How Racist Are You?

Are you racially biased? Harvard University has been trying to find out with its racism test, Project Implicit. The less than 10-minute test throws different races at you and has you identify the images as "bad" or "good" as quickly as you can. The idea is that your first reaction is usually the most honest.

You can try the test out for yourself. Simply click on the "Demonstration" button and then click the "Race IAT" button.

Project Implicit, started 11 years ago by Harvard, the University of Washington and the University of Virginia, is a joint investigation into our subconscious biases. Most people would say that they are not biased against those with darker skin, obese people or women, but researchers say that we often harbor biases that we are unaware of.

Ask the average person whether he or she has a bias toward male executives over female executives and the answer might be no.

That's what I said when Anthony Greenwald of Project Implicit asked whether I thought of men and women differently when it came to leadership in business, math and science. He quickly informed me that I was probably like a majority of Americans who incorrectly think they don't have a bias toward male leadership.

"Eighty percent of Americans, black and white and Asian, have associations that associate women less than men with leadership in business, science and math. You may be aware of some biases you have but less aware of others," Greenwald, a principal investigator for Project Implicit and professor of psychology at the University of Washington, told Black Voices in an interview.

According to the Project Implicit Web site:

Psychologists understand that people may not say what's on their minds either because they are unwilling or because they are unable to do so. For example, if asked "How much do you smoke?" a smoker who smokes four packs a day may purposely report smoking only two packs a day, because they are embarrassed to admit the correct number. Or the smoker may simply not answer the question, regarding it as a private matter. ... But it is also possible that a smoker who smokes four packs a day may report smoking only two packs because they honestly believe they only smoke about two packs a day. (Unknowingly giving an incorrect answer is sometimes called self-deception; this illustrates being unable to give the desired answer). The unwilling-unable distinction is like the difference between purposely hiding something from others and unconsciously hiding something from yourself. The Implicit Association Test makes it possible to penetrate both of these types of hiding. The IAT measures implicit attitudes and beliefs that people are either unwilling or unable to report.

You can take several tests at the Project Implicit site to examine your biases against things such as age, gender and weight.

"The main value of the test is that it allows people to see an inventory of things in our heads that are out of sight," said Greenwald. "A lot of people are aware of some biases and quite comfy with them--anti-Semitic, anti-black and overweight--but some of the greatest interest is [in] ones they are not aware of."

Americans love having scientific proof for stuff we already know. Topics such as whether eating too much junk food can cause you to gain weight, how driving 65 mph on the freeway while texting isn't safe and why global warning threatens our future have all been the subject of intense study.

After hundreds of years of racial and gender discrimination, people are unable to admit that those biases still exist. We live in a media-saturated environment, where we are constantly bombarded with images that enforce and even prop up our biases. When we look at issues such as why African Americans are more likely to receive the death sentence for similar crimes as whites, the disparity between sentences for crack and cocaine, and even health disparities when it comes to cancer or HIV deaths, how can we not say that our biases have some part to play in those situations?

We all have biases whether we are willing to admit it or not. The goal in life, however, should be to recognize our biases when making decisions and vanquish them accordingly.

Some think the implicit biases research field has too many issues to form the conclusions that it draws.

I wouldn't use the test in a court of law, but it might awaken some people to their biases. Let's judge people by their actions. If you say that you value diversity, then what is the makeup of your company?

It would be great if we didn't need these tests to help people face their biases. No one likes to think he or she is a bad person, but common sense should prevail. I don't need a test to show me that there are biases against women when it comes to leadership in business, math and science. All I have to do is look at a list of Fortune 500 CEOs.

But maybe the test can help some.

"It's the first step in deciding you may need to do something on your own to change," said Greenwald. "People might think they are part of solution and not the problem, but we are all part of the problem."

Which brings me back to my question:

Vintage Racist Advertising

Top left LOS ANGELES - DECEMBER 1: Brigitte Nielsen and Flavor Flav present onstage at the VH1 - Big in '04 on December 1, 2004 at the Shrine Auditorium, in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images) Top right: 1899 -- Uncle Tom's Cabin: Topsy Illustration --- Image by © CORBIS; Bottom right: 1930s AC spark plugs ad in The Saturday Evening Post -- Photo by The Authentic History Center; Bottom left: This cartoon image provided by the New York Post appeared in the Post's Page Six Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2009. The cartoon, which refers to Travis the chimp, who was shot to death by police in Stamford, Conn. on Monday after it mauled a friend of its owner, drew criticism Wednesday on media Web sites and from civil rights activist the Rev. Al Sharpton. (AP Photo/New York Post) ** NO SALES ** Credit: Getty Images / Corbi / Authentic History Center / AP

Getty Images / Corbi / Authentic History Center / AP

Advertisement for an African-American slave sale.

Although the enslavement of mankind in general has been recorded as early as 1200 BC; the first African slaves were reportedly transported to the 'New World' in 1517. This is 76 years after the first black slaves were captured and taken to Portugal.

Bettmann / Corbis

African American Stereotypes: Products and Advertising c.1880s Tin of Nigger Hair Tobacco

For decades this product was sold in stores as chewing tobacco or for smoking. It was advertised as 'pure, unadulterated, fine old burley leaf.'

Photo Source: The Authentic History Center

The Authentic History Center

1888 -- Seal of North Carolina Tobacco - The Darktown Bowling Club Poster -- Image by © Swim Ink 2, LLC/CORBIS Seal of North Carolina Tobacco - The Darktown Bowling Club Poster

Swim Ink 2, LLC / Corbis

ca. 1890 -- Zoulou Powder Poster (French advertisement)

Because offensive advertising was permeated throughout the world for many years, (and still is, as you will see in a few upcoming slides) it should come as no surprise that in more modern times 'racism has become the scourge of European soccer stadiums.'

Swim Ink 2, LLC / Corbis

ca. 1899 --- Uncle Tom's Cabin: Topsy Illustration --- Image by © CORBIS Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

Topsy was a stereotypical pickaninny character in the book, 'Uncle Tom's Cabin.' Uncle Tom was a slave in the book. The term 'Uncle Tom' is recognized to be offensive and a derogatory name for a black man who is abjectly servile and deferential to whites.

Corbis

ca. 1899 --- George Thatcher's Greatest Minstrels Poster --- Image by © CORBIS George Thatcher's Greatest Minstrels Poster

Early definition of minstrel: a medieval poet and musician who sang or recited while accompanying himself on a stringed instrument, either as a member of a noble household or as an itinerant troubadour.

The black-face minstrel act was a very popular form of entertainment in 19th-century America. White audiences were receptive to the portrayals of Blacks as singing, dancing, grinning fools. T.D. 'Daddy' Rice, the original Jim Crow, became rich and famous because of his skills as a minstrel. Interestingly though, when he died in New York on September 19, 1860, he was broke.

Corbis

African American Stereotypes: Products and Advertising 1899 Durkee's Salad Dressing advertisement, Harpers Magazine

Notice the broken English purportedly spoken by black Americans, 'We're gwine ter live high ter-night ...'

Photo Source: The Authentic History Centerr

The Authentic History Center

Advertisement for Clarence Brooks and Co.'s Fine Coach Varnishes uses racist stereotypes to depict a group of African-American adults and children as they cheer and watch two shirtless boxers, one of whom appears unconscious, accompanied by the text "the Championship Fight, Sullivan Wins," late 1800s. The Sullivan in the text is a reference to boxer John L. Sullivan, who fought bare-knuckled in several famous bouts.

Transcendental Graphics, Getty Images

Advertisement for the St. Louis Beef Canning Company features an illustration of a stereotyped African-American character sitting on a can of beef, accompanied by phonetically rendered, stereotypical dialect-style text that reads: 'No Sah! dont jine no Exodus so as dis Beef lasts,' late 1800s.

Showing blacks to massacre the English language, further perpetuated the false idea that African Americans were somehow unable to be educated.

Transcendental Graphics, Getty Images