Ani Fitzgerald

UWRT 1102-006
DAlessio
April 5, 2016

RacialStudies

Whatisracismandhowdoessocietydefineit?TheInternetdefinesracismasabelief
thatraceistheprimarydeterminantofhumantraitsandcapacitiesandthatracialdifferences
produceaninherentsuperiorityofaparticularrace(MerriamWebster,2015).Inmyownwords
Iwoulddescriberacismasanegativepredeterminedprofileyouvegivenapersonbeforeyouve
evermetorspokenwiththem,orfeelingthatyourraceisbetterthananyother.Racismisnt
somethingwearebornknowing.Instead,oursurroundingsinfluencehowweviewotherraces
withrespecttoourown.Whilemanymighttrytolinkracismtoaspecificlocation,thattaskis
noteasysinceracismhaschangedovertheyearsandthetakennewforms.
ThroughouthistorytheUnitedStateshasmadeamazingprogressinthefightforequal
rightsbetweenAfricanAmericansandWhiteAmericans.Duringthe1960s,theCivilRights
Movementwasfightingforanendtosegregatedschools,discrimination,andpromotingbasic
rightslikevoting.Integratingschoolswasamajorsteptowardsachievingequalitybut
desegregationdidntmeanequaltreatment.Newlysegregatedschoolsnowfacedwiththeissue
ofequaltreatmentbetweenAfricanAmericansandWhiteAmericansinbothacademicsand
athletics.Changecanbehardtoacceptandhasthepotentialtogeneratemanyissuesinorderto
resistthechange.Takingastandforwhatsrightandnotbeingintimidatedbyothersishow
equalityisobtained.ThemovieRemembertheTitansexemplifiesthisbeliefofequalityforall.
Themovietookplacein1971inAlexandria,Virginia.Inordertobetterintegratethe
school,CoachBooneanAfricanAmericanfootballcoachisselectedtobethenewheadcoachat
T.CWilliamsHighSchool.CoachYoastwhowastheoriginalheadfootballcoachbecomesthe
assistantcoachwhichcreatesfurtherissuesbetweentheAfricanAmericanandWhiteAmerican

Ani Fitzgerald
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April 5, 2016
players.AsthemoviesprogressesCoachBooneisabletoinstillinhisplayersasenseofrespect
forthemselves,theteam,andmostimportantlyeachother.CoachBoonedidntbackdownto
whathebelievedwasequalandfair.Hetreatedallofhisplayersthesameandovertimehis
playerssaweachotherasbrothersregardlessoftheirskincolor.AfterGarysinjuryanursetried
todenyJuliusfromseeinghiminthehospitalbutGaryrespondedsaying,Aliceareyoublind?
Dontyouseethefamilyresemblance?Thatsmybrother(RemembertheTitans,2000).This
brotherhoodthatwasbuiltonrespectwaswhatallowedtheteamtocometogetherandawin
statechampionshipevenwiththeoddsstackedagainstthem(RemembertheTitians,2000).
Theideaofrespectforyourself,thefootballteam,andmostnotablyeachotheristhe
mainmessageofthismovie.Thedirectorofthefilmhadastronginfluenceonhowthefilm
shouldbecreatedandhowthecharacterswererepresented.DuringthefilmCoachYoastsaid,
You'vetaughtthiscityhowtotrustthesoulofamanratherthanthelookofhim.AndIguess
it'sabouttimeIjoinedtheclub.Thisquotereallystuckouttomebecauseitshowedhowthe
initialopinionofCoachYoasthadchanged.CoachBoonewasabletonotonlyteachhisplayers
andhisstaffbutthewholetownthemessageofrespectandtonotjudgebaseontheouter
appearance.Thefilmisntjustlimitedtojustfootballfansinsteadpeopleofallagesand
interestedweredrawntothefilmbecauseofthepowerfulmessageitrepresented.
WhilesearchingfordifferentgenresandsourcesformypaperIcameacrossanarticle
titledThemostRacistplacesinAmerica,accordingtoGoogle.Justthetitleitselfstoodout
andgrabbedmyattention.ThemoreIreadthearticlethemoreIbegantothinkabouttherandom
stuffIvesearchedonGoogle.Googleisnicebecauseyoucansearchwhateveryouwantandno
oneistheretojudgeyouorgiveyousnarkylooks.Theauthorusedthattitletograbthereaders

Ani Fitzgerald
UWRT 1102-006
DAlessio
April 5, 2016
attention.SinceGooglegivesusersthefreedomtosearchwhatevertheywant,theyareableto
searchtopics,words,orphraseswithoutsocietyplayingarole.Theoverallmessageofthisstory
isthepowerGooglegivesitsuser.Apersoncansearchanythingthatareusuallyofftopicin
everydayconversationorconstruedtoberacist.Theauthorfocusedinonthisideabyshowing
whichareasofthecountrylookeduptheNwordthemost.WhilesearchingtheNworddoesnt
makesomeonearacist.Bycompilingmillionsofdifferentsearches,certainareasstoodoutthat
mighthavelinkstoanincreaseinracialbias.Thisarticleshowedtheseareastobebordering
AppalachianmountainfromGeorgiaandcontinuingupnorth.(Ingramham,2015).
Asanation,wehavemadeadifferenceinthefightforequality.Racismisstillabigissue
facingournation.Ifyouweretotakeasurveythatasksifyouhaveanyracialbias,amajorityof
thetimetheanswerwouldbeno(Ingramham,2015).Iknowwhenquestionslikethesecomeup
Igetuncomfortableansweringthem.Thesequestionscancreatediscomfortbecausenoone
wantstoadmitthattheymighthaveslightpreferenceofoneraceoveranother.Weliketothink
thatwecanhavecompletecontroloverourbrainandthoughts.Howeverthebrainworksby
makingconnectionsbetweenthingswithoutusevenrealizingit.Theseconnectionscouldeither
bepositiveornegativedependingontheinteraction.Whenyoufirstmeetsomeone,thefirst
impressionisreallyimportantinhowyoullviewthepersonoranyoneassociatedtohimorher
inthefuture.Thistypeofassociationissimilartohowimplicitattitudeswork.
Implicateattitudesareareasonthetypesofquestionsregardingracecancause
discomfort.Theyarethefirstthoughtswehavewhenwefirstseeormeetsomeonewithouteven
thinkingaboutit(Greenwald,McGhee,&Schwartz,1998).Theseattitudesaretheresultsofour

Ani Fitzgerald
UWRT 1102-006
DAlessio
April 5, 2016
surrounding,friends,orpersonalexperience.Wherewemighthavegrownup,whattypesof
friendswehadwhenwewereyounger,howwemighthaveinteractedwiththem,andifitwasa
positiveornegativeexperienceareallfactorsthatinfluencetheseattitudes.Havingamore
diversegroupoffriendscancauseapersontohavealessnegativeattitudetowardsAfrican
AmericansorWhiteAmericans(Aberson,C.,&Haag,S.,2007).
AtestcalledtheImplicateAssociationTestwascreatedtoseehowtheseuncontrollable
thoughtsinfluenceourjudgment.Thetesttakestheresultsandplacesthemonascalethatshow
slight,moderate,orstrongpreferencestowardseitherAfricanAmericansorWhiteAmericans.
Whilenoonewantstoadmittheymightshowaracialpreference,theinformationabove
suggeststhatthesepreferencesarealreadythere(Greenwald,McGhee,&Schwartz,1998).
Aswegrowup,ourmindisdevelopingandthebrainisstartingtomakesubconscious
connectionsthatwillresultinimplicitattitudes.WhatyouseeonTVorinmovies,whoyour
parentshangoutwith,andwhatyougrowupseeingeverydayisgoingtohaveanaffectonthose
attitudes.Theraceofthevillainversusthatontheherointhemovie,thestatusdifferent
individualshold,howtheindividualsarepresentedcaninadvertentlylinkwhatwassociatedwith
agroupasawhole.Stereotypingisonlyfurtheringthesemisconceptionsofracialidentitiesand
creatingmoreofadividebetweenthegroups.
Certainareasofthecountrymighthaveastrongerinfluenceonnegativeimplicit
attitudes.ArecentstudyshowedthatthemostracialareasbordertheAppalachianMountains
startingatGeorgiaandcontinuingNorth(Ingraham,2015).Locationisafactorthatcan

Ani Fitzgerald
UWRT 1102-006
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April 5, 2016
potentiallyinfluenceapersonsracialbiasbutpinpointingexactareasisntrealistic.Areasthat
havealotofracialissuesoccurringarealsoareaswheresocialmediahasbeenusedinanegative
anddegradingmanner.Socialmediahasrevolutionizedhowwelearnaboutbreakingnews.By
thetimeyoureaditinthepaperthenextdayorevenhearaboutontheeveningnewsthatnight,
theinformationisalreadyoutdated.Socialmediahasgivenustheabilitytoshareinformation
withanyonearoundtheworld.Socialmediahasalsoonlyprovidedanotherresourcethatcan
stripsawaytherespecteachindividualhastherightto.Whenyoutweetsomethingyoudont
havetosayittosomeonesface;youcansaywhateveryouwant,aslongasitisfewerthan140
characters.Thereislittletonoregulationonwhatyoucanorcantsay.Duetoadvancementsin
technology,childrennowhaveaccesstomultipledeviceswithInternetaccess.OnTwitter,
Instagram,YikYak,andetc.,childrenmaybeexposedtonegativeorpositivecomments
regardingaparticularracethatcouldaffectimplicateattitudes(NakagawaandArzubiaga,2014).
ArecentstudywasabletotracktheuseoftheNwordwithnegativeconnotations.Ayounger
childmightcomeacrossthistypeoftweetandinfluencetheirimplicitattitudes.Socialmedia,
especiallyTwitter,cancauseastorybegainheadlinesbeforethefullstoryisreallyknown.This
cancausemisconceptionsofwhatactuallyhappenedandissuescanarisefromthe
misconceptions.Howeversocialmediahasgivensocietytheabilitytosharevideosthat
demonstrateracialinjusticeandholdthoseinvolvedaccountable.Socialmediacanviewedlikea
doublesidessword.Sinceitcanhurtsocietywhenrepresentingaspecificracebutalsohelpby
holdingothersaccountableforhurtfulattackswhethertheybephysicalordigital.
Racismisntsomethingthatsgoingtodisappearthenextdaybuthopefullyonedaythis

Ani Fitzgerald
UWRT 1102-006
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April 5, 2016
willnolongerbeanissueournationhastoresolve.Societyandoursurroundingshaveastrong
influenceonhowweinitiallyviewpeopleorsituations.Afterallofmyresearch,Istillhavenew
andunansweredquestions.Canapositiveexperiencewithapersonoftheoppositeracechange
theinitialimplicateattitudesyouexperience?Howcansocialmediabeusedtohelpincrease
racialacceptance?Whydopeoplenotwanttoadmittheymighthaveracialbias?Isitpossibleto
reallyhavenoracialbiastowardsanyrace?
Citation:
Mygenreswerethefirsttwosources

RemembertheTitians.2000.RetrievedFebruary20th,2016,from
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0210945/

Ingramham,C.(2015,April28).ThemostracistplacesinAmerica,accordingtoGoogle.
RetrievedMarch19,2016,from
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/04/28/themostracistplacesin
americaaccordingtogoogle/

(n.d.).RetrievedApril05,2016,fromhttp://www.merriam
webster.com/dictionary/racism

HateMap.(n.d.).RetrievedApril01,2016,from
http://users.humboldt.edu/mstephens/hate/hate_map.html#

Aberson,C.,&Haag,S.(January01,2007).Contact,PerspectiveTaking,andAnxietyas
PredictorsofStereotypeEndorsement,ExplicitAttitudes,andImplicitAttitudes.Group
Processes&IntergroupRelations,10,2,179201.(APA)

Greenwald,A.G.,McGhee,D.E.,&Schwartz,J.L.K.(1998).Measuringindividual
differencesinimplicitcognition:TheImplicitAssociationTest.JournalofPersonality
andSocialPsychology,74,14641480.(APA)

Nakagawa,K.,&Arzubiaga,A.E.(August01,2014).TheUseofSocialMediain

Ani Fitzgerald
UWRT 1102-006
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April 5, 2016
TeachingRace.AdultLearning,25,3,103110.