Читать книгу Uncomfortable Ideas - Bo Bennett PhD - Страница 11

When we have a cold we eat chicken soup, take extra vitamin C, and have our chakras realigned while placing healing crystals in our navel. This is all fine and dandy if it makes us feel better, but it does nothing to make the cold go away. When it comes to the common cold, the best we can do with our current medical knowledge is treat the symptoms but not the disease. If we could treat the disease, this would clearly be the preferable option that would prevent a lot of future suffering. When it comes to social issues, our desire to avoid uncomfortable ideas can cause us to focus on the symptoms while ignoring the disease.

Why is saying “people of color” appropriate but saying “colored people” is offensive to most people in 2016? Is it the word “of” that has some special power to diffuse racism? Does putting the adjective before the noun make it offensive? The reasons why terms become offensive and sometimes become acceptable after being deemed offensive are mostly due to association and negative connotations. There are terms used to label every race, class, nationality, sexual preference, gender identity, physical and mental difference, and what’s acceptable is constantly changing. While we are all so concerned about terminology, the underlying problems of prejudice and discrimination continue. The negative connotations that become associated with the labels are just a symptom of the prejudice and discrimination.

Uncomfortable Idea: No matter how many times marginalized groups change their preferred label, they will still be marginalized unless the real difficult underlying problems are addressed.

In our age of political correctness, we might be infuriated by the expression of any negative stereotype, but some stereotypes are supported by data. If we dismiss the stereotype as a form of prejudice and focus on suppressing the stereotype, the underlying problem that gave rise to the justified stereotype and associated prejudice will continue. Consider that black, adult, males are seen as more violent than white adult males²—this is a common stereotype. We can blame this on racism and try to get people to drop this stereotype, but that is difficult to do when the stereotype is supported by the data.³ What we need to do is look at why blacks are more likely to commit a violent crime (or at least found guilty of it—yes, there is no question that due to prejudice, blacks are more likely to be found guilty⁴). Once we solve the problem, it will be reflected in the data, and the stereotype will become an unjustified one that will weaken over time and likely disappear. Unless the underlying causes are addressed, there is little chance the symptoms (stereotypes) will go away.

Uncomfortable Idea: Stereotypes are sometimes supported by the data and reflections of reality.