Sunday, February 13, 2011

Sotah 3:3, Question 4:

Consider the quotation from Dickens here. Do minorities have a responsibility in and of themselves to guard their behavior so as not to provoke stereotypes? Or is it the majority's responsibility alone to recognize the disconnect between individual and group?

3 comments:

  1. It should be the responsibility of the majority to recognize the disconnect between individual and group. However,the majority often ignores this responsibility, and since the majority is often prejudiced against various minorities, it becomes the responsibility of the minority to guard their behavior. Because if one member of a minority does something wrong, the majority's prejudice will cause them to generalize and say all members of that minority must also have that same negative trait.

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  2. I think that in theory it is the majorities responsibility recognize when there is a disconnect between an individual and the group, but in reality, it seems that minorities are often judged by one person so for the minorities own sake I believe they should take precautions to guard themselves so they are not stereotyped as something they don't want to be associated with.

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  3. It should not be up to the individual to guard his/her behavior "so as to not provoke streotypes." Racist people should not be catered to. Anti-semetic people should not be catered to. By trying to change your ways, you are showing fear and an unwillingness to act the way you want to act (even if that means acting the same way as certain other people in your race or religion). It should be be up to the majority to recognize the distinction between majority and group. However, this isn't always going to happen.

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