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Anuva Fellner

Dr. Mitchell

UWRT 1104

09 November 2017

Do we really know the world around us?

Staring at strangers has always been a part of our culture, but we all can agree that theres

a specific person that sometimes seems to get on our bad side because of their appearance. Have

you ever stopped and wondered, What exactly irks me about this particular person? Is it their

skin color? The outfit theyre wearing? Or is it the unfamiliar language that they are using?

Whatever it may be, it has been engrained into our brain that someone who looks different or

unfamiliar should be avoided. After all, havent our mothers always told us to stay away from

strangers? Our society is brought up on the idea that everyone seen as different is dangerous; the

best solution to avoid any conflict is to ignore them and not care to treat them as humans, rather

as a threat to our well-being. Racial ignorance has become a major problem in todays society. Commented [FA1]: Different verbs

The common man is not aware of issues happening worldwide with other groups, mostly

because our 21st century society does not encourage us to learn about others. There are different Commented [FA2]: More specific society

reasons for why people are not exposed to the diversity of the world, but the most prevalent issue Commented [FA3]: More formal verb to describe

is that popular organizations or groups spread false impressions of other groups through rumors

or jokingly. Racial ignorance can lead to violence, intolerance, and an ignorant society, which

hinders our ability to grow collectively.

Third-world countries are depicted as violent, impoverished, uneducated, and in

desperate need of help from media and ads from charity organizations. Images of Africa:

Challenging Native Stereotypes in Media and Society by Omega Bula goes into the effects
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stereotypes of people living in and from Africa have on those who have moved to Canada and in

other countries. Those living in or from Africa are seen as violent, disease-ridden, poverty-

stricken, homogenous, and underdeveloped which is depicted from western media or ads.

Western society claims to be the most advanced and diverse community, when in reality the Commented [FA4]: Transition to prove

western society is only concerned with themselves and the western savior complex. False

impressions about outside groups are engrained in our society and ways of teaching, leading to

the ongoing ignorance that our society faces. Ever wonder how stereotypes came to be? Theyre

not a proven statistic about a certain group, theyve all been created by society. We let the media Commented [FA5]: Adding more examples

or popular brands tell us what is right or wrong about groups, we dont necessarily form our own

opinions anymore. If we were to open up to learning about the world, we would learn that, for

example, Africa was filled with natural beauty and cultural richness, economic creativity, and

were indigenously aware, as stated by Bula throughout her article. Because the information given

to us is either untrue, biased, or exaggerated, we never know what exactly is true or made up.

A study conducted by Susan Fiske and her colleagues are analyzed and relayed in a paper

titled Global Poverty, Aid Advertisements, and Cognition: Do Media Images of the Developing

World Lead to Positive or Negative Responses in Viewers by Sharyn Kennedy and Stephen Hill

to show how certain groups feel towards different groups based on the basis of their beliefs,

social position, or information given to them about the unknown group. Fiske came to the

conclusion that there are two basic ideas that determine how one addresses a group based on

stereotypes- a warmth dimension and a competence dimension. They argue that the dimensions

are determined in the social relationships.

The warmth dimension provides a measure of the competitive threat of the target

group with groups perceived as warm being viewed as less of a threat than groups
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perceived as low in warmth. Competence on the other hand, derives from the status of the

target with low competence implying lower status. Thus, in a social setting warmth

provides an indication of an outgroup members intent towards oneself (as hostile or

friendly) whereas competence provides an indication of their ability to enact that intent

(capable or incapable). (pg. 58) Commented [FA6]: New quote

Basically, the idea of warmth dimension is that a certain group acts cordially or hostile with

another group based on their intention. The idea of competence dimension is that a certain group

would act a certain way based on how they feel the other group is capable of reacting or

understanding their reasoning. Using the ideas of warmth and competence dimensions, the study Commented [FA7]: Explaining the block quote

that was conducted chose the poor and the wealthy as the two groups being analyzed. The

hypothesis was that there was going to be a distinguishable difference in the stereotype rebounds

that took place due to the warmth and competence dimensions. The 35 participants were

instructed to write an unbiased essay on the two groups in order to see if any prejudice or

stereotypes would come out unconsciously. The results actually went against what they

predicted, showing that even though there were different patterns of social distancing, the

wealthy were more stereotyped than the poor. They feel that the difference was that the

participants felt sympathetic towards the poor and didnt want to attack them for their hard lives,

and instead blamed the rich for problems because it doesnt hurt the rich as much it does the

poor. Also, since it was dealing with the rich and poor in Africa, more poor are showed to the

western culture and the rich are not seen as very common because they arent covered in the

media. Therefore, this study shows how false interpretations of other societies and a lack of Commented [FA8]: Transition to prove

knowledge of the rich (since its based on the behaviors of the rich in America) are prevalent.
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Popular name brands or organizations have an enormous impact on how we behave,

think, and act. Ads have a major impact on how we feel about certain situations, and many issues

have been degraded to be made fun of, causing a lack of care or sincerity for the issue or people

affected. According to lead blog site Cosmopolitan, many name brands have made racist ads to

sell a product without taking into account the impact it can have on the diverse community. Commented [FA9]: Relating to audience

Organizations such as Pepsi, Nike, Sony, Intel, Dunkin Donuts, Pop Chips, and Burger King

have all used some sort of racial or gender stereotype to promote a product. If our society allows

these jokes to pass and not be addressed, we arent actually growing as a whole. In an article

titled Discriminating? Yes. Discriminatory? No. by Felicia R. Lee from The New York Times,

an analogy comparing pit bulls to discrimination opens up the article. Some dog lovers are aware

of canine racism being a cause for people not caring or liking pit bulls as much as other dogs.

This is a prime example for how society generalizes a group of people to avoid based on looks or

behavior. Some states like New Jersey have prohibited police from using racial profiling, and the

White House tried to okay the use of racial profiling only for terrorist or for national security.

This source suggests the claim that one doesnt know whether generalizations are based on actual

evidence or from the media and what our society portrays as being right or wrong. A source

named Mr. Schauer expressed his opinion towards discrimination and feels that its not always a

bad thing to categorize people. He claims that it is part of human nature to discriminate- jobs do

it to find the best employee, the government does it to determine a suitable age for a certain right,

etc. He argues that, for example, using race to determine the suspect of a crime is very different

from police stopping and interrogating a certain racial group on the highway.

The issue with the above statement is that within our society, discrimination and

ignorance is now seen as okay and not frowned upon. Many dont know the difference between
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an insult and an observation. Political powers such as President Trump encourage a lack of

knowledge so everyone is seen as a common man, which is defined as, the undistinguished

commoner lacking class or rank distinction or special attributes according to Merriam-Webster.

According to The Death of Expertise by Tom Nichols, some of these [Trump] voters not only

didnt care that Trump is ignorant and wrong, they likely were unable to recognize his ignorance

or errors thanks to their own lack of knowledge. If everyone is thriving to be seen as a

common man, with no distinctions or special attributes, then the question arises as to why are

stereotypes still used to distinguish groups or seclude human beings from what is considered an

open, welcoming and developing society?

The article, Foreign Wars and Domestic Prejudice: How Media Exposure to the Israeli-

Palestinian Conflict Predicts Ethnic Stereotyping by Jewish and Arab American Adolescents by

L. Rowell Heusmann analyzes the impact media has on the way westerners perceive outside

groups, focusing on Israeli-Palestine relationships. When trying to pin-point the root causes of

ignorance, he claims that it comes down to our cognitive behavior which is influenced by our

parents, friends, peers, and environment around us. Media coverage of detrimental events leads

to our perception about the outside world being altered, leading us to want to stray away from

those types of conditions and only focus on the prospering part of the United States. Media

depicts criminals in movies as certain racial groups, which leads to the wrong perception of

groups and encourages violence in general. Media also encourages different social groups to

empathize with or ignore other groups based on false accusations towards a group. Heusmann

focuses on how in-group bias is a major component in how we behave to other groups. Since our Commented [FA10]: Citing sources

society is based around one finding where one belongs, the idea of belonging with certain groups

and ignoring or not appreciating others is praised. A study conducted by David Perry and
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analyzed in The Mass Media and Audience Generalization about Groups of Foreign Countries

proves that media in fact is manipulative and gives false conceptions of other countries. The

experiment showed that people rely on media or other sources to make judgments on foreign Commented [FA11]: Citing source

countries so they are able to use a general statement to sum up an entire group or regions

characteristics, rather than taking the time to learn about the country or group and realize that the

comments made in media are stereotypical and dont apply to every group.

In conclusion, our society has moved further from acceptance and more towards Commented [FA12]: Transition to emphasize

ignorance. Racial ignorance prohibits our society from learning and changing. Theres more to

the world that meets the eye, and our society blinds us from the possibilities of a more inclusive

community. Media needs to focus more on the growth of other nations so our nation can learn

from them, rather than only showing the negative parts of people to shame them and assert our

dominance. I am not the most informed person to address such a controversial issue, but people

need to start listening to others and realize that this issue cant be ignored. Voice your opinion

and stand up for those being discriminated against. We dont need to know much about the other

person or be the most well-rounded person to stand up for whats ethically right. Go out and

learn about the world and form your own opinions, dont let a secondary source tell you whats

right or wrong. The only way for our society to grow is to be inclusive and not have a closed

mind, to accept others for themselves and not have a divide between groups. We all need to be

one collective group in order to grow. Becoming open-minded is the only way to see growth and

become a better individual. Accept that there are differences in people and dont be afraid of

them. Try to understand that there are 7 billion people in this world, and the world doesnt

revolve around one individual. To grow, one needs to approach each day with an open mind. Commented [FA13]: Reworded the ending to fit my
argument
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Works Cited

Bula, Omega. AfricaFiles | Images of Africa: Challenging Negative Stereotypes in Media and Society.

N.p., 2 Dec. 2002. Web.

"Common Man." Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web.

Hill, Sharyn Kennedy & Stephen. Global Poverty, Aid Advertisements, and Cognition: Do Media

Images of the Developing World Lead to Positive or Negative Responses in Viewers (2010): n.

pag. Web.

Huesmann, L. Rowell, Eric F. Dubow, Paul Boxer, Violet Souweidane, and Jeremy Ginges. "Foreign

Wars and Domestic Prejudice: How Media Exposure to the IsraeliPalestinian Conflict Predicts

Ethnic Stereotyping by Jewish and Arab American Adolescents." Journal of Research on

Adolescence. N.p., 17 Mar. 2012. Web.

Lee, Felicia R. "Discriminating? Yes. Discriminatory? No." The New York Times. The New York

Times, 12 Dec. 2003. Web.

Nichols, Thomas M. The Death of Expertise: The Campaign against Established Knowledge and Why

It Matters. N.p.: Oxford UP, 2017. Print.

Perry, David. Resume, Document. ED 274 001 (1986): n. pag. Web.