A video posted to YouTube, on September 22, 2011, has created quite a controversy, spawning an already 100,000 views. The video films a discussion between two students; Gustavus Adolphus College student Phil Cleary and UMD student Blair Jordon Moses. It takes place on September 16, 2011 in front of the Kirby Student Center at the University of Minnesota Duluth campus. The video, clearly edited, shows Cleary being ‘threatened.’
This video demonstrates stereotyping. “Stereotypes ‘are widely held beliefs about a group of people'". From the video’s title, we can easily gather that Cleary believes Moses to be a black panther. Moses is wearing a button containing a picture of the founder of the black panthers and makes a reference to the group, however, he never states he belongs to the group. Cleary makes this assumption. The black panthers are often stereotyped as a violent, terrorist like organization. Therefore, along with the assumption that Moses belongs to the black panthers, comes the assumption that he is violent. Stereotypes tell us that this organization is violent, prejudice tells us that we should be scared of them.
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