Understanding Unconscious Bias and Unintentional Racism, Jean Moule.

“A stereotype is a simplistic image or distorted truth about a person or group based on a prejudgment of habits, traits, abilities, or expectations.” Almost everyone has stereotypes and acts on these stereotypes whether they know it or not. In fact, it when these stereotypes and the actions that people associate with them are unconscious is when they can become especially dangerous. Our minds are wired in order to process large amounts of information quickly allowing us to assess situations and act accordingly. If our brains were not quick at these actions, our ancestors would have died out long ago. The brain is able to do this by creating stereotypes and then placing new situations and people into these stereotypes in order to process them. However, these stereotypes might not always come from credible sources, so they could be distorted. Thus, it is important for us to recognize these stereotypes rather than pretend they are not their. If we do not recognize that we have them we won’t be able to address them, and thus as the old adage goes you have to know what you don’t know.

I am curious as to what stereotypes there are for Hawaii and whether or not these stereotypes match reality. How different are they from black and latino in New York City. I know I have many stereotypes of people from different backgrounds, meaning educational, racial, and social. I judge people off of how they dress and how they speak. If I didn’t though, would I be able to survive in this world. Are stereotypes always bad, or do they serve a vital purpose.