Kansas State Professor Examines How People Express Racism
MANHATTAN, Kan.
Racism is still expressed in people’s actions, even in today’s society, where voiced racism is overwhelmingly shunned.
That’s the conclusion of Dr. Donald Saucier, a Kansas State University psychologist, who has been studying the modes of racism for the past nine years. He says if people understand and recognize this, they can begin to put an end to any expression of racism, whether direct or indirect.
“We have always said that if you hide the behavior, then it is good enough,” Saucier says. “But that’s not good enough. I want to stop the behavior.”
Saucier said there are two types of people when it comes to racist behaviors: those who know they are racist, but are hiding it; and those who aren’t sure if they are racist and try not to be, with varying degrees of success.
“The people who know it and are hiding it are going to let it come out when given the opportunity,” Saucier says. “The other people who aren’t sure are trying to guard against it because they are not sure it’s there. But they may not guard against it very effectively and it may still come out.”
With his team of undergraduate students, Saucier has been investigating trends in discrimination and “helping” behaviors by analyzing situations where discrimination occurred. The team reviewed studies where people needed help in various ways, from having dropped their books or groceries to having passed out on a subway. Overall, research has shown that people were more apt to give excuses for not helping when a Black person needed help.
