What Does It Mean to Move below the Surface?

"Bias Isn't Just a Police Problem, It's a Preschool Problem"

Ethnic-racial tensions in US society are not new. They bubble up in all types of places, from rural communities in California to the multicultural mecca of New York City's neighborhoods. We can look to historical and current events that not only reflect our society's tense atmosphere concerning ethnic-racial relations at any given point in history but also continue to ignite and exacerbate such tensions. For instance, the US government has passed immigration policies to exclude individuals from certain countries. This was true in 1882 with the Chinese Exclusion Act and in 2017 with Executive Order 13769, also known as the Muslim ban. Our society has also forced ethnic minorities to choose between their culture and their survival. We have seen this with the government-imposed boarding schools for American Indian children and in English-only legislation that persists despite well-documented evidence of the benefits of bilingualism. Moreover, we have consistently witnessed the disproportionate use of force and violation of basic human rights as the default in how law enforcement approaches communities of color. As the headline above illustrates, these issues persist and make their way into the lives of our young people.

To some, these tensions convey that there is a devaluing of members of groups that do not represent the historically dominant group (i.e., White, European descent, Christian, economically advantaged). This devaluation is like salt in a wound for those who are all too acutely aware of social inequalities that have pervaded US society since its founding. Indeed, there are myriad disparities in the life outcomes of members of marginalized groups compared to members of the dominant group. To others, however, these tensions are thought to be blown out of proportion, exaggerated, or of no relevance to their lives. There is a sense that those who are actively voicing their concerns about the racial tensions are being too sensitive.

Although ethnic-racial tensions are typically presented as an "us" and "them" issue, it's important to recognize that mere membership in a particular social group (e.g., being Latino) does not provide enough information with which to predict how committed or engaged individuals are to addressing the ethnic-racial tensions that exist in our society. To really understand what is driving or informing the perspectives that people have on these different topics, we must go beyond surface-level categorizations and assumptions made about individuals based on their age, gender, race, or ethnicity. Instead, we must consider the psychological and subjective meaning-making processes that underlie how people respond to situations or events such as those above. One way to go below the surface, then, is to better understand how people experience these tensions differently based on their personal understanding of themselves and the social groups to which they belong.

Ethnic-racial identity is an important lens through which individuals experience events and situations related to race and ethnicity. On the one hand, for individuals who have not thought about race or believed they were living in a postracial society, the events "shake them up" and may ignite a reexamination of their views and understandings of race and ethnicity. On the other hand, for those who have examined or considered the role of race in their lives more thoroughly, the event or situation may confirm their existing understandings. Moreover, each individual may view the culpability or responsibility of other social groups differently depending on their sense of how their own group relates to other groups. Consider the following remarks in response to the 2016 election by two individuals who both identify as Muslim American:

How is it possible that here in America in 2016 could a man who has based his campaign on hatred, bigotry and divisiveness win the hearts and minds of so many American people? — Shadin Maali, well-known Chicagoan social activist

The Republican Muslim Coalition is looking forward to working with [P]resident Trump. — Saba Ahmed, leader of the Republican Muslim Coalition

According to the report from which these quotes were taken, Shadin Maali was "in a state of disbelief," whereas Saba Ahmed was "super-excited that Republican candidate Donald Trump had won the presidency." These individuals are referring to the same event, yet their characterization of the result is radically different. Certainly, at the core of these divergent perspectives are differences in awareness, understanding, and tolerance of xenophobia and racism. It will be impossible to align understandings and awareness, and to decrease tolerance of prejudice and racism, if people do not examine the role of race and ethnicity in society and in their daily life.

In the context of the United States, one does not need to go far to encounter situations in which racial and ethnic dynamics are at work. Youth in the United States are bombarded with messages about race and ethnicity in their everyday lives. Such stories, images, situations, and broader conversations often evoke fear, pain, and guilt among even the most socially conscious adults who consider themselves well versed in the complexities of ethnic-racial relations in US society. It's challenging to reconcile the disparate perspectives on these ethnic-racial tensions, much less have open dialogue about them, but our social fabric is weakened by not engaging in meaningful dialogue about these issues.

To be fair, there are a number of barriers to such dialogue. First, as sociologist Eduardo Bonilla-Silva has explained, some people espouse a blatant denial of racism, xenophobia, and other forms of prejudice. But the reality is that in the United States, racism is part of the social fabric, and young people learn it whether they want to or not. Recent findings regarding the dehumanization of Black children in the United States merit consideration in this regard. In one study, Philip Goff and his colleagues asked predominately White college students to rate their perceptions of innocence of Black and White children. When the children who were being rated were nine and younger, there were no differences in how innocently — that is, needing of protection and deserving of care — they were viewed by participants in the study. But when asked to rate children who were ten or older, Black children were rated as significantly less innocent than White children. In another study, Rebecca Dore and her colleagues asked a predominately White sample of five-, seven-,...