Hardly Black and White
In “The Social Psychology of Success,” by S. Alexander Haslam, Jessica Salvatore, Thomas Kessler and Stephen D. Reicher, it seems the authors’ bar graphs concerning blacks’ perceptions of inferiority are adding to problems inherent in group comparisons. The flat tops of the graphs on page 27 imply that all whites are smarter than all blacks. Each bar should actually be a compressed bell curve, showing that only a small percent of whites have superior intelligence and that many blacks are smarter than many whites.
Dan Robinson
Eugene, Ore.
Justified Prejudice?
Siri Carpenter’s “Buried Prejudice” opens with a quote from Jesse Jackson about hearing a pedestrian’s footsteps behind him and feeling relief when he notices that his follower is white. The quote was a good opener, but it was quickly dropped without a thorough examination. Dinesh D’Souza’s book The End of Racism (Free Press, 1995) contains a deeper analysis, ending with a most pertinent point: “Given the crime rates of young black males, ‘the stereotype is not a stereotype any more,’ says Howard University education professor Kenneth Tollett. ‘A stereotype is an overgeneralization. The statements we have called stereotypes in the past have become true.’ ”
Accordingly, I found most interesting the views expressed in your article by Northwestern University psychologist Jennifer A. Richeson, who speculates that our brains may automatically give preferential attention to blacks as a category, just as they do for threatening animals such as snakes.
That idea will surely provoke a negative response from those who see prejudice on her part for likening young black men to snakes, but I see a perfect analogy: it is wise to fear what is dangerous. Thousands of people die every year from snakebites. Thousands are victims of the criminal acts of young black men, one out of four of whom have a criminal record. Is it prejudice to reason rationally and logically? It certainly has become politically incorrect.
Jeffry L. Smith
via e-mail
CARPENTER REPLIES: Many people find this line of reasoning persuasive, but it is incomplete. It is unfair to judge an individual based solely on his or her group membership, and such presumptions of guilt by association do not promote accuracy in decision making. For example, although blacks are arrested and incarcerated in disproportionate numbers, the majority of people of all races are law-abiding citizens. To assume that a randomly chosen black person is probably a criminal would be erroneous and unjust.
We all use statistical base rates to guide our decisions. For example, we use a person’s age and gender to set car insurance premiums, and we usually include only women in breast cancer research, even though men can develop the disease. But this statistical reasoning has both costs and benefits. Before deploying a stereotype to judge another person, we need to weigh the trade-offs. What do whites gain if we assume black men are dangerous? What do we as a society—not to mention innocent black men—lose when we’re wrong? As work on implicit bias shows, the presence of stereotypes of which we may not be aware means that we are in the unhappy position of relying on stereotypes even when we don’t want to.
A Poor Choice
I wonder why you used a picture of Senator Barack Obama in Kurt Kleiner’s article “In Your Face” [Head Lines]. The article rightly reveals that the “shouting heads” of television news affect our views partly because of the extreme close-up position of the cameras. But why didn’t you use a picture of one of the actual confrontational political commentators? Bill O’Reilly, perhaps?
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Add CommentDepression has affected my family greatly over the years, and because of my direct involvement, I have researched depression and its causes thoroughly. When I read Kelly Lamberts article Depressingly Easy I found this theory another interesting possibility. The idea of depression being directly related to a persons lack of concrete accomplishments corresponds with theories about self-esteem and a persons self-concept.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIn the past, I have theorized that the increased rates of depression is due to the fact humans no longer have to fight to survive, and now can focus on who they are as a person and a part of the larger group. The base of my theory is Abraham Maslows Hierarchy of Needs. Since we no longer need to fight for survival, we are now focused on love, belonging, self-esteem and finally trying to reach self-actualization.
I would really like to hear Dr. Lamberts ideas on how Maslows Hierarchy of Needs fits into her theory about depression.
Regarding "Depressingly Easy" by Dr. Kelly Lambert, she makes the statement that there is an increase in the rates of depression in recent years may not be entirely true. In the September/October issue of Skeptical Inquirer is an article, "The Bipolar Bamboozle" which brings several important points to light. First of all, the "softening" of the descriptions of many psychological problems for the purpose of insurance reimbursement. Second, the labeling of more and different types of non-depressive behaviors as depression for the pharmaceutical companies and their newer drugs. In the book "The Secret Strength of Depression" Frederic Flach, M.D. defines depression as any "low" emotional state. Consequently, sadness, unhappiness, and even boredom can be classified as depression. I do admit that having things to do can help relieve many symptoms of depressive types of states. But one thing I feel Dr. Lambert may be forgetting is that a century ago besides having things to keep them busy, people also had stronger social support systems. Instead of talking to mom or dad or grandma or grandpa for free you have to pay for it today. There's also the stigma that going to see a therapist implies that you can't take care of your own problems. She also seems to forget about the success of cognitive therapies in dealing with depression as well. But then, she was not discussing therapies only the pleasure that a person gets from accomplishing something.
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