The present set of works offered for revision shows how each student reflects on the segregation experience he or she used to have in the past. The works are written by students who are not native-born Americans but who either came to the USA to study or were born in the families of ethnical minorities living on its territory for a certain period of time. However, the research connected with these works reveals many exciting findings that are connected with the perception of students as for the origin of stereotypes, the effect of mass media on their formation and the effect they produce on them personally as well as on others surrounding them.
Surely, the central topic of the majority of works is the way ‘aliens’ are treated by the US citizens. Black people speculate over how they are discriminated and segregated by white Caucasians, and Asians integrate both black and white people living in the USA in the single hostile environment they meet in the USA. What is even more interesting, Asians are more susceptible of stereotypes about their welfare because they come to study to the USA and get the full protection and provision of their parents, having good cars and spending much money. The common tendency seen in all works is the investigation of how far the stereotyping can reach and in what spheres of life the respondents notice it.
A stereotype about wealth and welfare can be seen in the relations of Native Indonesians and Chinese-Indonesians, the latter being considered uninvited guests in Indonesia stealing the profit, the wealth and the resources of the country. It is sad to see that some essays are dedicated to the description of violent attacks Indonesians committed, killing Chinese-Indonesian infants for them not to continue the families of Indonesian residents with the Chinese origin. As one can see from this case, Asians are led to violence and massacre due to their prejudice and stereotypes.
Another way to express prejudice that is often seen in the practice of foreigners living in the US is social “anti-locution” – verbal abuse, or alienation and refusal from communication. Too many foreigners living and studying in the USA reported feeling lonely because others tried to keep them at distance without making friends, which was highly painful and uncomfortable for them.
However, the works of students proposed for revision are also highly expressive from the point of view of students’ looking inside their scope of judgments and evaluating the way they form discriminatory evaluations towards other races. Asians may have discriminatory, unfair feelings towards Mexicans or African Americans, African Americans discriminate both white people and Asians etc. Studies and literature offered for analysis enhanced their understanding of stereotypes and helped them explain the nature of discrimination not only as negative practices that they feel from others, but as the practice they also exercise, thus involving them into in-depth considerations on why they emerge and how they can be overcome.
Some students emphasized the negative impact of mass media, movies and sports representation on TV in the formation of fake stereotypes about the strongest, the most skilful sportsmen or people who initially cause suspicion. Others took a deeper look into political, cultural and historical relations of their country and the country from residents of which they feel the most intense discrimination. They turn their attention to gender and race discrimination, social discrimination (as in case of community college education initially considered useless and insignificant) and other types of discrimination that are created at the unconscious level of each individual caused by diverse factors. Nonetheless, two major inferences that are highly valuable in the context of the present discussion are: a) that all of them agree that they are also susceptible to stereotyping, and not only suffer from it but make others suffer as well; b) that they want to make an effort to eliminate the concept of stereotyping in the modern society, realizing that it will make life and interactions of a huge number of people. They feel that the situation can be changed as soon as overall awareness of stereotyping and its negative effect comes to each member of each society.