Racio-National Stereotypes Held by Negroes

The study of racial stereotypes provides a relatively simple way of in, vestigating the ideational coloring with which one individual approaches another. It is now an accepted principle in social psychology that people usually do not react to others purely on the basis of the objective reality of the other persons' personalities. Preconceived ideas about the other persons play a part in determining behavior in inter-personal relationships. Furthermore, people tend to characterize entire racial or national groups in rather definite and consistent ways. When a member of such a group is either thought of or actually encountered, this prior characterization influences subsequent behavior. Most studies of racial attitudes have been concerned with the attitudes of whites toward other racio-national groups. Not too much attention has been given to the problem of the attitudes of minority groups toward the majority group in the country. It is, of course, proper that major emphasis should be placed upon the majority group attitudes since it is these attitudes which control the social scene. For example, the general pattern of attitudes of whites helps determine the employment status, income level, and educational possibilities of Negroes. On the other hand, there are many areas of group interaction, and the quality of these interactions is a function of the attitudes of the two groups involved, regardless of majority or minority status. This quality of interaction is not solely the result of the attitudes of the majority, although the control aspect is in their hands. Consideration of the attitudes of a minority group is demanded especially when attempts are being made to reduce inter-group tensions. Unwholesome attitudes in the minority group about the majority reveal suspicion and hatred which will operate to block the efforts to reduce conflict. It is the unwholesome stereotype in a minority group which creates the frustration of a member of the majority who is working conscientiously for the betterment of the former and finds himself unable to establish the necessary rapport with members of the minority. There is the additional problem of intra-group morale. What will happen in inter-group conflicts is partly a function of the internal dynamics of the minority group. Intra-group discouragement, apathy, cynicism, and lack of confidence in the abilities of the other members of the group must operate either to maintain the group's unsatisfactory status or to make that status even more unsatisfactory. A given individual is a member of several groups. A Negro physician, for example, has an attitude-pattern which stems from his racial identity; an attitude-pattern which rises from his professional status; and an attitude-pattern which is due to the fact that he is an American. It is reasonable to expect, then, that the attitudes

Political science · Sociology · Educational Challenges and Innovations · Linguistics, Language Diversity, and Identity

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