Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
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STEROTYPELAND — Stereotypes can be a dangerous thing. What we may think is normal for other cultures or races may often be our own ignorance. Some stereotypes we know are just mean, hateful and untrue. But others may be from our lack of knowledge or what we’ve seen on TV or film.
We could go down a whole list of stereotypes of people from outside the United States, but do we know about the stereotypes that people from other countries assign to us?
In this video, a number of people who are not from the United States are asked if they can distinguish between an American and another nationality and why Americans are different.
A few of the stereotypes I’m sure some of us have heard before like, “All Americans are fat,” or “they eat a lot of hamburgers.” But a few of the answers surprised me and if I didn’t have my fat-American skin I may have been more offended.
I will give it to the one Korean guy, however; because he was totally right with me, I never carry an umbrella. Seems like a lot of work.
Truth is we don’t need to take offense to this video, but it should be an opportunity to educate ourselves and avoid stereotypes and just treat people as people. Also, maybe it will help us skip our trip to McDonald’s today. And then take the stairs instead of the elevator at work. Maybe.
John has been writing about movies, news, sports and pretty much anything awesome for more than five years. John is the co-host of the Flix Junkies podcast and will always entertain you with his stories. John is an alumnus of both Utah Valley University and BYU. He, his wife and their two children call Salt Lake City home.
