Stereotypes beget stereotypes

Recently I wrote about how Native stereotypes increase other stereotypes. Now a blogger has come to conclusions similar to mine. She makes the case that all stereotypes are related.

This Stereotype Affects You, Too

By Jenn FangWe usually think about racism as something that's motivated by racial hatred of a targeted ethnic group. Instead, this study tells us that even exposure to racial stereotypes appears to encourage an overall more black-and-white (pardon the pun) outlook on the world—even against unrelated groups. Thus, right-wing pundits and fear-mongerers who perpetuate the racist notion that all Muslims are terrorists (for example) doesn't just affect the Muslim community. It's likely to encourage anti-black, anti-Latino, anti-Native American and anti-Asian resentment and stereotyping as well.

It might seem like a discouraging finding. But I actually see this study's significance as positive. What more evidence do we need that in combating racism, coalition-building between minority communities is not only beneficial, but necessary? Further, it's not hard to imagine, given Dr. Kim-Prieto's data, that stereotyping effect extends beyond racism. In other words, I wouldn't be surprised if internalizing race-based stereotypes also encouraged gender-based, sexuality-based, and class-based stereotyping, as well. We need to build bridges there, too.

For too long, we've approached the struggle to end the racism (or other -isms) that we face as an individual battle. We've seen plenty of examples of divisive in-fighting that pits one minority group against another—as if we're competing to prove which of us is 'most oppressed' (something my friends over at Racialicious like to call playing "Oppression Olympics"). But here's convincing data to demonstrate that we're all up against the same problem. Despite all ideas to the contrary, we're really all in this anti-racism boat together.Comment:  For more on the subject, see The Harm of Native Stereotyping:  Facts and Evidence.