Stereotypes of groups within the United States

Stereotypes exist of various groups of people as found within American culture. These stereotypes may be disproportionately well known to people worldwide, due to the transmission of American culture and values via the export of American-made films and television shows.

The United States has a population of nearly 340,000,000, and as a result of such a large population there are different ethnic groups within the nation that bring their own culture, beliefs and traditions with them. The United States formally recognizes 6 ethnic groups on the US census, those being, White, Black Hispanic/Latino, Asian, Amerindian/Alaskan Native, and Hawaiian Native/Pacific Islander. However, within these main 6 groups there are additional sub groups that have unique cultural characteristics that separate themselves from others. For instance Indian Americans can have a different culture than Korean Americans despite both being considered Asian Americans. Due to the numerous different cultures and groups in the United States is the development of stereotypes about those groups. A stereotype is a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing. Throughout the history of the United States stereotypes have been prevalent and have had a major impact on the ethnic groups in the country.  

Ethnic groups

Native Americans and Alaskan Natives

There has long been an admiration of Native Americans as fitting the archetype of the noble savage within European thought, stemming from a cultural sympathy grounded within the post-Enlightenment theory of primitivism. These positive portrayals of Native Americans as being noble, peaceful people, who lived in harmony with nature and each other continue within modern culture, e.g. the film '' Dances with Wolves'' (1990).

Over time, as settlers spread west, Native Americans were seen as obstacles and their image became more negative. Native Americans were portrayed in popular media as wild, primitive, uncivilized, dangerous people who continuously attack white settlers, cowboys, and stagecoaches and ululate while holding one hand in front of their mouths. They speak invariably in a deep voice and use stop words like "How" and "Ugh".

In drawings, their skin color was depicted as deep red. In westerns and other media portrayals, they are usually called "Indians". Examples of this stereotypical image of Native Americans can be found in many American westerns until the early 1960s, and in cartoons like Peter Pan. In other stereotypes, they smoked peace pipes, wore face paint, danced around totem poles (often with a hostage tied to them), sent smoke signals, lived in tepees, wore feathered head-dresses, scalped their foes, and said 'um' instead of 'the' or 'a'.

As colonization continued in the U.S., groups were separated into categories like "Christians" and "civilized" against "heathen" and "savage". Many Whites have viewed Native Americans as devoid of self-control and unable to handle responsibility. Modern Native Americans as they live today are rarely portrayed in popular culture.

Native Americans were also portrayed as all-bring fierce warrior braves—often appearing in school sports teams' names until such team names fell into disfavor in the later 20th century. Many school team names have been revised to reflect current sensibilities, though professional teams like the Kansas City Chiefs and the Atlanta Braves continue. Some controversial upper-level Native American team mascots such as Chief Noc-A-Homa and Chief Illiniwek have been discontinued; others like Chief Osceola and Renegade remain.

Native American gaming has been expanding since the 1970s, and was formalized in the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. It has become a modern stereotype that a Native American must either own a casino or be in the family of one who does.

African and black Americans

Historical stereotypes

In centuries before and during the first half of the 20th century black people were often depicted by Whites as dumb, evil, lazy, poor, cannibalistic, smelly, uncivilized, un-ChristianHurst, Charles E. Social Inequality: Forms, Causes, and Consequences. 6. Boston: Pearson Education, Inc, 2007 people. White Americans sometimes believed that black people were inferior to white people. These thoughts helped to justify black slavery and the institution of many laws that continually condoned inhumane treatment and perpetuated to keep black people in a lower socioeconomic position. This was especially true for how whites treated black females, often labeling them with lewd adjectives. This became known as the Jezebel stereotype, after the infamous Phoenician Queen Jezebel. The Jezebel stereotype was used during the slave era to describe a black woman who had sexual relations with a white man.

Black people were usually depicted as slaves or servants working in cane fields or carrying large piles of cotton. They were often portrayed as devout Christians going to church and singing gospel music. In many vaudeville shows, minstrel acts, cartoons, comics and animated cartoons of this period they were depicted as sad, lazy, dimwitted characters with big lips who sing bluesy songs and are good dancers, but get excited when confronted with dice games, chickens or watermelons (examples: all the characters portrayed by Stepin Fetchit and black characters in cartoons like "Sunday Go to Meetin' Time" and "All This and Rabbit Stew").

A more joyful black image, yet still very stereotypical, was provided by eternally happy black characters like Uncle Tom, Uncle Remus and Louis Armstrong's equally joyous stage persona. Another popular stereotype from this era was the black who is scared of ghosts (and usually turns white out of fear). Children are often pickaninnies like Little Black Sambo and Golliwog. African American Vernacular English speech was also often used in comedy, like for instance in the show '' Amos 'n' Andy''.

Another stereotype was that of the savage. African black people were usually depicted as primitive, childlike, cannibalistic persons who live in tribes, carry spears, believe in witchcraft and worship their wizard.

Modern Stereotypes

Since the 1960s, the stereotypical image of black people has changed in some media. More positive depictions appeared where black people and African Americans are portrayed as great athletes and superb singers and dancers. In many films and television series since the 1970s, black people are depicted as good-natured, kind, honest and intelligent persons. Often they are the best friend of the white protagonist (examples: '' Miami Vice'', '' Lethal Weapon'', '' Magnum Force'', '' Walker, Texas Ranger'', '' The Incredibles'').

Some critics believed this political correctness led to another stereotypical image where black people are often depicted too positively. Spike Lee popularized the term '' magical negro'', deriding the archetype of the "super-duper magical negro" in 2001 while discussing films with students at Washington State University and at Yale University.

The stereotype of unintelligent African-Americans continues to this day, particularly when juxtaposed with images of African-American athletes, scholars and politicians.

= Criminals

=
African Americans have been the subject of stereotyping and racism for centuries, stereotypes of African Americans have continued to be prevalent in our society. One of the most common stereotypes is that of African Americans as violent criminals. This is a stereotype that has been documented by social psychologists for decades and continues to be relevant to our modern society. Proponents of this stereotype will site statistics like the one released by the FBI that states in 2015, 51.1% of those arrested for homicide were African American, despite African American people only accounting for 13.4% of the total United States population. This has raised some rebuttals against the validity of the statement such as the fact that it doesn't take into account African Americans acquitted, of which 47% of exonerations since 2016 have been of African Americans.https://naacp.org/resources/criminal-justice-fact-sheet As a result of this stereotype African Americans are 5 times more likely to be stopped without just cause by the police than their white counterparts. Evidence of this stereotype can be seen in New York City's "Stop and Frisk" policy, which has since been deemed unconstitutional. However, during its legality between 2004 and 2012 over 4.4 million people were stopped, of those 4.4 million, 80% were black and Latino residents.

Drug addicts

A similar stereotype of African Americans as drug addicts emerged after President Nixon launched the "war on drugs", the effort to fight this war on drugs was later emboldened by President Reagan. This led to new laws being implemented such as minimum sentences for different drug uses, one significance difference in mandatory sentence was the difference between crack cocaine and powder cocaine. While only 5 grams of crack was enough for a 5 year sentence, 500 grams of powder cocaine was necessary for a 5 year sentence. This is despite the fact that crack and powder are nearly identical with no pharmaceutical difference. One big difference between the two drugs is that African American were more likely to use crack in their lifetime than white people, whereas racial minorities are at less risk of powder cocaine use. This led to more African Americans being sentenced and sent to prison with nearly 81% of convicted crack users being Black. The war on drugs reinforced the stereotype of African Americans as drug users and crack addicts, when in reality young white adults were found to be more likely to have used illicit drugs than black young adults.

Athletes

While the stereotype of African Americans as criminals continues to persist in our society, there are other stereotypes of African Americans such as athletes. Black athletes are often noted for having a "natural ability" and are stereotyped as being physical specimens. This myth has become more prevalent in the wake of statistics showing African Americans comprising 71.8% of the NBA (National Basketball Association) and 57.5% of the NFL, as of 2022. In an attempt to rationalize black excellence and success in these fields stereotypes about black people being physically gifted arose. This stereotype has been used to undermine the success of Black athletes, attributing their success to an ability that innately have and shifts the focus away from the hard work they put in. Additionally this stereotype implies that while Black athletes rely on their "natural ability" their white counterparts rely on intellect instead, an untrue belief stemming from this stereotype.

Hispanic and Latino Americans

Job Stealers

Stereotypes of Latin Americans largely stems from the negative sentiment surrounding immigration, and the stereotype that Latin Americans come to the United States illegally. A common stereotype is the belief that Hispanics are "stealing jobs". This is a stereotype that directly came from the anti-immigration sentiment and was fueled by politicians such as President Trump who said, "They’re taking our jobs. They’re taking our manufacturing jobs. They’re taking our money. They’re killing us.” While Hispanics and Latino men have the highest labor force participation rates of any demographic in the United States, a poll by the pew research center found that 77% of adults believe that undocumented immigrants mostly fill jobs U.S. citizens do not want. Specifically among Hispanics, 88% say undocumented immigrants mostly fill jobs U.S. citizens do not want.

Lazy

Hispanic and Latino Americans have also been stereotyped as being lazy and irresponsible. This claim has been spread around for over 100 years as it was used by the ''New York Times'' in 1879, referring to "Lazy Mexicans" in a headline. This claim continues to be used by political pundits such as conservative commentator Ann Coulter, who claimed it was a waste of time to try and get Latinos to vote because they are lazy. This claim has been largely debunked, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development found that on average, Mexicans worked 2,246 hours in 2015, exceeding all other countries involved in the study, including the average American, who worked 1,790 hours in 2015. Additionally Hispanic men were found more likely to participate in the workforce than whites in America.

Criminals

Latin American men are typically stereotyped as being violent and criminals, a stereotype that is reinforced in English speaking television shows in the United States. One prominent example is the show ''Breaking Bad'', where many of the drug dealers and gang members in the show are of Hispanic heritage and are referred to in derogatory terms such as "beaner", a slur against Mexicans.

Stereotypes of Latinas

Latinas, or Latin American women, are often stereotyped as house keepers or maids and are hyper sexualized.https://willamette.edu/undergraduate/ccm/experiential-learning/latinx-communication-studies/zines-pdf/latina-stereotypes-within-pop-culture.pdf These stereotypes of Latin American women are fueled by their appearances in pop culture, specifically the roles they are given in TV. A major example of this is the movie, "Maid in Manhattan" which features a hispanic maid, acted by Jennifer Lopez, as one of the main characters of the movie. The media will also portray Latina's in a sexual manner, consistently showing them in tight fitting, revealing clothes. A prime example of this is Gloria, in the show Modern Family. In this show Gloria consistently wears revealing clothes and high heels, while being hot-headed. The media in our society has continues to push this image of Latina's as super sexy, with a voluptuous figure, always wearing a low-cut, skin-tight dress.

European and white Americans

;Irish Americans

;Italian Americans

Asian and Pacific Islander Americans

Due to the vast amount of subgroups within Asia there are numerous stereotypes created as a result of those different groups coming to America. There are however, some similarities in the types of stereotypes seen among different groups, namely, the "model minority." The Model Minority is the stereotype of Asian Americans as naturally smart, particularly in math and sciences, wealthy, and hard-working/self reliant. Those generalizations seek to erase the disparities within the Asian American community, while also being weaponized against other minorities for not living up to those standards. For example there are major disparities in income between different ethnic groups in Asia, with Burmese Americans earning an average of 44.4 thousand dollar a year whereas Indian Americans average 119 thousand dollars a year. The model minority myth shifts focus away from those struggling within the community under the assumption that all Asian Americans are successful. Additionally, this stereotype of Asian Americans is used as a tool to sow divide between different minority groups in America. It does this by downplaying the effects of racism on other minority communities especially Black Americans. People who perpetuate the model minority myth believe that the racism experienced by Asian-Americans and Black Americans are the same and since Asian Americans have had more success, Black Americans are blamed for not having similar success. This myth conflates the different types of racism that minority groups experience so that it can put down less successful minority groups who have experienced a great deal of systemic racism.

South Asians

South Asians are often clumped together and stereotyped as all being from India, one of the biggest south Asian countries, despite the hundreds of millions of people living in neighboring and nations. South Asians are often depicted as being "nerdy" with a knowledge for computers and science, and having thick accents. This stereotype of South Asians is reinforced through many prominent TV shows such as ''Phineas and Ferb'', which included the character Baljeet, a south Asian who fills the role of nerdy a kid who is obsessed with grades, and the show Jesse that had a character named Ravi, who was depicted as being a nerd, in both instances the characters have very thick accents.

East and Southeast Asians

In addition to the model minority myth other stereotypes, include the stereotype of east Asian women as docile, or submissive. This holds Asian women back from attaining leadership positions in the workforce due to the belief they would not be capable of such positions. East Asian women are also stereotyped as sexual objects and over sexualized. This stereotype stems from laws in the US that barred the importation of Asian women for sexual purposes, thus assuming that Asian women are inherently sexual. In more recent time there is also the stereotype that east Asian Americans are infected with the COVID-19 virus or brought the virus to the US. This stereotype started when the virus was discovered to have originated in China, and was referred to as the "China Virus" by president Trump. This stereotype resulted in an increase in anti-Asian hate crimes and violence against Asian Americans.

Russians and North Asians

;Arabs and Muslims
Arabs refer to people who originate from the Middle East. A common stereotype is the assumption that Arabs are automatically Muslim since they come from the middle east. While there are many Arab Muslims there are also thousands of Arab Jews and Christians.http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/globalconnections/mideast/questions/types/index.html One very damaging stereotype is the belief that Islam, and therefore Arabs, an association created by the previous stereotype, is violent. The belief that is Islam is violent has become in large part after the terror attacks of 9/11 were committed by Arabs. Additionally, news broadcasts will typically cover what they call "Islamic Terrorism" making it correlates Islam with terror, and since Arabs and Muslims are stereotyped as being the same, it associates Arabs with terrorism. This belief persists despite most Muslims condemning violence.
;American Jews

Social groups

Ugly American

Rednecks

Jocks

Valley girl

Soccer mom

Yokel

See also

* Ethnic stereotype
* Stereotype
* Stereotypes of Asians (disambiguation)

References

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