Subtle racism impairs performance

A study shows that subtle racism is harder to process than blatant racism.

Racism's Cognitive Toll:  Subtle Discrimination Is More Taxing On The BrainAfter witnessing these fair and unfair hiring decisions, the study volunteers took the so-called Stroop test. During this test, the names of colors flash on the screen for an instant, but in the "wrong" colors (the word "red" in green letters, for example), and the idea is to quickly identify the color of the letters. It tests capacity for mental effort, and the idea in this study was to see if experiencing subtle racism interfered with that mental capacity.

It did, at least for blacks, and more than the overt racism did. As reported in the September issue of Psychological Science, black volunteers who had witnessed unfair but ambiguous hiring decisions did much less well on the Stroop test, suggesting that they were using all their mental resources to make sense of the unfairness.

Interestingly, white volunteers were more impaired by overt racism than by the more ambiguous discrimination. Salvatore and Shelton figure this is because whites rarely experience any racism; they do not even notice the subtle forms of racism, and are thrown off balance when they are hit over the head by overt acts. Many blacks, by contrast, have developed coping strategies for the most hateful kinds of racism; it's the constant, vague, just-below-the-surface acts of racism that impair performance, day in and day out.Comment:  This finding makes sense if you think about it. When you see something hateful like a noose or a burning cross, it's easy to dismiss it as stupid and irrational. But when you see, say, an Indian mascot, you have to think about whether it's right or wrong. Is the mascot realistic or cartoonish? Is it appropriate to the region or is it a Plains stereotype? Do people treat it with respect or is it an excuse to dance and whoop?

It's more work to write about the subtle problems, so I believe it's more work to process them mentally. Therefore, the so-called "harmless" stereotypes are anything but. They're arguably causing more stress than more overt displays of racism.

For more on the subject, see Anti-Indian Racism Explained and Racism Hurts...Literally.

Below:  Is it racist or isn't it? While Indians try to figure it out, whites pass them by (literally and figuratively).