What are stereotypes? How can they be beneficial? How can they be detrimental? How can we overcome
stereotypes?

A stereotype is a fixed, overgeneralized belief about a particular group or class of people. A key disadvantage of stereotypes is that it makes us ignore differences between individuals; therefore we think things about people that might not be true (i.e. make generalizations).

According to Simply Psychology, we use stereotypes to simplify our social world and reduce the amount of processing (i.e. thinking) we have to do when meeting a new person by categorizing them under a 'preconceived marker' of similar attributes, features, or attitudes that we observe.

Negative stereotypes are harmful to people of color because assumptions, rather than personalized information, can justify the denial of education, employment, housing, and other opportunities. Even so-called positive stereotypes can be harmful.