We are influenced by our surroundings whether we realize it or not. We are influenced in all different ways and through different mediums, now more than ever. Humans love to be social. We interact with others, read others stories, make comments, and share our own. We want a sense a purpose, we want others to agree, we want to feel accepted and feel apart of society. Through this, however, we have developed and evolved stereotypes. Stereotypes represent artificial qualities and are used to justify actions of discrimination.

In Jimi Hendrix, Alexie brings up many of the stereotypes associated with Native Americans through the eyes of Victor. Victor grew up idolizing his father. He saw his father’s drunken state as “ceremonious” and used humor to explain his father’s war against society. Alexie’s development of Victor helps explain how stereotypes can overshadow one’s true character and cause discrimination against others.

“Indians fight their way to the end, holding onto the last good thing, because our whole lives have to do with survival”.

In the movies, Native Americans are also portrayed as many things, none of which, however, are positive. In Stagecoach, the Native Americans are depicted as evil, barbaric savages. They are evil just waiting to cause hostility for travelers and chase them for no reason. They are barbaric with their use of uncivilized weapons, arrows and spears. They are savages, unwilling and uncaring for their own fallen comrades. Media has continued to promote these stereotypes, reinforcing the exclusion of minorities.

The use of stereotypes is to simplify the truth for our own reasoning. We have neglected looking for ourselves and have learned to blindly trust others. As we continue to perpetuate these fictional ideas in society, we continue to distort the very boundary between truth and fiction.

          We are quick to hear, quick to listen, quick to judge. We have learned to judge on appearance because we have been trained that way. In a world of vast and countless people, we have become machines, constantly analyzing the world around us. If something is different, we have learned to mimic and adapt. In a world, in which the news bombards us with facts and opinions, where society forces conformation, we have become blind to our own opinions and our own sense of reason.

          Fredrick Douglass, in his speech, "The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro," satirizes the American ideals of independence and freedom. Americans boast about their liberty and prosperity. It is then, highly ironic that they continue to stereotype and discriminate, going against the very own values they claim to have. The slavery of African Americans is no exception. 

"America is false to the past, false to the present, and solemnly binds herself to be false to the future."

          Fredrick Douglass, a former slave and abolitionist, is no stranger to these ideas. He asks the citizens why he has been called to speak. He mocks the crowd for having him speak on this day, a day in which he and his brothers are most reminded of the unjust and the sham that is the 4th of July. He questions the argument of his opponents, saying that the proof for men to have a natural right to freedom is common sense, and that any further explanation would "offer an insult to your understanding." Douglass's use of rhetorical questions and self-answers serve as a means to prove the moral hypocrisy of slavery.

            We have lost our sense of self reasoning and evaluation. We are influenced not by ourselves, but by others and their opinions.We need to remind ourselves to think and explore. To evaluate and explain. Only by changing and educating ourselves can we hope to fulfill the ideals of the Deceleration of Independence.