Stereotypes, Biases, and Segregation for Export : Segregation for Pleasure View Digital Media

Focused Discussion
Jose Montes  

The father of U.S American literature, Mark Twain wrote, “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts.” He could not be more wrong. Twenty-first century international travel appears to be the vastly a segregated event. When White travelers go to Nations of Color, such segregation is evident and harmful to the native populations as well as to White travelers. What is the perception of natives when pockets of White tourists congregate together in “white shelters” in a sea of color? Well-meaning White tourists may be inadvertently spreading their biases, prejudices, and racist views upon the very places they travel. In turn, native populations may also come to perceive Whites as arrogant, racist, and uncaring. This session explores the harmful effects of biases, prejudice of our actions when we travel to nations of color, and what we can do to change such.