Ever wondered why people have certain preconceptions of other individuals or groups of people despite never meeting and interacting with them beforehand?
Once in a while, you may hear someone in your class asking a question such as this: "Why is Jake is so smart? He just aced Yesterday's test!" to be quickly answered with "Well, duh, he is Asian." While Jake might have the highest mark in the class for Yesterday's test. What must be truly studied in this situation is why Jake's race is considered by others to be the major factor of his achievement, as that is what Jake's classmate immediately thought of when being asked why is Jake excelling in the course.
“Well, duh, He is Asian.”
This answer is also used to reply to similar questions regarding other Asian students. When you hear more of these responses it may seem that being Asian is what gets people perfect scores in tests, and as if being Asian associates you to this trait of being academically superior, or in other words "book smart". After hearing more of these conversations among peers, you also start to think that Asians who surround you do well in academics without even starting to getting to know them.
That, is how prejudice is born from existing stereotypes.
Before we can proceed, some terms have to be defined.
Some big words were thrown around at the end of that story, and that is confusing to some. So to clarify, a stereotype is a held idea or belief that defines particular members of society only with their most visible and common traits. Prejudice on the other hand, is similar but still different, as it is the act of judging a person before you meet them. Hence the word "Prejudice" (Pre-Judge).
The act of having presumed ideas about an individual, in Jake's case, which is him being smart since he is Asian does not appear to be a negative act. However, at its core the act of prejudice and stereotyping is extremely negative as it will strip people of their individuality. Everyone is assigned a set of attributes based on ideas that generalize groups, thus no one is an unique person.
Imagine this, you are Asian and you are struggling with schoolwork. However, your prejudiced teachers decide to put you on the bottom of their priorities because you are assumed to be excellent at studying. You cannot obtain the required assistance in time. and soon enough your find yourself buried in unanswered questions the day before the test. Which you fail as you did not get help. This shows even if stereotypes portray positive traits onto Asians, it does not benefit them necessarily since stereotypes do not care about the unique individual that breaks stereotypes, leaving those individuals who do not conform to the stereotype out.
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