When you’re seven years old watching ‘The Lion King,’ you never suspect that those smart-ass hyenas with the annoying laughs and street talk are supposed to represent black people, or that Sebastian the crab in ‘The Little Mermaid’ is supposed to be from Jamaica.

At that age you’re supposed to be searching for laughs and happy endings, instead of noticing that some of your beloved Disney characters portray inaccurate depictions of certain ethnic groups.

But at 19, you notice. I did.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not only bashing Disney for stereotyping races or social groups through the personification of some of its characters. Last week, as I watched ‘Transformers 2’ with my roommate, there was a scene which made me cringe. Two robots were teasing a man and one of them said, ‘We’re gonna bust a cap in yo’ ass.’

My first thought was that I couldn’t believe the way in which blacks were being misrepresented by these jive-talking Decepticons. My second thought was that I couldn’t believe I naturally assumed that those robots were meant to portray blacks.

It’s safe to say that, as children, our perception of different races and social groups comes from what we’re exposed to. If you spent your childhood in America, your first exposure to stereotypes was most likely in front of the television ‘ or watching a Disney movie.

The problem with such early exposure to stereotypes is that those prepackaged notions about ethnic groups stay with us and shape our ideas about race.

What exactly were the creators of ‘Aladdin’ implying about Middle Easterners? Ever notice how Jafar, the villain, looked more ethnic than Aladdin, the underdog hero? How about the mischievous Siamese cats in ‘Lady and the Tramp’ that just happened to appear Asian? What prejudices did Disney want children to develop about Native Americans when they chose to include the ‘Red Man’ song in ‘Peter Pan’?

As kids, we’re not aware of the underlying social commentary we absorb as we watch our favorite Disney hero save the day or watch as the princess finally gets her prince. But now, we can appreciate how overt the prejudices are in a scene like the three black crows (one of them named Jim Crow) teaching Dumbo how to fly.

Thankfully, kids’ perceptions about different races and cultures will alter to some degree through firsthand social experience and education. But the foundation of any lasting prejudices they have most likely derives from exposure to racial insensitivity at a young age.

And no, I’m not anti-Disney. As a matter of fact, some of my favorite Disney films are ‘Pocahontas’ and ‘Hercules.’ I was even Cinderella one Halloween in elementary school. The entertainment and good morals provided by those films are what make them classics that can be enjoyed for generations.

I am suggesting, though, that some of the most iconic children’s films in American history do more than just teach children about the difference between right and wrong and the beauty of being who you are.

Unfortunately, by parents or teachers not addressing the stereotypes that exist in these movies, kids can easily assume that it’s acceptable to believe that Asians are sneaky, or that Arabs are violent and barbaric, or that blacks are not intelligent, or that Native Americans are red savages.

Those stereotypes don’t fade with time. Instead, they are heavily reinforced through all media. At such young ages, kids shouldn’t have to know labels or stereotypes. They should know acceptance.