In class this week, we have been talking a lot about the issue of race and how it was constructed. This reminded me of a story I heard a few weeks ago about a fight that took place at Fenger High School, which is a predominantly African-American school on the South Side of Chicago. This fight was between two large black gangs in the area. Unfortunately, Derrion Albert got caught in the middle and lost his life.
Today, I saw a New York Times article that followed up on the death of 16 year-old Derrion Albert. Although it addressed the fight that took his life, it more generally addressed what Chicago Public Schools can do to make the South Side of Chicago a safer place for the young students that live there.
When I heard the story about Derrion Albert, I instinctually created my own opinion about the people living in his community, as well as the crimes they commit. Whether knowingly or not, we all create biases when we hear stories about perpetrators and victims. It's only natural to want to choose a side. I know that there are areas in the South Side that are more unsafe than others, and I also know that these areas tend to be predominantly African-American. By association, I assume that the African-American people living in these areas contribute to their unsafe environments. Those at risk of getting hurt as well as those who commit the crimes are black; Both the victims and the perpetrators are African-American.
But my question is this: do the biases we create about the people in this situation extend to generalize our biases about the entire race? Do stories like this one fuel our racial biases? How do they influence the way we perceive certain races?
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I think it totally generalizes our biases of other races. when you see things like this in the news concerning black on black crime, it makes it seem as though the whole community is like this because it is constantly in the news. Not only does this circumstance broaden our biases but the media as a whole does this to us. When all you see are black men in the mug shots, it starts to become engraved in your head that this is what a bad guy looks like. Not only does it effect non- African American people, but blacks as well. when all they see is their race being profiled in the news as the killers and the gang members, you start to believe it.
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