Quote of the Week

"Communication works for those who work at it."
~John Powell

Thursday, November 11, 2010

A Statement About Stereotypes and Intercultural Communication

The negative effects stereotypes have on intercultural communication are extensive.  They do not allow us to see the person, they are the “guilty” qualities we associate before “innocence” instead of the other way around.  Stereotypes inhibit communication because they provide barriers such as fear, uncomfortable feelings or awkwardness, they make us less interested and less likely to approach someone different, and they make us more skeptical and more suspicious of others.  Stereotypes don’t allow us to see people; we see an image that someone or something else handed down to us, a negative picture or generalization that stops us from seeing the individual and all of the unique qualities that make up that individual.
            To counter this problem, we need to educate ourselves and each other on our differences, our pasts, our current struggles, our fears and our concerns.  We need to look at people with curiosity and respect, not assumptions or inflexible and predetermined ideas.  We need to learn to focus on the communication rather than our fears and uncertainties about people that appear different from us.  Stereotypes cannot be taken lightly if we ever care to stop them which mean recognizing the damage in joking casually about them.  We have to respect each other for our differences, like Dr. Kenneth Clark said, “Racism is indicative of a lack of self-respect” (Adodom, 2007).
Reference
Adodom. (YouTube). (2007). Interview with dr. kenneth clark. [Web]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64rSgf0iOhQ    

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