MJP said:
Meanwhile, social psychologists Jack Dovidio, PhD, of Yale University, and Samuel L. Gaertner, PhD, of the University of Delaware, have demonstrated across several studies that many well-intentioned whites who consciously believe in and profess equality unconsciously act in a racist manner, particularly in ambiguous circumstances. In experimental job interviews, for example, whites tend not to discriminate against black candidates when their qualifications are as strong or as weak as whites'. But when candidates' qualifications are similarly ambiguous, whites tend to favor white over black candidates, the team has found. The team calls this pattern "aversive racism," referring in part to whites' aversion to being seen as prejudiced, given their conscious adherence to egalitarian principles.
I am willing to bet that this isn't a "white" phenomenon, but exists in any society where a majority group interacts with a minority group. Francis Fukuyama's masterpiece, The Origins of Political Order, explores the two human psycho-social phenomenon that human societies and political order are built upon: kinship selection and reciprocal altruism.
Kinship selection is the old Bedouin proverb my brother before my cousin, my cousin before my neighbour, my neighbour before my tribe, etc, etc. Humans prefer those closer in terms of kinship. Reciprocal altruism is the phenomenon where humans will make themselves vulnerable to others (physically, materially, etc) under the expectation that the other will return the favour. I will give you this, and you will give me that in return. Reciprocal altruism is how humans drop their guard to go beyond their immediate kinship groups, and consistent instances of it make future instances more likely - the more we deal on fair terms, the more I am apt to trust you. If you haven't dealt with someone much, you are less likely to trust them in an interaction.
Unfortunately, humans are visual species - we take in 90% of our information through sight. So visible differences in physical features and melanin levels are apt to trip our sense of kinship selection - this person looks much different than I, and I don't know him, so he must be on an outside ring. I imagine, if we were an auditory species, we would discriminate based on tonal pitch or something....
Its not an excuse for activities, only a pretty good explanation (to me) of why racism and racial bias are so embedded in the human condition, around the world (and yes, even in liberal whites in the West). Humans can overcome these behaviours (like they overcome many other innate behaviours) but I suspect if they are raised to disdain those who look different, it only makes the behaviour that much harder to overcome. As well, socio-economic segregation (like ghettos) probably make kinship selection harder to overcome - if all the folks of that group live on that side of the town, the sense of us and them is heightened.
No links to back this up - just my theorizing from a few decades of reading.
