Ani Fitzgerald

UWRT 1102
Peer Review Day 2
Whatisracismandhowdoessocietydefineit?.TheInternetdefinesracismasabelief
thatraceistheprimarydeterminantofhumantraitsandcapacitiesandthatracialdifferences
produceaninherentsuperiorityofaparticularrace(intext).InmyownwordsIwoulddescribe
racismasanegativepredeterminedprofileyouvegivenapersonbeforeyouveevermetor
spokenwiththem,orfeelingthatyourraceisbetterthananyother.Racismisntsomethingwe
arebornwithknowing.Iinstead,oursurroundingsinfluencehowweviewotherracesin
relationswithrespecttotoourown.
ThroughouthistorytheUnitedStateshasmadeamazingprogressinthefightforequal
rightsbetweenAfricanAmericansandWhiteAmericans.Duringthe1960s,theCivilRights
Movementwasfightingforanendtosegregatedschools,discrimination,andpromotingsimple
basicrightslikevoting.Desegregatingschoolswasamajorsteptowardsthefightforachieving
equalitybutdesegregationdidntmeanequaltreatment.Newlysegregatedschoolsnowfaced
withtheissueofequaltreatmentbetweenAfricanAmericansandWhiteAmericansinboth
academicsandathletics.Changecanbehardtoacceptandhasthepotentialtogeneratemany
issuesinordertoresistthechange.Takingastandforwhatsrightandnotbeingintimidatedby
othersishowequalityisobtained.ThemovieRemembertheTitansexemplifiesthisbeliefof
equalityforall.CoachBoonedidntbackdowntowhathebelievedwasequalandfair.He
treatedallofhisplayersthesameandovertimehisplayerssaweachotherasbrothersregardless
oftheirskincolor.Aliceareyoublind?Dontyouseethefamilyresemblance?Thatsmy
brother(RemembertheTitans,2000).
Asanation,wehavemadea____differenceinthefightforequality.Racismisstillabig

Ani Fitzgerald
UWRT 1102
issuefacingournation.Ifyouweretotakeasurveythatasksifyouhaveanyracialbias,a
majorityofrthetimetheanswerwouldillbeno.IknowwhenquestionslikethesecomeupIget
uncomfortableansweringthem.Thesequestionscancreatediscomfortbecausenoonewantsto
admitthattheymighthaveslightpreferenceofoneraceoveranother.Weliketothinkthatwe
canhavecompletecontroloverourbrainandcontrolourthoughts.Howeverthebrainworksby
makingconnectionsbetweenthingswithoutusevenrealizingit.Theseconnectionscouldeither
beapositiveornegativedependingontheinteraction.Whenyoufirstmeetsomeone,thefirst
impressionisreallyimportantinhowyoullviewthepersonoranyoneassociatedtohimorher
inthefuture.Thistypeofassociationissimilartohowimplicatedattitudeswork.
Implicateattitudesareareasonthetypesofquestionsregardingracecancause
discomfort.Theyarethefirstthoughtswehavewhenwefirstseeormeetsomeonewithouteven
thinkingaboutit(e.g.Greenwald,McGhee,&Schwartz,1998).Theseattitudesaretheresultsof
oursurrounding,friends,orpersonalexperience.Wherewemighthavegrownup,whattypesof
friendswehadwhenwewereyounger,howwemighthaveinteractedwiththem,andifitwasa
positiveornegativeexperienceareallfactorsthatinfluencetheseattitudes.Havingamore
diversegroupoffriendscancauseapersontohavealessnegativeattitudestowardsAfrican
AmericansorWhiteAmericans(Aberson,C.,&Haag,S.,2007).
AtestcalledtheImplicateAssociationTestwascreatedtoseehowtheseuncontrollable
thoughtsinfluenceourjudgment.Thetesttakestheresultsandplacesthemonascalethatshow
erslight,moderate,orstrongpreferredpreferencestowardseitherAfricanAmericansorWhite
Americans.Whilenoonewantstoadmittheymightshowaracialpreference,theinformation

Ani Fitzgerald
UWRT 1102
abovesuggeststhatthesepreferencesarealreadythere.theyaresubconsciouslythereandoutof
ourcontrol.

GrowingupAswegrowup,ourmindisdevelopingandthebrainisstartingtomake
subconsciousconnectionsthatwillresultinimplicatedattitudes.WhatyouseeonTVorin
/movies,whoyourparentshangoutwith,andwhatyougrowupseeingeverydayisgoingto
haveanaeffectonthoseattitudes.Whosthevillaininamovieandwhosthehero,thestatus
differentindividualshold,howtheindividualsarepresentedabasicwemightinadvertently
associatedwithagroupasawhole.Stereotypingisotherfurtheringmisconceptionofracial
identitiesandcreatingmoreofadividebetweenthegroups.
Certainareasofthecountrymighthaveastrongerinfluenceonnegativeimplicated
attitudes.ArecentstudyshowedthatthemostracialareasbordertheAppalachianMountains
startingatGeorgiaandcontinuingNorthup(Ingraham,2015).Locationisafactorthatcan
potentiallyinfluenceapersonsracialbiasbutpinpointingexactareasisntrealistic.Areasthat
havealotofracialissuesoccurringarealsoareaswheresocialmediahasbeenusedinanegative
anddegradingmanner.Socialmediahasrevolutionizedhowwetolearnaboutbreakingnews.By
thetimeyoureaditinthepaperthenextdayorevenhearaboutontheeveningnewsthatnight,
theinformationisalreadyold.Socialmediahasgivenustheabilitytoshareinformationwith
anyonearoundtheworld.Whenyoutweetsomethingyoudonthavetosayittosomeonesface;
youcansaywhateveryouwant,aslongasitisfewerthan140characters.Thereislittletono

Ani Fitzgerald
UWRT 1102
regulationonwhatyoucanorcantsay.Duetoadvancementsintechnology,childrennowhave
accesstomultipledeviceswithInternetaccess.OnTwitter,Instagram,YikYak,andetc.,
childrenmaybeexposedtonegativeorpositivecommentsregardingaparticularracethatcould
affectimplicateattitudes(NakagawaandArzubiaga,2014).Socialmedia,especiallyTwitter,
cancauseastorybegainheadlinesbeforethefullstoryisreallyknown.Thiscancause
misconceptionsofwhatactuallyhappenedandissuescanarisefromthemisconceptions.
Racismisntsomethingthatsgoingtodisappearthenextdaybuthopefullyonedaythis
willnolongerbeanissueournationhastoresolve.Societyandoursurroundingshaveastrong
influenceonhowweinitiallyviewpeopleorsituations.Whatyoufirstthinkisthatsocietyhas
trainedyoutothinkandthesecondthoughtisyourownthought..Afterallofmytheresearch,I
stillhavenewandquestionswaswereleftunansweredornewunansweredquestions.Cana
positiveexperiencewithapersonoftheoppositeracechangetheinitialimplicateattitudesyou
experience?Howcansocialmediabeusedasawaytohelpincreaseracialliteracy?Whydo
peoplenotwanttoadmittheymighthaveracialbias?Isitpossibletoreallyhavenoracialbias
towardsanyrace?

Ani Fitzgerald
UWRT 1102

Citations:

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/racism

BONILLA, YARIMAR, and JONATHAN ROSA. "#ferguson: Digital Protest,

Hashtag Ethnography, and the Racial Politics of Social Media in the United
States." American Ethnologist. 42.1 (2015): 4-17. Print.

http://www.psc.isr.umich.edu/pubs/pdf/rr05-573.pdf

Aberson, C., & Haag, S. (January 01, 2007). Contact, Perspective Taking, and
Anxiety as Predictors of Stereotype Endorsement, Explicit Attitudes, and
Implicit Attitudes. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 10, 2, 179-201.
Greenwald,A.G.,McGhee,D.E.,&Schwartz,J.L.K.(1998).Measuringindividualdifferences
inimplicitcognition:TheImplicitAssociationTest.JournalofPersonalityandSocial
Psychology,74,14641480.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/04/28/themostracistplacesinamerica
accordingtogoogle/
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0122963#pone.0122963.ref001
RemembertheTitians2000