blinking stereotypes

http://gladwell.typepad.com/gladwellcom/

I find this enlightening. I also find it strange that the arguments over the car dealerships over quoting black men are so vehement and controversial. I intuitively see this as bad stereotypes at work in the marketplace. There are things we can base stereotypes on that sometimes work. Stereotypes exist because we have ingrained a few morsels of truth or experience into our scheme of life and make from these instant decisions about the nature or character of an event or personal encounter. Consistent stereotypes about race to determine a potential character for business relationships or otherwise are inherently flawed. The average characteristics of a person are likely to be distinct from the average characteristic of a particular group. There are not standards of conduct and behavior that I, as a white college-educated male have to conform to. There are expectations that others may have based on those facts. But the fact that I listen to 2pac or Pearl Jam is probably not among them. Such facts are often surprising, even startling to others. I find it doubly strange that others place so much prevalence on things such as educational standing and race to make determinations on one's character. Maybe I've been around the wrong crowd and have too much variance in my own stereotypes. I'm not sure.

I find it offensive too when they work the other way, when someone expects a stereotype to come up. I had an encounter some time ago with a women who was chain smoking, she was also black, on her patio by the door. I distinctly waited patiently some distance away for someone else to answer the door. As I departed, she asked if she had done something to harm me, which I took to represent a statement as though her presence offended me. It did not, and I stated quite emphatically that I did not care to be around so much smoke when I had perfectly clear and fresh air some distance away. She was somewhat surprised by this remark and her reply that it "was her house" was indifferent to the problem I had posed her. I don't have to like it, and if I can avoid the problem, I will. But the stereotype here is that I was in some way acting suspicious because of her race and she moved to strike as though I was being particularily prejudiced when I was mostly trying to preserve my ability to breathe (smoke tends to flare up the asthma). I think my health is more important than playing race cards with someone who wants to play that game when I could care less about it.