Racism, Prejudice and other Generalizations

HS #29  2017.12.5

Racism, Prejudice and other Generalizations

I recently heard a news story explaining that affluent African Americans might be subjected to more racism than those with less means.  To illustrate the point, they told of an African American lawyer/retired colonel who moved into a gated community in Virginia. When met by the neighbors, he was repeatedly asked if he was a former professional athlete. He responded straight-faced that he was a pimp.

This brief account brings up many issues, but I’d like to concentrate on just one.

One component of intelligence is the ability to make generalizations.  We all do it  - humans and other intelligent animals.  Dogs get excited when their owners jingle their car keys or go to a certain drawer. They have learned that such actions are often followed by a walk or treat. Psychologists call is conditioning.

A child bitten by a snarling dog needs instruction in how to generalize. Ideally, they are taught that not all dogs are dangerous, but snarling ones should be avoided.   If not instructed, they will likely learn the lesson eventually from their own experience.  It was Ben Franklin who said, “Experience is a teacher; fools will learn from no other.”

I am acutely aware of our tendency to generalize each time I ride my bike to work – at the Holland DU campus. I cross 16^th Street, US 31, Waverly Avenue, and the exits of several parking lots. As any Holland bicyclist or pedestrian will attest, it’s dangerous to pass from the right in front of a stopped car that is turning to the right. Why? Because Holland drivers encounter few pedestrians, so many look only for cars coming from their left. If the way from the left is clear, off they go.

Several points follow.   First of all, we all make generalizations - constantly – and most of them are unconscious and generally correct. Every time you sit in a chair you are generalizing from past experience that it will not collapse.  Making these generalizations is crucial to learning and living.

Second, our generalizations are sometimes faulty since they are based on limited experience and we have selective memories, and, of course, the world changes.  Moreover, we sometimes just form the wrong conclusions. My father liked to say, “All Indians walk in single file - at least the one I saw did.”

Third, we form prejudices precisely because of our ability to generalize.  “Prejudice” means a pre-judging, and we pre-judge new acquaintances and situations by generalizing from past experiences.

 

Fourth, it seems to me (now I’m generalizing from MY experience) that although prejudices can be wrong and dangerous, they are not formed with malicious intent. Instead, intent has nothing to do with it.  As with other generalizations, prejudices are formed passively from our own experiences or unconsciously picked up from others.

Thus, I disagree with the lyrics that Oscar Hammerstein penned to a South Pacific song about prejudice, “they have to be carefully taught [to hate].”  Nope. Nothing careful about it – it’s too bad that it doesn’t take that much effort.

I remember as a child that when we traveled to Grand Rapids on family vacations from the rural Midwest, mom instructed us to lock our car doors as we passed through certain sections of the city. Looking out the window, I saw black people.  So without anything being explicitly stated, a prejudice was unintentionally passed on to me.

As I’ve grown, I’ve learned that some of the prejudices I formed and picked up as a child were incorrect. Generalizing from those mistakes, I expect that some prejudices I presently hold are also wrong. (Notice the irony – I may change current prejudices precisely because of my ability to generalize.)  Thus I remain open to changing my mind.

But altering one’s generalizations requires more than keeping an open mind. It requires learning from new experiences. And this most effectively happens when we are free to inquire and reflect, and to ask probing, honest questions. But asking candid questions, even when done with good intentions, often offends.   

 So kudos for those who risk being derided as simple, naïve, or misinformed by taking chances and being vulnerable. And those who are offended by naive questions, toughen up!  How else will we come to realize that some of our prejudices are wrong? Therefore, I commend those gated Virginians who asked honest questions with an openness to learn, and I hope that the African American lawyer starts giving honest replies.