Hello everyone,
Evelyn here,
Below is a continuation on the study of racism and it many form here in America. I have no words of my own to add this because to author as unknown he/she appears to be has expressed the subject that has oppress and unfortunately still oppressing many today.
As an add note I believe that our local PD is appear of my venturing into this study. If so, I am not intimidated by their presence. Also, I believed that those individuals, who some gone out of their way the harass me and my family these past years, could benefit from this study in that they will see the scope of the injustice they place d upon me, my family and this community as a whole through the blindness of their animosity.
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A Historic Take on Racism in America
Author Unknown
Historically, racism and sexism in America has strongly influenced:
Economic and Educational Opportunities
Where one could live
Whom one could socialize with
Voting rights and political expression
Although obvious forms of discrimination have decreased over the last fifty years, subtle forms of prejudice and discrimination still exist.
Public sentiment and private behavior often conflict.
For example, Rogers & Prentice-Dunn (1981) had students in a behavior-modification experiment shock a confederate of the experimenter. The confederate was either Caucasian or African-American, and either acted pleasantly toward the subject or insulted them. The subjects in the experiment were all Caucasians.
When the confederate insulted the subject prior to the experiment, they "shocked" African-American confederates at a higher level than Caucasian confederated.
When the African-American confederate was not insulting, they were less aggressive toward them than a white confederate.
The Roots of Prejudice
Social Sources of Prejudice:
Unequal status breeds prejudice: prejudices are traditionally used to maintain the status quo.
Social Conflict (Wars & Economic Hardship) can breed prejudice. (Scapegoating)
The impact of Discrimination: A Self-fulfilling prophecy
Allport (1958) in his book, The Nature of Prejudice, identified two major responses of people who are victimized by discrimination:
1. They can blame external causes (hatred and racial intolerance) and promote self and group image.
2. They can blame themselves and their own group (internalizing the prejudice attitudes)
Word, Zunna, & Cooper (1974) experimented how self-fulfilling prophecy can contribute to discrimination.
Caucasian Princeton males interviewed African-American and Caucasian applicants for a job:
When the job applicant was African-American:
Interviewers sat farther away (greater social distance)
Ended the interview 25% sooner (less social chit-chat)
Made 50% more speech errors (indicating nervousness)
Next, they trained other confederates to act similarly in job interviews with prospective Caucasian employees.
Those interviewed by these "specially trained" confederates reported that they felt the interview went poorly, and rated their chance of getting the job as being low.
Ingroup and Outgroup Effects
We are prone to like people who are similar to ourselves.
Ingroup : "US" Outgroup: "Them"
Conformity:
When a prejudice becomes established as a cultural norm, it takes a great amount of energy to dislodge it.
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When a prejudice becomes established as a cultural norm, it takes a great amount of energy to dislodge it. Both women’s fight for suffrage and the Civil Rights movement demonstrates how the status quo can only be changed by large scale involvement of a sizeable portion of the population.
The fight to eradicate racism and sexism is a long term struggle.
To continue.
Evelyn Out.
