I graduated from Shafter High School. Admit it, that statement filled your brain with stereotypes. I am not a farmer. My family isn’t in the farming business, and I have never worked on one. I do, however, come from Mexican descent.
People are definitely stereotyped by the high school they attended and by the part of the county they grew up in. I know that many people think Shafter consists of illegal Mexican farmers and farm workers.
When I think of high schools and stereotypes, the first school that comes to mind is North High.
I think North and the Oildale area have the strongest association with stereotype.
When someone says they are from Oildale, people assume they live in a trailer, or have broken-down cars in their yard, and are probably missing a few teeth.
The area consists mostly of Caucasian people.
If you take a drive through this part of town, many of the stereotypes are backed up, and that is why this is probably the first stereotype to come to mind.
When someone says he or she graduated from Garces, most people would probably think that that person’s family was rich or religious.
After meeting people from the school, I found most of them aren’t any more religious than other students from other schools, and they aren’t always rich.
The stereotypes go on and on. If you attended East High, people would assume you are Mexican; if you attended South High, people assume you are black.
When first attending BC, many people know of the stereotypes of the different schools and bring those prejudices with them, but when actually getting to school and meeting new people, we find the people that grew up around here have a lot of things in common.
You expect people to act a certain way when they tell you what school they attended, and then you find they have the same interests as you or other people you know.
The stereotypes continue on through every school, from Delano to South High.
Growing up, and especially when attending high school, I heard these things a lot, particularly when playing sports against certain teams.
People assume Shafter or Delano would be good at soccer.
They assume North will be good at baseball, Garces at tennis, and South at basketball, and, well you get the picture.
These stereotypes usually turn out to be kids having fun, making jokes.
They are funny, and people should receive them as jokes.
I don’t get offended when I hear the ideas people have of Shafter.
They entertain me, and I usually share a couple of stereotypes I’ve heard with them.