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Racism, Bias, and the Coronavirus, Quincy K. Ruffin

5/1/2020

17 Comments

 
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In a recent article entitled Police, Diversity and The Culture of Inclusion, I highlighted the fact that well-meaning department heads, chiefs of police, and the like are missing the real benefits of diversity if they are not creating a culture of inclusion (COI) (Ruffin, 2020) and that there are times when diversity in law enforcement can create deadly results. (Nicholson-Crotty, 2017) The benefits of a COI are not just related to race. A COI allows a department to benefit from every facet of its diversity including those diverse ideas, warnings and corrections that may be suppressed by conformity and fear of being isolated from the group.
 
As of the writing of this article, the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has claimed the lives of 55,258 Americans. (CDC, 2020) While blacks make up 13% of the US population, they account for approximately 29.2% of the total cases. The death toll has also been disproportionately higher among African Americans. In some counties the numbers are staggering. In an interview on CBS “Face The Nation,” Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said black people accounted for 72% of the COVID-19 deaths while only making up 30% of the population. (CBS News, 2020) According to the New York State Department of Health, blacks are 22% of the population but account for 28% of the COVID-19 deaths compared to whites at 32% of the population accounting for 27% of the deaths. (New York State Department of Health, 2020)

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There are many reasons cited which make people of color and particularly blacks more vulnerable to COVID-19.  Dr. Lisa Cooper, internist and social epidemiologist with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health said, “I expect the COVID-19 pandemic to impact African Americans to a greater extent than other more socially-advantaged groups. This is because as a group, African Americans in the U.S. have higher rates of poverty, housing and food insecurity, unemployment or underemployment, and chronic medical conditions, and disabilities.” (Joseph P. Williams, 2020) Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy said in an NPR Morning Edition interview that African Americans have more ACE receptors due to their higher rates of diabetes, obesity and hypertension and that the virus likes to hit the ACE receptor. He went on to say as a physician, he suggests a need to address the obesity epidemic which affects African Americans disproportionately. This in turn would lower the prevalence of diabetes, hypertension and make a difference in the mortality rate related to COVID-19. (National Public Radio (NPR), 2020)
 
Here, like in so many other cases, the blame for disparity is shifted to those who are falling victim to the effect. The sentiment that echoes through the airwaves is that minorities are dying at higher rates from COVID-19 because they are poor, have poor diets, obesity and a general distrust of the government so they don’t do what they are told. There is another part to this equation. The wealth gap and disparities in access that exist today have a historical cause. Policies like redlining and mass incarceration have been devastating to the economic growth of minority communities for generations restricting their access to education, financial wealth, and the opportunities enjoyed by whites in this country since its inception.
"Due to residential segregation, majority African-American and hispanic areas are more likely to lack hospitals and other health care providers." (Taylor, 2019)
Racism and implicit racial bias have actual physical health consequences of their own. While not currently listed as a disorder in the DSM-5 racial trauma or race-based stress is often compared to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with symptoms such as irritability, hyper-vigilance, and depression. (Perry, 2017) The resulting stress and triggers that occur, in some cases multiple times a day, as a minority is forced to assimilate to the dominant culture and turn a blind ear to subtle microaggressions can cause a multitude of physical disorders and chronic conditions.
 
Disparities in health care are a real concern for blacks. Not unlike within law enforcement, the healthcare industry has its own history of racism. James Marion Sims, the father of modern gynecology conducted research on enslaved black women without using anesthesia because he believed black people did not feel pain. Then there was the Tuskegee syphilis experiment lasting between 1932 and 1972 where 600 African American men were told they were receiving free health care from the federal government. 399 of the men had syphilis and 201 did not. The men were told the study was going to last six months but it went on for 40 years. None of the men were treated for syphilis even after the antibiotic penicillin was proven to be an effective cure.
"Even medical residents, those who have graduated and actively practice medicine, are not immune to false beliefs: Some of them thought black people have thicker skin than white people." (Andrews, 2016)
Rana Zoe Mungin
False and racist beliefs by some medical students and doctors have led to deadly disparities in the medical treatment of blacks. Just recently Rana Zoe Mungin,  who is African American, died from COVID-19 after being turned away for testing in Brooklyn twice. She exhibited various symptoms of the virus and pleaded for help but was still denied treatment with her symptoms dismissed as a panic attack. Her older sister died at the same hospital 15 years prior of an asthma attack.
 
Dr. Camara Jones, a family physician, epidemiologist and visiting fellow at Harvard University spent 13 years working at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) focusing on identifying, measuring and addressing racial bias within the medical system said, "This is the time to name racism as the cause of all of those things. The over-representation of people of color in poverty and white people in wealth is not just a happenstance … It's because we're not valued." (Johnson & Buford, 2020)

As sobering as the outlook is for African Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic, the end of the pandemic may mean even more danger. With the public being required to wear masks to protect them from the virus, encounters with the police pose a particularly scary predicament for African Americans. Founder and lead organizer of Black Lives Matter (BLM),  Aston Woods said in an interview with Yahoo Lifestyle, “It’s disheartening that CDC and our leaders told us that we didn’t need to wear masks in public, only to reverse course without providing masks and other personal protective equipment (PPE) to the general population. Now we have to wear whatever is available to us as the data continues to show that black people are disproportionately affected by the coronavirus.” (Newton, 2020)

"I don't feel safe wearing a handkerchief or something else that isn't CLEARLY a protective mask covering my face to the store because I am a Black man living in this world. I want to stay alive but I also want to stay alive." Aaron Thomas (Twitter post)
Jermon Best
On March 15, 2020 two African American men, Jermon Best and Diangeo Jackson entered a Walmart in Wood River, Illinois wearing surgical face masks. A police officer told the two that the Wood River city ordinance prohibited the wearing of masks and requested their identification. Best recorded part of the incident as they were leaving the store and the officer followed them with his hand resting on his taser. In a follow up statement the Wood River Police Chief said, “The individuals refused and indicated they were leaving the store. The officer did not further pursue their identity and the individuals left the store of their own volition.” (Wells, 2020) The police chief confirmed there is no ordinance in Wood River prohibiting the wearing of masks. Follow up comments to the press release dispute the fact that the two left on their “..own volition” yet a police officer is walking behind them with his hand on his taser.
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A recent tweet sent out by Senator Kamala Harris stated that too many Black men have been racially profiled by law enforcement for wearing masks. This is in stark contrast to the police response to a wave of lockdown protests, some featuring heavily armed white men wearing masks and riding in the back of military style trucks. Senator Harris and Senator Cory Booker have written a letter to US Attorney General William Barr demanding bias training and guidance for all officers.
 
While bias training is a good first step, it is clearly not going to be enough to effect true change. As departments beef up their diversity and put those officers through bias training there will be a measure of what Professor Kimberly Papillon calls “moral credentialing." In an interview at Google.com, she explained that moral credentialing is akin to the feeling one gets when eating chocolate (Papillon, 2017). Each time an official is challenged regarding the department and the minority community, they will reward themselves with thoughts and talking points about the department diversity numbers and bias training stats. The result being the sense that the department and officers have done the work that needed to be done around that subject thus stopping them from making any further efforts in that area.
The moral credential effect is a cognitive bias that allows a person who has a good record as an honest, egalitarian individual and has built up such a good reputation that as they grow older it may increase the likelihood of less ethical behavior at a later time. For instance, a person may start saying to themselves, "I've been honest and hard-working all of my life and now life owes me." (Alleydog.com, n.d.)
This brings us back to the urgent need for a COI. The only real change will come from people who have the power to speak up and be their true selves without fear. Minority doctors, nurses, law enforcement officers and even executives are often forced to go along with the majority opinions and viewpoints even when they don’t agree. There can be consequences if they appear to lean too much toward the viewpoints of their own minority group. Especially in the case where there is a complaint made related to race. According to a 2006 study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, being confronted by a member of the group one has just offended elicits different responses from the offender depending on who is doing the confronting. Specifically, if the confronter is a member of the group they are defending, they are seen as over sensitive and confrontational. (Czopp & Moneith, 2006)
 
We’ve seen this combination of moral credentialing and assimilation play out in some very high positions. In a white house press conference PBS reporter Yamiche Alcindor asked President Trump if his referring to himself as a “Nationalist” was rhetoric which was causing some to view the Republican party as supporting white nationalists. Trump responded by saying, “Why do I have my highest poll numbers ever with African Americans?” He went on to accuse the African American reporter of being racist.
 
Being pushed out of the majority group could mean a loss of career growth opportunity and even potential termination.  Those in high profile positions who have had to assimilate in order to be trusted by the majority with the responsibilities of the position often take on, at least ostensibly,  some of the errored stereotypes assigned to their own minority group members. This causes them to sometimes be even more critical of minorities. The idea being, because they’ve managed to get into a high position as a minority, other minorities only have to "act right" and follow the rules to be successful too.  
"...in inclusive organizations, all employees are integral to the mission and vision of the organization because the culture of the organization is such that there is little to no distinction between diverse and majority group employees." (Heathcote & Gruman, 2011)
US Surgeon General Jerome Adams, an African American, has come under fire recently for using language considered offensive to blacks and Latinos. During a news briefing held April 10, 2020. Adams urged African Americans to “step up” and to stop drinking smoking or doing drugs. He went on to say, “We need you to do this if not for yourself then for your abuela. Do it for your grandaddy, do it for your big momma, do it for your pop-pop.” According to the CDC African American youth and young adults have significantly lower prevalence of cigarette smoking than Hispanics and whites. (Centers for Disease Control, 2015) And African Americans actually smoke fewer cigarettes per day than white adults. (CDC, 2020)

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This type of misinformation from what appears to be an in-group member can be particularly damaging as minorities are given substandard treatment by medical staff members who have the implicit belief that health issues suffered by minorities are their own fault.  Implicit bias in the management of police departments can result in law enforcement officers who risk their lives for the protection of the public taking a less compassionate stance toward those they perceive are failing to make an effort on their own behalf.
 
Teaching medical staff and law enforcement officers that they have biases without a comprehensive plan to change the culture from within will likely only result in the same sort of moral credentialing and lack of real change that lead to the disparities we are witnessing today. Leadership must make inclusion part of the values of the department or unit they lead. When these values are tested with positive outcomes, employees will begin to share those values and support the unique and diverse viewpoints. However, if employees are never given the opportunity to test the leaderships values of diversity and inclusion, “…employees may say that organizational decision making is enhanced when diverse employees have an opportunity to participate but fail to listen to diverse group members.” (Heathcote & Gruman, 2011) We need to urge those that have the platform to speak such as Senators Harris and Booker to insist that law enforcement and medical industry leaders be trained not just in the importance of diversity within the department but also how to build a COI within their respective departments.


“First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out- because I was not a socialist
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out-because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me- and there was no one left to speak for me.” Martin  Niemöller
Leaders in the white community will also be vital in making inclusive cultures a reality. This is not just a minority problem. As demographics rapidly change in this country, the social landscape will look very different in upcoming years. According to the US Census Bureau, the US will be a majority-minority country by 2044 (United States Census Bureau, 2015). The tables are turning in our part of the world. One day, the conversation about racism, power and inclusion will be very different, but also pretty much the same unless we put in the proper steps now to give everyone a voice. That voice may one day be the one that saves a reputation, a business, or even a life.

Author

Quincy K. Ruffin has over 15 years of law enforcement experience rising from the rank of security patrol officer to Police Sergeant. He is a subject matter expert in Racial Bias, Diversity and Inclusion and runs the website www.unmaskingthebiasphere.com. He is a POST certified instructor for Fair and Impartial Policing, Principled Policing and Racial Profiling. Mr. Ruffin has a Bachelor's degree in Psychology from the University of Oregon and a certificate in Diversity and Inclusion from Cornell University.

References:

References:
​​Alleydog.com. (n.d.). Alley Dog. Retrieved from A Psychology Student's Best friend: https://www.alleydog.com/glossary/definition.php?term=Moral+Credential+Effect
Andrews, R. (2016, April 7). www.iflscience.com. Retrieved from https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/medical-students-often-show-racial-biases-based-false-biological-beliefs/
Bozeman, W. P., Stopyra, J. P., Klinger, D. A., Martin, B. P., Graham, D. D., Johnson, J. C.-C., . . . Vail, S. J. (2018, March). Injuries Associated with police use of force. The Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery, 84(3), 466-472.
CBS News. (2020, April 12). CBS News.com. Retrieved from Face the Nation: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/transcript-chicago-mayor-lori-lightfoot-discusses-coronavirus-on-face-the-nation-april-12-2020/
CDC. (2020, April 29). CDC.gov. Retrieved from Center for disease control: www.cdc.gov
Centers for Disease Control. (2015, April 17). cdc.gov. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6414a3.htm?s_cid=mm6414a3_w
Czopp, A. M., & Moneith, M. (2006). Standing Up for a change. Reducing bias through interpersonal confrontation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 784-803.
Dawson, D. (1998). Beyond Black, White and Hispanic: Race, Ethnic Origin and Drinking Patterns in the United States. Journal of Substance Abuse, 321-339. Retrieved from Beyond black, white and Hispanic: race, ethnic orgin and drinking patterns in the United States: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0899328999000097?via%3Dihub
Heathcote, K., & Gruman, j. (2011). The diverse organizaion: Finding Gold at the end of the Rainbow. Human Resource Management , 737.
Johnson, A., & Buford, T. (2020, April 3). PrpPublica. Retrieved from Early Data Shows African Americans Have Contracted And Died of Coronavirus at an Alarming Rate: https://www.propublica.org/article/early-data-shows-african-americans-have-contracted-and-died-of-coronavirus-at-an-alarming-rate
Joseph P. Williams, S. E. (2020, March 25). Rumor, Disparity and Distrust: Why Black Americans Face an Uphill Battle Against COVID-19. Retrieved from U.S. News & World Report: https://www.usnews.com/news/healthiest-communities/articles/2020-03-25/why-black-americans-face-an-uphill-battle-against-the-coronavirus
National Public Radio (NPR). (2020, April 7). NPR.org. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/2020/04/07/828715984/sen-bill-cassidy-on-his-states-racial-disparites-in-coronavirus-deaths
New York State Department of Health. (2020, April 28). Covid19tracker. Retrieved from Health.ny.gov: https://covid19tracker.health.ny.gov/views/NYS-COVID19-Tracker/NYSDOHCOVID-19Tracker-Fatalities?%3Aembed=yes&%3Atoolbar=no&%3Atabs=n
Newton, K. (2020, April 22). Yahoo!life. Retrieved from Why Coronavirus mask-wearing orders leave black Americans facing a tough decision: https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/why-coronavirus-maskwearing-orders-leave-black-americans-facing-a-tough-decision-171735033.html
Nicholson-Crotty, S. N.-C. (2017). Will More Black Cops Matter? Officer Race and Police-Involved Homicides of black Citizens. Public Administration Review.
Papillon, K. (2017, July 11). Youtube. Retrieved from Implicit Bias and Microaggressions: https://youtu.be/lxsQRQAlFfU?t=2264
Perry, C. (2017, December 12). Counseling.org. Retrieved from https://www.counseling.org/news/aca-blogs/aca-member-blogs/aca-member-blogs/2017/12/12/mental-health-and-the-current-times-racial-trauma
Ruffin, Q. K. (2020, April 28). Unmasking The Biasphere. Retrieved from Police, Diversity and The Culture of Inclusion: www.unmaskingthebiasphere.com
Taylor, J. (2019, December 9). TCD.org. Retrieved from Racism, Inequality, and Health Care for African Americans: https://tcf.org/content/report/racism-inequality-health-care-african-americans/?agreed=1
United States Census Bureau. (2015, March 3). New Census Bureau Report Analyzes U.S. Population Projections. Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2015/cb15-tps16.html
Wells, C. B. (2020, April 7). Facebook: Wood River Police Department. Retrieved from Press Release: https://www.facebook.com/woodriverpd/


17 Comments
NPR
5/2/2020 12:12:36 am

The Coronavirus Doesn’t Discriminate But U.S. Healthcare Showing Familiar Biases April 2

Reply
QUINCY
5/3/2020 12:12:06 am

I agree, but I would like to remind everyone that we all have biases and that there is no shame or blame in it. It is a natural part of being human.

Reply
HB45583968
5/3/2020 09:16:54 am

This is an inaccurate statement: “Marion Sims, the father of modern gynecology conducted research on enslaved black women without using anesthesia because he believed black people did not feel pain.” Please refer to these websites. Dr. Sims was very aware that these patients were able to feel pain. Anesthesia was just invented, available only at the most prestigious institutions in the country at the time and certainly not available to him in the rural countryside. This article gives a more balanced view of a very controversial topic. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.thevintagenews.com/2018/05/09/j-marion-sims/amp/ https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/radiolab/segments/anesthesia

Reply
Quincy link
5/3/2020 12:45:32 pm

Thank you for your comment. As you suggested, I read the article you referred to. According to the article, Sims' decision not to use anesthesia on the enslaved women he was performing surgery on was, "...likely to have been because the only available methods of anesthesia at the start of his career were themselves dubious."

I would like to point out a paragraph from the a History.com article:

"While some doctors didn’t trust anesthesia, Sims’s decision to not use it—or any other numbing technique—was based on his misguided belief that black people didn’t experience pain like white people did. It’s a notion that persists today, according to a study conducted at the University of Virginia, and published in the April 4, 2016 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences." (https://www.history.com/news/the-father-of-modern-gynecology-performed-shocking-experiments-on-slaves)

Here is a link to the study History.com is referring to: (https://www.pnas.org/content/113/16/4296.full)

Reply
HB45583968
5/3/2020 02:14:07 pm

As the podcast that included describes, the first use of anesthesia in surgery at Mass General was in October 1846. Prior to that, when surgery was first developed in the 1800's thousands of patients regardless of race were operated on without anesthesia, with 6 grown men hired to hold the patients down as they were screaming throughout the surgery. This persisted well after 1846 until the technique was developed so that technology would free an additional physician from manually administering the anestheisa without the values and automation in place, and access to anesthesia was more widely available. This early anesthesia alone carried a high risk of death. Dr. Simms operated starting in 1845 when this technology was not even invented. As it states in the article, the women had feces and urine leaking out of the vaginal area and were in extreme pain. I write this not to excuse the torture or condone the surgeon's choice and techniques at the time, but simply to shed light on the time period that this was taking place, you undermine your credibility by making the statement that you did and not providing a more balanced assessment.
Also I think that the overriding beliefs at that point in time is getting confused in this discussion. Black women were getting raped and beaten routinely at that time when they were enslaved. As a group they were exposed to intense pain and trauma in greater amounts and longer periods of time than their white counterparts, and with repeated exposure to pain there is ample evidence of increased tolerance to pain. That is the reasoning behind why Dr. Sims described that the black patients were able to tolerate the procedure more than the white patients he operated on when he did not have access to anesthesia until he moved to New York. It was not the color of their skin but the repeated exposure affecting their tolerance to higher level of intense pain that was the basis for his reasoning. If a white woman had been exposed to the same repeated raping and beating relative to a black counterpart with no exposure to physical pain, the assumption would be that this white woman could tolerate higher levels of pain more than her black counterpart.
#thatwhatdoesnotkillusrightnowonlymakesusstronger http://www.scienceagogo.com/news/19991118193235data_trunc_sys.shtml

Dedee M
5/3/2020 10:11:50 pm

It is the higher presence of ACE receptors (which is genetically determined) that results in the potential for higher risk of COVID in African Americans. This same receptor prevalence results in a higher risk of hypertension, particularly in the black male population given the effect of testosterone on ACE-2 receptor expression (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7192108/) So, therefore, the reason that it is even more critical for African American men to maintain a healthy blood pressure compared to the general population is the same reason that this group of individuals are at increased risk of COVID.

Reply
Quincy link
5/4/2020 05:25:14 pm

Dedee M,
Thank you for your thoughtful contribution to the article. I don't disagree with you that there are genetic factors. Just like everyone else, African Americans can minimize the risk by a healthy lifestyle. We must not forget the fact that there are factors that further the risk for African Americans such as the stress from bias, healthcare bias and even after the pandemic is "over" the risk of being stopped by the police at disproportionate rates.

Reply
Doctor S
5/5/2020 10:23:27 pm

“False and racial beliefs of medical students and doctors have led to deadly disparities in the medical treatment of blacks.” Since this is an article specifically about COVID19, what evidence do you have that this false and racial belief system of doctors and medical students is causing the increase in COVID19 deaths? You state one example of a black woman who was misdiagnosed. For every one example you have of a black woman, I have twenty of Puerto Rican, Asian, Indian, and White Americans who would have the same story—the Doctor misdiagnosed or didn’t take their symptoms seriously and they actually had COVID. Diagnosing disease is not as straightforward as a lay person might think. I am not seeing the grossly racist and false belief system that you describe where I practice in New York City. So where is the data to back up your claim specific to COVID?

Reply
Contrarian...
5/26/2020 03:09:25 pm

Medical bias makes a difference.

https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/national-public-radio/hidden-brain

Reply
How scary is it really?
5/9/2020 01:06:59 am

Everyone’s so freaked out about coronavirus but is there really cause to be? Death rate in New York is 0.5% (This is still higher than it actually is because they only tested those people who were present in stores so 0.5% is a high estimate). https://www.google.com/amp/s/champ.gothamist.com/champ/gothamist/news/new-york-antibody-test-results-coronavirus
If you count per 100,000
17+154=171 (under 65)
502+1262=1764 (65 and older)
TOTAL 1935
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1109867/coronavirus-death-rates-by-age-new-york-city/
That means 171/1935 = 8.8% of deaths were in people under 65. So that means for people under 65 the death rate is 0.0044% which is 0.5% of 8.8% (that is the cost of life for herd immunity to develop if those under 65 do not shelter in place). So there are 4 people in every 100,000 people who will die (essentially 1 per 25,000 people).

Reply
Quincy
5/9/2020 06:13:25 pm

I suppose it is not so scary if you and your loved ones are not part of that 4 out of 100,000. Same if you are not part of the 1% of officer involved encounters that end in a use of force.

Reply
So what would you do?
5/9/2020 10:38:22 pm

So what would you do Mr. Quincy? Tank the US economy for another month or start the process of a 1/25,000 person sacrifice of those under the age of 65 to begin the process of herd immunity like Sweden, Japan and Germany, countries that are lauded for having systems to combat the virus that are effective with minimal deaths while keeping their economies strong?

Germany

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wsj.com/amp/articles/local-practical-apolitical-inside-germanys-successful-coronavirus-strategy-11588325403

Sweden

https://www.gpbnews.org/post/merits-risks-and-politics-swedens-herd-immunity-strategy


Japan

https://thediplomat.com/2020/04/covid-19-strategy-the-japan-model/

Inquisitive
5/12/2020 04:57:51 pm

Is this video racist? https://youtu.be/Ahhvmzr_pZo

Reply
Laughing Larry
5/12/2020 06:22:14 pm

It's comedy...what do you expect? In all seriousness, I think that the primary "racist" label would come from the fact that the white people who were "taken over by the music" were showing off their tits by stripping and causing damage to private property by destroying tables and breaking glass bottles, whereas the black and Latinos were enjoying the music but not demonstrating lewd or reckless behavior. If the white people had simply been dancing, but they had asked the blacks and Latinos to perform illegal or lewd behavior while listening to music then the "racism" might be more apparent in the video.

Reply
Quincy
5/14/2020 11:04:38 am

Laughing Larry,
I agree there is a negative extreme in the depiction of the whites in the video. I suppose here it is just comedy and considering the power dynamic between those depicted in the video, it is not likely to do much damage. It is a very different story when it comes to the way minorities are depicted in the news media though. Studies show that minorities (African Americans in particular) are shown less often as victims of crime and more often as perpetrators than the real crime rates show. This causes many to feel that minorities are particularly prone to criminal behavior.

Shaquille P.
5/12/2020 06:23:28 pm

It's not. Beverly Tatum describes the fact that you can't use the word racism to describe bias against whites because the power structure is still in place that puts whites in the position of power, so you would have to use a different term. Racism is prejudice or discrimination directed at someone of a different race based on the belief that your own race is superior; but the person also has to be in a position of power.

Reply



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