I find stereotypes very convenient. They’re just so handy when an SUV with NJ plates cuts me off in traffic, and I can instantly assign the driver’s rudeness to a function of their geographic origin. Sometimes my stereotypes are kind of knee-jerk reactions, like when I’m driving. At other times they simmer quietly, like when I see a local southern guy at church wearing a pink oxford, a brass-buttoned blue blazer, and a bow tie. 

I’m not sure that negative stereotypes can exist without the opposite, more accurate positive narratives to be true. As I pedal my Trek to work, I can believe/expect/assume most people are not going to run red lights, but will stop carefully and let me cross the street intact. When the Jersey boy in the white Nissan blows past, I apply the stereotype because he stands out; he’s the exception to the rule. It’s the greater positive reality that allows the lesser, negative stereotype to exist. Negative stereotypes are created in response to a small few, but such generalizations slake our cynical thirst to categorize and simplify.

As we enter the Thanksgiving Holiday, here are a few things I’m not thankful for. These video clips below illustrate some of the deep-seated problems that we not only have in this country, but globally, in relation to racial stereotypes. I’m not thankful for the amount of crap and problems racial stereotypes have caused in our society. I’m not thankful for the amount of explaining I have to do insisting that I don’t dance, eat chicken everyday, and or rap. I’m not thankful that we as society have yet to really deal with these issues on a macro level. I’m not thankful for the tensions that exist between Blacks, Asians, Latinos, poor Whites, and Pacific Islanders in connection to racial stereotypes. I’m also not thankful having to prove my narrative as a valid one in White Supremacist institutions. And I’m dang sure not thankful for the types of looks my wife and I get walking our little girl down the street at certain times and in certain neighborhoods.

Now…for many of you reading this, you may be wondering why we’re still talking about this issue. Haven’t we moved beyond this? Aren’t we making progress in this country? Are we still dealing with this type of madness? Yes, we’re still here. We’re still here, and until we all come to the table and engage with these issues in a very real and open way, we will continue to remain here, and it will only get worse.

We are at a great moment in history to really begin dealing with some of these issues. I see new generations of students beginning to break down what previous generations have built up on and in the wall of racism. So I do take hope in that, and am very thankful for a new crop of young people who want to make a difference and actually make a better world, not just talk about it.

Take a look at the videos below and begin to ask yourself: just how deep does this racism really go? In addition, how do you respond to “funny” racial stereotypes; maybe even funny true racial stereotypes? Alternatively, are minorities and or people of color just being too sensitive? Hmmm.