Post racial era

Marking to come back to this later.

Speaking of President Obama, his book "Dreams of my Father" where he speaks of his racial identity issues is pretty interesting. Another interesting observation. My sons are fair skinned. The older one is in middle school, he is going through the teasing that happens at times. The mingling also incorporates other kids from the lower middle, or working class neighborhoods. The class level is not the main thing, since dh and I came from such roots. The main thing is these kids are not taught to set scholastic goals etc; by their family, so they have the biggest mouths, to cover up their issues. Now he is teased for being one of the lightest Black kids there. In addition, some Asian slurs were made due to his upward slanted eyes. Mostly Black, and a couple of White peers who joined in on that tease topics. Now Dh and I know about talking trash back and forth. Minus racial slurs, we told him to dish it right back. This made me think, DH and I are Black, so obviously big ds has a balance. What identity issues would a Black/"biracial" child have if they are taught all is well, and so on? I have read of kids, not prepared, who would now look at Blacks in a negative light. Oh the "Blacks" do not accept me. The parents who did not prepare them now are what shocked, and appalled. how could this happen?

[url=http://academic.udayton.edu/race/01race/racism10.htm]Color Blind or Just Plain Blind?[/url] Combating Contemporary Bias Like a virus that has mutated, racism has evolved into different forms that are not only more difficult to recognize but also to combat. The subtle processes underlying discrimination can be identified and isolated under the controlled conditions of the laboratory. However, in organizational decision-making, in which the controlled conditions of an experiment are rarely possible, this process presents a substantial challenge to the equitable treatment of members of disadvantaged groups. Because of its pervasiveness, subtlety, and complexity, the traditional techniques for eliminating bias that have emphasized the immorality of prejudice and illegality of discrimination are not effective for combating aversive racism. Aversive racists recognize prejudice is bad, but they do not recognize that they are prejudiced. Thus, aversive racism must be addressed at multiple levelsat the personal level, the organizational level, and the societal level. We have focused our efforts at understanding the problem of race relations in the United States by examining one aspectחthe influence of the racial attitudes of whites in interpersonal interracial encounters. We have shown that contemporary forms of racial bias among whites, particularly liberal whites, are aversive and less blatant than the traditional form but still result in significant damage. Moreover, because aversive racists may not be aware of their unconscious negative attitudes and only discriminate against blacks when they can justify their behavior on the basis of some factor other than race, they will commonly deny any intentional wrongdoing when confronted with evidence of their bias. Indeed, they do not discriminate intentionally. In addition, we have illustrated how awkward and inefficient group processes become when aversive racism affects communication. This not only has disproportionate negative outcomes for blacks but it may also prevent our ability to move forward at the various levels on which racism needs to be addressed. So what can we each do about racism when we dont know what we donҒt know yet? Here are some simple (but not easy) suggestions for action. When a person of color brings up race as an issue in an interpersonal or organizational setting՗listen! If the person indicates he or she is offended, dont be defensive. Instead try to understand the other personҒs perspective on the issue. Remember your perceptions can be very different from the everyday experience of others. As the data indicate, whites tend to underestimate the impact of discrimination. Do not begin talking quickly, explain why they are misinterpreting the situation, or begin crying. These are some of the most infuriating responses people of color encounter when they challenge a situation that feels wrong. Take time, if you need it, to think about the situation after listening fully to the other persons perspective. If you hear problems third-hand, donҒt get angry because you were not approached directly. You probably need to talk through the situation at some point, but remember it is almost never completely safe for a person of color to challenge a dominant perception. Listen deeply. On an organizational level՗we must all begin to look beyond the general diversity of skin color to the issues of race and power in our organizations. Start by looking at who sits in the loci of power. With power comes the ability to affect frames of reference, style, rules and priorities. With a shift in power, issues that were unseen by whites for years and obvious to people of color emerge quickly as actionable items. (Read the case study from Planned Parenthood in Rhode Island, Summer 2002, page 37, for a description of this dynamic in action.) On the level of institutional racism՗the aversion to addressing race concerns that is demonstrated through this research carries through to an aversion to discussing race as a driver in and a blind for bad social policy. (See Lani Guiniers article, Summer 2002, page 12, for more on this.) We must stop thinking that someone else will intervene in the state of emergency posed by institutional racism and begin to address the appalling realities of its effects actively, head-on and in deeply committed cross-cultural partnerships. In conclusion, we can no longer be passive bystanders to racism. We have to hold ourselves responsible. Abstaining from wrongdoing that is immediately obvious to us is not enough. It doesnҒt begin to address the now convoluted and confusing nature of contemporary racism. In order to address contemporary racism, even and especially among well-intentioned people, it is necessary to establish new, positive norms for action that replace our current norms for avoidance of responsibility.

Same link above:Aversive Racism Aversive racism is the inherent contradiction that exists when the denial of personal prejudice co-exists with underlying unconscious negative feelings and beliefs. Unfortunately, the negative feelings and beliefs that underlie aversive racism are rooted in normal, often adaptive, psychological processes. For instance, people generally tend to like others who are similar to them. In contrast to the feelings of open hostility and clear dislike of blacks that characterize old-fashioned racism, the negative feelings that aversive racists experience are typically more diffuse, such as feelings of anxiety and uneasiness. On top of all of this, because aversive racists consciously endorse egalitarian values and deny negative feelings about blacks, they will not discriminate directly and openly in ways that can be attributed to racism. However, because of their negative feelings they will, in fact, discriminate, often unintentionally, when their behavior can be justified on the basis of some factor other than race. Aversive racists may therefore regularly engage in discrimination while they maintain a nonprejudiced self-image. The term aversiveӔ in this form of racism thus refers to two aspects of this bias. It reflects the nature of the emotions associated with blacks, such as anxiety, that lead to avoidance and social awkwardness rather than to open antagonism. It also represents that, because of their conscious adherence to egalitarian principles, these whites would find any thought that they might be prejudiced to be aversive. To make things worse, the uncomfortable and discriminatory behavior associated with aversive racism is very obvious to blacks, even while whites either dont recognize it or consider it hidden and deny it when confronted. For instance, despite the compelling evidence of contemporary racial disparities, between 40 and 60 percent of whites responding to a recent survey, depending upon the question asked, viewed the average black in the United States as faring about as well, and often better, than the average white.1 Blacks in numerous studies report a substantial differenceҗdiscrimination is a dominant force in their lives. Consequently, whereas the subtle nature of contemporary bias leads whites to underestimate the impact of racial prejudice, it leads blacks to be particularly attuned to these inconsistent and unpredictable racist behaviors. This inconsistency erodes blacks confidence in a person and leads to a spiral of distrust. Blacks assume this disingenuous behavior is a consciously purposeful, old-fashioned racismҗalso a perfectly normal reaction since whites are, as a group, in a dominant power position.

One of those articles noted what I think is the most important conclusion that we can draw from the election of Obama - that there are still racists in America, there just aren't enough of them to prevent a black man from getting himself elected President. Personally, I think we're still a few generations away from a post-racial America, if we ever get there. There's a segment of the population that will always pounce on differences as a way to feel superior, and I think there always will be, but with every generation they're pushed further to the fringe. In the 40s, people could be openly racist and law and custom backed them. In the 50s, custom began to change. In the 60s, law passed custom. We've been stuck ever since. We're making progress, but it's too slow. Mark Twain was way ahead of us on this: Custom is petrification; nothing but dynamite can dislodge it for a century.-"Diplomatic Pay and Clothes" If there's any consolation in that, it's that we're already a half-century removed from when custom began to change, so if Twain was right, we're more than half way there.

I like the perspective, good point. For those who do not like the changes, time will pass them by.

I don't see us yet in a "post racial era" but I do believe things are changing and that the election of Barack Obama is yet another push in the right direction. I don't think we can truly see this country as "post-racial" until we are so racially muted that it doesn't matter anymore. Does that make sense?

Yes, it takes honesty and good conversation for sure. Then we can really get past issues such as guilt, resentment, anger, and so on.

I'm so glad you posted this topic NickChris. This morning on Good Morning America, [url=http://abcnews.com]Online news, breaking news, feature stories and more - ABC News[/url] I watched as they repeated a study done 60 years ago. It was very heart wrenching to watch. They had two dolls exactly alike with the only difference being their color. At the time of the original test a majority of the kids chose the white doll as being good, attractive and looking like them. GMA did the study with 19 AA/BR children. When they were asked about the attractiveness of the doll a majority of the girls said the white doll while all of the boys said both were pretty. One little girl who was BR said the AA doll was bad and unattractive and when asked which one she looked like she said the AA doll but that she herself is good and attractive. Tomorrow they are doing a study about catching a taxi in New York. That should be interesting although we can probably guess the outcome of that study. I completely agree that while we like to think we are beyond any racist bias I think it will not be in my lifetime that it becomes true. I continue to pray for it with all my heart though.

Those tests are very sad, hopefully in our children's lifetime it will be better. In my lifetime, since Martin Luther King's I have a Dream speech.. look at what happened. The US voted in Barack Obama as president. I am praying too SHD. :-)