See no evil: Color blindness and perceptions of subtle racial discrimination in the

workplace.

Bryan Hiciano

Rutgers University
 Introduction

Slavery was abolished by the thirteenth amendment in 1865, however slavery left

a trace that hunt minorities as a till this day. Time and time again we see a new form of

slavery surface, such as the Jim Crow era, mass incarceration and the growing

discrimination in the work place. W. E. B. Du-Bois stated, “The slave went free; stood a

brief moment in the sun; then moved back again toward slavery.” The truth of the matter

is that slavery never ended, and continues to manifest itself at large, specially in the work

place. It is clear that despite slavery being abolished a hundred and fifty-four years ago, a

large group of individuals remain with the same racist idealistic believes. Corporate

America is structured to facilitate Non-Hispanic Whites to strive in the workplace while

minorities struggle to get hired, let alone get promoted. It is said that Non-Hispanic

Whites are promoted in the workplace based on potential, while minorities are promoted

based on their hard work.

When the government raises taxes on the rich, the scoundrels simply raise prices

on the products they sell in order for the middle, and lower class to pay for it. This tactic

is famously seen in all many aspects of life including discrimination in the work place. In

1920 to 1933 the prohibition took place in the United States, banning the use, sell,

importation, and transportation of alcohol. During the prohibition the black market

strived, and alcohol was smuggled to the U.S in large amounts. In retrospect, when deep-

rooted issues are outlawed, conniving individuals remain synonymous in their ways, just

in a more discreet manner. Non-Hispanics paint a façade that discrimination does not

exist in the work place, however the racial, and ethnic data tells a different story.

The research article “See no evil: Color blindness and perceptions of subtle racial

discrimination in the workplace” is highly motivated with the intentions to shed light on a
 Introduction

very sensitive topic of the racial unfairness in the work place. The research raises

awareness to the racial disparity in the work place, focusing on the fact that it is not a

coincidence that minorities have a huge disadvantage when it comes to prosperity. The

ambiguous prejudices that takes place in the work place, is ultimately the reason Non-

Hispanic Whites strive much more versus minorities whom occupy most of the lower,

and middle class economy.

The research article employs a theory called micro-aggression, which is when an

incident, interaction, or statement is regarded as ambiguously discriminating against a

minority with the illusion that it was done or said by mistake. The research goes to great

length to prove the discreet discrimination through an individual’s personal view. It is not

a walk in the park to have an individual admit his or her own prejudices, even if it is done

subconsciously. In this research article it is conducted through perceptions of hot racial

topics. Micro-aggression goes in depth depicting how individuals mask their prejudice

believes from small remarks, and actions, to more obvious yet intentionally unobtrusive.

Micro-aggression comes in different levels of discreetness to non-discreteness; these

include micro-invalidations, micro-insults, and micro-assaults.

The research article includes four hypotheses in regards to colorlessness.

Hypothesis number one states that individuals, whose race or ethnicity groups belong to

the minority group, are not colorblind versus those who belong to the majority group of

Non-Hispanic whites. Minority groups include Hispanics, African Americans, and

Asians. Colorblindness refers to the lack of knowledge that a race does not matter and

does not affect individuals. Colorblindness potential hurts the racial disparity apparatus

because it discredits the prejudice phenomenal from existence. Hypothesis two states
 Introduction - Methods

colorblindness has a negative impact on the way that the individual views micro-

aggression in all three forms or levels. Hypothesis three states that individuals who are

colorblind will intervene relationships when there is a dilemma between racial ethnic

groups and non-racial groups in micro-aggression. Hypothesis four states that the

relationship between colorblind attitudes, and micro-aggression perceptions will be very

strong in the most discreet way of discrimination. Hypothesis four also states that it

would be more intense at a micro-insult level, and finally the weakest in the most blatant

micro-assault level.

Participants in the research were undergraduate students from a mid-Atlantic

university. Ninety-five percent of participants were females and their ages ranged from

seventeen to twenty-three years of age. The race, and ethnicity of the participants

included Non-Hispanic White, Asian American/Pacific Islander, Black, Hispanic,

Multiracial, and Other. The research did not disclose the socioeconomic status of the

participants. The research began with three hundred and eighty-seven participants,

however individuals were not able to complete the entire research that was conducted,

and at the end there were three hundred and sixty-two remaining. The research was not a

random sample, but a controlled sample group. The populations used for this research

were young adults.

The factors in the research article included Non-Hispanic White Males with a

supervisory employee position being discriminatory against a particular minority. The

discriminatory action by a Non-Hispanic White male towards a particular minority took

place in in a work place.

 Methods – Results - Discussions

A within-subjects research design was used for the experiment conducted.

Participants involved would be asked to read a serious of questions in regards to different

imaginary scenario interactions that they would have with different race or ethnicity. The

orders of the questions in the experiment were random. Researchers measured the

participants reactions based on a micro-aggression scale invented by highly creditable

professionals in order to attain the participants perception on their prejudice believes.

The results of the research ended up proving all hypotheses right except for minor

details in hypothesis one through three. Hypothesis four ended up not being supported by

the results of the research. The study conducted was very detailed oriented because it

tested all race, and ethnicities to the depicting micro-aggressions taking place in each

level. As predicted the minorities tested in all three levels of micro-aggression did not

show any signs of prejudices. The minor details not supported in the research of the

hypothesis one through three, were racial privilege. Neither one of the hypothesis showed

any signs of racial privilege. Racial privilege is one of the three dimensions of individuals

who show colorblind racial attitudes. Hypothesis two, and three did not show supporting

evidence in the controlled conditions as predicted. The controlled condition is when an

individual is assigned to a particular group, and is then compared to another group; in this

case it would Non-Hispanic whites versus minorities.

One of the major strengths of the research article was how the participants were

fairly young. Age is important because it is believed that there is more diversity in current

times, however we still continue to see racial activities taking place. Strengths in the

research article include how the experiment does not only prove that there are minor

levels of racial activity taking place in the workplace, but blatant racial issues as well.
 Discussions

Micro-aggression levels include racial privilege, institutional discrimination, and blatant

racial issues. Supporting past research is perhaps one of the most impactful occurrences

of the research article. Researchers determining micro-aggression through relevant topics

discussed often in courts, as well as in dinner tables are down right genius. Non-Hispanic

Whites colorblindness was easily discovered through their perception of the hot topic of

English being the first language in the United States for example. There was no surprise

that participants who were not foreign language friendly were less likely to notice micro-

aggressions instances that took place in the work place.

Weaknesses of the research article were the racial privilege aspect of the

colorblindness awareness. Since both Non-Hispanic White groups, and minorities

showed awareness to white privilege, it negated the privilege being a significant support

for micro-aggression. Other weaknesses in the research included not having a different

gender, as well specific socioeconomic level. If a female Non-Hispanic White or different

social economic class were to be included, this could potentially provide more accurate

data. Securing different levels of socioeconomic groups would be beneficial for future

research. Limitations include not having a specific political group to determine if this

would have any affect on the micro-aggression perception. Another limitation would be

to consider research on a Non-Hispanic White individual after being made aware that he

or she is or was being prejudice.

If I were to experiment or have the researchers experiment again, I would like to

do real life scenarios, rather than imaginary ones. Real life reactions are much more

prominent then imaginary ones, because in imaginary scenarios individuals could alter

the truth if they are aware of what they are being tested on. I would then like to compare
 Discussions

the imaginary scenario versus the real life scenario to see if there is validity on the

imaginary scenarios.

One of the major issues in psychology is racial disparity. This research was

extremely beneficial to psychology, because it is more supporting evidence that racial

disparity is very much existent, even amongst millennia’s. It would be very interesting to

know if the individuals who were being prejudice were given any disciplinary action. I

feel that we live in an era where individuals do not take any accountability for their

action. I feel that one of the ways to stop discrimination is by making examples of out

individuals depicting micro-aggressions.

There are not any social policy implications resulting from this research

experiment alone, however there are social implications in place for individuals who are

prejudice. There are discrepancies whether all work places enforce the social implications

placed on individuals who are prejudice. Stronger efforts should be made in order to

assure that individuals take accountability for their prejudice actions.

In retrospect, research like these should be conducted more often. When it comes

to sensitive issues, such as racism, there is never enough evidence; especially when the

problem is still very prominent. This particular research was extremely beneficial to the

racial awareness movement going on, because it supports past research. There is no doubt

that abundance needs to be done in order to solve prejudice in the work place; these

experiments merely scratch the surface.

Reference:

Offermann, L. R., Basford, T. E., Graebner, R., Jaffer, S., De Graaf, S. B., & Kaminsky,

S. E. (2014). See no evil: Color blindness and perceptions of subtle racial

discrimination in the workplace. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority

Psychology, 20(4), 499–507. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0037237.