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stereotypes
Whatever Minh's obersavations about Vietnamese (in this country) may or
may not be accurate. I don't know enough vietnamese people to judge.
Obviously many would agree with him. He is Vietnamese so he should know.
What I observe from many of the responses is that people still don't
understand what a "stereotype"is. It"s the aggregate of characteristics
of a group. They do exist. Does every individual in that group posess
all these characteristics. Of course not. Do most, yes. Those who get
upset about stereotypes are alway pointing to the "exeption". Exeptions
do not make a type. We are all affraid of having to be judge by
stereotypes, especially when they are pejorative. But if we belong to a
group, and we all do, we cannot avoid it. Eg. if I meet a Vietnamese I
may presume he/she speaks Vietnamese. the person may not. But that
doesn't invalidate my presumption. Should I have presumed that the
person would speak Greek? Obviously this is a very limited discussion of
stereotypes. We have to live with the stereotype of the group we belong
to. If we don't carry any of the traits of the group it's or burden to
prove it. We have to expect that others will presume we do.
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