What really stood out to me in the media in
the last week or so was the article in the herald about the girl being accused
of shop lifting in an Auckland retail store. The girl was of pacific descent
and was accused of stealing a pair of shoes. For me this brought about issues
we had talked about in class such as racial stereotypes as the article used the
words “she looked dodgy” and that is why she was accused. She was associated
with a negative stereotype due to the colour of her skin. Just because she is
of Maori/ pacific descent does not necessarily mean that she is a shoplifter. I
strongly dislike that we live in a world where if one person from a certain
race or group does something bad or illegal that they all must behave or act in
such a way, which is so far from the truth.
Also, last weekend I experienced racism/
racial stereotypes first hand. Last weekend I went to the Auckland City Limits
concert. My friend and I waited at the main stage near the front for about 5
hours patiently awaiting our favourite rapper Kendrick Lamar. Within those five
hours people started pushing there way through everyone, which was absolute
chaos. At one point this guy (African/New Zealander) who was pushing past
people and hitting people to get through so he could be at the front. He ended
up hurting my friend so I said “Could you please stop pushing people” and then
he said to me “No, you are just a white girl” and carried on with “You probably
do not even know who Kendrick is, you are so white”. I actually started to laugh
at how racist and silly his comments were. It proved to me that stereotypes are
very well existent and that there are stereotypes to what type of music people
may listen and that people think that people should stick to racial norms as
such.
Nice read, sorry about how you and your friend were subjected to abuse at the concert. I agree with your comment with how music is based on racial norms that have been labelled. I myself listen to a diversity of music being of Polynesian ethnicity. But I like my rock music... And I use to skate and i have walked into my mates house with a flag of a large swastika hanging on the bedroom wall of his parents room. Luckily I was a young kid at the time and I had no idea about Nazi ideology and plus the fact the parents were embarrassed too... That's what i would like to believe anyway. I felt sorry for the young Polynesian girl, and how the article was written to illicit a response from the public for the desired intent to make us all throw a wobbly and question our system of morality when it comes to the colour of skin.
ReplyDeleteMaybe I should have read what I wrote before submitting a post. What I meant to say is that I walked into my mates house and saw on the wall of his parents room over their bed a large flag of a swastika emblem. And that the parents may have been embarrassed because their son showed it me.
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ReplyDeleteThis is so correct and I agree with you! People base many things on looks and completely forget about personality. Also the thing with music is correct because people have a choice to what type of music they listen to but its like society is forcing them to only listen to particular genre. And if you don't then it is seen as wrong or out of place. This was a good post. Good on you.
ReplyDeleteIts very often people have strong thoughts, and beliefs about the stereotypes they 'know' about. Assigning the negative stereotypes to people that were born in certain place with certain background should not make them criminals. People should't judge others on the way they look and where they are from but who they are and what they behave like. Good post.
ReplyDeleteIts very often people have strong thoughts, and beliefs about the stereotypes they 'know' about. Assigning the negative stereotypes to people that were born in certain place with certain background should not make them criminals. People should't judge others on the way they look and where they are from but who they are and what they behave like. Good post.
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