Why are people always so quick to judge?

Just one look at a person and they already know what race the person is and what type of group he or she hangs with. That’s what I like to define as stereotypes. They don’t exactly know about the person but they like to guess – meaning they have only a 50 percent chance of guessing right.

stereotype – a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing.

There’s a saying that says, “You can’t judge a book by its cover.” There was a time, my dad once told me, when most Americans would see a Hispanic and automatically categorize him or her as being Mexican. The majority of the time it was not true. I guess most people don’t realize that being Hispanic doesn’t make you Mexican.

I once thought that only Mexicans were short. Then I figured out that it’s not only the Mexicans. It’s also Guatemalans, Hondurans and many other races. So yes, there comes a time when we, ourselves, stereotype others.

It’s happened to me. When I first came to this school, people immediately thought I was white. It kind of took everyone by surprise when I joined a conversation in Spanish. So when people would hear me speak in my original language (Spanish), they’d give me weird stares. Then they would come up to me and gasp about how they thought I was white.

I would laugh because it wouldn’t be the first time this has happened. I was once getting really annoyed when students would continuously ask me if I was white. “I’m not white!” I yelled, and they finally got the memo.

So yes, I believe it’s bad to stereotype. And if you are going to, then at least keep it to yourself.