Even before “The Rainbow Connection,” people have wondered why we all can’t just get along. Northwestern prides itself on promoting multicultural understanding; all freshmen must attend a “diversity” session during New Student Week, and the Law School even hosts a Diversity Week. But do all these attempts to promote racial understanding really work?
A recent study by Jennifer A. Richeson, associate professor of psychology and African American studies at Northwestern, and Sophie Trawalter, post-doctoral fellow at the Institute for Policy Research, shows that whites will tend to avoid blacks out of fear and anxiety over appearing racist. The rules for political correctness that are supposed to prevent racism are not working; in fact, they’re making things worse.
“I hope that people will think about some of the side effects that may have come with external pressure to avoid behavior that could be construed as prejudiced,” said Richeson. “The norms are resulting in heightened anxiety about interracial contact and that is certainly not conducive to positive intergroup interactions, or to the creation of a less biased society.”
The world would be a wonderful place if prejudice didn’t exist, but judging people before getting to know them happens, and will continue happening. Whether it’s over ethnicity, clothing or even posture, we all subconsciously make judgments before getting to know each other.
First impressions are powerful. A study shows that the first 10 minutes of interacting with someone strongly determines how all future interactions will go. Career advisers stress the importance of a good first impression at job interviews, and Cosmopolitan stresses how important it is on a first date. These first impressions aren’t based off an understanding of a person, but on what lies on the outside.
We are all different, and making people feel like they must overlook that fact is unreasonable. It is impossible to look at someone and not recognize whether they are white, black, Asian or Hispanic. Bullying people into being colorblind will never work because ultimately, none of us can be.
Sadly, there is also evidence that, until familiar with a specific person, some level of initial fear is inevitable. Evolutionary psychologists have found that, as a result of our caveman pasts, we are fearful of those who are different than us. Research also suggests, however, that familiarity with “others” over time gives us hope to reduce prejudice. One psychological study showed that whites, when viewing pictures of black strangers, showed activity in the part of the brain that is associated with fear, which they didn’t for white strangers. When showed pictures of familiar black people, however, they did not show fear.
Racism is a natural part of human nature, but is also something we can overcome. Unfortunately, the current stigma against a natural occurring psychological reaction only creates more fear and anxiety. The white participants in the Northwestern study instinctively avoided the stimuli that made them nervous; in this case it was interaction with a seemingly threatening black person. This same pattern of avoidance has been found attached to other stimuli, such as pain.
In order to increase acceptance, what we need to address is not eradicating prejudice, which is impossible, but rather what can be done about prejudice when it does occur.