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Dana Kuehn

ENG 112

Missie Finan

04/19/15

Personal Experiences with Stereotypes

Growing up, I can confidently say that I was not exposed to much diversity. I am from a

predominately white, middle class town that has been voted “one of the best towns in Ohio to

raise your children,” for multiple years, and where people literally carol through the town square

during the holidays. However, I grew up in a particularly non discriminatory household. From

my mother’s best friend being a gay male, to my father having an african american “uncle,” (you

know— the people that your parents were close friends with so they just somehow ended up

being referred to as your aunt or uncle even though there was no blood relation, right?) my four

brothers and I were about as open and accepting as it got in our small town in Ohio. I did not

realize it at the time, but later I learned how valuable that upbringing of sheer acceptance was to

me. It was truly not until middle school when I was exposed to racial stereotypes for the first

time. There were two middle schools, and my house was literally across a railroad track that was

the basically the separation line of what neighborhoods attended which school. My house ended

up attending the school that was surrounded by the lower income neighborhoods of my town.

Along with that, I had more african american classmates than I had ever had in elementary

school. And of course right before middle school, my parents got a divorce. From learning what

it was like to no longer live in one household but now two, and starting middle school my life

was changing drastically, very rapidly. Mentioning the divorce is relevant, because my dad

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bought a house extremely close to the middle school and high school which we attended, so it

would be convenient for us in terms of distance. His house was right in the midst of the

neighborhoods which carried those lower class families that held much of the stereotype of my

middle school, and to be honest I was embarrassed about the location of my dad’s new house. In

retrospect this was absolutely ridiculous and nothing about my hometown was the slightest bit

“sketchy” or unsafe, but I all of a sudden felt like the butt of the jokes that I heard around school.

Much of these jokes also revolved around the african american students. Although I didn't

necessarily have the same situation that many of those students did face, I certainly felt offended

when people talked about the “ghetto,” of my hometown. I know that this seems gentle

compared to the racism that most people are raised around, however I definitely lived a very

sheltered childhood. I do not think I heard “real” stories of racism until my mother’s boyfriend of

7+ years, who happens to be african american became more involved in our lives and would tell

us stories about his childhood. I think that my parents raised me with a very open mind and I am

very thankful for that, however due to my environment I was not exposed to many situations

where that open mind was very much needed, which leads me to be the naive individual that I

still am today. I have noticed that in classes people will talk about racial stereotypes that I had no

idea existed. For example in a psychology class, a teacher was telling me about how her african

american colleague had a “personal shopper” at the mall today, and she could not believe that the

assumption that all black males go into stores to steal things still existed today in 2015. Until she

explained, I truly thought she meant that this man just made enough money to have somebody

pick out his clothes for him. In conclusion, I don't think that I was ever raised around enough

racial, religious, nationality or any other distinguishing parties of people to develop much

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prejudice against any particular party, and I can say that I have learned more about stereotype

based on race or nationality this year than the previous 18 years of my life combined.