make or break a person within the first
few seconds of getting to know someone
we’ve already established a sense of who
they are where they’ve been how they act
and quite frankly if we’re going to like
that person or not why is that why is it
that we allow ourselves to make
generalizations based on appearance
alone what if we met everyone like this
not being able to see them how different
would your first impression be then on
the voice the judges turn their chairs
around so they don’t see the person they
don’t allow their parents to affect
their judgment of how they think they
can sing all they can do is listen what
if all we did was listen to what someone
had to say instead of judging them based
on how they look how differently would
you perceive that person how differently
would you perceive me hi if I asked you
where you think I’d be in five years
what would you say I’m seventeen so by
the age of 22 now if I ask you this
question about a minute ago when you
still couldn’t see me what your answer
have been any different why is that
because you’ve allowed a stereotype to
decide my future now hopefully some of
you would have said a college graduate
but I’m pretty sure none of you would
have guessed a college graduate with her
degree in engineering why is that
because it’s not what the stereotypical
girl let alone black girl will do now I
know what you’re thinking oh the black
girl talking about stereotypes she’s
just going to bash white people for ten
minutes well sorry to bust your little
bubble but that’s not what I’m going to
do I actually like white people and I
like black people I like all kinds of
people because to me it doesn’t matter
what you look like or where you came
from
it matters what you have to say but the
kind of people I don’t like are
close-minded people because those are
the kind of people who allow stereotypes
to define another person and that’s why
it’s so important that we break the
stereotype now before we get into
breaking the stereotype we must first
know what one is so if you were to go
stereotype definition this is what would
pop up a widely-held went fixed in
oversimplified image or idea of a
particular type of person or thing or a
relief printing plate cast and a mold
made from composed types or an original
plate an oversimplified image and a mold
is how Oxford dictionary’s defines the
stereotype but how would the actual
human beings define it find out what is
a stereotype a stereotype is sort of a
caricature the original standard version
of something I suppose stereotype is a
commonly believed image or idea of a
particular person or stereotype is the
way certain people perceive other people
a stereotype is a preconceived notion
about a group of people in most of the
so how would you define a stereotype but
now that we know what one is we have to
talk about the different types of
stereotypes because there are many
different types so the first kind are
racial stereotypes like all black people
are dumb or all white people have no
rhythm all British people have bad peace
all Africans up in the jungle
in all Asians are smart that kind of
stereotypes and then we have gender
stereotypes like all women like the
color pink all men are stronger than
women all women talk too much all of
them is supposed to do was say at home
and take care of the kids cook and clean
while the man goes out and does the work
all men are smarter than women she’s
just not true and then we have
stereotypes based on social group like
all jocks are dumb all geeks play video
games all band kids are weird all Goths
wear black and all sesame ins are overly
dramatic
oh no idea was I got that one from
that’s the question isn’t it where do
they come from
it’s not like somebody decided to make
this saying about someone and spread it
around like I’m from a different they
come from different kinds of things
one being TV in movies television movies
and most commercials always seem to
portray a certain type of person a
certain type of way they use stereotypes
for the consumer to easily identify and
categorize so they can push their idea
or sell their product more easily
another place is social media social
media is a very powerful tool in today’s
society because that’s all we’re ever on
nobody ever watches the news anymore
because you get it from either Twitter
or Facebook it used to say you can’t
believe everything you see on TV but now
it’s you can’t believe everything you
read on social media a couple months ago
I was on Twitter and I was scrolling
through the tweets and I happened to
come across a certain individual who
decided they would tend to express their
opinions on the
african-american community they said
things like all black people are savages
and they’re uncivilized and don’t know
how to behave themselves so me being a
helpful human being I am set it to take
it upon myself and help this man see how
wrong his opinion was so throughout the
discussion he actually admitted that
he’d never actually seen or met a black
person in his life because of the
country he lived in and that he
developed his opinion based on things he
read on social media and saw on TV which
is a prime example of how much of an
impact social media can play on how a
person perceives the world or other
people another source is history now
there is always some truth to every
stereotype most of the stereotypes
surrounding black people are that they
are uneducated and they’re that that
they’re inferior to the white race and
these came from the 300 years that this
race was enslaved slaves weren’t allowed
to get an education they weren’t allowed
to read or write or do anything and if
they were caught doing anything of that
matter they were severely punished if
not put to death now they were always
perceived as inferior to the white race
along with gender stereotypes back then
all a woman could do is stay at home and
cook and clean they didn’t have any
rights it wasn’t until the 1920s when
women got the right to vote so yes that
stereotypes have some truth but they’re
different truths because they were true
back then but the circumstances are
different now so they can’t be applied
now like they were back then and this
wouldn’t be so hard to understand if it
weren’t for the lack of education in
history we learned that black people
they’re either slaves or they’re
activists as the civil rights movement
that’s all we know we don’t learn about
the hundreds of successful African
Americans in history we never learned
that it was a black man Lewis Latimer
who invented the filament all we know is
that Thomas Edison invented the light
bulb why is that why is it that we’d
never learn about everything we only see
history through a one-sided scope that
society wants us to see now how do they
affect society well how do they affect
me my entire life has been stereotyped
I’ve been profiled I’ve been
all of the nine yards from the age of
five I was accused of stealing toys from
my kindergarten class that my father had
actually bought for me but the teachers
thought oh these are my toys and stole
them only to find out that a week later
that they were actually mine so she sent
them home in an envelope without even
telling me face-to-face
because she wouldn’t go for pride saying
that she stereotyped an african-american
five-year-old the following year I was
accused of stealing sweetest fish from
my first-grade class no matter how many
times I told the teacher that I didn’t
do it she didn’t believe me why is that
because oh she’s black of course she had
to steal even when I got to high school
or middle school my shop classes I was
always treated as incompetent because I
was a female and I can’t do what men can
do apparently
throughout my life all of these things
have happened to me but how do they
affect society around me well so people
who are actually doing the stereotyping
it doesn’t allow them to get to know a
person for who they really are they meet
someone oh this person to this so this
is a stereotype they put up a wall
what’s the label that they never have to
go around because that’s all they need
to know about the person and the person
being stereotyped it doesn’t allow them
to live out their full potential all
they’re told is what they are how they
should be how they should act they can
never rise above what society says they
are now how do we break them well for
the people doing the stereotyping three
steps you construct discuss and educate
deconstruct take away the validity of
the stereotype acknowledge that it’s not
real or true in most cases discuss talk
about how it actually affects other
people and how wrong they are and
educate provide them with the
alternative to the stereotypes see the
whole picture learn the whole truth look
beyond the stereotypes and for the
people being stereotyped three words
prove them wrong prove them wrong not
them just being that the white people or
the men them whoever says that you can’t
do something all of them saying that
you can’t do something that you can
never amount to anything that all you
can do is be a stereotype because most
of the times it’s not just the men or
the other white people it’s the people
who look just like you
the female saying that oh you’re a
female you can’t do this or the other
black people saying oh you’re black you
can’t do this so prove them wrong there
is no greater satisfaction than proving
them wrong I do it every day of my life
so to everyone be a game changer and
break the stereotype thank you [Applause]