(no subject)
1. Debunked
So there's this ABC racial profiling experiment that has gone viral online. Basically, they have a white kid, a black kid, and a girl all steal a bike. The result is that people leave the white guy pretty much alone to steal the bike, everyone swarms around the black kid, and people actually help the girl steal the bike. I actually accepted the video as valid, though I still think that it's a ridiculous stretch to say that just because this one guy got harassed on this one day by these particular people, that means that everyone who is not white is always going to get the same break.
So back to the ABC video. I suddenly realize why that video is kind of bunk, and I can't believe that it didn't hit me sooner. The response that the black kid got in the video was over-the-top and astounding. I mean, it was amazing how the black kid was soon circled by people who wanted to know what the heck he was doing with the bike. But there is one other difference between him and the white kid that matters besides their skin color. The white kid was wearing a blue shirt, and the black kid was wearing a blood red shirt. Anyone familiar with color theory knows that the color red agitates, angers, and excites people! Even though bulls are colorblind, there's a reason we humans choose the color red to egg them on in a bull fight. It's an enraging color for us, so we think it will piss off the bull. I almost want to bet that if that kid had not been wearing the red shirt, he would not have gotten such wild reactions! Or perhaps if the white kid was not wearing tranquil blue, he would have been pressed more on his activities. Sure, maybe people would have kept more of an eye on the black kid or called the cops once out of his sight. But I am willing to bet that they would not have gotten so irritated with him if he hadn't been wearing a provoking color. And I also bet that whoever was behind that ABC video knew exactly what he was doing with the color of the shirts! I mean, if you work with film and visual images, you probably have to know the significance of color choices more than the average person. And if they thought they were just going to get subtle reactions, would they even waste their time conducting this "experiment"?
I really do think that the shirt colors presents a major flaw in the experiment and it invalidates the entire video. This video pretty much sums up why I'm always skeptical when ideologues claim to have research to back up their world view. Sure, the ABC video wasn't a formal experiment or real research, but it shows you how quick people are to accept something with many obvious flaws as valid so long as it confirms what they want to believe about the world.
So there's this ABC racial profiling experiment that has gone viral online. Basically, they have a white kid, a black kid, and a girl all steal a bike. The result is that people leave the white guy pretty much alone to steal the bike, everyone swarms around the black kid, and people actually help the girl steal the bike. I actually accepted the video as valid, though I still think that it's a ridiculous stretch to say that just because this one guy got harassed on this one day by these particular people, that means that everyone who is not white is always going to get the same break.
So back to the ABC video. I suddenly realize why that video is kind of bunk, and I can't believe that it didn't hit me sooner. The response that the black kid got in the video was over-the-top and astounding. I mean, it was amazing how the black kid was soon circled by people who wanted to know what the heck he was doing with the bike. But there is one other difference between him and the white kid that matters besides their skin color. The white kid was wearing a blue shirt, and the black kid was wearing a blood red shirt. Anyone familiar with color theory knows that the color red agitates, angers, and excites people! Even though bulls are colorblind, there's a reason we humans choose the color red to egg them on in a bull fight. It's an enraging color for us, so we think it will piss off the bull. I almost want to bet that if that kid had not been wearing the red shirt, he would not have gotten such wild reactions! Or perhaps if the white kid was not wearing tranquil blue, he would have been pressed more on his activities. Sure, maybe people would have kept more of an eye on the black kid or called the cops once out of his sight. But I am willing to bet that they would not have gotten so irritated with him if he hadn't been wearing a provoking color. And I also bet that whoever was behind that ABC video knew exactly what he was doing with the color of the shirts! I mean, if you work with film and visual images, you probably have to know the significance of color choices more than the average person. And if they thought they were just going to get subtle reactions, would they even waste their time conducting this "experiment"?
I really do think that the shirt colors presents a major flaw in the experiment and it invalidates the entire video. This video pretty much sums up why I'm always skeptical when ideologues claim to have research to back up their world view. Sure, the ABC video wasn't a formal experiment or real research, but it shows you how quick people are to accept something with many obvious flaws as valid so long as it confirms what they want to believe about the world.