Stereotypes of white Americans
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Stereotypes of European Americans in the United States are misleading generalizations about the character, behavior, or appearance of white Americans by other Americans in the United States. For stereotypes about Americans by people of other nationalities, see Stereotypes of Americans.
As the definition of white Americans has changed over time, so have stereotypes about white people. Different non-white American groups and different nationalities have different stereotypes about white Americans. Historically, stereotypes about white people were more likely to be based on specific ethnicities. Stereotypes of white people also generally tend to fall along class lines, with upper class white Americans being stereotyped as WASPs and lower class white Americans as "rednecks".
White Americans are stereotyped to be greedy, materialistic, racist, terrible dancers, and terrible at basketball.
In the media, White Americans are often stereotyped to be white-collar suburbanites who are middle class or wealthy.[1] White men are often stereotyped as ambitious, arrogant, racist, and uncoordinated. White women are often stereotyped as unintelligent, overly focused on appearance, and sexually available, with the names Becky and Karen sometimes used as pejoratives based on stereotypes of white women.
White Americans are also stereotyped as being privileged, very self-involved, delusional about people other than themselves, and are incapable of comprehending the ways in which minorities and people of color survive. Positive stereotypes of White Americans include that they are intelligent, socially diverse, non-dangerous and unlikely to commit crimes. Negative stereotypes of whites are that they are racist and otherwise prejudiced, and often feel scared or uneasy when around minorities.[2]