Shocking
Wow. I am quite surprised at the responses in this forum. Lots of obviously racist remarks; but beyond that, the quality of responses can be characterized as less than thoughtful.
Here are some facts based on, oh I dunno, scientific evidence:
1) Racism is real in America.
2) The number of criminal acts of discrimination (behaving in a way towards a person of another race that is unfair or harmful, simply because of his or her race) has been gradually decreasing.
3) One reason for this decrease is due to an increased stigmatization against racists.
4) The increased stigmatization against racists has resulted in an increase in a) covert racist (see my earlier post) and b) reverse racism (see my earlier post).
5) Because of this trend towards covert racism and reverse racism, the number of acts of discrimination has been reduced; However, this has not reduced the level of racial prejudice and racial stereotyping in this country (see my earlier post).
6) Someone mentioned that it is human instinct to be racist. That is yet to be identified, however, science has shown that it is human instinct to have an increased liking for those similar to you. Which isn't very different.
7) David's hypothesis isn't totally wrong either. Science has also shown that people tend to join together when faced with a common enemy. However, I just don't think his hypothesis explains as much of the variance (in decreased discrimination) as do my earlier points.
For a forum which prides itself on facts (though often mathematically derived), this particular post has an absolute lack of factual evidence presented. I found it shocking.
R. Sherman
Ph. D. Student Personality/Social Psychology
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