Putting It Together: Race and Ethnicity

Summary

In this module, you learned about stereotyping, prejudices, and discrimination in regards to race and ethnicity. Surely you have seen examples of each of these in your own life, but now you hopefully feel better equipped to acknowledge and correct discriminatory behavior. While most people in the U.S. today are not explicitly and overtly racist, subtle messages still embed themselves into our subconscious through all types of avenues. Extensive research shows that we are not aware of these beliefs, but they are activated in split second decisions when we judge someone and a situation. Even those who don’t practice overt racism may find that they hold a negative implicit bias against non-whites, as demonstrated by researchers at Harvard and the Ohio State University. Test your own subconscious tendencies through Harvard’s Project Implicit.

Over 1.5 million (nonrandom) people have taken the IAT since it appeared online. The tests show higher IAT scores, reflecting a greater negative racial bias against blacks and darker skin people, in southern states.

Map of the United States showing Implicit Association test scores of white participants, with more racism existing in the southeast.
It is not just advertising but also, and likely even more so, the news media that contributes to the development of negative implicit racial bias. Research shows a correlation between the minutes of news media watched by whites and the level of negative implicit bias against blacks. Other studies have shown that U.S. news media over-represents blacks as criminals. Click on the image of the article below to download a pdf.
Screenshot of the IAT research article.

What you learned to do:

  • Define and differentiate between race, ethnicity, majority groups/minority groups, stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination
  • Summarize the key ideas behind the three theoretical perspectives on racial inequality
  • Compare and contrast the experiences of ethnic groups in the United States