There is no doubt that, at some point in life, we are all guilty of judging someone before we truly know them. Maybe we judged them based on weight, gender, hair color, clothing style, or maybe even all of these things combined. We were guilty of turning that person into another stereotype. Or maybe we were the ones who received that judgment and maybe we didn't know it. At some point, everyone has most likely been a stereotype in one way or another. “What is a stereotype? Stereotypes are qualities assigned to groups of people related to their race, nationality, and sexual orientation, just to name a few. Because they generalize groups of people in ways that lead to discrimination and ignore diversity within groups, stereotypes should be avoided” (“What is a Stereotype”). There are both positive and negative stereotypes, but both are equally dangerous. All stereotypes, positive or negative, limit the group of people who are assigned a certain set of traits, and let's face it, a human's personality is too complex to be limited to a simple set of three or four traits. A stereotype creates a preconceived idea of ​​how an individual belonging to a certain group should look, act, dress and even speak. A prime example of this would be the very recent events in the Trayvon Martin case. Trayvon Martin was a seventeen-year-old African-American male, described as a criminal. Unfortunately, young black males are already victims of a barrage of negative stereotypes. These young people are labeled as thugs, “gangstas”, threats and criminals. Hip-hop culture has corrupted the image of African American men, especially young men. I personally have a very narrow individual identity…middle of the road, but we deprive ourselves of the opportunity to create new relationships. You never know what someone has to offer until you really take the time to get to know that person. What did you miss? Works Cited Unknown. A fight for Trayvon Martin is a war against stereotypes Unknown. “A fight for Trayvon Martin is a war against stereotypes.” CNN, 2012. Web. February 21, 2014. .Unknown.Ed Koch Quotes at BrainyQuote.comUnknown. "Ed Koch Quotes on BrainyQuote.com." BrainyQuote, 1924. Web. 26 Feb 2014.Nittle, Nadra.What is a Stereotype: Examples and Definition of StereotypesNittle, Nadra. “What is a Stereotype: Examples and Definition of Stereotypes.” 2014. Web. 19 February 2014.