In a recent study about anti-white bias by researchers at Tufts and Harvard universities, they asked that question of 209 whites and 208 blacks. The answer from most whitesÂ… "It's a real problem." The answer from most blacksÂ… "You're kidding, right?"
When the answers to the questionnaires were analyzed, it wasn't just that whites thought that anti-white bias existed, they thought that it had grown in inverse proportion to the tremendous gains against bias they thought blacks had made. Whites tended to view blacks' gains as a "zero sum game," in which gains for blacks could only come at the expense of whites.
Of course, when one looks at outcomes, a very different picture emerges. In terms of health, education, jobs, income, home ownership, and a host of other things that define personal and professional life in America, whites still do far better than blacks... forty-odd years after the Civil Rights Act was first passed. Yet, in the face of all that, whites will say, "Yeah, but..." and continue down their road of certainty that whites today face worse bias than do blacks.
It is true that blacks remain among the poorest, most segregated and most unemployed of all Americans. The problem is not that this is true... the problem is that such grim reality is invisible to white fellow citizens. America seems to have become a land of competitive victimhood, where whites, especially white men vie to prove they are more discriminated against than blacks are.
Blacks, however, see progress since the racial bias of the 1950s, but still see a strong hand of prejudice against them. They don't see their progress as coming at the expense of whites in general. Blacks acknowledge, of course, that their progress came at the cost of white privilege, and at the loss of the day when a black applicant competing with a white applicant for any job, knew walking in the door he had already lost, but not that their gains against bias meant that whites became the victims of bias.
Whites tend to see programs such as affirmative action, equal-opportunity lending, education and hiring, busing, and similar programs designed specifically to overcome the ingrained habits of "hiring white first," as programs designed instead to limit their opportunities, and as evidence of their victimization by anti-white bias.
Despite all the complaints about programs designed to overcome the prejudices built over centuries in the USA, the insistence that Affirmative Action is nothing more than codified racism, making employers hire less competent blacks over qualified whites (why blacks are always "less competent" and whites are "qualified" in these complaints will forever be a mystery), no one ever comes up with an alternative that works as well, much less better. However, the Supreme Court struck down a couple of those programs within the last couple of years, and it bothers all too few that the negative impact on the black community is already clear.
recommend
Facebook
Twitter
bookmark 
print
Comments: 58
Just wanted to tag your article so I can come back after I do a little bit more research on the subject, but I will say this;
A lot of it is perception/misperception and the wellfare policies enacted by the Dems have done a lot to restrict the poor from advancing themselves out of poverty.
If you keep them poor and needy they will vote for you if you keep promising them more!
This is a common right-wing fantasy, that ANY job will provide a comfortable living; poor people are poor because of laziness. It's baloney.
Actually, that's not a bad place to stop typing.
If my son was NOT outside in the cold when the school bus arrived, the bus driver would leave. YET as I followed this bus, it would wait, honk and wait some more for ALL our Anglo neighbor kids.
Did I mention I won 6 months back pay for a discrimination suit against my ex-employer? All because I complained about how minorites were segregated and given the worst job asignments.
Just the other day we(fellow Latinos) were discussing how the BIGGEST Racists are Latinos. It is real sad when a latino cop becomes a racist against his own race. I would say 90% get afflicted. I say MORE study on this phenomena.
My belief is that Racism is a throwback to caveman times. You helped your tribe who looked like you and you killed anyone else competing for the same food. Those whose brain has progressed do NOT suffer this malady.
I am fascinated by studies like this.
PS...Wanna get naked???
I've seen some improvement, but we still have a long way to go. Some of the things I saw and heard during the last presidential campaign were nauseating.
I also feel constrained to point out that there is a difference between being discriminated against and being denied a privilege you should not have had in the first place.
Words to live by Ann; words to live by.
All the blacks want really is a level playing field. It isn't level and a main obstacle to that is that efforts at leveling the field will always be perceived as the favoring of one race over the other. If the black is chosen over the white, it will always bear the risk of an accusation of reverse prejudice. That is the case even if the hirer saw more value in the black because of his greater experience or maybe because the black candidate displayed certain personality traits that the hirer was looking out for.
The very fact that the hirer might have to defend his choice against the accusation of prejudice means that the playing field is not level.
We've all seen instances of employees and students being promoted over more qualified persons due to minority assistance programs. We have also seen plenty of well-qualified people passed over in favor of hiring a relative, friend or long time colleague. It's not fair, but the government is making an effort to encourage a level playing field, which is all anyone wants. If I need to hire someone with certain skills, I want to hire the best qualified, without regard to gender, race, age, etc., It's what is best for my business.
This is sad and true: "America seems to have become a land of competitive victimhood". Once we were strong and productive and proud to be so. Few people applied for assistance due to shame, even when their need was caused by uncontrollable circumstances.
There is a shocking amount of whining these days and it has little or nothing to do with race. Handouts encourage dependency over independence. Many people do need assistance, but others need to re-prioritize. For example, do not apply for food stamps if you've spent all your money on a cruise vacation, gambling, tattoos or other non-essential purchases.
Still the case, sometimes. FEMA closed several offices because local people who had lost houses and everything they owned considered it shameful to ask for government help. There's dignity in that, but there's also destitution and starvation.
Nearly everyone has times when self-sufficiency won't quite make it. That's why we have agencies like FEMA and charities to help people get back on their feet.
We must learn to respect each other and to understand that this world has enough resources to feed us all. My fear is that one day we will awaken and find that all our biases aided in the destruction of certain freedoms we enjoyed. "Together we stand," even during periods of great ignorance our elders and founding fathers recognized the value of that statement. Living and accepting transitions are difficult, but I believe that the benefits are unlimited. We should not become color-blind; we must learn to accept and welcome diversity. I have travelled quite extensively and I have been rewarded in ways that are invaluable; learning about cultures aside from my own, understanding the broader perspectives of biases that exist aside from racial tension; there are countries where folk truly favor and still find ways to prejudice themselves against each other for being from the North or South or having a slight variation in their dialect; one of many examples being areas in the Middle East.
Again, each of you shared valuable points in this discussion and as a Woman and an African American - I can truly appreciate how I have benefited from research and studies, as well as open dialogues about inequalities. Thank you all and lets continue to share knowledge about issues that affect us as American People and as people sharing space here on Earth... Every discussion indeed shall strength us as a nation and as a human being. Thanks Chuck for raising an important topic and cheers to continued growth. Latonya S. Peterson; Author and Fellow American
SOCIO-ECONOMIC AA...Not just for Black people any more...
It's all a matter of perception, of course. It doesn't matter who it's against, bias is a problem.
If you've lost a job, promotion, loan, acceptance to a college because of who your parents are or what body parts you have, you feel you've been wronged and, especially at the time of the loss, really don't care much about history. (Speaking from experience here.)
So, to answer this question, then I say, yes, it is a problem. But one whose effects pale in comparison to the anti-black bias that had gone on for years before it. This one will be a tough one to resolve because I fear there's no solution that's going to please everybody.