Racism:

1
Racism

• Old-Fashioned and Contemporary Forms of Racism

2
What is Race?

• Race is a relatively recent concept.
• Modern notion of race appeared in 1700s and
  increased in use with European colonization.
• Race is a social category, not a biological
  category.
• There is more genetic variation WITHIN each
  race than between them.
• It still remains a fundamental basis for how
  people think about others.

3
Old-Fashioned Racism

• Old-fashioned Racism
• Based on belief in the biological inferiority of
  Black people
• Involves stereotypes of low intelligence,
  laziness, etc.
• Open hatred and feelings of superiority are shown
  by racist.

4
Measuring Old-Fashioned Racism

• Items from old-fashioned racism scale
• It was wrong for the United States Supreme Court
  to outlaw segregation in its 1954 decision.
• If a Black family with about the same income and
  education as I have moved next door, I would mind
  it a great deal.
• Black people are generally not as smart as
  Whites.

5
How Has Racism Changed?

• Racism continues to exist, but in a more subtle
  form than that seen in the past.
• How do we know?
• Lingering cultural stereotypes
• Bogus pipeline research
• Physiological and implicit cognition measures
• Assessments of behavior
• Self-reports of behavior
• Experiences of members of minority groups

6
How Has Racism Changed?

• Why do we see nonracist survey responses but
  racist behaviors?
• Change in racial attitudes and acceptance of
  prejudice since WWII.
• Prior to the war, Jim Crow racism existed.
• After the 1954 Supreme Court decision in Brown v.
  Board of Education and the Civil Rights Act of
  1964, racism changed from being normal to being
  bad.

7
How Has Racism Changed?

• Why do we see nonracist survey responses but
  racist behaviors?
• BUT people continue to learn prejudiced beliefs
  through socialization.
• Negative stereotypes and feelings still exist in
  American culture in the form of implicit
  prejudices.

8
Theories of Contemporary Racism

• Three propositions shared by theories of
  contemporary racism
• Americas social norms now support the principle
  of equality for all.
• Not everyone has accepted this norm to the same
  degree.
• Even those people who have not yet fully accepted
  the norm are motivated to act in nonprejudiced
  ways.

9
Modern-Symbolic Racism

• Modern-symbolic racism
• These beliefs portray Black people as morally
  inferior to White people because Black people
  supposedly violate traditional (White) American
  values.
• Rooted in cultural stereotypes of outgroups and
  cultural values rather than in peoples direct
  experiences with members of those groups.
• Avoids blatant derogation of outgroups.

10
Modern-Symbolic Racism

• Modern racists do not consider themselves racist
  for two reasons
• They consider only old-fashioned racism to be
  racism.
• Their subtle negative feelings toward Blacks are
  disguised in order to prevent dissonance
  associated with conflict between their prejudice
  and egalitarian values.

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Themes of Modern-Symbolic Racism

• Five themes of these racist beliefs
• Racial prejudice and discrimination no longer
  exist.
• Any remaining Black-White differences in economic
  outcomes result from Black peoples lack of
  motivation to work hard enough.
• Because Black people are unwilling to work to get
  what they want, their continuing anger over
  inequality is unjustified.
• Rather than working to get ahead, Black people
  seek special flavors.
• 5. Relative to White people, Black people have
  been getting more than they deserve economically.

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Psychological Bases of Modern-Symbolic Racism

• Five factors underlying this racism
• Mild to moderate anti-Black emotions
• Acquired through socialization
• Belief in traditional values
• Hard work, individualism, self-reliance,
  self-restraint, etc.

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Psychological Bases of Modern-Symbolic Racism

• 3. Low outcome-based egalitarianism
• Egalitarianism a value system that reflects the
  belief that all people are equal and should be
  treated identically.
• People with modern-symbolic prejudice reject
  equality of outcome and endorse equality of
  opportunity.

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Psychological Bases of Modern-Symbolic Racism

• Group self-interest
• People promote their ingroup interests and
  respond negatively to perceived threats to
  ingroup welfare.
• Little personal knowledge of Blacks
• Have little opportunity to get to know Black
  people as individuals, so stereotypes continue.

15
Measuring Modern Racism

• Items from modern racism scale
• Blacks have more influence upon school
  desegregation plans than they ought to have.
• Blacks are getting too demanding in their push
  for equal rights.
• Over the past few years Blacks have gotten more
  economically than they deserve.
• Over the past few years the government and news
  media have shown more respect to Blacks than they
  deserve.

16
Measuring Symbolic Racism

• Items from symbolic racism scale
• Its really a matter of some people not trying
  hard enough if Blacks would only try harder they
  could be just as well off as Whites.
• Irish, Italian, Jewish and many other minorities
  overcame prejudice and worked their way up.
  Blacks should do the same.
• Over the past few years, Blacks have gotten less
  than they deserve.
• Over the past few years, Blacks have gotten more
  economically than they deserve.

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Subtle Racism

• An outgrowth of modern-symbolic racism.
• Encompasses prejudice toward a variety of groups,
  not just Black Americans.
• Those with subtle prejudice strongly endorse the
  traditional values of their cultures.
• Exaggerate cultural differences leads to the
  belief that minority group members could never
  adopt or coexist with the majority culture.

18
Thought Paper 2

• Due start of class on Tues, Feb 26
• Topic Exercise in Reducing Prejudice
• Describe an original suggestion for reducing
  prejudice in everyday life
• Describe the prejudice you would target for
  reduction.
• Use course concepts to suggest a way to reduce
  it.
• How could you assess effectiveness of your
  suggestion?
• 3 pages max, double-spaced, 1-inch margins,
  12-point font no electronic submissions

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Aversive Racism

• A form of prejudice in which people feel
  uncomfortable with interacting with members of
  minority groups.
• People who experience aversive prejudice avoid
  contact with minority groups.
• Try to be polite when they do have contact with
  members of minority groups.

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Characteristics of Aversive Racism

• Aversive racism is similar to modern-symbolic
  racism in that
• Aversive racists truly believe in equality but
  retain implicit negative feelings toward minority
  groups.
• These negative feelings are usually low key
  (e.g., discomfort, uneasiness).
• Aversive racism postulates that White people
  absorb implicit negative attitudes toward
  minority groups while they are growing up.

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Characteristics of Aversive Racism

• Aversive racism differs from modern-symbolic
  racism in that aversive racists
• Reject the racialized traditional beliefs and
  support equality-enhancing social programs.
• Are more strongly motivated to see themselves as
  unprejudiced.
• Prefer to avoid most interracial contact.

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Psychological Bases of Aversive Racism

• Three factors underlying this racism
• Human predisposition to cognitive categorization
• Motivational need to control their environment
• The socialization of two sets of incompatible
  values
• Implicit prejudice in the form of negative
  stereotypes and emotions associated with minority
  groups
• Genuine belief in the American ideals of racial
  fairness, justice, and equality

23
Ambivalent Racism

• Postulates
• White Americans genuinely accept the principles
  of racial equality.
• Many White Americans have developed genuinely
  positive attitudes toward Black people, as well
  as lingering negative attitudes.
• Seeing Black people as having both positive and
  negative characteristics results in ambivalent
  attitudes and behavior.

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Ambivalent Racism

• Sources of ambivalent racial attitudes
• Two sets of American values
• Individualism
• Egalitarianism
• White peoples beliefs about Black people
• Black people are both deviant and disadvantaged.

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Conflict between Opposing Values

• When people become aware of inconsistent feelings
  toward minority groups, their ambivalent
  attitudes can affect their behavior.
• Conflict between individualism and egalitarianism
  threatens self-image.
• People reduce this threat by behaving in a way
  that makes one value seem more important than the
  other.

26
An exercise Which racism type best fits each
description?
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What kind of racism?

• Harold thinks of himself as an accepting person.
  He regularly contributes money to the American
  Civil Liberties Union because they are such good
  advocates for equality for all people. However,
  when Harold chose his house, he was careful to
  find a predominately White neighborhood and
  joined local social organizations whose members
  were similar to him. He would be very upset if
  one of his children married a person of another
  race.
• Aversive racism

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What kind of racism?

• Bill simply doesnt believe that Blacks today are
  discriminated against. He is sure that Blacks who
  work hard earn a good salary and that lazy Blacks
  get the pay they deserve. Bill is sure that the
  reason he has not been promoted to supervisor is
  because his company has a quota system that
  favors Blacks and other minorities over Whites.
• Modern-symbolic racism

29
What kind of racism?

• Marta believes that political correctness has
  gone too far and that everyone knows Blacks
  should have been kept in their place. She would
  prefer her children attended segregated schools
  and believes that Blacks simply dont have the
  same abilities as Whites.
• Old-fashioned racism

30
What kind of racism?

• Julie thinks of herself as an accepting person
  and readily admits that Blacks have been
  disadvantaged in many ways. She strongly believes
  that when tax dollars go to support the poor, it
  is money well spent and helps level the playing
  field. Yet, at the same time, Julie cant
  understand why Blacks dont try a little harder
  to fit in. She dislikes hip hop, for example, and
  thinks that those artists set a bad example for
  younger people by both their dress and their
  manner. She gets uncomfortable, however, when her
  daughter points out that such beliefs are
  incompatible with a tolerant perspective.
• Ambivalent racism