“Race” drives fear
CVK
This has to be one of the most asinine articles I’ve read in a long time. I love how academics get funded to research and state the obvious. The Harvard Gazette describes a study undertaken by Harvard and NYU researchers to see if white people are more scared of blacks or whites, and if black people are more scared of blacks or whites. Surprise, surprise! People are more scared of those who are different from them than those in their own communities. But wait, the article tells you that you can overcome your fear of other races. How? By dating interracially of course! Ridiculous.
You may have guessed the result. Fear of the face from the other race persisted longer than fear from the face of the same race. Both found it easier to overcome fears of faces of their own race…
Whatever the reason we don’t like people who are not like us, the researchers point out that this does not mean that racial hatred and conflict are inevitable. They found that close positive contact can reduce bias and fear, particularly interracial dating. “We looked at several factors that involve intergroup contacts,” Banaji notes. “Only intergroup dating significantly reduced fear and bias. It can soften a lifetime of negative social learning.
“Our discovery shows how strong is the ‘pull’ that groups we belong to exert on us,” she continues. “We can’t shake that off easily. The good news is that this predisposition to fear members of other races may be changed by close personal contact.”
Lyonside wrote:
Wait, so only DATING can open minds?
Not friendship, mentors, family friends, professors, etc.?
WHATever.
Posted 26 Aug 2005 at 12:42 pm ¶
Tim Canham wrote:
It has taken, what? almost 11 years for us to see the obvious - the differences between us as a result of Racism. I lived in Russia for 2 years and i was never more scared of being black as I was in that place. Being coloured tends to give off the impression that we are a confused race - am I black or white, Indian or white, who am i really? Racism is more than just colour difference, it’s both cultural and also mental indifferences.
Each race has been brought up in its own parculiar environment, and while we were younger, we were conditioned to certain beliefs and attitudes. So where does this take the coloured nation. I find it somewhat improper for the rest of the world to hide their racism while they bring down countries like ours for being racists. I’m more comfortable in my country than living anywhere else in the world. I feel safer, I feel a sense of belonging and most of all I feel a patriot to my mother land. What you never hear from people is how they are treated in other countries because of their race. The stories and articles that are published on this site show us that the world is not what it seems to be and that people are just not willing to accept each other. We still see white as superior and black as bad. We still see Indians as money lovers and sly business people, but what about our race - the race they say has no culture, no uniqueness, just a matter of being coloured.
Posted 15 Sep 2005 at 7:51 am ¶
Bad Science wrote:
““Only intergroup dating significantly reduced fear and bias.”
Actually, that is likely more a symptom of someone who is already predisposed towards liking another race - not necessarily the cause of.
Confusing correlation for causation here?
Posted 20 Dec 2005 at 10:49 am ¶