by none288

Created on: September 11, 2009   Last Updated: September 16, 2009

caste: Etymology - Portuguese casta, literally, race, lineage, from feminine of casto pure, chaste, from Latin castus (1613) Source: Merriam-Webster Dictionary

When it comes to human behavior in relation to skin color, there are only two types: stereotypical behaviors and non-stereotypical behaviors. Identification with one's color varies and may result in adhesion to stereotypes or seeking to break away from stereotypes. Historically, people of each color are granted negative and positive stereotypes, although, not usually in equal measures.

White and black stereotypes are the most straightforward and the most well known in the United States. Whites hold the positive stereotype of being most likely to succeed and their opinion is held in the highest regard. That is offset by the negative stereotype of being most likely to hold racist inclinations, simply due to a long history of discrimination. However, many whites in the modern day fight to distance themselves from the bigotry of the past.

Blacks, too, struggle to overcome the stereotypes that automatically come with their skin color, stereotypes of uncontrollable libidinal urges, of violent tendencies, of stupidity and of inferiority. These tokens of subjugation have become a caricature of black character which distorts how the world views black people and more importantly, how black people view themselves.

When black people view themselves negatively they may conform to negative stereotypes, lash out at others in acts of racism, and later sink into social or financial ruin. Although this pattern of behavior may be true for all people, elevated crime, poverty and HIV/AIDS rates in the black population indicate that this pattern occurs too often for too many black people.

Black people's likelihood to revert to stereotypical behaviors is linked to the conflict between the default definition of what it means to be black and what it takes to attain social, academic and economic success. The problem lies in the fact that the default definition of "blackness" coincides with the black negative stereotype of poverty, stupidity and violence. In contrast, the default definition of what means to be white is a positive stereotype of influence and affluence and the default definition of what it means to be Asian is the positive stereotype of intelligence. (Having a positive stereotype as a default definition, as well as the access to the higher paying jobs that comes with it, is what separates the majority from the

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