It’s very likely that many of us in groups that aren’t usually discriminated against tend to think that racism is on the decline. After all, there are laws to protect those who may be discriminated against in the workforce, in schools, and in every day 
society. But racism doesn’t have to be outright “No ____ allowed” to be racism. Sadly, racism is alive and well in many parts of the world where we think of ourselves as being better than that.
Researchers are constantly looking at how we see each other and how we treat each other. And new research has shown that although racism may not be voiced on television, it still comes through, albeit nonverbally.
In a study done by Tuft’s University researchers and published this past week in the journal Science, researchers tell us about how facial expressions or subtle body language can successfully bring across the feelings towards someone else. They are so effective that even young people can pick up on them.
In order to do their research, the investigators chose 10-second clips from 11 popular prime-time television shows that had both white and African-American main characters, including Scrubs, House, Grey’s Anatomy, CSI, CSI Miami, Heroes, and Bones.
By cropping out either a black or white character, those who were viewing the clips could only see the reactions of the actors around that character. The white viewers were then asked how the other characters felt about the missing character.
Judges, who had not previously watched the shows, rated the extent to which the unseen characters were treated positively and liked by the other characters. Compared with black characters, white characters elicited significantly more favorable nonverbal responses.
The researchers pointed out
They found that characters on the shows exhibited more negative nonverbal behavior toward black characters than to white characters of the same status. Exposure to “pro-white” (vs. “pro-black”) nonverbal bias also increased viewers’ race bias, as assessed with reaction-time and self-report measures.
This isn’t really new news, if you think about it. It’s very possible that much of what someone says and does can be different from what they really believe.
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Image: ZumaPress.com