Title: How Stereotypes Affect Us and What We Can Do | Facing History and Ourselves
Headings: How Stereotypes Affect Us and What We Can Do
How Stereotypes Affect Us and What We Can Do
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Content: And about each one of those identities that I mentioned, there are negative stereotypes. And when people are in a situation for which a negative stereotype about one of their identities is relevant to the situation, relevant to what they're doing, they know they could be possibly judged or treated in terms of that stereotype. They don't know whether they are or not, but they know they could be. And if the situation is important, that prospect starts to threaten them and upset them and distract them and can affect performance right there in the situation. And so you could find yourself kind of adjusting and deflecting, doing things that would deflect being seen by the stereotype. And it can affect their willingness or their interest in staying in that area of life where that kind of stereotype is relevant. Test. You, in a dark suburban alley alone see a black man, looks like he's far away from home. Fear runs down your spine and your thoughts roam as you say in your mind, this little black boy is up to no good and should be picked up by the police. But would you believe that that boy was me and what they didn't see was I was coming home from youth group.