Black Stereotypes at Santa Clara University

 

Truth or Fiction?

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Stereotypes Around Campus

What is a Racial Stereotype?

Are Racial-Themed Parties Simply All in Good Fun?

My Say

 

At Santa Clara University, in February of 2007, controversy concerning a racial party broke out. Many racial stereotypes were perpetuated at the party, mostly concerning Latino students, however there were black stereotypes there as well. The picture to the right depicts some students that the party. One girl has a balloon under her shirt to short that she's pregnant. Another is wearing cleaning gloves and holding a duster, denoting that she's a cleaning worker, there is a girl holding multiple babies and then a girl dressed as "a slutty gang member." This party has some of the worst stereotypes of black students at the party. The administration took action after these controversial photographs appeared around the Internet, but by then the damage was already done. At a predominantly white school, this is really what the students secretly think about blacks and Latinos. Around campus, many people have expressed views that "black students are ghetto" or "are hard" or are not very smart, and are surprised when black students break these stereotypes. As previous studies have mentioned, when coming to college, people expect their preconceived beliefs to be reinforced. Thus when they see a black person acting in opposition to these belifs, they either disregard or are in shock. For instance, white students have said that they "are surprised at how articulate some black students are," concerning their voices. This has always been a huge annoyance for me because they assume that I don't speak propery English even though I am black.

 

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