Thoughts on Marginalization.

If you spend enough time getting to know a particular individual or group of people you get to know their true differences as they compare to yours and your values. Stereotypes occur when a broad, often untrue or uninformed assumption is applied to an equally broad group of people (i.e. all Yankees fans are unintelligent). The main way to distinguish between a "real" or "genuine" difference and a stereotype difference is to examine and observe the individual person. I don't think you can honestly marginalize a whole group of people for exactly this reason. Most stereotypes are formed on the basis of groups as wholes and therefore there is no way to determine wether or not the prejudices are justified. For example, one cannot marginalize all Arabs simply on the basis that they are "all terrorists" or that they all desire to blow up buildings. That is just rediculous and completely dense. On the other hand, if you know about a certain group of people (see Al Qaeda) then the facts point towards violence and radical religious tendencies. In this case, it is justified to marginalize these people on the basis of their previous actions.

I would also like to comment on the subject of being "politically correct". In class we discussed using terms such as "brown" or "black" to desribe people. I agree with Autumn when she says that, although these words are in no way 100% accurate, they are what society has chosen to distinguish between people. They have no bad intent, they just exist as they are...to help us differentiate (which is not the same as marginalizing). I think that these terms are perfectly acceptable as long as their purpose is not derrogetory such as the n-word. People should be proud of who they are and not embarrassed or offended when they are not lumped in with the general populous. If everyone was the same, which they're not, what would be the point in that. Words are what people and society make of them and some people just get offended way too easily.