Racial Identity Of African Americans Essay - 1813 Words

Race is a socially constructed term that society uses to distinguish and categorize people by the color of their skin. With race, unfortunately, comes stereotypes, a distorted image of a particular person or group of people that is widely known and unconsciously recognized throughout society. The strongest stereotypes of Blacks in society are that they are unfriendly, dangerous, or are criminals. There is a correlation between the relationship with race and crime. The stereotype that will be discussed is, African Americans as criminals. In American society, a widespread depiction of crime is that it is mostly committed by Black men. Many Americans have the image of a young Black male as violent and criminal. â€Å"In fact, perceptions about the presumed racial identity of criminals may be so ingrained in public consciousness that race does not even need to be specifically mentioned for a connection to be made between the two because it seems that ‘talking about crime is talkin g about race’† (Welch, 2007, p. 276). Subsequently, the stereotypical image of African Americans being violent and criminals, has been unfairly integrated into society that even when people do not think they are thinking about race, they might actually be thinking about race. When people are thinking about crime they are interrelating that with race. It is widely broadcasted that African Americans are stereotyped as criminals, a partial blame is to be put on the media. 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