Stereotype and racism are terms most students confuse.  Many believe they are the same thing, but they are not.  The fact is that they are linked together.  Stereotype and racism are two terms that are similar by definition; nonetheless, they differentiate in meaning.  Race as well as stereotype divides people into categories based on skin color, appearance, language, customs, place of birth and geographical habitat.  The difference is that stereotype does not involve hatred as racism does.  However, stereotypes can lead to racism.  When a person starts hating another because of a stereotype, often times it is racism. 

Regardless of whether a stereotype does lead to racism, the important factor is to differentiate and identify them so as not to misinterpret them.    

A stereotype is the act of characterizing, or labeling, and an oversimplified conception of a particular kind of person or race.  In other words, a stereotype is the misconception and generalization of a certain race, person, ethnic group, religious group, etc.  Of course everybody is and is meant to be different, but why do we stereotype others? 

As a human being, one’s nature is to judge.  Nonetheless, one often judges without evidence but rather from one’s belief, a belief that sets generalized descriptions and attributes based on what one sees.  To become slightly acquainted with an individual lets us draw various conclusions that often lead us to place the individual in a certain category without knowing if they fit the characteristics attributed to them. 

Racism, on the other hand, is a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial difference produce an inherent superiority of a particular race.  Racism can be defined as hatred from one person to another or the belief that a person is less human based on skin color, language, customs, and place of birth. 

The similarities between stereotype and racism are that they involve the division of individuals based on skin color, appearance, language, customs, place of birth and geographical habitat.  The difference between racism and stereotype is that racism involves hate, whereas stereotype involves characteristic assumptions.          

Work Cited

http://changingminds.org/explanations/theories/stereotypes.htm

http://www.baptistonline.org/health/healthieryou/family/Stereotypes.asp

www.adamsacks.com/.../illustration.php?id=13

http://www.adl.org/hate-patrol/racism.asp