SO, FROM TIME TO TIME RIGHT-WING DEMAGOGUES LIKE BILL O'REILLY
SAY, WHAT BIAS?
WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?
YOU THINK THERE'S A COORDINATED EFFORT BY ALL THE COPS IN
THE COUNTRY TO DISCRIMINATE AGAINST BLACKS?
NO, WE DON'T THINK THAT.
WE DON'T THINK IT'S COORDINATED, AND YES THERE'S CLEARLY SOME
EXPLICIT RACISM, BUT WE THINK THE LARGER ISSUE IS IMPLICIT
RACISM, WHICH MEANS THAT IT'S SOMETHING THAT IS UNCONSCIOUS.
IT DOESN'T MEAN YOU'RE A BAD PERSON, AND UNFORTUNATELY
IT EXISTS IN ALMOST ALL OF US.
THE ANSWER TO THAT ISN'T TO BE SO EMBARRASSED BY IT OR
FEEL GUILTY ABOUT IT THAT YOU NEVER TALK ABOUT IT, THE
ANSWER IS TO ACKNOWLEDGE IT SO THAT WE CAN ALTOGETHER
FIGURE OUT HOW TO GET PAST IT.
SO IF YOU'RE NOT YET CONVINCED, LET ME GIVE YOU A NUMBER OF
DIFFERENT STUDIES HERE.
WE'VE ALREADY GIVEN YOU THE DIFFERENT STUDIES ABOUT HOW
AFRICAN-AMERICANS ARE ñ WHEN THEY GO FOR EMPLOYMENT, FOR
EXAMPLE, SAME EXACT RESUME GET 50% LESS CALLBACKS IF THEIR
NAME SOUNDS AFRICAN-AMERICAN, AS OPPOSED TO SOUNDING WHITES.
THAT WAS A STUDY THAT WAS DONE A WHILE AGO, AND I MEAN A COUPLE
YEARS AGO, AND SO THAT KIND OF UNCONSCIOUS BIAS STILL EXISTS.
WHEN A BLACK HAND IS HOLDING A PRODUCT ON EBAY IT SELLS
FOR LESS AND PEOPLE WANT MORE VERIFICATION.
THEY DON'T THINK, THAT'S A BLACK HAND I DON'T TRUST THAT,
IT'S AN UNCONSCIOUS BIAS.
POLICE ARREST BLACKS AT FOUR TIMES THE RATE AS WHITES ON
THE ISSUE OF MARIJUANA, EVEN THOUGH THEY SMOKE MARIJUANA
AT THE SAME RATE.
I WANT TO GIVE YOU MORE DETAIL ABOUT HOW DEEP-SEATED THIS
IS, AND I THINK ROSS STORY DID A GREAT JOB PUTTING TOGETHER
A NUMBER OF STORIES UNDER ONE ARTICLE.
"AT THE NEURAL LEVEL, THE BIAS MANIFESTS ITSELF AS AN
ENHANCED POLITICAL RESPONSE IN THE BRAIN REGION ASSOCIATED
WITH DIFFERENT PROCESSING AND FEAR.
AN FMRI STUDY PUBLISHED IN THE JOURNAL OF COGNITIVE
NEUROSCIENCE FOUND INCREASED ACTIVITY IN THE AMYGDALA WHEN
WHITE PARTICIPANTS WERE SHOWN IMAGES OF WHITE ñ OF BLACKMAIL
FACES ON A COMPUTER SCREEN RELATIVE TO WHITE MALE FACES."
SO, THE AMYGDALA CONTROLS YOUR FEAR.
IF IT'S DAMAGED, SOMETIMES YOU ACTUALLY WON'T HAVE FEAR.
IT'S A FASCINATING PHENOMENON AND OBVIOUSLY YOUR BRAIN IS A
FASCINATING ENTITY THAT HAS ALL THESE DIFFERENT THINGS THAT YOU
THINK YOU ARE CONTROLLING, BUT IF PARTS OF IT GET DAMAGED,
THAT YOU SEE IT IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DIFFERENT EMOTIONS
YOU HAVE, THE PARTS OF THE BRAIN.
THAT'S WHAT THE AMYGDALA IS FOR, AND WHEN IT'S ACTIVATED IN
THIS CASE ñ AND IT'S A VERY RESPECTED JOURNAL OF
SCIENCE, AND THEY EXPLAINED, UNFORTUNATELY WHEN THEY SEE
THE BLACK FACES, FEAR ARISES IN THE WHITE MALES THAT WERE
PARTICIPATING IN THE STUDY MORE THAN IF THEY SEE WHITE FACES.
THAT DOESN'T MEAN THEY ARE ALL THAT PEOPLE.
I KEEP SAYING THAT, 1000 TIMES OVER.
THEY DON'T ñ THEY DON'T EVEN REALIZE IT.
THEN TO GIVE YOU ANOTHER ONE.
"DECADES OF RESEARCH HAS SHOWN THAT ALL INDIVIDUALS,
REGARDLESS OF RACE, TEND TO DIRECT THEIR ATTENTION TOWARDS
THREATENING STIMULI ñ LIKE SNAKES, SPIDERS OR ANGRY FACES
ñ MORE QUICKLY THAN THEY DO TOWARDS NONTHREATENING IMAGES.
THIS IS BECAUSE EVOLUTION HAS SHAPED OUR ATTENTIONAL
SYSTEMS TO RAPIDLY DETECT THREAT AS A SURVIVAL TACTIC.
A 2008 STUDY IN THE JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
FOUND THAT, IN MUCH THE SAME WAY, WHITE PARTICIPANTS ORIENT
THEIR ATTENTION TOWARDS BLACK FACES FASTER THAN TWO SAME
RACE FACES."
SO, IF YOU SEE A BUTTERFLY YOU ARE NOT GOING TO REACT TO
IT NEARLY AS QUICKLY AS IF YOU SEE A SNAKE.
YOU REACT MUCH QUICKER.
UNFORTUNATELY IN OUR SOCIETY WITH THE EMBEDDED BIAS ñ WHITE
FOLKS ñ AND THESE STUDIES HAPPEN TO BE WITH WHITE PARTICIPANTS
BUT I'VE ALSO SEEN THIS ACTUALLY WITH PARTICIPANTS IN ALL RACES ñ
WILL REACT QUICKER TO A BLACK FACE, BECAUSE THAT'S HOW WE'VE
BEEN CONDITIONED, AND THEY VIEW IT AS A THREAT.
THAT'S WHY SOMEBODY LIKE CASTILLE GETS SHOT
IMMEDIATELY WHEN HE SAYS OKAY YOU WANT ME TO REACH FOR MY
WALLET I'M GOING TO REACH FOR MY WALLET, HE GETS SHOT ANYWAY.
THIS FEAR HAS BEEN TRIGGERED.
SOMETIMES RIGHT-WINGERS WILL SAY, BLACKS JUST WANT TO BE
VICTIMS.
WHO WOULD WANT TO BE VICTIMS LIKE THIS?
WHO WOULD WANT THEIR FACE TO TRIGGER A HOSTILE REACTION
IN OTHERS?
NOBODY WOULD WANT THAT.
I'M ALMOST RELUCTANT TO GIVE YOU THESE STUDIES BECAUSE THEY ARE
SO DEPRESSING BUT WE'VE GOT TO PUT A LIGHT ON IT, OTHERWISE
WE'LL NEVER FIX IT.
HERE'S ANOTHER ONE.
OKAY, NOW, IN EXPLAINING THAT LAST STUDY THEY WANTED TO ADD
THAT, "THIS EFFECT OCCURRED EVEN IN THOSE WHO REPORTED NO RACIST
BELIEFS.
ADDITIONALLY, SINCE THE FACES WERE ONLY PRESENTED FOR 30
MS IN THIS STUDY, IT IS UNLIKELY THAT THE RACE RELATED
ATTENTION BIAS IS A CONSCIOUS PHENOMENON."
THAT'S WHAT I'VE BEEN TRYING TO TELL YOU GUYS FOR A LONG TIME,
AND IT'S NOT LIKE THEY ASKED PEOPLE, ARE YOU RACIST AND SOME
PEOPLE SAID YES, SOME SAID NO.
THEY TESTED IF THEY HAD SPECIFIC RACIST IDEAS THROUGH
DIFFERENT MEANS.
IT'S NOT LIKE THEY JUST TOLD A STUDY, THEY TESTED AS
HAVING NO RACIST BELIEFS.
EVEN THEY HAVE UNCONSCIOUS BIASES THAT HAPPEN SO QUICKLY
DONATE THE ñ ñ THEY DON'T REALIZE IT.
UNFORTUNATELY IN AMERICA SOME OF THOSE BIASES AND UP GETTING
BLACK PEOPLE KILLED, BECAUSE A COP REACT SO QUICKLY.
TAMIR RICE, SHOT AND KILLED IN TWO SECONDS.
FEAR FEAR FEAR.
ALL RIGHT, "AT THE BEHAVIORAL LEVEL, THE RACIAL BIAS IS
REVEALED BY THE FACT THAT NONBLACK PARTICIPANTS ARE
FASTER AT CATEGORIZING NEGATIVE WORDS WHEN THEY FOLLOW
PICTURES OF BLACK FACES RELATIVE TO WHITE FACES.
THIS TYPE OF EXPERIMENT IS KNOWN AS THE IMPLICIT ASSOCIATION
TEST, AND IT HAS BEEN USED TO DEMONSTRATE IMPLICIT RACIAL
BIASES SO MANY TIMES THAT THE EXISTENCE OF THE GENERAL
EFFECT IS NOT EVEN DISPUTED AMONGST PSYCHOLOGISTS.
THESE RESULTS SUGGEST AN UNCONSCIOUS MENTAL
ASSOCIATION BETWEEN AFRICAN-AMERICANS AND
NEGATIVE THINGS OR CONCEPTS IN THE BRAINS OF WHITES."
THESE STUDIES HAPPEN TO BE WITH WHITE PARTICIPANTS, BUT FOR
EXAMPLE, NOT HAVING ANYTHING TO DO WITH RACE BUT GOING TO THE
SAME CONCEPTS, REMEMBER THE FAMOUS STUDY ñ THIS WAS JUST A
TEACHER WHO DID IT INFORMALLY, BUT IT WAS SO POWERFUL ñ BACK IN
KANSAS, LONG TIME AGO, SHE TOLD THE BLUE-EYED STUDENTS AND THE
BROWN EYED STUDENTS IN HER CLASS THAT THEY WERE DIFFERENT, AND
SHE TOLD AT ONE TIME THE BROWN EYED STUDENTS THAT THEY WERE
SUPERIOR, AND THAT THE BLUE-EYED STUDENTS WORSE ñ INFERIOR.
NOT ONLY TO THE BROWN EYE STUDENTS IMMEDIATELY FEEL
THAT THEY WERE IN FACT SUPERIOR, THEIR TEST SCORES WENT UP.
BUT WHAT WAS AMAZING WAS THAT THE BLUE-EYED STUDENTS FELT THAT
THEY WERE INFERIOR AND THEIR TEST SCORES WENT DOWN, AND THEY
STARTED TO REACT TO EACH OTHER IN A WAY THAT THE TEACHER HAD
TAUGHT THEM, EVEN THOUGH IT WAS SUCH A BRIEF THING THAT SHE DID.
SHE BY THE WAY AND THEN LATER FLIPPED IT AND IT WORKED AGAIN,
THE BLUE-EYED STUDENTS FELT SUPERIOR AND THEIR TEST
SCORES WENT UP AND THE BROWN EYED STUDENTS HAD THEIR
TEST SCORES GO DOWN.
BUT ñ WE ALL HAVE THESE BIASES THAT WE ARE TAUGHT, BUT WE HAVE
TO STOP TEACHING THOSE BIASES AND RECOGNIZE IT SO THAT WE CAN
COMBAT IT AND FINALLY BE DONE WITH IT, SO THAT WE ARE ALL
EQUAL.
OKAY, JAYAR IS IN THE STUDIO SO I WILL ASK HIM.
HOW PREPOSTEROUS IS IT WHEN THEY SAY THAT YOU ñ
THEY MAKE IT SEEM LIKE YOU WANT THESE BIASES.
THAT SOMEHOW IT GIVES YOU AN ADVANTAGE.
THERE'S ALWAYS A PATTERN THAT WILL START WITH STUFF LIKE
THIS, EVEN WITH GAY RIGHTS.
THEY SAY, YOU CHOOSE IT.
WHY WOULD SOMEONE CHOOSE TO BE IN THE POSITION THAT NOW YOU'RE
IN WHERE THERE'S SO MUCH HATE AND EVEN MURDER TOWARDS THEM?
YEAH I JUST FEEL LIKE DOING IT, OR IF THERE'S NO VIOLENCE
TOWARDS THEM THEY PUT IT OUT THERE AND SAY I'M GETTING
ALL THIS VIOLENCE.
HOW ME BLACK FOLKS DO YOU KNOW, AFTER THEY'VE SAID I'VE BEEN THE
VICTIM OF THESE MANY THINGS, GET SOMETHING FOR IT?
ARE THEY MILLIONAIRES?
SOMEONE PAYS THEM?
SOMETIMES THEY GET SHOT FOR IT.
THERE'S NO BASIS BEHIND IT, THAT'S ANOTHER EMPTY ARGUMENT.
I THINK SOME RIGHT-WINGERS LIKE BEING VICTIMS.
THIS IS WILD SPECULATION HERE, BUT MAYBE IT COMES FROM
CHRISTIANITY WHERE THE HERO IS A VICTIM.
BEATON, TORTURED AND CRUCIFIED.
THEY VIEW VICTIM ALL THE G, THEY PROJECT IT, BUT IN REALITY
THEY WANT TO BE THE VICTIMS, THAT'S WHY THEY TURN AROUND
AND SAY THINGS LIKE, THERE'S A WAR ON CHRISTMAS, OH MY GOD
WE ARE THE AGGRIEVED WHITE PEOPLE OF AMERICA AND THE
AGGRIEVED CHRISTIANS IN AMERICA.
SINCE THEY THINK THAT THEY ENJOYED VICTIMHOOD, OR AT LEAST
PRETENDING TO BE VICTIMS WHEN THEY ARE NOT REAL VICTIMS ñ
BECAUSE IF YOU'RE A REAL VICTIM, IT'S NOT ENJOYABLE.
SO THEN THEY PROJECT THAT ONTO AFRICAN-AMERICANS.