We want people to become conscious of both their use of derogatory language, as well as society's lingering stereotyping towards people deemed these degrading labels.
#youpeopleproject challenges you now to strip the labels. Strip the labels from your viewpoints, encourage love ones, and create an attitude that judges by character not by one’s associations. By changing an individual’s mindset on the usage of derogatory terms, there can be a chain effect---leading to a world stripped of stereotypes, derogatory languages and assumptions of “you people”.
ABOUT US
THE PROJECT
The #youpeopleproject started as a social experiment, ran by college students at Marymount University, to test the reactions towards derogatory terms. Both to the faces and behind the backs, of people carrying signs with their “fitted” derogatory name. The title #youpeopleproject was chosen due to the quick accusations many make about a group, often with the a finger point and “well, you people…”. During the experiment, we had performers, ranging from a wide diversity, hold signs that said “Hello, I am…(insert “fitting” term)”. We asked participants at the University Ethics Week to write both on our signs adorned on our performers what they either thought of that term or what assumptions came to mind when they hear it about “those kind of people”.
We also had a screen that covered posters with the performers faces and the same term to see what the reactions were by the participants behind the backs of our performers. What was found after the experiment was both reassuring and shocking, but it was concluded that derogatory terms are still present today with harsh connotations attached.
OUR MISSION
The mission for the #youpeopleproject movement is to shine a light on the finger pointing and assumption making that is done towards people who are different from us. Whether these differences are through ethnicities, sexualities, religions, genders and more.
