, preferences, or life circumstances. It causes harm to everyone. A study led by Professor Michael Inzlicht showed that "prejudice and stereotyping have lingering effects" ( Kemick, A., 2010).

Stereotyping causes us to label or prejudge someone before actually meeting or getting to know them. It comes from fear and ignorance. All of us have encountered it at one point in our lives. Whether it comes from being labeled worthless and lazy because we are overweight, or perverted, mentally ill, or destined to die from aids because we are gay. The list goes on and on. Unfortunately the more we try to convince the racist or bigot their beliefs are wrong, not matter what logic we try to use to convince them, the more they defend them ( Ditto, P. Ph.D.,).

The first stereotype I have encountered in my life I heard from my mother's father, who was a terrible racist. He was someone who I always tried to avoid because of his negative comments about people because of their race. He would always say that black people were lazy bums that lived on welfare all their lives. They were murders, thieves, and trouble makers. The argument that I would use for this is the fallacy of hasty generalization. "The fallacy of hasty generalization is committed when one has inadequate support for the conclusion, but one still jumps to a conclusion" (Mosser, K,. 2011, Sect. 4.2). The generalization is that all black people are lazy and live on welfare. They are all thieves, murders, and trouble makers. Not all black people are lazy and live on welfare. They are not all thieves, murders, and trouble makers.

There are many black people who have made history. People like Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, President Obama, and many others that have made a huge contribution to society. So the stereotype that all black people are lazy bums living on welfare or thieves, murders or trouble makers is not only wrong, but totally ridiculous.

The second stereotype that I have encountered is the following stereotype involving politics. I overhead two older gentlemen discussing who would be the best choice for president, a Republican or a Democrat. One of the gentlemen said that all Republicans are wealthy snobs and only protect the rich people. Therefore a Republican would not make a good president. The argument I would use for this would be the Ad Hominem Fallacy. The ad hominem fallacy is where " the conclusion is to be accepted or rejected because of the person involved, rather than the actual argument, or reasons supporting the conclusion" (Mosser, K., 2011, sect. 4.2).

This fallacy occurs because the statement that all Republicans are rich may or may not be true, and even if that were true they would not necessarily treat poor people differently than they treat people with money, or that they would not make a good president.

The third stereotype that I have encountered is when I was 14 years old a gay man moved into the house across the street from where we lived any some of the neighbors were outraged. Some of them