By RAEGAN NEUFELD
Tiger Media Network
Photos from last week’s Sorting Out Race Presentation can be found here.
Through a series of presentations and a traveling exhibit, three organizations in Hays hope to spark conversation about racial and cultural stereotypes.
The Fort Hays State University College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences and Department of History and Philosophy collaborated with the Hays Public Library to bring the traveling exhibit “Sorting Out Race” to the library. It features everyday objects found in thrift shops and antique stores that depict and reinforce negative stereotypes of different races and cultures and will be on display until September 29.
“I think it’s important to question our assumptions,” Associate Professor of History Kim Perez said. “We think we understand the world through our viewpoint, and it’s always good to see another viewpoint.”
The latest presentation in association with the exhibit was on Wednesday. Associate Professor of History Marco Macias spoke about harmful Mexican-American stereotypes found in artifacts and pieces of media. He used a number of examples, including photographs, figurines, and comic books. Specifically, he discussed the ‘sleepy Mexican’ stereotype of laziness and portrayals that show the historical figure Pancho Villa as a bandit.
“What comes with those perceptions and also where are these perceptions coming from historically?” he said.
Macias explained that some portrayals of a race or culture are very detached from reality, which can lead to inaccurate perceptions. For example, an old comic book series about Pancho Villa released by a British publisher.
“Kids in England were reading this comic book and creating stereotypes,” Macias said. “Not only about Pancho Villa, but also about Mexicans. Big hats, violent, tropical, native and primitive.”
For Macias, studying the artifacts and media allows for conversations about stereotypes.
“You can insert yourself and try to see how we get to reinforced stereotypes or how these things are coming to us,” he said.
Two more presentations on stereotypes will be coming up in the next month. First, Jeff Tully with the National Park Service will be talking about the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Park at 6 p.m. on September 24 at the Hays Public Library. The second is not officially listed, but Perez announced it on Wednesday. Cornel Pewewardy will be presenting in October about Native American stereotypes that are perpetuated by Native Americans.
For Perez, the most important part of the exhibit and presentations is to get people thinking and talking about stereotypes.
“We are not trying to sell a specific viewpoint, we’re just trying to spark conversation,” she said. “And it’s done that. It’s definitely done that.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.