Are you going to see the movie, The Help? Have you read the book? Here is interesting commentary about the movie and how Hollywood typically frames narratives of race relations: On Race and Hollywood – Video Library – The New York Times.
Modern Racism
I found the chapter Old-Fashioned versus Modern Racism very interesting because I think that it portrays how racism is expressed most often today. I thought it was interesting that Modern racists consider racism to be open feelings of hatred of towards the minority group. I think that this is an idea that is held by quite a few people and they do not realize that there are many other forms of racism. The article also said that modern racists disguise …
Tar Baby
Did you know that “tar baby” is racially offensive? Have you ever heard the expression?
Republican: Working with Obama Like Touching a Tar Baby | TPM LiveWire.
People’s reactions (in the comments) are interesting, and a few explain more about the etiology of “tar baby.” Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah…
Whites are Racist
I have been thinking a lot about the Tatum article and how only white people can be racist. I had never previously thought about racism as being separate from prejudice, but separating the two has made me understand my own feelings on these issues better. I hate that there is racism in the world but defining it as only something whites can have towards another group actually made me feel better. With this definition (or at least my understanding of …
Stereotypes as a Cognitive Tool
I found the findings of the article “Stereotypes as Energy-Saving Devices: A Peek Inside the Cognitive Toolbox” by Macrae, et. al incredibly depressing. The researchers’ studies on both implicitly and explicitly presented stereotype cues revealed that stereotypes, like any kind of schema, save cognitive energy. Rather than analyzing the different traits of a new person, we subconsciously label them as part of a group. That way, we can instead use cognition to process what they are saying, or something else that is going on in the environment. Physical traits such as ace, gender, and disability status obviously stand out as markers about what group somebody belongs, and we make judgments based on our preconceived notions of these groups. Our brains do this automatically; without meaning to.
Crack Cocaine Sentencing
A group of students last year did their final project on the sentencing rules regarding crack cocaine versus powder cocaine. Essentially the rule said that, to get the same prison terms, powder cocaine offenders (who are typically White and sometimes affluent) needed to have 100 times more cocaine in their possession than crack offenders (who are typically Black). Here is a news story from the L.A. Times about changes to that 100 to 1 rule.
Crack cocaine sentences: U.S. Sentencing Commission reduces prison terms.