Sociology Written Assignment- Race

Well since this blog is called "The Life of Noelle", it makes sense to write about what happens in my life. Well for my Sociology class we have six written assignments due throughout the semester. Today written assignment number five is due. This assignment's instructions were to write about race: what is our race? How did it affect us? etc. Well since I like to make people think, I decided to post my paper on here. It was supposed to be 2-3 pages, so obviously my whole thought on this issue is not represented. Plus it's not an English class so I don't put much effort into these papers. Anyways, please read it and comment with your thoughts!

All our lives we are told that we are different based on our skin color. Society has created stereotypes to go along with ethnicities. For example, being Asian means that you are smart, being Mexican means that you are lazy, and being African-American means that you are a criminal. This belief that one racial category is superior or inferior to another is called racism. Race is different than ethnicity in that race is, “a category of people who have been singled out as inferior or superior, often on the basis of real or alleged physical characteristics such as skin color, hair texture, eye shape, or other subjectively selected attribute” (Kendall). I am part of a race that is considered superior to other races. I am white, but this idea that white is superior needs to end.

            It doesn’t take very long in life to figure out your race and place in the world. As a kid you notice everything. Why is the sky blue? Why is the grass green? Why is her skin color darker than mine? Your parents may not tell you at the time, but while growing up you will notice that certain skin colors get viewed and treated different than others. It was especially apparent during high school. We had a relatively large amount, compared to other schools in the area, of Bosnians at our school, and they were considered smart, rich, and knew how to party. This is an example of stereotypes. Stereotypes are defined as, “overgeneralizations about the appearance, behavior, or other characteristics of members of particular categories” (Kendall). We also had a large amount of African-Americans. For the most part they were considered troublemakers, players, etc. You had a few exceptions of the athletes. Then of course were the whites, which allowed for more diversity in how people viewed them. They weren’t confined to one stereotype in people’s minds. I was lucky that way.

            I floated between social groups throughout middle school and high school trying to find my place. Emo? Check. Nerd? Check. Athletes? Check. Popular? Check. I finally found my own circle of friends that didn’t necessarily fit with a group. What’s interesting is that while changing groups, the overall perception of me didn’t change. This might not be the case for someone that’s African-American. An African-American athlete is viewed much differently than an African-American loner. Why does someone’s skin color weigh so heavily on our views of him or her?  

            Since I am from European ancestry, I fit into the “white” race. I have fair skin, blue eyes, and blonde hair. Because of this I have not experienced a lot of discrimination because of my race. However, it seems as though society wants races to stick with their same race. When people go out of their assigned race and hangout with people from another race, there are labels put on them. I pick friends based on personality and whom I get along with. In high school, it just so happened that those people were African-Americans. When that happened, people started to look at me differently. It got even worse when I started dating guys from different ethnicities. I was put into the stereotype of trashy, poor white girls who date black guys. It didn’t matter that it was far from the truth. People saw what they wanted to see.

Besides that small instance years ago, my race has worked in my favor. People do not judge my race as lazy, criminal, savage, or dumb. They expect good things from someone with white skin. Just because this issue doesn’t affect me or maybe even you, doesn’t mean that this isn’t a huge problem in the United States. Stereotypes, racism, prejudice, and discrimination are still a prominent problems that affect million of people in the U.S. daily. We need to take steps each day to eliminate the idea of “race.” No one is inferior or superior based on their skin color or other physical attributes.