| KSig RC |
06-25-2008 04:23 PM |
Quote:
Originally Posted by DSTCHAOS
(Post 1672699)
I agree with your general assertion however "racial bias" is a weighted phrase.
A less loaded way of conveying the point is that 100% of humans subconsciously and consciously have preconceived notions, stereotype, and have biases that coincide with whatever categorical distinctions there are in their culture.
As an aside: Stereotypes and prejudgments like "Asians are smarter" and "blacks can dance" aren't positive and harmless, although people assume them to be.
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Agreed completely, and mostly my point - we've strayed from the real meaning of "bias" to the point where apparently we now think it's "overt prejudice or racism." Especially to the aside - there are dozens of examples in that light.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DSTCHAOS
(Post 1672699)
There have been no studies that have found that this is natural.
The tendency to trust those who look like you and/or those who you are used to being around isn't necessarily the same as trusting people of your "own race." Either way, this is very much about socialization, especially since "race" is a social construct that doesn't exist in every society and culture.
Technically, it is only natural for humans to feel most comfortable around other humans. Categorical distinctions like race, gender, and social class are created and aren't "natural."
But people shouldn't reduce the importance of these kinds of findings by saying "everyone does it." because biases range in extent and in the ability for a bias to translate into behavior. I don't care about people's biases because I don't care what's going on in people's heads. What I care about is outward manifestations in terms of individual and institutional level exclusion and unfair treatment. And that doesn't happen equally because not everyone has the power and opportunity to exclude people from public office, jobs, and so forth. Folks can think whatever they want to, just don't try to impact my life chances based on your opinions.
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"Natural" was a poor choice of words - you're correct - where "quite likely" or even "common" would work best.
Psychological decision making studies have shown that people can only successfully account for their own racial biases and prejudices when they are forced to actually consider and account for them as part of the decision process - that is, when people are told they should account, they largely do. When left to their own devices, they do not.
The "everyone does it" mentality is NOT what I'm pushing - rather, the fact that only 30% come to the fore means that we're either being too hard-line in defining bias (allowing subtle yet pernicious things to "fall through the cracks," which leads to a plateau effect of improvement but not total eradication of racial issues), or people are not yet facing up to their own biases in the way necessary to account for (if not confront) them. |
