User:HSonti1/Stereotypes of groups within the United States

Stereotypes of Groups within the United States
The United States has a population of nearly 340,000,000, and as a result of such a large population there are different ethnic groups within the nation that bring their own culture, beliefs and traditions with them. The United States formally recognizes 6 ethnic groups on the US census, those being, White, Black Hispanic/Latino, Asian, Amerindian/Alaskan Native, and Hawaiian Native/Pacific Islander. However, within these main 6 groups there are additional sub groups that have unique cultural characteristics that separate themselves from others. For instance Indian Americans can have a different culture than Korean Americans despite both being considered Asian Americans. Due to the numerous different cultures and groups in the United States is the development of stereotypes about those groups. A stereotype is a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing. Throughout the history of the United States stereotypes have been prevalent and have had a major impact on the ethnic groups in the country.

African Americans
(Adding onto Existing Work)

Criminals
African Americans have been the subject of stereotyping and racism for centuries, stereotypes of African Americans have continued to be prevalent in our society. One of the most common stereotypes is that of African Americans as violent criminals. This is a stereotype that has been documented by social psychologists for decades and continues to be relevant to our modern society. Proponents of this stereotype will site statistics like the one released by the FBI that states in 2015, 51.1% of those arrested for homicide were African American, despite African American people only accounting for 13.4% of the total United States population. This has raised some rebuttals against the validity of the statement such as the fact that it doesn't take into account African Americans acquitted, of which 47% of exonerations since 2016 have been of African Americans. As a result of this stereotype African Americans are 5 times more likely to be stopped without just cause by the police than their white counterparts. Evidence of this stereotype can be seen in New York City's "Stop and Frisk" policy, which has since been deemed unconstitutional. However, during its legality between 2004 and 2012 over 4.4 million people were stopped, of those 4.4 million, 80% were black and latino residents.

Drug addicts
A similar stereotype of African Americans as drug addicts emerged after President Nixon launched the "war on drugs", the effort to fight this war on drugs was later emboldened by President Reagan. This led to new laws being implemented such as minimum sentences for different drug uses, one significance difference in mandatory sentence was the difference between crack cocaine and powder cocaine. While only 5 grams of crack was enough for a 5 year sentence, 500 grams of powder cocaine was necessary for a 5 year sentence. This is despite the fact that crack and powder are nearly identical with no pharmaceutical difference. One big difference between the two drugs is that African American were more likely to use crack in their lifetime than white people, whereas racial minorities are at less risk of powder cocaine use. This led to more African Americans being sentenced and sent to prison with nearly 81% of convicted crack users being Black. The war on drugs reinforced the stereotype of African Americans as drug users and crack addicts, when in reality young white adults were found to be more likely to have used illicit drugs than black young adults.

Athletes
While the stereotype of African Americans as criminals continues to persist in our society, there are other stereotypes of African Americans such as athletes. Black athletes are often noted for having a "natural ability" and are stereotyped as being physical specimens. This myth has become more prevalent in the wake of statistics showing African Americans comprising 71.8% of the NBA (National Basketball Association) and 57.5% of the NFL, as of 2022. In an attempt to rationalize black excellence and success in these fields stereotypes about black people being physically gifted arose. This stereotype has been used to undermine the success of Black athletes, attributing their success to an ability that innately have and shifts the focus away from the hard work they put in. Additionally this stereotype implies that while Black athletes rely on their "natural ability" their white counterparts rely on intellect instead, an untrue belief stemming from this stereotype.

Job Stealers
Stereotypes of Latin Americans largely stems from the negative sentiment surrounding immigration, and the stereotype that Latin Americans come to the United States illegally. A common stereotype is the belief that Hispanics are "stealing jobs". This is a stereotype that directly came from the anti-immigration sentiment and was fueled by politicians such as President Trump who said, "They’re taking our jobs. They’re taking our manufacturing jobs. They’re taking our money. They’re killing us.” While Hispanics and Latino men have the highest labor force participation rates of any demographic in the United States, a poll by the pew research center found that 77% of adults believe that undocumented immigrants mostly fill jobs U.S. citizens do not want. Specifically among Hispanics, 88% say undocumented immigrants mostly fill jobs U.S. citizens do not want.

Lazy
Hispanic and Latino Americans have also been stereotyped as being lazy and irresponsible. This claim has been spread around for over 100 years as it was used by the New York Times in 1879, referring to "Lazy Mexicans" in a headline. This claim continues to be used by political pundits such as conservative commentator Ann Coulter, who claimed it was a waste of time to try and get Latino's to vote because they are lazy. This claim has been largely debunked, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development found that on average, Mexicans worked 2,246 hours in 2015, exceeding all other countries involved in the study, including the average American, who worked 1,790 hours in 2015. Additionally hispanic men were found more likely to participate in the workforce than whites in America.

Criminals
Latin American men are typically stereotyped as being violent and criminals, this is a stereotype that is reinforced in english speaking television shows in the United States. One prominent example is the show Breaking Bad, where many of the drug dealers and gang members in the show are of hispanic heritage and are referred to in derogatory terms such as "beaner", a derogatory slur against Mexicans. One of the main characters of this show, "Gus", is a major drug dealer who is of Chilean descent. Other shows like Breaking Bad will frequently portray Latinos in gangs or doing some form of criminal activity.

Stereotypes of Latinas
Latinas, or Latin American women, are often stereotyped as house keepers or maids and are hyper sexualized. These stereotypes of Latin American women are fueled by their appearances in pop culture, specifically the roles they are given in TV. A major example of this is the movie, "Maid in Manhattan" which features a hispanic maid, acted by Jennifer Lopez, as one of the main characters of the movie. The media will also portray Latina's in a sexual manner, consistently showing them in tight fitting, revealing clothes. A prime example of this is Gloria, in the show Modern Family. In this show Gloria consistently wears revealing clothes and high heels, while being hot-headed. The media in our society has continues to push this image of Latina's as super sexy, with a voluptuous figure, always wearing a low-cut, skin-tight dress.

Asian and Pacific Islander Americans
Due to the vast amount of subgroups within Asia there are numerous stereotypes created as a result of those different groups coming to America. There are however, some similarities in the types of stereotypes seen among different groups, namely, the "model minority." The Model Minority is the stereotype of Asian Americans as naturally smart, particularly in math and sciences, wealthy, and hard-working/self reliant. Those generalizations seek to erase the disparities within the Asian American community, while also being weaponized against other minorities for not living up to those standards. For example there are major disparities in income between different ethnic groups in Asia, with Burmese Americans earning an average of 44.4 thousand dollar a year whereas Indian Americans average 119 thousand dollars a year. The model minority myth shifts focus away from those struggling within the community under the assumption that all Asian Americans are successful. Additionally, this stereotype of Asian Americans is used as a tool to sow divide between different minority groups in America. It does this by downplaying the effects of racism on other minority communities especially Black Americans. People who perpetuate the model minority myth believe that the racism experienced by Asian-Americans and Black Americans are the same and since Asian Americans have had more success, Black Americans are blamed for not having similar success. This myth conflates the different types of racism that minority groups experience so that it can put down less successful minority groups who have experienced a great deal of systemic racism.

East Asians
In addition to the model minority myth other stereotypes, include the stereotype of east asian women as docile, or submissive. This holds Asian women back from attaining leadership positions in the workforce due to the belief they wouldn't be capable of such positions. East Asian women are also stereotyped as sexual objects and over sexualized. This stereotype stems from laws in the US that barred the importation of Asian women for sexual purposes, thus assuming that asian women are inherently sexual. In more recent time there is also the stereotype that east Asian Americans are infected with the covid 19 virus or brought the virus to the US. This stereotype started when the virus was discovered to have originated in China, and was referred to as the "China Virus" by president Trump. This stereotype resulted in an increase in anti-asian hate crimes and violence against Asian Americans.

South Asians
South Asians are often clumped together and stereotyped as all being from India, on of the biggest south Asian countries, despite the hundreds of millions of people living in neighboring and nations. South Asians are often depicted as being "nerdy" with a knowledge for computers and science, and having thick accents. This stereotype of South Asians is reinforced through many prominent TV shows such as Phineas and Ferb, which included the character Baljeet, a south asian who fills the role of nerdy a kid who is obsessed with grades, and the show Jesse that had a character named Ravi, who was depicted as being a nerd, in both instances the characters have very thick accents.

Arabs
Arabs refer to people who originate from the Middle East. A common stereotype is the assumption that Arabs are automatically muslim since they come from the middle east. While there are many Arab muslims there are also thousands of Arab Jews and Christians. One very damaging stereotype is the belief that Islam, and therefore Arabs, an association created by the previous stereotype, is violent. The belief that is Islam is violent has become in large part after the terror attacks of 9/11 were committed by Arabs. Additionally, news broadcasts will typically cover what they call "Islamic Terrorism" making it correlates Islam with terror, and since Arabs and Muslims are stereotyped as being the same, it associates Arabs with terrorism. This belief persists despite most muslims condemning violence.