![]() Research also shows that children are more attuned to faces of the racial majority group. Roberts and Rizzo point to studies demonstrating that the amount of exposure a child has to other racial groups early in life affects how they will think about and act toward those groups when they are adults. Part of the reason for this has to do with America’s fraught history of racial segregation, which kept White and Black communities separated. systematically constructs racial categories, places people inside of those categories and segregates people on the basis of those categories, the authors argue.įor example, there is a considerable body of research showing that people, adults and children alike, tend to feel and act more positively toward those they consider to be like them and in their “ingroup.” This means that they are likely to treat people from outside of their social circles less favorably.įor many White Americans, their ingroups do not include Black Americans. The first three factors Roberts and Rizzo reviewed are: categories, which organize people into distinct groups factions, which trigger ingroup loyalty and intergroup competition and segregation, which hardens racist perceptions, preferences and beliefs. We want readers to walk away with a better understanding of how that system works.” Seven factors But people need to understand that those horrific events are a consequence of a larger system. “A lot of attention is rightfully put on the recent murders of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd and far too many others. “Many people, especially White people, underestimate the depths of racism,” Rizzo said. It all starts with awareness, they contend. Roberts, an assistant professor and co-author, Michael Rizzo, a postdoctoral fellow at New York University and the Beyond Conflict Innovation Lab, write that “just as citizens of capitalistic societies reinforce capitalism, whether they identify as capitalist or not, and whether they want to or not, citizens of racist societies reinforce racism, whether they identify as racist or not, and whether they want to or not.”Īfter examining research on racism from psychology, the social sciences and the humanities, the researchers argue that American racism systematically advantages White Americans and disadvantages Americans of color – but that it does not have to. society that it is virtually impossible to escape.” “Racism is a system of advantage based on race. That definition is wrong,” said Roberts, who directs the Social Concepts Lab, part of the psychology department, in the School of Humanities and Sciences. “People often define racism as disliking or mistreating others on the basis of race. In the paper, which is available online and will appear in an upcoming issue of American Psychologist, the journal of the American Psychological Association, the scholars contend that racism is a deeply American problem and identify, based on a review of prior research published on the topic, seven factors contributing to racism in the U.S.
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