"They wanted their children to grow up colorblind. But Vittrup's first test of the kids revealed they weren't colorblind at all (Roseblum and Travis, p. 357)
"We make connections much more quickly between pairs of ideas that are already related in our minds than we do between pairs of ideas that are unfamiliar to us" (Rosenblum and Travis, p. 351).
"Obama's election to the presidency demonstrates that old-fashioned racism...though still far too prevalent in the nation, is capable of being defeated..." (Rosenblum and Travis, p. 364).
As our country believes it is making strides to eradicate racial prejudice, there are some indicators that this is true as well as untrue. A study done by Vittrup around children in Austin, TX showed that those children being volunteered for the study came from families that were supportive of racial diversity; however, when it came time for the families to openly discuss racial differences with their children some parents no longer wished to participate. As the first quote above indicates, the families didn't want their children to see racial differences, they wished them to consider everyone not only as equal but the same (Rosenblum and Travis, 2012).
In the portion of Roseblum's and Travis' (2012) book, "Blink in Black and White," the
Implicit Association Tool (IAT) created by Greenwald, Banaji, and Nosek which was based on individuals' observations, showed that without realizing our thought process, we are making judgements about others quicker than we may realize.
The last quote seen above discusses President Obama's entrance into his current office. This shows that we can change our mindsets, and those mindsets of an entire nation, even though historically the U.S. would have been less likely to elect an African American president because of the terrible prevalence of racism.
What these three articles have in common is their eye to racial discrimination. They in compass racial discrimination which is obvious (racism), less obvious (colorblindness), and how we as a society can overcome previous social constructs. The latter can be accomplished through educating our children and fellow adults that to be an individual is fine, that we all don't have to be the same; however, to be different from one another is not an opportunity for anyone to be better.
What is hopeful, is that we can still make a difference and should continue to strive for the ideal which is where everyone can be who they are as well as be equal.
Rosenblum, K. E., & Travis, T. C. (2012). The Meaning of Difference: American Constructions of Race, Sex and Gender, Social Class, Sexual Orientation, and Disability (ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill.
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