Have you ever profiled somebody?

[Mr. Ed]

Humans are naturals in assuming how people are based on skin color, clothing, looks, how a person carries himself\herself. What do you think about a toothless woman? She must be ignorant?? What about a morbid obese man or woman? Redheads have a hot temper. Muslims are terrorist, etc.

African Americans were considered less than white people which is a lie, by the way. Much of our prejudices were passed down from generation to generation with no real proof, just stupidity. Wealth and power determines the value and discourse of society. If you are outside the inner circle where the rules are made, you are a puppet in the hands that pull the strings.
Prejudging, summing a person up by the clothes they wear, we all do it. It is how we choose our friends and how we choose our likes and dislikes.

 

[OneEyedDiva]

You are so right about people making the wrong assumptions about people based on their race, religion and even mode of dress. It is sad but true that prejudices are passed down. If the children don't grow up to learn to think and experience for themselves, the bigotry is perpetuated. Morbidly obese people may be seen as gluttons, over eaters. I have a grand niece who is probably described as morbidly obese (never stopped her from getting boyfriends though). My sister used to get on her about eating....because she hardly ate anything. My sister told her putting more food in her body might help to kickstart her metabolism.

I've often read stories of White women who clutch their purses, or huddle close to the window in their bus or train seats when a Black man sits next to them like they are a threat. A few years ago, there was an experiment done, in NYC, I think. A young White woman was pretending to be attacked on the street in broad daylight. Several people, including men, just walked by and did nothing. The two young men who finally came to her "rescue" were Black and perhaps had the appearance that some White people might be intimidated by or make negative assumptions about.

In another example. At one of the restaurants in our timeshare, my husband and I met Bruce Kaye, who then owned Fantasea Resorts, three of the hotels our timeshare is included in. He's a very nice man who is small in stature, white haired and dresses like your ordinary Joe. To see him, you'd never know he was a multi millionaire who owned several resort properties in Atlantic City and Florida.

Excellent post Mr. Ed. Oh...and that toothless woman might be waiting for her new dentures to come in or maybe the ones she has hurt and need adjusting or maybe she just can't afford them at all. Have I ever profiled somebody...probably so, especially during my career.

 

[VisualBrian]

Have you ever profiled somebody?​

Certainly. I think it's human nature and has more to do with survival instinct and fear than anything else. It has to do with our upbringing and therefore our nurturing and education from early childhood to now. It has to do with our experiences, what we're told and shown by the media and those we know and trust.

These primal instincts cannot be changed by shame or the anger of others, which in most cases only enforces our feelings and fears. I don't know how to overcome this issue. I wish I did, but then who would listen to me.

Where I grew up, in the small town I lived, there was one black family. When I went to High School, there were two black students. A year later when I transfered to a technical school in the city, I was suddenly the minority. I was scared. Why? Ignorance. I had no experience or idea what to expect. No one told me or prepared me.

When I served in the Army, we ran nightly ambush patrols inside the DMZ. My squad was a single unit, Black, White and Asian as I remember, but that really didn't matter. We had one job, we had each others back, and we were ready to kill or die to protect each other. It was then I learned that all men are equal.

That said, a redneck is still a redneck, but a little education works wonders.