Mills 1

Joshuah Mills
Professor Fran Voltz
University Writing 1102 - 30
13 September 2014
Journal 4: Uncontrolled Stereotypes
Often I am perceived as being white due to my predominantly Caucasian features.
However, I am actually a mixed race with my mother being Filipino and my father being
Caucasian. My father comes from a traditional Southern family where unfortunately many of his
relatives are at least mildly racist. It is no surprise then that the relationship between my parents
stirred a bigoted response from some of my father's relatives, and as a result my parents'
viewpoints are strongly anti-racism. This viewpoint has always been evident in my upbringing; I
believe that race cannot define anything more than physical appearance and that we often assign
cultural stereotypes to specific races of people. Nonetheless, Harvard's Implicit Association Test
labels me as having "a strong automatic preference for White People compared to Black People."
Although my own racial background does not specifically apply to the centuries old
"white versus black" argument, my viewpoint on race as being a non-defining characteristic of a
person's self worth does. I was expectedly disappointed at the results I received from the
Implicit Association Test and my immediate perception of this test was of sure skepticism. Yet I
found myself reassessing my own opinion on race and considered the idea that the conclusion of
the test may have not been that far from truth. I know that I am not racist, but that may not mean
that I do not subconsciously perceive whites to be superior to blacks in one aspect or another. I
have always lived and interacted with others in predominately white environments where
stereotypes are often built against black people. As a result, I have always had less interaction

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with black people and have been overwhelmed with interactions with whites. Considering then,
could these stereotypes have a strong enough influence to change my subconscious perception of
black people?
Stereotypes against any given race exists everywhere, but white superiority over blacks is
sturdily evident even in present day society even though we often choose to deny it. Some of
these stereotypes include relating blacks to crime and poverty, both of which are depicted
consistently in media and entertainment. For example, when someone describes a certain area as
a "black neighborhood" many whites would conceptualize a less than welcoming location and
would generally altogether avoid the area. The way these areas are depicted in film, ghettos for
example, are often negative and are shown being populated by blacks in majority. Even though
these places do exist, there are an equal number of questionable places that are occupied by
whites in majority.
Regardless of the fact that I disagree with these stereotypes I have nonetheless grown up
and lived around them, thus making me at the very least aware of them. These stereotypes are
often so apparent that it would be hard to believe that anyone, even those who would be
degraded by them, are not to some extent subconsciously aware of them. So, are stereotypes
influential enough to alter our perception of a specific race or group of people? I believe they
are. I do not believe any group or race are any less people because of their physical or cultural
attributes. Harvard's Implicit Association Test suggests that I prefer whites to blacks nonetheless
Granted, this specific assessment method may not be accredited or entirely accurate, but I agree
that the conclusion of the test is to some extent true. I place the origin of my subconscious
preference to whites, even though I myself am not entirely so, to the unfortunate but unavoidable
fact that stereotypes, even if they are not our own, strongly influence our perception of others.