French

Nailah French

Professor Malcolm Campbell

UWRT 1104

9 November 2017

Not to be Racist

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are

endowed by their Creator with unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and

the pursuit of Happiness.

-Thomas Jefferson et al., The Declaration of

Independence

America: the land of the free and the home of the brave. Where, as stated in the

Declaration of Independence, all men are created equal. A brotherhood; where everyone

is entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Yet, historically speaking, America

has never upheld these truths as self-evident. Although the foundation of America

consists of the notion of the American dream, along with freedom and unalienable rights,

the reality is quite different. How could we expect otherwise when declarations of

freedom were drafted whilst slavery existed? The road to true equality, in America, has

been lengthy and tumultuous. Many Americans believe true equality was executed during

the civil rights movement. Nevertheless, is this an actuality? There is the common belief

that racism is an issue of Americas past. Whether it was proven by Civil Rights or

supported by the election of President Barack Obama, many Americans believe that the

truths, proposed by Thomas Jefferson, are a reality. This idea is most supported by white

Americans.
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In a study conducted in a college psychology class in New Jersey, students were

shown a video exploring the prevalence of racial bias (Jane). The video displayed two

young men who were similar in dress, appearance, grooming and speech. They both just

moved to town. Nevertheless, John was white and Glen was black. Video cameras

recorded major discrepancies in their treatment as they conducted the same tasks. When

searching for housing, Glen was told there were no vacancies. Yet, John was given a key

and invited to explore an apartment. At a car dealership, Glen was quoted a higher price

and less favorable financing than John. After the video was watched, the students

discussed their reactions. The African American and Latino students were not surprised

by what they were shown. Asian American students agreed but were less vocal.

Nevertheless, most of the white students reacted differently. Although they

acknowledged the discrepancies between the treatment of John and Glen, they still

believed racism was an issue of the past. They simplified the issue to not visiting enough

agencies. They also blamed the region. Although this issue may occur in America, they

did not believe it was an issue within their community (Jane).

There are constant discrepancies in the perception of racism in America. Racial

debates such as Black Lives Matter, taking a knee, and police brutality floods the news as

of late. In society, there is continuous mismatch between the perceived experiences of

various racial groups. Most noticeably, white Americans and minority groups have

differences of opinions in reference to racial prejudice in America. This may be due to

the differences in experiences. Unaware, white Americans may underestimate the

privilege that they possess solely by being white. Additionally, white Americans may be
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unaware that their truths are not identical to those around them. White Americans; your

reality is different than mine.

My Reality

Despite being self-aware at a young age, I never came face to face with racism. I

was aware that prejudice existed. I was aware that there were people in the world who

disliked me, solely because of the color of my skin. Nevertheless, racism remained a

concept. I was aware, but I was not around it. Racism also had an imaginary face. It was

hateful. It had an expression of disgust, anger, and fear. It was a theory, until it was a

reality. It was an enemy, until it was a friend.

He called my name, loudly, drunkenly. I stopped. What are you doing tonight?

Come to this party with me! I was a little anxious. Although we were friends, I didnt

know his friends and he was already drunk at 9 pm. Where? He named a fraternity.

One I never heard of. But wait. I have to text them and make sure its okay to bring a

black girl. I felt my stance stiffen. My gaze deepened, then softened. Why would you

invite me somewhere without being sure that I was welcome? Why would you go

somewhere that black people may not be welcomed? I yelled at him. I felt sad.

Disrespected. Unwanted. I returned to my room, glad to be in bed. 2 hours later, my

phone lit up. A text, from him. They said it was cool! You should come! The words

sprawled across my screen. I stared. The question would not have been proposed if I were

white. The need for this confirmation would not have existed if I were white. But I am

not. People are unconcerned with my discomfort. He was ignorant to how this situation

made me feel. His priority was to make sure that those in the fraternity were not
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uncomfortable by me. Uncomfortable by my presence. I tried to laugh it off. I couldnt. If

these were the comments said directly to me, what was discussed in my absence?

This would not have occurred if I were white. Or frankly, it would have affected

me differently. Yet, it showed me that the main people who do not see the prevalence of

racism are the ones unaffected by it. The people who claim not to see color are the very

ones asking their friends if they can bring a black woman to their party; the irony.

The Name Game

Racial biases begin with information as trivial as ones name. This bias is

apparent for people of all ages. According to The Huffington Post, students with black-

sounding names are more likely to be labeled by teachers as troublemakers. . Likewise,

job applicants with such names are less likely than white-sounding counterparts for

job interview callbacks. This is in spite of these applicants having essentially

identical resumes. Residents with black-sounding names are also less likely to

receive a response when contacting government officials about schools or public

libraries.

Names also affect how one is presumed to be physically. In a study of

predominantly white participants, men with black-sounding names were imagined

to be physically large. They were also assumed to be dangerous and violent. This

was not the assumption of those with white-sounding names. This phenomenon is

not exclusive to black people. Those with names that indicate Latin descent also had

violent attributions. These expectations mirror the societal fear of black and Latino

men. Nevertheless, this irrationality often tends to cause black and Latino men to be

victims of violence.
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Racial bias also causes an expectation in regards to ones socioeconomic

status. The larger in size a black character was imagined to be, the lower his

financial success and social status were assumed. These characters were also

deemed as more violent. Although white characters could also be imagined as

violent, it did not affect their imagined prestige. Ultimately, there are numerous

ways that racial bias can affect expectations, even when only given minimal

information.

Children Are Biased Too

Children have unconscious biases too. In a video uploaded by CNN, a

interviewer researches the prominence of racial bias in children. The interviewer

shows children various situational images and asks them a series of questions.

These images depict situations between two races. One image is a white teenager

checking her pockets. Behind her, a black teenager is picking money off of the

ground. The interviewer asks the participant a teenage white female-`` to describe

the scenario. The participant states that the girl picking up the money is stealing it.

When asked if the two girls could possibly be friends, the participant responds no.

Not if her parents know about the situation of her stealing the money. They may be

concerned that Erica (the black teenager in the image) is a thief. Another image is

shown. This time, the scenario is depicted in reverse. The white teenager is picking

up the money and the black teenager is checking her pockets. When the interviewer

asks the participant to describe the scenario, the participant responds, I think she is

going to return the money. She looks like a sweet girl. When asked if the participant
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believed that the two teens in the image would be friends, she stated that they

would be.

The participants answers were contradictory to her responses from the

previous image. Nevertheless, the only difference between the images was the role

of the teens. One image, the black teen was picking up the money. The other image,

the white teen was picking up the money. Researchers believe that this

demonstrated unconscious racial bias in children. This trend was true for 24% of

children in this study, despite their race. They tended to see their own race in a

more positive way than the other. This occurred across all ages, all school types,

and all racial backgrounds.

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Works Cited

Baker, Katherine, et al. Racial Bias in Neural Empathic Responses to Pain. Plos One.

12 August 2013. Accessed 7 November 2017.

http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0084

001&type=printable

Connor, Jane. Studying Racial Bias: Too Hot to Handle? National Center for Case

Study Teaching in Science, 28 Jan. 2000, Accessed 7 November 2017.

http://sciencecases.lib.buffalo.edu/cs/files/racial_bias.pdf

Howard, Jacqueline. New Study Confirms Depressing Truth About Names And

Racial Bias. Huffington Post, 8 Oct. 2015, Accessed 7 November 2017.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/black-sounding-names-

study_us_561697a5e4b0dbb8000d687f

Subconscious racial bias in children. YouTube, uploaded by CNN, 6 Apr, 2012,

Accessed 7 November 2017 .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFbvBJULVnc