Media-Created Racism
Eric P. Kaufman writes at Newsweek, "What if the media and the national conversation isn't exposing racism so much as creating it, or at least, creating the impression that it is far more prevalent than we thought?":
This is what I found in my recent report for the Manhattan Institute, The Social Construction of Racism in the United States. The report is an analysis of a wide variety of data sources, including several new surveys that I conducted. And what I found is that media exposure, partisanship and a person's anxiety or depression levels explain much of what passes for racism today--as well as essentially all of its reported rise.Mentions of racism in national news outlets have soared since 2015. And this media activity has coincided with a drop in the number of Americans who describe Black-white relations as good. From 2002 to 2013, 70 percent of Americans believed that race relations were good, a number that dropped to half after 2014.
How do I know that negative media attention to race, rather than a worsening reality, is driving perception? Here's where my research comes in.
To get at this question, I asked respondents the following question: Did they believe young Black men were more in danger of dying in a car crash, or of being shot by police?
There is a correct answer to that question: Cars are around ten times more lethal to young Black men than police bullets. But it was something people on one side of the political spectrum were much more likely to know than the other side. I asked respondents a second question to test this: Do they believe white Republicans are racist? And what I found was that people who answered yes to the second question, who believe white Republicans are racist, were much less likely to accurately assess whether cars or cops were more lethal to Black men.
My surveys found that 70 percent of white Americans and 95 percent of Black Americans who agree with the statement "white Republicans are racist" believe that young Black men are more likely to be shot by the police than to be killed in a traffic accident. Fully 53 percent of Biden voters got the answer wrong--compared to just 15 percent of Trump voters.
This is not about intelligence or being informed. Indeed, educational attainment made no difference to the result.
Much of the false perception we have of rising racism is due to traditional news media. But a lot of it comes from social media, too, which is accelerating the problem.
In the same survey, 53 percent of Black Americans who use social media said they had experienced "people acting suspicious" around them--compared to 31 percent of Black Americans who do not use social media. Across several questions, controlling for age, income, education and other factors, social media exposure significantly increased a Black person's sense that they had been a victim of racial discrimination.
And rather than a corrective, higher education--where students are exposed to far left ideas on race like critical race theory--may lead to even greater sensitivity to racism. Research tends to find that minorities with degrees are more likely to report discrimination than their non-college educated counterparts. My surveys also showed that college-educated Black Americans are significantly more likely than those without a degree to be offended by so-called microaggressions, like people saying, "I don't notice race."
...There was, however, consistency on one front: Throughout my surveys, African-Americans see themselves as independent and resilient, while white liberals are more inclined to see them as weak and needing protection.
When asked whether political correctness was demeaning to Black people or necessary to protect them, 51 percent of Black liberals chose "demeaning" and 49 percent "necessary." But white liberals chose "necessary" by a 62-38 margin.
...In casting Black Americans as uniquely in need of protection, white liberals are actually having that impact, shaping a reality that harms people of color.
And this perception is in direct contradiction with reality. Attitudes to inter-racial marriage and interaction have become steadily more liberal across the nation, while the number of Black people shot by the police has declined by 60-80 percent since the 1960s.
When the media exaggerates the level of racism in America, redefining non-racist words and actions as racist, this distortion of reality is not just false; it's actively disempowering minorities.
I wonder if any studies have been done about who thinks everyday conversations are micro aggressions. I postulate that it is overwhelmingly women. Most guys I know throw verbal jabs at each other all the time. It is considered de rigueur when guys get together. I doubt my particular observations are anomalies.
Jay at April 18, 2021 8:06 AM
The news can't even find enough real cases so they have to promote the obvious fake ones. How much air time did the Covington kids, or Jussie Smollett, get?
Joe J at April 18, 2021 8:30 AM
> I postulate that it is
> overwhelmingly women.
That's a little unfair. Women tend first to verbal aggression, rather than physical.... But men are really, really well-represented in the current Woke madness. And men are often trying to impress chicks(!) with their oh-so-tender sensitivity to μA's.
Wokism has feminine characteristics, but it's not a womanly problem. It's a human nature + brains + courage issue, not a gender fault. Many people are crippled by the need for a culture of literal, comprehensible truth.
Earth is not that planet. Things here aren't always what they seem, and never will be.
Crid at April 18, 2021 9:05 AM
There is some hope on the horizon. The startling part for me is how Brearly et. al. could possibly arrive at the conclusion that CRT should be part of their cirricula. Is this just trendiness among the wealthy? At least Gutman has fired back. May other influential families join in.
https://www.outkick.com/parent-writes-eye-opening-letter-about-race-obsessed-private-school/
Spiderfall at April 18, 2021 9:52 AM
What if? There's doubt?
Conan the Grammarian at April 18, 2021 11:28 AM
or at least, creating the impression that [racism] is far more prevalent than we thought?
Seems very likely/reasonable to me.
JD at April 18, 2021 11:33 AM
It was Minnesota (my home state) bashing day at the New York Times yesterday. Three op-ed pieces on how hateful and racist white Minnesotans are, with numerous people piling on (as many people love to do.)
One of my favorite comments was a bashing from a guy in Middlebury, Vermont. I pointed out to him that Vermont would probably never have an incident with a white cop shooting a black person since there are no black people in Vermont. (Actually, not entirely true, but Vermont ranks #48 out of 51 (states + D.C.) in percentage of black people)
One of the pieces, written by a guy named David Grant, a black "screenwriter and playwright based in the Twin Cities", was titled:
What ‘Minnesota Nice’ Sweeps Under the Rug
and the subheading was:
The beloved stereotype about our state’s cult of politeness would have you believe that there’s no toehold for white supremacy here.
I replied with a comment that the humorless editors at the Times didn't post:
JD at April 18, 2021 11:53 AM
I also find it extremely sad (and annoying) that so many of my fellow liberals see "diversity" solely in terms of skin color, completely disregarding the multitude of ways in which people differ from one another.
JD at April 18, 2021 11:57 AM
What the woke completely misunderstand is that no-one has it easy in life. Everyone gets cut off in traffic, meets rude waitresses, isn't paid what they think they should be. No-one is universally liked. There are middle-aged white men stocking shelves at the grocery store and I can tell you that job does not pay well. I could be offended constantly if I chose and I'm white. Before all this woke started, real racists were keeping it to themselves, which is all you can ask for anyway.
cc at April 18, 2021 3:51 PM
✔ cc at April 18, 2021 3:51 PM
Crid at April 18, 2021 3:59 PM
JD's comments remind me of a radio thought from Prager 30 years ago regarding challenges to Christian and Jewish leaders of faith from atheists when their children are killed in fires, or when their loved ones die of cancer or what-have-you —
There's no answer to the question. Well, there's an answer, but it won't be heard by the person who's asking: Religious beliefs about suffering, horror and death only apply in a religious context... If you haven't been doing the reading across a lifetime, and gathering with neighbors and loved ones to consider the implications of tragedy for years or decades before bad things happen, religious beliefs have nothing to offer. You haven't practiced them.Six years ago I was working in L.A. with a girl from Memphis, who recalled something one of her parents had told her when she was a child: "Honey, you can try to make something of your life, but you're poor, and you're black... So that's two strikes against you."
I'm not manipulating or eliding the focus of this anecdote. The people who were supposed to love her best had told her to not be enthusiastic, to *not* be stoic in the face of adversity.
She was a lovely and gifted woman. And she was a friend, so I didn't ask: What kind of monster would say such a thing to their CHILD?
She was doing well last time I saw her.
Crid at April 18, 2021 4:26 PM
But not great. I'm glad I left that company when I did.
Crid at April 18, 2021 4:27 PM
So, you know, give some thought to the mentality which your environment is trying to inculcate.
And remember that half of success in life isn't genetics, but "unshared experience"... How you've chosen to build your own brain.
Crid at April 19, 2021 11:22 AM
When did enpathy come to mean we all become the Red Queen? If we're manipulated and divided by fear and anger, what was the point of evolving that pesky prefrontal cortex?
Aldi at April 22, 2021 9:19 PM
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