Positive expectations will yield more positive IR interactions!
JC
Florida State University took a look at interracial interactions through a study which examined the types of interactions people had with people of another race, measured against their initial expectations of what those interactions would be like. So, those who had low/negative expectations tended to stay away from people of x race and had less interactions in general, granting them a smaller chance of having positive experiences. It’s an interesting way to think about how we can improve interracial relations. Yes, we always say education, education, education, but that in and of itself I can imagine turns a lot of people off. I mean, I am sure we can all envision someone we know thinking, “God! It sounds like such hard work — I don’t want to get involved with that.” So, rather than to really get out there and get to know people, those with hang-ups and deep seated stereotypes sit with them, don’t interact with others, and as a result, KEEP those stereotypes in their heads. I think that, unfortunately, “education” sounds difficult and time consuming to many — and it’s an intangible on top of that. I feel like no one ever knows what it means. Wouldn’t it be a more feasible starting point to at least get people to have more positive expectations about interacting with those of different ethnicities? While this is not an extremely complicated concept, it’s definitely one that I hadn’t thought of before…….it’s all about strategies, right?! 
“For African Americans, personally experiencing overt and even subtle racial bias creates a concern they will be treated with bias,” she said. “Non-blacks, on the other hand, are concerned about avoiding racial bias both because of their personal ideals and the negative social implications of such behavior….”
Not surprisingly, those who expected white people to respond with bias toward them experienced fewer positive contacts with white people over the next two weeks. In addition, those who wanted to avoid interactions with white people experienced fewer positive interactions with them.
“This study highlights the importance of understanding people’s expectations regarding interracial interactions,” Plant said. “The findings suggest that to reduce people’s anxieties in interracial interactions, it may be helpful to focus on approaches that will improve their expectations about such interactions.”
justin wrote:
This is really testing my comprehension skills, but isn’t that whole study just redundant or is the point of it that it spreads the blame for racism between the racists and the victims? Shouldn’t there be more qualitative statements when they say positive and negative and I don’t know what they mean by interaction. Telling people to look on the bright side isn’t going to solve any big problems.
Reading what Jen wrote makes me think about that oxymoron ‘positive discrimination’ and how most of what I’ve experienced fits in the casual racism category, which doesn’t make me any less angry.
Though I hold my existence as something above and beyond my race I am ‘X’ no matter what I do, so positive and negative don’t really apply.
Posted 06 Jan 2006 at 12:45 pm ¶
justin wrote:
do the fetish people have positive expectations?
Posted 06 Jan 2006 at 12:48 pm ¶
Lyonside wrote:
Hunh. Reminds me of 8th grade - I was smart, overweight, really tall, and unpopular. Neither most of the white kids nor the 2 or 3 minority kids could stand me (I think race was a part, but not the only reason for the unpopularity). So a new kid to the school (white) gets put in my homeroom, and I figure, well, here’s a chance to prove that it’s not a racial thing.
SO I say hi and welcome. His response: “Get away from me you black b**ch.” Yeah, the rest of the year pretty much sucked and it took a conscious effort in high school to not make assumptions about white peers. But I grew up and got over it.
Posted 06 Jan 2006 at 3:44 pm ¶
justin wrote:
On a cold but clear winter night I was waiting at a bus stop with my white girlfriend. It was early in our relationship but she already new how hung up I can get about racism. I try to be upfront, I tell people my feelings, but they don’t always believe me or they’re dismissive.
You all know that message in the ‘Kill Whitie just won’t die’ post , well that guy really has me pegged .
I digressed. We were cuddling just for warmth when a brown car drove by and there was this loud human noise. She was shocked. I shrugged my shoulders and told her ‘it’s probably just a racist’ she said “really” so I backed off and said if it was any thing serious they would of stopped. So we kept waiting for our bus and this brown car circled back around like three times to shout racist shit at us. I loved it cause it proved me right. I am mixed and they shouted at me and my girlfriend that white and yellow don’t mix. I think it’s too funny for words.
Posted 07 Jan 2006 at 8:32 am ¶
Ben wrote:
“For the non-black participants, it was their concern about the likelihood of coming across as biased that predicted their anxiety interacting with black people.”
Take, for example, the “Planet of the Apes” post on this blog (and others). The accusation was that Wal-Mart was deliberately associating apes with black people, and is therefore racist. Now, I believe a lot of bad things about Wal-Mart, but I am unwilling to believe that this was deliberate. It just doesn’t make sense. A more plausible explanation, in my mind, is that a glitch in the automatic recommendation function caused unrelated titles to be recommended together. I thought, “I’m sure Wal-Mart has a perfectly good explanation for this,” and sure enough, they did. (Thanks, MMW, for posting the update.)
However, the episode furthers an unfortunate stereotype that minorities, especially black people, are hypersensitive about race, to the point where they will shoot first (i.e. immediately become offended) and ask questions later. And it is this stereotype, according to the study, that most impedes positive interaction between blacks and nonblacks.
Posted 07 Jan 2006 at 3:09 pm ¶
justin wrote:
I’m sure it’s a tautology. So Ben wants to tip the balance in his favour.
Posted 07 Jan 2006 at 9:56 pm ¶
justin wrote:
How does Ben write in bold and italics? Did who ever is moderating this do it for him?
Posted 08 Jan 2006 at 5:16 am ¶
Ben wrote:
i wasn’t aware i had anything to gain from this… how am i tipping the balance of a tautology in my favor? how is that even possible?
regular html tags work for bold and italic text.
Posted 08 Jan 2006 at 5:44 pm ¶
justin wrote:
You quoted that women in half and both halves are redundant anyway. They are just saying that “those who had low/negative expectations tended to stay away from people of x race and had less interactions in general, granting them a smaller chance of having positive experiences.” again and again. You can say that about anyone with any degree of racism, heck any ones who‘s race conscious. I think the subtle difference they hint at is that white peoples concern about racial bias isn’t based in personal experience but that’s just my biased reading and if that’s anything substantial it comes from;
“Plant’s previous research that found that people who have little experience dealing with members of another race have more anxiety about such interactions and greater expectations that those interactions will be negative”
You added all that stuff about stereotypes. ‘Regardless of whether or not that’s an accepted stereotype, ask yourself, why would you accept hypersensitivity as a stereotype of a black people?’ Do you think people are not entitled to be sensitive, are you trying to quiet dissent? How would you feel if I left the word TYPICAL after your messages?
What do I think you have to gain? I think your referring to your situation, things that have happened to you and your imagining them into the text. There’s a reflected glory thing going on.
My story on the other hand, I hope it’s a contrast to that study. Was it an interaction ? Were the expectations of those involved and the outcomes of the incident positive or negative? Could the first noise have been a scream and the following passes been an attempt to cover up an even more disturbing situation?
PS; I am going to try and leave less messages on this blog. Sorry if I’ve gotten carried away.
Posted 09 Jan 2006 at 6:44 am ¶
Ben wrote:
I’ll admit I didn’t totally follow your response, but I’ll attempt to clarify my statement (because what is the Web, if not a forum to endlessly repeat oneself?
).
I meant to call attention to the article’s point that, according to the non-black participants surveyed, their negative expectations were not based on traditional racist stereotypes of black people, but on a stereotype that doesn’t receive much attention: that blacks are hypersensitive about race. I’m not saying that it’s true or false, and I’m not saying that black people should or shouldn’t be sensitive to a greater degree than others.
But I am saying that, according to the study, this stereotype is detrimental to race relations, and is fully within our control. Therefore we ought to address it. A good first step might be to avoid instantly freaking out about something like the Wal-Mart incident, because I think such allegations are too often made carelessly.
It would have been a worthy enough post to say “Look at this embarrassing mistake Wal-Mart has made. Let’s laugh at them while we can and hope they correct it soon!” But it wasn’t presented as a mistake, it was presented (disingenuously?) as a deliberate association of apes with black people. (I guess I’m referring more to posts on C&D and other blogs since Jen and Carmen are not black…)
Anyway, I’m not trying to quiet dissent. I’m trying to get that boy to stop crying “wolf.”
Posted 09 Jan 2006 at 2:25 pm ¶
John wrote:
^ “… unfortunate stereotype that minorities, especially black people, are hypersensitive about race…”
Just want to chime in here, not that I thought you meant any harm.
American minorities, ESPECIALLY African Americans, have a right to be sensitive about race issues & the media today (I’m sure we don’t have to go into why).
Lots of people, including Caucasians, speculated on Walmart’s ‘glitch’ in print & on the web.
If a dude’s going to think it’s just the black community crying wolf- that’s his problem. He probably thinks in those terms, anyway.
Walmart has made some rather obvious racial ‘glitches’ in the past… when I say obvious, I’m talking Archie Bunker-comedy obvious. (Just off the top of my head- the 2005 ad w/ the Nazi book burning, or having that African American Executive arrested because he was armed w/ deadly gift cards.)
But yeah, it was probably just a giltch. A comedic glitch Walmart can add to it’s list of comedic glitches.
Posted 11 Jan 2006 at 11:01 am ¶
Anonymous wrote:
so it’s only natural that P E O P L E would laugh and wonder why a billion dollar company, with it’s resources, seems to make so many funny mistakes?
makes sense.
no comment, wolf boy?
Posted 12 Jan 2006 at 9:58 pm ¶
Ben wrote:
I’d never heard of the other glitches, and certainly not in any of the articles about this issue. Thanks for enlightening me
Oh black people definitely have a hard-earned right to be sensitive. And we have the hard-earned privilege that when we talk about racism, folks listen. But we also have a responsibility to be rational about those accusations, or else we’re just abusing that privilege.
Posted 13 Jan 2006 at 11:25 am ¶
Anonymous wrote:
Of course. After all that, people are going to be suspicious. What do you expect?
Posted 13 Jan 2006 at 11:41 am ¶