Originally Posted by kane

If you walk around acting like a gangster and dressing in pants that hang down to your ass while talking like Lil Wayne, then you are part of the reason the stereotype exists and people will stereotype you so long as you act that way.

If you dress nice, act nice and are a decent person who is well spoken and treats people with respect, things will be better for you, but it still exists. My friend is a nurse, she doesn't hang around bad people and she herself will admit that many black people play right into the stereotypes, but she still feels the brunt of it partially because many people are either deep down racists (and may not even know it), or they hold a racial bias (and may not even know it), or they are unable to see black people as individuals (and may not even know it).

There is zero reason anyone who meets my friend should assume she is anything but a nice person. She dresses well, has a great job, lives in a nice neighborhood and treats people with respect. She is well spoken and intelligent. If you spend five minutes with her you will see that. Still, many people see her skin color and automatically assume things about her. She can't change the entire community. She is changing it in a passive way by leaving it and not participating in that crap, but there are still plenty of people who will stereotype her simply because they are unable to do anything else.