explicit bias – Contemporary Racism

Society Has Ignored Offensive Language and Slurs

Brandon Rosenblatt — Wed, 22 Oct 2025 19:09:04 +0000

Something that has left me frustrated lately is how society is still using the G-word, a slur that is racist toward Roma and Sinti people, both of whom are different ethnic groups within the larger Romani people who share similar roots. I learned in my genocide class at high school that this word was offensive and when people mention that Roma and Sinti people were victims of the Holocaust in addition to Jewish people and ...

What is Google Being Paid to Show You?

Carolina Escobar — Tue, 21 Oct 2025 17:45:02 +0000

It’s become clear to me that there’s an increasingly rising tension “between White and Black people.” I’m sure you might be accustomed to hearing this a lot by now if you live in the U.S. There is a caste system that places White people on top and Black people on the bottom. But what about all of the others that fall in between? How are they affected by this? Well, the Supreme Court recently allowed ...

Racism in Sports: The Fan’s Double Standard

Julian Chaparro — Tue, 10 Dec 2024 16:42:19 +0000

Sports. They bring us together and extract the deepest emotions from the depths of our hearts. Many of the happiest moments of my life were because of soccer, from scoring my first goal to witnessing my idol finally achieve his dream – winning the FIFA World Cup. Soccer is called the Beautiful Game because of the billions of others that form a family around one common love for the game, however, I don’t believe this ...

The Current Hispanic Crisis

MG — Tue, 22 Oct 2024 14:57:36 +0000

Within the history of the United States, the notion that White people are the superior race and that minority groups are perceived as less has not changed much as all throughout the years. Hispanics are the largest minority group in the United States, yet the narrative about this group is not positively portrayed within our society. I believe that the perception of Hispanic communities has gotten worse specifically with the upcoming 2024 presidential election just ...

Hey Google, Why Are You Biased?

Comack — Thu, 17 Oct 2024 14:54:16 +0000

When using the search engine of Google as your primary method of acquiring informational resources, you would hope that the generated sources would hold an abundance of factual and unbiased information. Good arguments are founded on premises that are in fact true, and the logic that follows that groundwork must be valid and sensible. Think back to the basic spelling tests and mathematical problems taught by your elementary school teachers. Did you ever doubt that ...

So, You Want to be Racist for Halloween?

Julianna Muñoz — Thu, 17 Oct 2024 14:30:16 +0000

Last halloween some friends and I decided to get dressed up and walk around the neighborhoods surrounding our college that are home to a plethora of students here at Muhlenberg. Walking around and seeing people dressed up was all in all fun, until from the corner of my eye I saw what looked to be a sombrero. For people who do not know, sombrero’s are a significant part of Mexican culture and a huge part ...

So What Do We Do?

KP5 — Wed, 29 Nov 2023 15:39:32 +0000

As a Black African American in today’s society, the police are my worst nightmare, and I know I speak for many other African-American young adults out there. The actions of individual officers in cases like George Floyd and Breonna Taylor are completely unjustified. Holding a knee on someone’s neck for seven minutes is far from justifiable. Officers shooting through a door when no one answers, hitting Breonna Taylor, is also far from justifiable. The police ...

Is the Internet Racist?

Piper Schwenk — Thu, 12 Oct 2023 18:55:05 +0000

When I first read this title I would think: “Yes! people on the internet are racist”. Or it may make you think “yes, I saw news articles that favor implicit racism or white supremacy.” With the access to the internet available for most people in Western society, it is almost obvious that part of the internet shares racist and white supremacist ideologies. But I am questioning if search engines themselves are racist. The algorithms of ...

Healthcare and the COVID-19 Pandemic

Silvia Mejia-Armilla — Fri, 11 Dec 2020 13:35:16 +0000

The rates at which minorities are being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic are disproportional to those of white people. Healthcare has always been an area in which black families have been systemically neglected with the proper resources to remain healthy: a right that should be given to everyone. Even though it might feel a little distant to those who aren’t directly affected by the virus individually or by the poor health of a relative or ...

The Perception of Violence, Racism, and the Bombastic Personality of Conor McGregor

D. Adamczak — Sun, 08 Dec 2019 16:29:32 +0000

Kung-Fu, kickboxing, karate, boxing, wrestling, kickboxing, judo, and jiu-jitsu. All of these incredibly diverse and unique fighting styles can be referred to under the wide umbrella term of combat sports. Many see these niche forms of exercise as ‘violent catharsis’ that turn people into ‘bullies’, however this could not be further than the truth. An underlying message across all of these differing combat sports is the fundamental rule of respect. Whatever hate or anger someone ...

Shifting Mainstream Understanding of Individual Racism

Ivie Mims — Sun, 08 Dec 2019 15:50:07 +0000

As the academic semester comes to an end, in my contemporary racism class we have been discussing and connecting various concepts to develop our understanding of the role of modern racism and its consequences to marginalized identity groups in the United States. We discussed how, under the influence of mainstream media, we tend to focus on individuals who exhibit old-fashioned, overt acts of racism and the obvious, direct consequences to people of color. This leads ...

Times Change and So Does Racism

Alex Helpin — Sun, 20 Oct 2019 17:11:01 +0000

Racism has existed in the United States even before America was an independent nation. Over time much has changed about the United States but by the same token, so has racism. At first racism was openly expressed in the form of slavery, and later in the form of Jim Crow laws. Both of these forms of racism are considered to be old fashioned forms of racism. As time has gone by it has become more ...

Trump’s Racist Tweets

Devin — Sun, 20 Oct 2019 16:39:13 +0000

Sadly, my main source of news these past few weeks has been Twitter. If you’ve played around with Twitter, you know that it is intended to grab audience attention with short statements and hashtags. After scrolling through my own feed, I’ve just begun to browse hashtags that are “trending”, meaning lots of people are using them in their own posts. Today, I was struck by one hashtag in specific- “PABPOTUS”. At first glance, I was ...

The Whitewashing of Psychology

Ivie Mims — Sun, 20 Oct 2019 16:16:24 +0000

We all have been exposed and influenced to the whitewashing of psychology, whether we’re a part of the professional academic discourse or not. Psychology theories and practices often times inform political policies to educational interventions that impact everyone in their daily lives. Here at Muhlenberg, psychology students learn about these theories and methods but we also are aware of the current field’s limitations. A significant flaw in the field is lack or representation of people ...

Just Waiting For Our Friend…

caroline_whiting — Tue, 01 May 2018 11:41:39 +0000

On April 12th, two Black men were arrested in a Philadelphia Starbucks. They had not placed an order; they were just sitting at a table in a public coffee shop, waiting for their friend to arrive. And an employee working at the Starbucks called the police on them. When the police asked the two Black men to leave, they did not, because it was absurd that they were being asked to leave a public store; ...

Theta Tau Expulsion Causing Campus Convulsion

Lily Josephs — Tue, 01 May 2018 10:54:04 +0000

On April 18th, Syracuse University decided to permanently expel the Theta Tau fraternity after footage emerged of its members participating in a racist and anti-Semitic skit. The Chancellor of the University, Kent Syverud, emailed a statement to students, faculty, and staff affirming that the video included, “words and behaviors that are extremely racist, anti-Semitic, homophobic, sexist, and hostile to people with disabilities”. He continued: “The conduct is deeply harmful and contrary to the values and ...

Blackface – Demeaning or Disgusting? #YouDecide

Maia Brint — Mon, 26 Feb 2018 20:31:12 +0000

Models Sophie Applegarth and Julie Iovenitti dressed up as tennis players Venus and Serena Williams for a Christmas party through the use of blackface. “There is nothing racist about backing [your] favorite sport stars,” Applegarth and Iovenitti said in defense. Later, Applegarth put out a statement saying that they had no intent to be racist when they put these outfits on. Blackface has always been a contested issue in the United States. When these girls ...

Getting Away With It

Sarah Prince — Mon, 26 Feb 2018 20:00:40 +0000

I have scrolled through my Facebook and found far too many videos’ that capture police brutality. There are very few times I have been able to go on my Facebook feed without coming across a video that captures racism in violent acts. After which I would leave and log off of my social media. Not only has there been an increase in media coverage of these events but there has been an increase in occurrence ...

The Blurred Line Between Old-Fashioned and Modern Racism

Jenna Lehmann — Mon, 12 Dec 2016 01:53:04 +0000

When we were first learning about the differences between old-fashioned, modern, and aversive racism, the definitions made sense to me. I saw that there were differences between the three, each different speeds at which we move down the moving sidewalk of privilege. But now I’m a little less certain about the differences between old-fashioned and modern racism. I agree that in practice they’re different, but I’m less sure that within the person harboring these prejudices, ...

Is History Something to Sing About?

a_note — Mon, 12 Dec 2016 01:40:12 +0000

This past week was the premier of the live re-creation of “Hairspray” on TV. The movie revolves around a mother, daughter pair that go through their typical ups and downs during the ‘60s. In addition, it revolves around a TV show that stars students, primarily white except for one day a month which is titled Negro day. The movie tackles the ‘60s and the difficulties between whites and blacks and the acceptance of those of ...

November 8, 2016: The Week After

Sofia Montgomery — Mon, 28 Nov 2016 21:02:06 +0000

I cried when I found out the results of the 2016 presidential election. I cried hard. I fell asleep the night before quite early, because I was tired of being bombarded with political ads and the disgusting hate that I would see every day on Facebook. I went to bed early believing that I would wake up to Hillary Clinton being our next president. It didn’t happen that way and the several paragraphs that were ...

They Say History Repeats Itself….

VictoriaJean — Mon, 21 Nov 2016 23:48:40 +0000

It seems hard not to write a blog post reflecting on the events of this week. Donald Trump is officially our president elect, and there’s so much that could be said about it that I don’t even know where to begin. On Tuesday night, I refused to watch the live coverage with my roommates because for some reason I just had a horrible gut feeling about the results. I went to bed early, scared of ...

Trump-isms: What’s Next?

Jessica Sperber — Sun, 06 Nov 2016 22:47:31 +0000

I write this on November 2nd, less than a week before the presidential election. I choose to write this now for multiple reasons: 1) it’s becoming pretty clear who the next POTUS will be, and 2) I’m honestly afraid of what the consequences will be. This evening in my Facebook Newsfeed, towards the bottom of the trending bar, was the label “Black Church Burned” (The Atlantic, 2016). Immediately I felt my stomach sink, and when ...

Caffeine and a Call for Unity

taylor_helena — Sun, 06 Nov 2016 22:42:35 +0000

I’ll admit it. I’m a coffee addict. It’s gotten to the point where I cannot make it through the morning without a headache if I don’t have my coffee. I got a Keurig machine for my birthday and cried. I know it’s bad, but when it comes to drugs of choice, I could be worse off. On rare occasions I will treat myself to the capitalist franchise of Starbucks. Something about their coffee gives me ...

It’s Just Business

Jenna Lehmann — Sun, 06 Nov 2016 22:21:23 +0000

David Duke, former Grand Wizard of the KKK, narrowly reached the 5% voting support he needed to be considered a legitimate candidate for Senator of Louisiana. Although according to his numbers he doesn’t actually stand a chance in winning the seat, it’s horrifying to realize that a substantial number of people are voting for him. What’s even more disturbing is that he was now allowed to participate in the November 2nd debate which was ...

From Blackface to Blaxploitation: Racism and Representation in Entertainment

jsykgrl — Wed, 24 Feb 2016 15:14:33 +0000

At some point this week, I came across a BuzzFeed post entitled, “The BuzzFeed Black History Reading List,” which included a series of essays and articles reflecting upon the end of Black History Month. One of the articles in this post shines an accusatory spotlight down on Hollywood’s use of Blackface today. After some initial disbelief and some precursory digging, I found the amount of performers who have performed in blackface appalling and the names I ...

A Sobering Experience

AmandaRG — Mon, 31 Mar 2014 04:00:10 +0000

WARNING: extremely offensive, racist language is used while quoting someone else (as well as cursing) A few weeks ago, I was hanging out with a few friends and acquaintances – we were talking, laughing, and having a generally good time. We were sitting in a circle of various couches and chairs surrounding a coffee table. Then, someone at the party (let’s call this person J) got a text from another friend saying that a third ...

Paul Ryan and Cultural Racism

EmilyBlakeslee — Mon, 31 Mar 2014 00:45:22 +0000

Paul Ryan has recently been lambasted for his comments on inner city poverty and Black culture. While many in the media and blogosphere have picked up on his racism, I found his comments to be particularly illustrative of colorblind ideology. I pulled this quote from ThinkProgress: “House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) previewed his upcoming legislative proposals for reforming America’s poverty programs during an appearance on Bill Bennett’s Morning in America Wednesday, hinting that he would focus ...

Racism in aisle ’14

Chelsey — Sun, 23 Feb 2014 19:12:50 +0000

Since I have been in this class, it is amazing to me how many things I see on social media sites that relate to everything we are talking about in class. This week I was browsing my Facebook news feed and I saw two posts, one after another, that completely shocked me. A woman, that goes to Muhlenberg, had a post that explained a recent experience with racism. Her post stated: “So I went to ...

Missed opportunity

cmr3991 — Tue, 18 Feb 2014 17:26:25 +0000

Our discussion this past week, regarding the Lipstiz and Adams article, made me think about different moment s in our history, where if the proper steps had been taken, the fight against oppression for minorities could be much better off. The Federal Housing Act of 1934 is a good example of a chance that was squandered to aid in this uphill battle. This act, as described by Lipsitz, put the credit of the federal government ...

Implicit and Explicit Prejudices

Simone — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 03:14:25 +0000

It’s difficult to discuss prejudice without clarifying what it is. The fourth edition of the American Heritage College Dictionary provides four meanings for the term—from “an adverse judgment or opinion formed beforehand or without knowledge or examination of the facts” to “irrational suspicion or hatred of a particular group, race or religion.” Both definitions apply to the experiences of ethnic minorities in Western society. Of course, the second definition sounds much more menacing than the ...

College denies diversity?

AbbeyRab — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 04:39:18 +0000

In this blog post I want to bring up something that actually discovered earlier today. A friend of mine transferred from Muhlenberg to Smith College, an all girls college in Massachusetts a couple years ago. When speaking with her today, she told me about a Smith alum, Anne Spurzem, who posted a letter about how adding diversity to Smith College is virtually ruining it. Here are two links that discuss (and present) the letter to ...

Modern vs. Old Fashion Racism

Simone — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 01:26:18 +0000

Recently in class, we have been talking about racism and the fact that racism is now more subtle whereas in years gone by, racism was more overt. For 9 years now, I have tried earnestly to understand why, as an adult professional, I experienced so many adversities working with whites and other non-black professionals in the workplace. I have attended management classes, became very introspective to seek to understand myself and my management style etc. ...

Sterotypes, Generalization, Prejudice and, at best, Bad Manners

Simone — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 02:12:29 +0000

Recently, I suffered a sprained shoulder and after a doctor’s visit, I was referred to physical therapy for help in rebuilding strength in my right shoulder. Let me say this right from the start, I am in no way, shape, or form a malingerer. So on my first visit, everything was about evaluating and trying to gather as much information about the injury determine the best treatment regimen for me. By the second visit, one ...

Aversive Racism

Alexa — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 23:31:27 +0000

“Color Blind or Just Plain Blind”- Dovidio & Gaertner Article This article by Dovidio and Gaertner directly relates to the discussions we had in class last Tuesday. The first part of this article explains the results and findings from both the study and article we read for Tuesday’s class (On the nature of contemporary prejudice-the third wave (Dovidio, 2001) and Aversive racism and selection decisions (Dovidio & Gaertner, 2000)). The previous studies we read dealt ...