Overt Racism: An Argument Analysis

Halperin article:
I strongly agree with the findings of this study dealing with malleable and fixed nature traits. Although, a person may have been raised under strict beliefs and even to have hatred toward a certain group of people or topic, this is not an indication that those individuals are not capable of altering their beliefs. The four studies that were done, just prove that regardless of the beliefs we carry that we commonly feel are set in stone, are capable of being modified. Four studies done by these researchers explain just how malleability can overcome any fixed traits about an individual or a group for that matter. They provide us with the first study which involves a broad sample of Israeli Jews, they were assessed based
on their answers to multiple different questions. These questions consisted of basic things like do you think it is capable for a group to change their attributes. Considering, the Israeli Jews and the Palestinians have had issues in the past, they also measured their demeanor towards the Palestinians. This analysis validated that that subjects of the study who were more malleable were susceptible of having an increasingly positive view towards the Palestinians. Study two, had a manipulation of an article that Israeli Jews read, referring to groups that were hostile portraying a fixed trait or having the potential to change. No particular groups were involved in either reading. The outcome was clear, the participants that were at random in the malleable group, had stronger positive feelings toward the Palestinians. To be sure that the findings were reliable, they wanted to test Palestinians views towards Israeli Jews, considering the Palestinians are the weaker link, it would verify it has nothing to do with the more powerful group.Studies three and four involve Palestinian subjects of minorities and rival groups. Both studies found the same effect as the first two studies as well, the subjects in the pliable groups were able to come to positive conclusions about the group being discussed. These findings, are helpful to our everyday society in dealing with issues on an international level. I find this to extremely relatable to the world we live in today, for example many individuals here in the United States feel a certain way about individuals in the Middle Eastern parts of the world. We have grown up to feel frightened by them and they are made out to be dangerous. There are many parts of the world, that are without a doubt unsafe and have extremist in these groups. However, we cannot judge everyone of the same race and culture, for these vicious acts. When I have had my own personal talks with people of a middle eastern descent, it has made me revise the thoughts I had prior. These communications have had a significant effect on me, and in turn I have been able to associate a positive image instead of the negative I once had. Growing up in an extremely conservative family, taught me certain values and beliefs that will always be apart of me. Although I feel strongly about my beliefs and would argue them backed with specific facts and strong arguments, that does not mean I would not be open to other beliefs that may slightly alter mine; if they carry validity and a meaningful purpose which would lead to a better all around outcome.

Kawakami
Racism has been a global issue for centuries, contributing to a drastic downfall in our own society.
These three studies provide us with insightful evidence about overt racism. When dealing with overt racism, I think it is extremely vital to remember implicit and explicit bias. Everyone deals with some type of implicit bias, this is based on one’s upbringing and occurs in the unconscious part of the brain. Explicit bias is when one goes out of their way to make others aware of their opinion. Explicit bias can spiral out of control, causing one to blatantly blast their feelings towards a certain individual for various reasons, which in turn increases negative views of your own race, causing many of the affairs we commonly see today. I agree with this study in some aspects, and not in others. It is ironic that in all three studies, the vast majority of individuals in the experimenter groups, that were confronted with either moderate racial slurs or an extreme slur directed towards the black confederate, still chose to work with the white confederate by a significant percentage. Whereas, the forecasters were given an almost exact replica of the event, just through a detailed scenario and they seemed to be extremely distraught by the situation. Considering their feelings of agitation, it is no surprise they chose to work with the black confederate when asked. Multiple studies were done to expand on this research by adding videos to the forecasters group to see if
making it feel like a real life event or a hypothetical proposition would change their decisions regarding who their choice would be to work with. The forecasters were deeply upset, compared to the experimenters in all three studies and we can see a clear difference between both groups based off of their chosen confederate. Personally, I believe in egalitarian beliefs however, many feel that blacks and white do not have the same opportunities in life and that whites have the upper hand, which I do not agree with. On a personal level, when I imagine African Americans constantly saying that whites have the upper hand, which is a racial slur I believe; I get extremely upset and feel that I would stand up for what I believe and not back down. However, when I am faced with the actual situation whether that be in a classroom setting or a social setting , dealing with what I believe is a racial slur towards white individuals, I usually just walk away or ignore the situation. When I think about an example that applies to the world at large, I think about politicians as well. My dad ran for U.S Congress, on the campaign trail he endured numerous racial slurs directed towards him and derogatory statements about a variety of things. Growing up, my dad always said stand up for what you believe in and to not let anyone ever put you down, but when many awful comments were made towards him he just kept quiet and continued on with life. This proves the belief that there is a major disparity through one’s thoughts and one's actions.

Walton
This article was definitely hard me to grasp, seeing as I do not agree with every aspect of it.
I agree that having a sense of social belonging, could be vital to a person's life, especially when going through a tough program such as college. However, the article's primary focus is directed on the effect social issues have on African Americans solely because they are a minority. The researchers here believe that if your social relationships in your life are going well, it has a positive effect as well on overall health and some type of advantage to a better life. I do agree with this detail, however, I find the issue of being accepted socially is an issue that affects the entire human race. The interventions that the studies provided us with, do supply justification for their hypotheses. When dealing with the treatment groups, we can see that the areas in life the researchers wanted to improved by the manipulation of the videos of the treatment, did work. Although, we can see these increases throughout African Americans, the treatment effect was not anymore significant in many cases than the European Americans. If colleges everywhere around the world could show videos of all types of races and gender speaking about the topic of social relationships and how it does get easier over time, there would a tremendous decrease in some of the violent and harsh crimes we see in today’s time. This problem of thinking you could be socially rejected can be disheartening and in
turn have a downfall in one’s ability and skills overall. A way to relate this everyday life, is throughout employment. We see discrimination all the time in the workplace, even after you have landed the job. So for example an Industrial Organized Psychologist could generate a program that also creates some type of video or just letters to read from current employees, that promotes and strengthens relationships between races. When seeing this video about social relationships in the workplace, it creates a vision for the new employee that will be a more positive outlook than he had before. Race and gender issues are huge problems that we are facing with today. In class, we have learned that there countless studies with white participants taking the view on black individuals, but we do not see many black participants studies about their opinions on white citizens. More studies would need to be conducted dealing with African Americans as the subjects in the participants groups, to see the big picture of racism.