Don't be mad cause I'm doing me better than you're doing you

As a human being, one of the things we instinctively do is judge. Although it's offensive to make inferences on a person you don't even know, I'm guilty of this, and sometimes I can't help myself to jump to conclusions based on someone's first impression. Physical appearance- skin color, height, weight, stance- are all used as "clues" into trying to decipher who somebody is on the inside. Sometimes I decide if a person looks "mean" or "nice" just by the way their features are arranged on their face. These preconceived notions distort reality for all of us. Although we try and save all our judgement for ourselves- evaluating our own abilities and limitations,-we always have that thought in the back of our heads like "I bet that asian kid beat me on the math test" or "I bet that black guy will beat me in this race". Stereotypes are stereotypes for a reason however, in that they're not true for a majority of their subject. Like any longstanding belief, its unfair to say that stereotypes don't have strong foundations. However, it is unfair to believe Sherman Alexie was going to grow up and become and alcoholic just because he was a "dang Indian". It's also unfair to determine that a college-educated professional journalist is a "mugger, a rapist, or worse" solely by the color of his skin. Prejudiced notions of other human beings have existed in our society from the beginning, but that doesn't mean it shouldn't end anytime soon.