Stereotyping and American Indians

Stereotyping occurs when we place a group of people in a box without giving a chance to really know the person as an individual. We categorize the group based on the little information we have about them and make a general judgement about them. Most of the time when we stereotype, we are limited in learning more about the culture as we choose to only view the people based on the little information we have about the group. Stereotyping can influence a child's cultural identity. This is because not only does it limit the child's understanding or perception of the world. It also creates a sense of being better than another group and can lead to prejudice or discrimination against one group. Instead of a child stereotyping, it is essential for the child to be taught to  respect, understand and learn the various aspects of a people's culture. This can shape a positive cultural identity for the child especially with regards to how he views his culture and the culture of others.

Framing  refers to how " the media packages and presents information to the public". This is done to encourage or even discourage certain interpretations about a group of people. People tend to form a perception about a group of people based on the little information they may have or have across.  One way by which the framing process work is that people tend to process information they come across very differently and this is  mainly due to how the information was projected or presented to the audience. This results in stereotyping as such an information may not be necessarily true for all the people belonging to the group. Once one chooses to judge a group of people based on what is depicted in the media, they are stereotyping and this will not encourage them to get to actually know the culture.

One of the historically adopted frames by the media of American Indians is the sexualization of the indigenous women. The indigenous men  on the other hand are depicted as "ruthless" "barbaric" and "savages". These categorizations only aims at stereotyping American Indians and perhaps justifying the taking away of the lands by the early settlers. Such representation is mostly used by the media and enforces or encourages the existing stereotypes about American Indians. During the colonial period for example, news reports by the media described American Indians as "Skulking Indian enemy" and those who had an interaction with the Europeans and became Christians were  seen to be the "good indians " and  referred to as "Christianized Indians".  These depictions of the American Indians depicts them as the "other" group to mainstream American culture which encourages them to be looked down upon and aspects of their culture to be appropriated.

 

It is not justifiable for a person from one culture to encourage a person from another culture to disregard his/ her own cultural values. Everyone has a unique culture which plays a key role in shaping them to be who they are. It gives them a sense of belonging and an identity. Encouraging someone to disregard their own culture is almost tantamount to telling them that their culture is not good and perhaps another is better. This can only lead to ethnocentrism. No culture is perfect, every culture has it strengths and weakness. Instead of encouraging someone to disregard their culture,I believe it is important to focus on the positive aspects of the culture and find ways to improve the weaknesses that may exist within the culture.

 

As an African, I have seen in the media how the African continent is portrayed as poor, needy and undeveloped. Personally, growing up and seeing such images consistently of Africa on the news, I always assumed other parts of the world did not have  people living in abject poverty, under developed  or sick people . However,  I realised this is just a way the media uses to stereotype the continent so it is always looked down upon. I have heard a number of times  of how people classify Africa as a country instead of a continent made up of different groups of people with unique cultures. These are all some ways meant to stereotype Africans and to enforce white supremacy. I can be a good ambassador of my country wherever I go by educating people about the beautiful culture that exists in my country as well as the diversity on the African continent.

 

References:

1.  Communication Theory. Framing Theory. Retrieved from https://www.communicationstudies.com/communication-theories/framing-theory

2. Scott, Nicole Dorothy Irene, "Beyond the Surface: An Analysis on the Journalistic Reporting of Native American Issues" (2016). Thesis. Rochester Institute of Technology. Accessed from https://scholarworks.rit.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=10465&context=theses

3. O'Donnell, C. (2013). "Visual Persuasion: The Media's Use of Images in Framing People Groups." Elon Journal of Undergraduate Research in Communications, 4(1). Retrieved from http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/a?id=793