In the episode "The Breakup" from the tv series 30 Rock, Toofer, a highly educated and sophisticated African American, looks down on his co-worker, Tracy Jordan, who is a wacked-out, unpredictable movie star, portrays the stereotype of an African American as "ghetto" and gangster, and ignorant. Tracy, most likely faced with self-fulfilling prophecy, confronts Toofer:
Tracy: "I thought writing with you was going to be like two brothers writing together, but we're not even speaking the same language!"
Toofer: "That's right, I'm speaking English."
Tracy: "Come on, who raised you?! Standing there with your pants sat fit, using a wallet, drinking starbucks...where's your heritage? my brother, my homeboy, my ...."
"I think you're ashamed in being black and you're an embarrassment to your community"
Toofer: "You are an embarrassment to me because there are racist people in this world and when they see you act like a fool, they assume that we are all fools!"
This is the definition of steretyping: a generalization about a group of people in which certain traits are assigned to virtually all members of the group, regardless of actual variation among the members. This example also shows that people stereotype even within their own racial groups. They start to believe these stereotypes which then leads them to behave and act according to those views.
-Ashley Lui
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