America is a country where you can find incredible diversity, but also racial and cultural prejudices. In their time as international students, our bloggers have confronted stereotypes about their own country and had their own preconceptions about other countries challenged.
Like we did last year, and earlier this year, a bunch of us hopped on the phone over the weekend to chat about whatever was on our mind about studying in the U.S. But this time, the conversation turned in particular to racial and ethnic issues, driven by this question that we received on our Facebook page:
What is your view to the relationship between Asian students and black American students?
We ended up having a wide-ranging discussion about stereotypes and prejudices – both the ones we’ve encountered and the ones we hold ourselves. In particular, Simba and Alex discussed the negative or uninformed perception of Africans in America, and the responsibility of African students to help change the narrative.
Take a listen and then share your own opinion. What stereotypes have you had to confront about people from your country? Have you ever had your own misconceptions about another culture challenged?