Like The Beatles? The Temptations?; You Can't Tell A Fan By His Color. Gregory Freeman StL P-D 11/21/1995

Headline: LIKE THE BEATLES? THE TEMPTATIONS?\ YOU CAN'T TELL A FAN BY HIS COLOR
Reporter: By Gregory Freeman

Publication: ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Last Printed: Tue., Nov. 21, 1995
Section: WAR PAGE, Page: 11B, Edition: FIVE STAR LIFT

A COLLEAGUE OF MINE here at the Post-Dispatch, Phil Dine, has a real interest in the Temptations, the old musical group.
   Phil knows the Temptations' songs, can sing quite a few of them and knows all sorts of trivia about them. I like the Beatles a great deal. I like their stuff, like the messages that they sent. I was as sorry as anyone when John Lennon was killed in 1980, and I've been eagerly watching the ABC special about the group this week.
   That's not to say that I don't like the Temptations or that Phil doesn't like the Beatles. The very first record I ever owned was the Temptations' "The Way You Do the Things You Do."
   Conversely, I'm sure that Phil has a real appreciation of the Beatles.

Now, none of this qualifies Phil or me as candidates for poster boy for "Brotherhood Week" or anything like that. The point is, though, that Phil and I both know that there are aspects of cultures not our own that we can appreciate and that people sometimes have much more in common than might appear on the surface.
Some people have come to realize this, but I suspect that a majority of folks - of all colors - have not. Because of it, people are often surprised when they learn that someone does something or enjoys something that doesn't fit the stereotype.

I remember what a shock it was to many people when it became known that a lot of young, white, suburban kids enjoyed rap music. "How could that be?" some thought. Aren't most of those kids into heavy metal or something else? What are they doing listening to rap singers who use initials as names and purposely misspell words?
Conversely, I can recall a conversation with a white colleague who was surprised that a particular black official was an aficionado of the St. Louis Symphony. A black person, enjoying the symphony? How very out of character.

This sometimes manifests itself in very negative ways. Some police officers immediately think that if they see a young black kid driving an expensive car, it must be stolen. I know of black kids who have been stopped simply because they were driving their fathers' BMW or Mercedes.
The problem is that those same cops may not have stopped white kids in the suburbs if they were driving the same automobiles. The stereotype: White people can afford such cars; black people can't.

While I realize that police and other law enforcement officials rely, to some extent, on stereotypes - there are certain "profiles" for people who commit certain crimes - I also think there's a need to be careful in not going overboard.
   Some white people in powerful positions may not want to see blacks or other minorities get into positions as high as their own. But I don't think that's true for every white person in that position.
   Some black teen-age boys may be the picture of trouble, ready to commit crime and mayhem at the drop of a hat. But it would be unfair to categorize all black male teen-agers in such a fashion.
   Some Asians may be very good with computers. But it's incredibly stereotypical to assume that all are.

Yet, we all know someone who believes at least one of the stereotypes listed above.
Stereotypes are easy. They help us categorize. Life is simpler when we can put people in little boxes.
But I argue that life is a lot more complex than that and so are people. I've found in my lifetime that every time I've tried to put people into a box, they just didn't fit in there. The stereotype didn't completely work, especially when I got to know the person I had tried to neatly box.

We'd all be a lot better off if we relied on stereotypes much less and looked at people as individuals much more.
It's not always easy for some to look behind the clothes someone is wearing, or the car that the person's driving or the color of his or her skin to find the individual that lurks beneath. That requires a little effort.
And even then, when efforts are made and friendships blossom, the stereotypes sometimes remain. Then you get comments like, "Joe is a really good person, but he's not like most (whites, blacks, Asians, fill in the blank)."
Chances are, the person making the comment has never really got to know most (whites, blacks, Asians, fill in the blank). That person is relying on stereotypes, and when someone goes against that stereotype, that person is the exception.

The truth is, it really doesn't matter whether a person likes Temptations music or Beatles music. The sooner we figure that out, the sooner we can make beautiful music together.

Daniel Schesch - Webweaver

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