Although stereotypes fall into all categories, racial stereotyping of people, especially those of color, creates the greatest barrier to overcoming the race relations problems facing our society today. Photo Credit: Interracial Lifestyle

By Alonzo Weston.

With numerous emails and jokes circulating throughout the Internet, but what is the mentality behind our desire to hold onto these racial stereotypes?

Stereotypes are memes in which we consciously or subconsciously transfer our beliefs about others until they become popular assumptions. And the assumptions stick — no matter how many times we see evidence to the contrary.

Thanks to the Internet, thoughts and ideas become memes faster. However, many of us long hold on to beliefs about not only other races, but also other sexes and even professions.

Librarians are shy.

All men are chauvinist.

Blacks and Mexicans are lazy.

Jews are stringy.

All whites are racist.

Ken Hines, a St. Joseph, Missouri psychologist, says many of us do not even recognize the stereotypes we place on others. They are convenient and save us the trouble of gathering data about a particular person, and they often come from data or the opinions of trusted elders, which makes them harder to dismiss.

“The world is a threatening place and pre-conceived impressions are better than none at all,” Hines says. “Without them we would be nervous and uneasy all the time, especially when we are exposed to strangers. If we were constantly aware that our pre-conceptions are mostly false, outdated, or inapplicable, we would lose confidence in our ability to size up situations on the fly and fit ourselves into them.”

Hines adds that it would be hard for us to give up stereotypes because he believes pre-judging others is something that is probably hardwired in us.

He says, “The best possible outcome for society is to make you aware of them, which will likely be an increased ability to suspend our behavioral reactions long enough to factor in our own personal observations and trust them over the automatic pre-judgments that we are also making, at least long enough to stay out of trouble.”

Article reprinted with permission of USAonRace.com