Stereotypes, Conformity, And Discrimination - 1742 Words

Prejudices and Discrimination in American History X Abstract Stereotyping, prejudice, conformity, and discrimination are well portrayed in the movie American History X. The negative attitude held by Derek towards to black people is greatly influenced and learned from his father who was a racist. Derek also transfers these prejudice attitudes towards his younger brother Danny as he grows up seeing the racism practiced in his family and his brother. Although these attitudes are based on propaganda, the two brothers conform to them and even join the Nazi group that holds similar ethnocentrism beliefs. This affirms and fuels the supremacist attitude, but unfortunately, it also leads to negative consequences in their lives. Derek murders an†¦show more content†¦In this paper, the prejudice, discrimination, and stereotyping will be analyzed in reference to American History X. Analysis The theme of prejudice, stereotyping, and discrimination in American History X is well conveyed b y the actions and attitudes of most of the main characters towards the minority groups and most specifically, the people of color. The main character in the movie is Derek Vinyard, and his white supremacist nature is highly influenced by his father views toward the people of color. The movie is full of terrible and dark scenes as well as violence, most of which is practiced by Derek based on propaganda. Derek’s father influenced Derek’s view of the black people since he was a kid by talking about the black communication in a negative view (American History X, 1998). As a result, Derek’s mind created a bad, negative image of the blacks in the United States. After a black addicted guy caused the death of his father, Derek hate for the black people became reaffirmed, and he became a member of the Neo-Nazi. The Neo-Nazi members held an ethnocentrism thought against the black people as they came from different cultural origins. This helped to build their prejudice, r acism, and discrimination against them. Ethnocentrism refers to the belief that one’s culture and values are superior to that of other people. This exemplifies the white supremacist belief of the Neo-Nazi led by Derek. For instance, aShow MoreRelatedSocial Psychological Concepts in the Movie Mean Girls Essay760 Words   |  4 Pagessocial-psychological principals depicted in Mean Girls are prejudice, discrimination, and conformity. According to Social Psychology and Human Nature textbook, written by Baumeister and Bushman, prejudice is a negative feeling toward an individual bases solely on his or her membership in a particular group. Discrimination is unequal treatment of different people based on the groups or categories to which they belong. Lastly, conformity is defined as getting along with the crowd. 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