Chapter I Verse VI - Generalize-nation

Well a lot of Bahamians enjoy generalization. 3That sentence is one example. But how much does it affect us? How much do we really believe that the people around us do things because they are black, white, fat, rich, female, stupid? What are some of the most basic assumptions we make in this country?

White skin = rich or at least got more money than most, has a superiority complex
Dreadlocks, corn rows = smokes weed, rebellious
Tight/revealing clothes = has sex a lot, vain
Dressed in a suit = not dangerous, good job
Male of Haitian descent = landscape engineer, violent
Black = was born with rhythm, is better suited to crime than other races
Young = has no good ideas, wants to destroy the country

How often are these assumptions really true? How often do we pre-judge people so much that we see what we want to see and miss the chance to learn something from someone different? A lot of the time we might learn that we are not that different from each other. Yes, a lot of the assumptions we make about people are based on experience but we have to consider things carefully.
Marion Jones lied about steroid use. That makes her a liar. She is also black, American and a woman. Does that mean that black American women lie? Yes. Does that mean that all black American women lie? No. Does that mean that some liars are black American women? Yes. Bottom line: If you are trying to figure out if someone is lying to you, it is not very useful to know whether they are a black, American or a woman. This is true of nearly all our assumptions.

We see some movies with Asian people fighting and suddenly everyone from the east is a deadly ninja. How many Asian people have we really studied? How many of them have ever done even one fighting pose? There are more than 1 billion people in China alone. So even if you have met one million Chinese people you have still met less than .1%. Do you really want to make assumptions about 1 billion people based on less than .1% of the population? How would people judge The Bahamas if they picked the most famous .1%?

We also define each other in strange ways. People are considered successful based on how much money they have instead of how happy they are, they are black because of the music they listen to instead of their skin colour and smart based on the clothes they wear instead of their ability to achieve goals.
The thing is, that method is just not efficient, it paints a false picture. So while it’s okay to say that you have seen differences between black and white people when they dance, it’s not okay to assume that the person you just met can or can’t dance because of their skin colour. Why not ask them if they can? Better yet, why not ask them if they like to dance?

- Dsus Pays