How many people are harmed because of being judged by others every day? According to Physiology Today website, the reality is that of us misjudge people, often based on what they look like, what they are wearing, or perhaps what they sound like. My objectivity survey revealed that 75 percent of the class or workshop participants responded that they misjudged someone at least once a month or more. The survey also found that 23.4 percent said they misjudged someone based on their appearance two or three times per month; 9.4 percent said once a month; 17.4 percent said two or three times per week; and 4.7 percent said they misjudged someone, simply based on their appearance, every day. People just judge others (peoples) by the way they look without even knowing them. The short story, “identities”, by W.D Valgardson, is about a wealthy man who had not shaven recently and was wearing jeans and a jacket. He decided to go for a drive around the area in his Mercedes Benz. He has traveled into the unknown and outside of his comfort zone. He was lost in a dangerous looking neighborhood. He started to feel fear until he noticed a police officer following him. The man pulled his car over and he got out of his car. The police officer thought he was a thief because he looked rough. The wealthy man believed that the cop would help him. The man went to take out his ID out of his pocket, but it ended up shooting the man as the cop assumed the man was grabbing a gun out of his pocket. The police officer was not justified when he killed the man. The cop judged the man because he was unshaven in blue jeans which represented his mistaken identity categorized. He was an inexperienced and nervous police officer, who ended up shooting the man, with no apparent evidence. The cop didn’t say anything to the man before he shoots the man like put your hands up or anything else. For instance, the police officer could have used other things or methods before he killed the man. “When the inexperienced officer who is nervous because of the neighborhood, who is suspicious because of the car because he has been trained to see an unshaven man in blue jeans as a potential thief and not as a probable owner, orders him to halt, he is surprised.” It is stated that the police officer is inexperienced and was nervous. He has been trained to stereotype by appearance.
The man was completely innocent and was trying to identify himself. He went to grab his ID out of his pocket; however, the inexperienced, nervous cop was quick to stereotype this unshaven man in blue jeans and ended up shooting the man. The police officer was not justified. he was the one who made a wrong move. No one should have the right to judge another’s identity.