Project Report

Racism:
Colour based perception of personality

Submitted By:
Name: Abhiraj Singh Rathore
Roll Number: 17167
Name: Adarsh Pandey
Roll Number: 17174
Name: Priyanka Kumar
Roll Number: 17154
 INDEX
1. What is racism?..............................................................................3
2. Aspects of Racism…………………………………………………………………………3
a. Aversive Racism………………………………………………………………….3
b. Color Blindness……………………………………………………………………4
c. Cultural Racism……………………..…………………………………………...4
d. Economics………………………………………………………………….……….4
e. Institutional………………………………………………………………………..4
f. Othering……………………………………………………………………………..5
g. Racial Segregation……………………………………………………………….5
h. Modern……………………………………………………………………………….5
i. Scientific Racism………………………………………………………………….5
3. History of Racism………………………………………………………………………….6
4. Perception of color……………………………………………………………………….7
5. Fighting Racism…………………………………………………………………………….8
6. Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………….…9
7. References …………………………………………………………………………………..10

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What is racism?
Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits
corresponding to physical appearance and can be divided based on the superiority of
one race over another.

It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against other people
because they are of a different race or ethnicity.

Racial ideologies and racial identity affect people’s perception of race and
discrimination.

People often associate racism with acts of abuse or harassment. However, it doesn’t
need to involve violent or intimidating behavior. Take racial name-calling and jokes. Or
consider situations when people may be excluded from groups or activities because of
where they come from.

Racism can be revealed through people’s actions as well as their attitudes. It can also be
reflected in systems and institutions. But sometimes it may not be revealed at all. Not all
racism is obvious. For example, someone may look through a list of job applicants and
decide not to interview people with certain surnames.

Racism is more than just words, beliefs and actions. It includes all the barriers that
prevent people from enjoying dignity and equality because of their race.

Racism can result in a range of behavior which lies on a continuum from disliking
someone because of their perceived different “race” to the ultimate evil of racist
behavior - genocide, the destruction of a people. On this continuum lie verbal and
written abuse and incitement of others to similar behavior, harassment designed to
insult or intimidate and physical violence against those perceived to be different.

Aspects of Racism
1. Aversive Racism :- Aversive racism is a form of hidden racism, in which a person's
unconscious negative evaluations of racial minorities are realized by a constant
avoidance of relations with other racial groups. As opposed to traditional, obvious
racism, which is characterized by obvious hatred for and overt discrimination against
racial/ethnic minorities, aversive racism is characterized by more complex, ambivalent
expressions and attitudes.

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 It describes the subtle racial behaviors of any ethnic or racial group who rationalize their
aversion to a particular group by appeal to rules or stereotypes.
People who behave in an aversively racial way may profess egalitarian beliefs, and will
often deny their racially motivated behavior; nevertheless they change their behavior
when dealing with a member of another race or ethnic group than the one they belong
to. The motivation for the change is thought to be implicit or subconscious. Experiments
have provided empirical support for the existence of aversive racism. Aversive racism
has been shown to have potentially serious implications for decision making in
employment, in legal decisions and in helping behavior.

2. Color blindness :- In relation to racism, color blindness is the disregard of racial

characteristics in social interaction, for example in the rejection of affirmative action, as
a way to address the results of past patterns of discrimination. Critics of this attitude
argue that by refusing to attend to racial disparities, racial color blindness in fact
unconsciously perpetuates the patterns that produce racial inequality.

3. Cultural racism :- Cultural racism manifests as societal beliefs and customs that
promote the assumption that the products of a given culture, including the language
and traditions of that culture, are superior to those of other cultures. Cultural racism
exists when there is a widespread acceptance of stereotypes concerning different
ethnic or population groups.

4. Economics :- Historically economic and social disparity between races or ethnic

groups is because of racism caused by past racism and historical reasons which affects
present generation through decrease in formal education and less educated generation
remain poor due to unemployment and it creates a racial view the whole race or ethnic
group is poor. In both sociology and economics, the outcomes of racist actions are often
measured by the inequality in income, wealth, net worth, and access to other cultural
resources (such as education), between racial groups.

5. Institutional :- Institutional racism is racial discrimination by governments,

corporations, religions, or educational institutions or other large organizations with the
power to influence the lives of many individuals. It is the collective failure of an
organization to provide an appropriate and professional service to people because of
their colour, culture or ethnic origin.

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6. Othering :- Othering is the term used by some to describe a system of discrimination
whereby the characteristics of a group are used to distinguish them as separate from
the norm. Othering plays a fundamental role in the history and continuation of racism.
To objectify a culture as something different, exotic or underdeveloped is to generalize
that it is not like 'normal' society.
7. Racial segregation :- Racial segregation is the separation of humans into socially-
constructed racial groups in daily life. It may apply to activities such as eating in a
restaurant, drinking from a water fountain, using a bathroom, attending school, going to
the movies, or in the rental or purchase of a home. Segregation is generally outlawed,
but may exist through social norms, even when there is no strong individual preference
for it.

8. Symbolic/Modern :- Some scholars argue that earlier violent and aggressive forms of
racism have evolved into a more subtle form of prejudice in the late 20th century. This
new form of racism is sometimes referred to as "modern racism" and it is characterized
by outwardly acting unprejudiced while inwardly maintaining prejudiced attitudes,
displaying subtle prejudiced behaviors such as actions informed by attributing qualities
to others based on racial stereotypes, and evaluating the same behavior differently
based on the race of the person being evaluated.

This view is based on studies of prejudice and discriminatory behavior, where some
people will act ambivalently towards black people, with positive reactions in certain,
more public contexts, but more negative views and expressions in more private
contexts. This ambivalence may also be visible for example in hiring decisions where job
candidates that are otherwise positively evaluated may be unconsciously disfavored by
employers in the final decision because of their race.

9. Scientific racism :- The modern biological definition of race developed in the 19th
century with scientific racist theories. The term scientific racism refers to the use of
science to justify and support racist beliefs, which goes back to the early 18th century,
though it gained most of its influence in the mid-19th century, during the New
Imperialism period. These racist theories put forth on scientific hypothesis were
combined with unilineal theories of social progress, which postulated the superiority of
the European civilization over the rest of the world. These early theories guided pseudo-
scientific research assumptions; the collective endeavors to adequately define and form

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 hypotheses about racial differences are generally termed scientific racism, though this
term is a misnomer, due to the lack of any actual science backing the claims.
The UN Convention further concludes that superiority based on racial differentiation is
scientifically false, morally condemnable, socially unjust and dangerous. The Convention
also declared that there is no justification for racial discrimination, anywhere, in theory
or in practice.

History of racism
Following Germany’s defeat in World War I, that country’s deeply ingrained anti-
Semitism was successfully exploited by the Nazi Party, which seized power in 1933
and implemented policies of systematic discrimination, persecution, and eventual mass
murder of Jews in Germany and in the territories occupied by the country during World
War II .

In North America and apartheid-era South Africa, racism dictated that different races

(chiefly blacks and whites) should be segregated from one another; that they should
have their own distinct communities and develop their own institutions such as
churches, schools, and hospitals; and that it was unnatural for members of different
races to marry.

Racism was at the heart of North American slavery and the colonization and empire-
building activities of western Europeans, especially in the 18th century. The idea of race
was invented to magnify the differences between people of European origin and those
of African descent whose ancestors had been involuntarily enslaved and transported to
the Americas. By characterizing Africans and their African American descendants as
lesser human beings, the proponents of slavery attempted to justify and maintain the
system of exploitation while portraying the United States as a bastion and champion of
human freedom, with human rights, democratic institutions, unlimited opportunities,
and equality. The contradiction between slavery and the ideology of human equality,
accompanying a philosophy of human freedom and dignity, seemed to demand the
dehumanization of those enslaved.

Racism has played a role in genocides such as the Holocaust, the Armenian genocide,
and genocide of Serbs, and colonial projects including the European colonization of the
Americas, Africa, and Asia as well as the Soviet deportations of indigenous minorities.
Indigenous peoples have been—and are—often subject to racist attitudes.

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 By the 19th century, racism had matured and spread around the world. In many
countries, leaders began to think of the ethnic components of their own societies,
usually religious or language groups, in racial terms and to designate “higher” and
“lower” races. Those seen as the low-status races, especially in colonized areas, were
exploited for their labor, and discrimination against them became a common pattern in
many areas of the world. The expressions and feelings of racial superiority that
accompanied colonialism generated resentment and hostility from those who were
colonized and exploited, feelings that continued even after independence.

Since the mid-20th century many conflicts around the world have been interpreted in
racial terms even though their origins were in the ethnic hostilities that have long
characterized many human societies (e.g., Arabs and Jews, English and Irish). Racism
reflects an acceptance of the deepest forms and degrees of divisiveness and carries the
implication that differences between groups are so great that they cannot be
transcended.

Racism elicits hatred and distrust and precludes any attempt to understand its victims.
For that reason, most human societies have concluded that racism is wrong, at least in
principle, and social trends have moved away from racism. Many societies have begun
to combat racism by raising awareness of racist beliefs and practices and by promoting
human understanding in public policies, as does the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, set forth by the United Nations in 1948.

Perception of Color
Many recent researches suggest that people do have a proclivity to perceive someone
with darker skin as more likely to have committed an immoral act. I am going to talk
about research by professor Adam Alter of New York University, he named
this tendency as “bad is black” effect, he conducted six studies showing a link between
skin tone and perceptions of whether a person committed a criminal act.

In two initial studies, the researchers specifically looked at whether the media tends to
run darker photographs of celebrities and politicians when writing about their
transgressions. They created algorithms to identify this kind of trait. After statistically
controlling for the ratings of quality of the image, the researchers discovered a
relationship between the written content of an article and the skin tone in the
accompanying photograph: Articles containing negative content were more likely to
appear alongside darker colored photographs. In another study, the researchers

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 replicated these with a set of news articles about politicians. This research also gave the
same result.

The researchers demonstrated this psychological link between darkness and badness by
running several experiments where participants were asked to choose between
headshots to identify a perpetrator. The researchers found that participants who held
more negative attitudes towards darker skinned minorities, such as African Americans,
were more likely to choose the darker photograph when asked who committed the
immoral act. This finding in itself is perhaps unsurprising. Even after statistically
controlling for participants’ racial attitudes, the researchers found that participants who
thought the man who committed the immoral act had a darker colored soul were also
more likely to think he had darker colored skin. In other words, dark skin was associated
with evil in the minds of people who saw a link between darkness and badness.

Although psychologists have known for a long time that people associate dark skin with
negative personality traits, this research shows that the reverse is also true: when we
hear about an evil act, we are more likely to believe it was done by someone with
darker skin. This “bad is black” effect may have its roots in our deep-seated human
tendency to associate darkness with wickedness. These mental associations between
color and morality may negatively bias us against people with darker skin tones. If this is
true, it has far-reaching implications for our justice system. For example, eye witnesses
to crimes may be more likely to falsely identify suspects who possess darker skin.

Overall, the “bad is black” effect only underscores the importance of finding ways to
combat the various ways that our inherent biases can influence perceptions of guilt and
innocence. Understanding the extent of these biases, as well as what may be causing
them, represents an important first step.

Fighting Racism
INSTITUTE LEVEL: Though many countries around the globe have passed laws related to
race and discrimination, the first significant international human rights instrument
developed by the United Nations (UN) was the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
(UDHR), which was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948. The UDHR
recognizes that if people are to be treated with dignity, they require economic rights,
social rights including education, and the rights to cultural and political participation and
civil liberty. It further states that everyone is entitled to these rights "without distinction

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 of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion,
national or social origin, property, birth or other status".

In December 1960, following incidents of anti-Semitism in several parts of the world, the
United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution condemning "all manifestations
and practices of racial, religious and national hatred" as violations of the United Nations
Charter and Universal Declaration of Human Rights and calling on the governments of all
states to "take all necessary measures to prevent all manifestations of racial, religious
and national hatred". In 1963 ICERD was adopted by United Nations. To read the articles
of CERD follow https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/cerd.aspx .

In their 1978 United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
Declaration on Race and Racial Prejudice (Article 1), the UN states, "All human beings
belong to a single species and are descended from a common stock. They are born equal
in dignity and rights and all form an integral part of humanity."

After various protests by the victims of racism all over the world, almost every country
made amendments in their laws to protect the interest of every race. But all these laws
are only to stop people from expressing racial views freely. But this doesn’t mean
people don’t have those views, they are just more precautious now, they do not show
these views in public and hence racism evolved. It took a more subtle form. Now we
need to make amendments on individual level.

INDIVIDUAL LEVEL: Changing the perception in peoples mind associated with other
races (mainly darker skin colored) is one of the main steps to extinguish racism. But it
cannot be achieved by force. Enforcing laws forcefully is only a initial solution, for
complete annihilation of racism mentality it is required that the people do it willingly.
For that to happen the community need to be educated on the negative effect of racism
on society’s development. Teaching the suffering community to deal with people with
racist mentality. And most important and basic step educating the community on what
actions are considered racist and what actions can hurt people of other community and
who to avoid these actions.

Conclusion
Since the early days of modern civilization, the societies with more development and
resources tried to rule other societies establishing their power over others. This
tendency of ruling others and conquering other civilization developed a mentality of
superiority among the people of more developed societies. This feeling of superiority

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 created a class difference between peoples that give birth to the practice of racism. Due
to this practice of racism the class difference goes on increasing between people. This
mentality hinders the progress of modern world where every community wants to live
in harmony.

To exterminate this mentality of racism every country is developing new rules for safety
of victim community, United Nations is developing new policies to fight racism. But
there is still long way to cover before this world can me racism free.

After going through exhausting list of research going on to fight racism, I can conclude
that slowly every country government and organization is coming together to fight
racism but still we have a long way to go. When the governments are trying to fight
racism on their level we need to raise our voices on ground level. From educating
people on negative effect of racism to stopping people from doing such practices. Only
awareness can eliminate racism completely.

References
https://www.childline.org.uk/info-advice/bullying-abuse-safety/crime-law/racism-racial-
bullying/

https://www.ipl.org/essay/Persuasive-Essay-On-Racism-PKQUYJBHEACP6

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racism

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Convention_on_the_Elimination_of_All_Form
s_of_Racial_Discrimination

https://theconversation.com/global/topics/racism-332

https://itstopswithme.humanrights.gov.au/about-racism

http://www.multiculturalaustralia.edu.au/doc/mmateam_8.pdf

https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/race-discrimination

https://www.forgov.qld.gov.au/unconscious-biases

https://www.adl.org/racism

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6LxuFpDIYM

https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4899-0818-6_4

https://www.britannica.com/topic/racism

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https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-bad-is-black-effect/

https://nextcity.org/daily/entry/why-black-neighborhoods-are-valued-less-than-other-
neighborhoods

https://www.un.org/en/letsfightracism/

https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/cerd.aspx

https://www.ohchr.org/documents/publications/dimensionsracismen.pdf

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