What Is Racism?

Racism has become an increasing issue within our society. It has been proven to affect the lives of many innocent people. Yet, there is still the assumption out there in the public sphere that racism is a thing of the past. Recently, there have been events all over the world that have spurred debates surrounding the topic on racism. Movements like Black Lives Matter and the migration of the Syrian Refugees have caused a wide range of reactions. These two things for example haven’t been as welcomed into the United States as one would think. There have been many studies done showing that almost everyone has an implicit bias (Implicit.harvard.edu, 2015). Even though it can be neutral, it still shapes the way we behave in our daily lives, and
These images will be of different people, of different socially constructed races, in different situational poses. For example there will be men dressed as soldiers with a gun, each picture will be of a different man dressed in the same attire, in the same pose. The participant will be asked to choose if this is a positive, neutral, or negative image. While they are looking through the images I will be recording their brain activity. I will also have them take a version of an implicit bias test or a survey on how they feel about their bias after the section of EEG recording and image selections. The reason I will analyze the first second of the thought process is because I want to see what the brain automatically does without conscious decision making, meaning before the brain waves reach the frontal lobe after the image is shown. Pretty much it is another way to get an implicit bias result. Meaning, the participant cannot make a conscious decision, only a truthful one will be
All of which tie into the study I plan to conduct. Equality is very important because we are all biologically humans and we all deserve to be treated equally. It is only because of social norms, societal constraints and general ignorance that inequality has gone on for so long. Which leads me into my next value, honesty. Honesty is one of those things that are very hard to find and very hard to admit. The truth hurts sometimes and most just won’t admit when there are issues. We like to ignore problems that don’t directly affect us, or we deny that something is real because maybe it is disturbing that it is real, for example climate change. Yet, in order to fix things and make the world a better place we have to be honest and accept the truth. Altruism is also very important to me. I consider myself an altruistic person, but most of all I find that altruistic behaviors along with the ideas of equality and honesty make up for a moral person or society. Willing to help one another without the expectance of something in return, is something we all need every once in a while. It shows kindness, sacrifice, and empathy. These things are necessary for a person to treat others as their equals as well as understanding respect for one another. All of these values I hold dear fit well within a smooth running