The book judged by its cover…..

“It’s easier said than done. I read this book it’s called  How The Mind Works and I couldn’t make it all the way through I prolly made it half way through…Cause it was real…I feel like I was in over my head in terms of like how smart it was. But it was all like how the mind works…and the mind works in patterns like you see a tree because you see a pattern of leaves and barks and you know… an your mind says oh that pattern equals tree.

If the mind does work like that in patterns stereotypes would be natural…you know what I mean…I would think. But I can meet somebody that’s like Puerto Rican…19 and have genuine interactions with this type of person to the point where I know them. My patterns and my stereotypes about this type of person are a little more informed. There still not all the way accurate but, it’s like a little more well informed then a bunch of people in this world that have never had real interactions with real 19 year old Puerto Ricans… are like young black males or black people period or minorities period. The problem is most people’s opinions of these people who they’ve never met is all like given…the information is given by television and stereotypes that like already exist in the media which are never accurate…which develop untrue patterns in peoples mind…I guess that’s what a stereotype really is..

• Jermaine Cole

Jermaine Cole continued advising that it was natural for your brain to function in that way but, it was f*ck*d up that it was every programmed that way. In listening to Jermaine’s take on the act of judging people and its central relationship to stereotypes it made me think. What if I could quantify the negative impact stereotypes have? It also made me consider the effect that stereotypes play in racism, sexism and classism. Racism, sexism and classism are deeply rooted ideals that rest in some individuals to the point where it’s like breathing. I pose the question of where did the aforementioned individuals get their beliefs from. I would mostly likely say from a source that provided them an untrue representation of the opposing race, gender, class etc.

There was this little kid named Teddy in Ms. Thompson’s 4^th grade. The very non- descript young man came to class every day albeit with wrinkled clothes to go with a dis-shelved appearance. You see Teddy’s mother had died the previous year and he was having a hard time. Neither did the other kids or Ms. Thompson care for Teddy or his situation. One day Ms. Thompson had a lot of gifts on her desk as it was Teacher Appreciation Week. Teddy came with a paper bag that contained cheap half used perfume and an old bracelet as Ms. Thompson took it and thanked Teddy. After class Teddy complimented Ms. Thompson advising that “she smelled just like his mother and her bracelet looked good on her”. Ms. Thompson got on her knees later that day and apologized to God. Ms. Thompson prayed to not only teach her students but, to love her students from that day forth.

Ms. Thompson’s students went on to have a great year but, Ms. Thompson did not hear from Teddy for a long time. One day Teddy came back to her and advised that he was graduating as his high school’s salutatorian. A few years after that Teddy came back and told Ms. Thompson that he was graduating as his university’s valedictorian. Ms. Thompson thought “wow” what a great story but, it was just beginning. Again one day some years later out of nowhere Teddy came back and told Ms. Thompson that he was the medical director at a hospital and he was also getting married. Ms. Thompson was happy for Teddy and suddenly shocked as he asked her to sit in his mother’s place at his wedding. Ms. Thompson again got on her knees but, this time she was thanking God for using her.

I think about all of the things that were going through Ms. Thompson’s head about this “dirty kid”. I’m thinking about her beliefs may have even clouded her ability to teach Teddy but, I don’t know for sure. My sister told me once “my son can’t go with everyone”. I asked why as she replied “the person has to love my child because if something happens I know he or she will protect my son as I would”. I take that and compare it to the career that Ms. Thompson was able to have after she began to teach from her heart not her head.

In the society we live in today I imagine the 2015 version of Ms. Thompson would have called in a CPS case. This kid is “dirty” and he is always eating so his dad is “likely not feeding him”. Imagine if CPS got involved and say Teddy’s house is not the cleanest thing in the world… what then?

We potentially take Teddy out of the only home he has ever known. We take Teddy away from the person that he loves most. Is it safe to assume Teddy does not grow up to be Dr. Teddy? On a side note I heard a comedian who was once in the foster care system give the best commentary on social services I’ve ever heard. “Foster care is when the state takes kids out of abusive/neglectful situations and places them in another abusive/neglectful situation”. I was in tears and on the floor laughing. The point is not to bash social services as they try their best. I just wanted to highlight the approach we take in handling situations after our judgement has been clouded by stereotypes and a cynical nature.

Every dirty kid is not being mistreated or going without love. Every self-proclaimed “red neck” who voted for George Bush and loves “Ducky Dynasty” is not a racist. Not every black person knows or even cares about what happened in Ferguson, Missouri or South Carolina. Not every young woman that likes to party and have pre-marital sex has “daddy issues”. Every Middle Eastern male with a turban is not a terrorist as some know way more about rapper Drake than they do about Osama Bin Laden.

The study depicted clearly highlights socialization as the key to stereotypes. Children and adults   who have had genuine interactions with a particular race etc. look at that entity less stereotypically. I was having a conversation with a co-worker who is from England about race. I went on this retort about being a black man in America and Leon let me finish as he began to smile. He said Kerry if you walked around in the UK “I’m black this and black that” people would think you were crazy. I said why Leon? He said there’s “just men” in the UK nobody cares how dark or light as you would never been identified by race or color.

“The media’s the most powerful entity on Earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that’s power. Because they control the minds of the masses”.

• Malcom X