The Other Side of the Coin – a Different Point of View

New Evidence That Racism Isn’t ‘Natural’  by Robert Wright       OCTOBER 17, 2012

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/10/new-evidence-that-racism-isnt-natural/263785/

The Reaction to African American faces was found to be weaker in People with Racially Diverse Peers.

What’s more: once it kicks in, it doesn’t kick in equally for everybody. The more racially diverse your peer group, the less strong the amygdala effect. At really high levels of diversity, the effect disappeared entirely. The authors of the study write that ”these findings suggest that neural biases to race are not innate and that race is a social construction, learned over time.”

There is a reason the previous sentence says “suggest” and not “prove.” As the authors note, it’s conceivable that “the increasing amygdala response to race [with age] may be driven by intrinsic factors of the child, such as puberty, rather than exposure to cultural messages.” For that matter, the correlation between peer group diversity and dampened amygdala response doesn’t mean the former causes the latter; it could work the other way around: maybe people with a mild response to racial difference wind up with more diverse peers.

Added thoughts:  In other words, white people who grew up in a mixed racial community (black and white) were not as disturbed when seeing black faces or had no reaction at all. But their findings are flawed because their hypothesis was too narrow and simple.  It is just as reasonable to assume that because they grew up in a mixed environment their instinct was that black is normal and does not produce a negative reaction in the brain.

How Our Programs Address Intolerance and Prejudice

 In the End, whether you believe that Instinct is the cause of Intolerance, or that Learning is the reason, the path to Understanding and Acceptance is Education and Familiarity with People of a Difference.

 There is no one answer, but whether you believe that Human Instinct or Learning is at the Center of Intolerance and Prejudice, we all agree that even though some progress has been made, what has been tried in the past does not work.  You cannot easily change human behavior, and it takes time.  We must think long term and start at an early age.  It is our instinct and learned behavior that causes us to respond subconsciously with caution (even with fear) when we meet someone who looks or speaks differently than we do.  We can adjust, how we react and how we respond by modifying our autonomic responses.  To modify this response ADR-New Beginnings offers two school programs: Pride and Respect, which introduces students to People of Diversity who have contributed to making the world a better place; and The Collective Experience, which creates activities for students of all diversities to participate in group activities, with the belief that if people spend time together they will learn to understand and respect each other.

Years ago, I was watching a TV program that was about racism.  One group was White and one Black.  The moderator asked several questions, but one stood out in my mind.  “Are there any Black people you might like to meet? Someone you might like?”  The answer was interesting – “Sydney Poitier, but one in a million is still not enough, they need to leave”.  Wow, why?  It is because this person “knew” Mr. Poitier from the movies and talk shows.  He was always portrayed in a positive light, leading to admiration.  He associated Mr. Poitier with good feelings.  That is the basis of our Programs. You cannot hate someone you “know” and admire.

The Programs seek to add minimal work to our school educators (adjunctive education) by utilizing existing systems.  We provide short biographies about people of all Heritages, that teachers can easily use to augment their agendas.  We call on the Community members to actively support our Programs, by joining committees and when parents and community leaders become involved, they show our children the importance of Understanding and Acceptance.  Discussions at home about what was taught in school are of great value.

Pride and Respect:  Pride is defined as: a feeling of deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one’s own achievements, the achievements of those with whom one is strongly associated, or from qualities that are widely admired.  We know that teaching students about people who have contributed in significant ways to making the world a better place, and who share the student’s heritage, will engender a feeling of pride.  When we hold up a mirror with the image of another person like yourself, we gain pride in ourselves.  Other students will see the student in a more positive light because of the connection to the person in the biography.  This is the basis for building respect between students, a peer to peer relationship.  Never underestimate The Power of Pride!  As teachers relate positive information about leaders from each “heritage” the positive image of all students becomes the basis of respect – the building blocks for understanding and acceptance.  The Guide contains short biographies in a catalog (Data Base) about people of all diversities who are important for their contributions to America and the World, which the teacher can interweave into the regular curriculum.

The Collective Experience:  Group activities that bring students together in positive, supervised programs where they interact with Students of a Difference to learn about each other. The central goal of guided interaction between students is to establish an understanding and respect for other people through Peer to Peer relationships. Many schools are populated by one dominate race, religion, or income strata, but even in mixed schools, students tend to congregate with children they know and who “look and behave” like them, it is a natural feeling of comfort.  By bringing Children of Diversity together we hope to create that same level of comfort between them – a feeling of harmony and understanding.  It is the familiarity between students that diminishes the need for their protective instinct.  Over time, students learn to appreciate each other, and to unlearn the negative feelings that may have existed.   The Guide offers ideas for supervised activities that can be arranged by the school educators, with the assistance of committees made up of parents and the community leaders.

You Cannot Hate Someone You Know

Instead of Guilt by Association, we propose Acceptance by Association.

The Opposite is True:  People confirm their feelings of racism by associating “bad” people with people of the same Heritage.  We see the news, a black person has been arrested for a violent crime, and we “feel” that all black people might be criminals.  Italians have long been associated with organized crime; therefore, all Italians are Mafia.  White Collar Crime is usually white men who have committed financial theft without guns, therefore all white men in suits may be criminals.  Another time we see a Muslim being arrested for an act of terrorism, and we “feel” all Muslims might be terrorists.

So, the opposite must be true, if we introduce a black woman, who is a good mother we might feel that all black women are good mothers.  Learn about a white man, who is working with charities and perhaps all white men are good.

This is the basis of combatting Instinctive Protective Behavior.  It is our instinct or learning that causes us to respond subconsciously with negativity. This autonomic reaction causes us to pause and be weary (often with a sense of danger) when we meet a Person of a Difference; but by familiarizing our children with People of a Difference, we will reduce the subconscious reaction that is actuated.  Studies show that when children spend time with a diverse population of their peers, they are less likely to submit to their protective instinct because it is not necessary.  We must first educate our children to respect and accept People of a Difference, by offering examples of people who have contributed to society AND offer group activities that offer positive and meaningful interactions between students of mixed heritage, so that everyone becomes familiar with each other.