Judging Others by Their Appearance (and our Stereotypes)

• I am 70 years old.
• I am white
• I am a male
• I am a registered Republican
• I’ve been married twice.
• I am a Christian.
• I owned small businesses for 40+ years.
• I live in the suburbs.
• I have a master’s degree from Penn State.
• I have a second home at the beach.

Now – take a moment to think about that information and let me know your thoughts on how our first conversation / meeting might go?  What topics do you feel we need to avoid?  Where might we have some common ground?  Am I a wealthy man?  Do I value money over relationships?  Am I a caring father / grandfather?  Do I vote Republican / Democrat / Independent?  How do I feel about the Civil Rights Movement?   Do I watch Fox, MSNBC, or CNN?  How do I feel about gay marriage? How do I feel about Donald Trump?  How about Elon Musk?  Am I a fan of Barack Obama?  Who are my favorite authors?  

Ok – I could go on and on with my questions but suffice it to say, many of us make a judgement about people well before we get to know them and this might limit our ability to “connect” with them.  Has that ever happened to you?  I can say with certainty, I’ve prejudged people and often been surprised after I’ve had the chance to get to know them.  

Please take a look at the following two videos.  The first video with Morgan Freeman and Mike Wallace is short but powerful.  The second video with Officer Deon Joseph of the LAPD is extremely provocative and brutally honest.

Video 1

I found the following statement by Morgan Freeman to be very insightful and wise in his conversation with Mike Wallace:  “I’m going to stop calling you a white man and I’m going to ask you to stop calling me a black man.  I know you as Mike Wallace and you know me as Morgan Freeman.”

What if we took the time to just get to know each other as people – just another person trying to do what is right?  I think Morgan has something here!

Video 2

Think about Officer Joseph’s first thoughts – he is getting into a police car with a white, tall-6’4”, blond hair, blue eyed officer with a handlebar mustache and he wonders if he was getting into the car with a racist cop – not only a racist cop but a corrupt one as well. The “racists cop’s” final statement to Officer Joseph must have been a real eye-opener. Does the phrase – “don’t judge a book by its cover” come to mind?

I’m not really certain who to attribute the following quote to so… I’ll take credit – “Be careful what you look for because you are certain to find it.”  

Thoughts / Comments

Thanks, Tom