Racism: What to Do About It

Adapted from www.apa.org/pi/oema/racism/homepage.html

An APA resource written byMark Feinberg, PhD

What is Racism?• housing, education, and

health • politics, the media,

finance, and banking

Racism serves both to discriminate against ethnic minorities and to maintain advantages and benefits for White Americans.

Why should we keep talking about prejudice and racism–aren't they on the way out? Hasn't there been so much change in society already?

What can psychology tell us?

Illusory Correlation

• tendency to believe that two things are more highly correlated (or associated) than they actually are

• based on our tendency to notice things more when they are rare or infrequent

(Jones, 1997).

Out-group homogeneity

Categorization

Good Bad

Stereotypes

Why doesn't experience correct inaccurate stereotypes?

What do you notice or discount?

Attitudes Follow Behavior

• Illusory correlation

• Out-group bias

• Need for self-esteem

Motivation & Action

(Pettigrew, 1997).

Is it okay to harbor stereotypes if I just keep them to myself and treat everybody the same anyway ?

(Bargh and Chen, 1996)

Talk about it!

(Bargh and Chen, 1996)

AnxietyFight or Flight?

I can't take responsibility for institutional racism

It is the responsibility of everyone participating in that system. It is especially the responsibility of those benefiting from institutional racism.

Haven't we made progress on racism in this country in the last

30 or 40 years?

Racial minorities and low income patients:• less likely to receive preventive care • less likely to receive referral to specialists,

outpatient rehabilitation services, and patient education

• require more frequent hospitalizations• more likely to be physically restrained in

nursing homes

Myth: Disparity is due to lifestyle.

Even when genetic and socio-economic differences are taken into account, Blacks have poorer health outcomes than Whites in Louisiana.

Many racial and ethnic minorities and lower income patients report more difficult

patient-provider relationships.

What YOU Can Do

• Be honest• Partner• Educate yourself• Teach others• Be a role model• Be an advocate• Get involved

References• Bargh, J. A., & Chen, M. (1996). The chameleon effect:

Automatic social perception produces automatic social behavior. Unpublished manuscript, cited in Jones (1997).

• Darley, J. M., & Gross, P. H. (1983). A hypothesis-confirming bias in labeling effects. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 44, 20-33.

• Katz, P. A., & Barrett, M. (1997). The development of prejudice in children and adolescents. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, Chicago, August 18, 1997.

• Jones, J. M. (1997). Prejudice and racism. USA: McGraw Hill Companies, Inc.

• Pettigrew, T. F. (1997). Combating racism: Creating norms for intergroup harmony. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, Chicago, August 18, 1997.

More References• Pratto, F. Sidanius, J., Stallworth, L. M., & Malle, B. F.

(1994). Social dominance orientation: A personality variable predicting social and political attitudes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 67, 741-763.

• Sears, D. (1997). White racism in contemporary American mass politics. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, Chicago, August 18, 1997.

• Sherif, M., Harvey, O. J., White, J. B., Hood, W. R., & Sherif, C. W. (1961). Intergroup conflict and cooperation: The robbers cave experiment. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Book Exchange.

• Tajfel, H. (1969). Cognitive aspects of prejudice. Journal of Social Issues, 25, 79-97.

CreditsThe script for this presentation was adapted from the one written by Mark Feinberg, PhD for the American Psychological Association and may be accessed at www.apa.org/pi/oema/racism/homepage.html

All photos in this presentation were downloaded from the Microsoft Clip Art Gallery except for the pictures on slide 5 (KKK member),) and slide 9 (sharecropper), which are from the LIFE magazine archive, available for personal, but not commercial, use at Google Images. The image of President Obama was purchased from http://www.bigstockphoto.com/photo/view/4101252 on 2/19/09