Categories and Stereotypes Continued...

HW:  Read Joel Best's "The Truth about Damned Lies and Statistics."

Other examples of stereotypes and lessons we can learn from them:
 Muslims, poor, differently-abled 
The video called I am an American that shows the dangerous power that extreme stereotypes can lead to.
In this case, Muslim is the category, but it could be a different religion, ethnicity or any other category of people.  United States' history is littered with examples of groups that have been scapegoated and vilified. This is how Muslims have been treated in many cases in post 9/11 America. But I have had so many Muslim students who prove that this is just a stereotype. And that is what this video is showing. There are caring, loving, neighborly Muslims all around us but extreme stereotypes lead us to only see the stereotype and ignore the reality.  Here is a page from Indiana University called Muslim Voices which is trying to correct the stereotyping.

Lesson: Don't give in to outgroup homogeneity.  Even if you do not know the complex dynamics within an outgroup, be cognizant that those variations probably exist. 
Differently-abled individuals
Here is an article in the Daily Herald about a motivational speaker who was born with no arms and no legs. We might categorize him as disabled, but we should be careful about the assumptions and stereotypes that go along with that category.

 

Another powerful differently-abled speaker is Nick Vujicic. He is a motivational speaker who also has no limbs.   Here is a video of him on youtube.

Here is a video about Aaron Fotheringham, an "extreme sitter." Aaron has been in a wheel chair his whole life, but he sees it as an opportunity. Again, we should be careful of our stereotypes. Aaron is way more rad than I will ever be, but he is in a wheel chair and I am not. If you search youtube, you can see Aaron doing a double back flip! But there are also lots of videoes of him crashing over and over again and again. It takes hard work and lots of effort to become good at what you do.  Hard work was a theme in all of the above videoes.  And if you read the rest of Outliers, Gladwell makes the case that the most successful people spend ten thousand hours developing their skills.  The other theme that comes out in all of these videoes from Brett Eastburn to Aaron Fotheringham is that in order to find meaning in your life you must find a way to serve others.  Find a way to help other people.  You have talents.  Develop them and find a way to use them to help others.  That is your purpose.  And here is Aaron "wheels" Fotheringham at the 2016 Paralympics.


 

Here is the latest update from Wheelz on the BBC.



Differently-abled Street PerformerHere is a video about a different type of street performer that also challenges your assumptions about the category "disabled".








I love how these "disabled" people see their opportunity to teach others.  Their lessons seem to be similar:  The world doesn't owe you anything.  You owe yourself hard work and dedication to become what you want.  Find a way to help others/teach others.  Don't stereotype and keep an open mind.

Lessons from differently-abled individuals:

• Accept yourself as a part of creation; your existence is the universe's confirmation to you that you matter.
• Develop your talents/desires.  Whatever you want takes hard work. It takes failure, discomfort and effort.
• Find ways to serve others.  Whenever you don't know what to do or when your life feels directionless or meaningless, find a way to serve others.  We all have talents that can help others.

The Cookie Thief, an example of judging
There is a poem I like that illustrates Charon's point. The poem called "The Cookie Thief" by Valerie Cox. We are all cookie thieves sometimes in how we erroneously use the categories that Charon talks about. 

Lesson: 
We have all been both the victim of stereotyping and the perpetrator of it.  Try not to be the cookie thief.

Dealing with stereotypes

Finally, when you feel like you have been stereotyped, how do you react? What do you do? Anis Mojgani suggests that you shake the dust. Checkout his slam poem.  Here is a link to his poem in writing.






Lesson from Mojgani:When you have been stereotyped, shake the dust.  Move on and don't let the dust settle on you.  Don't let it define you.

This American Life, radio episode about stereotypes Another great source about stereotypes is episode 362 from This American Life. Click here to listen to the episode where 5 people tell stories about stereotyping. Listen to the prologue about people with disabilities, and Act One about NY cops stereotyping people coming from Brooklyn.