Race and Response

The New York TImes ^ | 5/10/2011 | David Brooks

[Beave Meister]

Dan Butler and David Broockman of Yale had a very bright idea. They mailed a series of letters to legislators in which a fictional constituent asked for help in registering to vote. Some of the letters were signed with putatively black names (like DeShawn Jackson) and some were signed with putatively white names (like Jake Mueller). The letters from the putatively black constituents received fewer responses from white legislators and received more responses from minority legislators.

The really interesting finding concerns the partisan nature of the responses. There wasn’t one. Whites from both parties exhibited similar levels of discrimination against the putatively black letter-writers. Even when the letters signaled the partisanship of the sender, the results were not significantly different.

The study is one more indication that racial attitudes are deep, often below awareness. They also support something I’ve observed in everyday life. Let me put it this way:

I am sometimes at gatherings where everybody but me is a Republican. I am sometimes at gatherings where everybody but me is a Democrat. In my experience people at all Republican gatherings do not make more racist or condescending comments than people at all Democratic gatherings. The frequency of these comments is about the same across the parties.

[Beave Meister]

Libs are going to go nuts over this one......

[paulycy]

Have Your Say Every Day.

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[Happy Rain]

Racism begets racism.

The black racists who accuse whites of racism without any evidence are making whites think,”Hell,no matter what we do to prove we are not racists they call us racists anyway!”

After getting kicked in the head so many times one would be stupid NOT to avoid more negative contacts.

“If I try to help Deshauwn (an obvious black) and fail,I will be called a racist.”

[newzjunkey]

Judging by the comments, they're certainly nuts.

We even get the "asking for the birth certificate is racist" foolishness as if Obama is the first candidate ever questioned on eligibility! In fact, dozens of candidates have been for over a hundred years. Holding him to a lesser standard would itself be racist. Morons.