Washington Post reporters William Wan and Sarah Kaplan interviewed two scientists to ask about persistent racism. (Click here to read the article.) Main takeaways are:
- People absorb the biases in their cultures. ” ‘The truth is that unless parents actively teach kids not to be racists, they will be,’ said Jennifer Richeson, a Yale University social psychologist.”
- Eric Knowles, a psychology professor at New York University, pointed to the “us-them” mentality as biologically-based, adding that divisions along racial lines derive from society.
- “The only way to change bias is to change culture,” Richeson said. Knowles adds, “We need an integrated society, and at the same time need to create as much socioeconomic fairness as we can.”
- Richeson notes that young people are not more progressive than older people about race, expressing more explicit and implicit bias when tested.
” ‘The truth is that unless parents actively teach kids not to be racists, they will be,’ said Jennifer Richeson, a Yale University social psychologist.”
That’s odd, My mother never talked about racism and guess what, I think racism is pretty bad. Oh yes,I’m a social psychologist too. I really don’t like simplistic comments especially when they come from other psychologists.
Racism is learned. There is the Institution of the Family, the Institution of the Street, and the Institution of the Church. One must learn how to think about such things, typically children learn it from one or more of these.