Read "Exploring Unintentional Racism: The Case of Tim Banks" (located in your textbook, but here is the PDF file for easy access.) On a Microsoft word document, answer the following questions: (APA fo

Exploring Unintentional Racism:

The Case of Tim Hanks

Robert W. Grossman

Psychology Department , Kalamazoo College

Thomas E. Ford

Department of Sociology, West ern Michigan University

Introduction

This case study is designed to help you explore your a ttitudes about race and learn about the complexity

of the concept of racism. The case cons ists of several parts, or sections . After reading each part, we will

discuss and also be writing about the issues raised in each part before moving on to the next segment of

the case. A handout follows Part III on the social psychology of attr ibution theory, the concept of

unintentional racism, and the idea of institutionalized racism.

While we are waiting to begin, please jot down a few notes about what comes to mind when you think of

racism.

After you have done this, introduce yourself to the people next to you and discuss your thoughts and

feelings concerning racism.

Some things you might want to think about include:

! How serious a problem do you think racism is in this society today?

! Is it worse or better th an it was years ago?

! Have you experienced any incidents of racism?

! How do you distinguish between prejudice and disc rimination?

! If you see these as problems, what are you doing to deal with them?

Please do not go on to the next section until asked b y your instructor to do so! Exploring Unintentional Racism : The Case of Tim Hanks

Robert W. Grossman , Psychology Department, Kalamazoo College

Thomas E. Ford , Department of Sociology, We stern Michigan University

Part I—Tim Hanks

I was an instructor at a suburban community coll ege in a unique program for students who had very

poor academic records in high school. As the social science instructor for 120 students, I worked to

coordinate my teaching with three other instructors; one each in natural science, the humanities, and

composition. Being a “sixties libera l,” I wanted to make a contributi on to integration and take a strong

stand against racism. Tim Hanks, th e only African-American student in my course, wasn’t helping any.

He attended class sporadically, tu rned assignments in late, missed others altogether, and performed

poorly on tests. When he did come to class, he was us ually late and always left before I had a chance to

talk to him.

Like the other faculty in the program, I felt it was my responsibility to pull eac h student, regardless of

race, through. I wouldn’t lower standa rds but was prepared to do everything in my power to help all

students meet the requirements. Noth ing that worked with other students seemed to work with Tim. He

made appointments to meet with me and his other in structors, only not to show up. Offers of extra time

and assistance on assignments didn’t help either. Attempts to call Tim at the phone number listed for

him with the college were unsuccessful; the number ha d been disconnected. Letters to his listed address

were returned as undeliverable.

Questions

Discuss the following with the people sitting next to you and look for as many different perspectives as

you can find.

1. What would be some of your thoughts about th e possible reasons for Tim Hanks’ behavior?

2. If you were his teacher, what might you have done with him or any student who behaved this

way?

Please do not go on to the next section until asked b y your instructor to do so! Exploring Unintentional Racism : The Case of Tim Hanks

Robert W. Grossman , Psychology Department, Kalamazoo College

Thomas E. Ford , Department of Sociology, We stern Michigan University

Part II—Turnaround

Eventually I came to the conclusion that Tim simply lacked the motivation to complete assignments and

attend class regularly. He di dn’t have the academic skills to do th e work nor the drive to correct his

deficiencies.

As the semester drew to a close, it was clear that Tim would fail the course. It was painful to flunk any

student but this was doubly so; something was obviously deficient in me. I didn’t have what it took to

succeed with African-Ameri can students. Shaking my head, I wrote an F on the grade sheet.

When I received my class list for th e next semester I saw that Tim Ha nks was in my class again. Feeling

somewhat uncomfortable I wondered why Tim didn’t try some other instructor. Tim obviously couldn’t

get motivated to do the work in my class the previ ous semester. Was he just a glutton for punishment?

Seven or eight weeks later Tim came in to get his mi dterm test from me. It was an A-. He had earned no

lower than a B+ on any of his assignments. As he sat down to talk (a big smile on his face after seeing

the grade on his midterm), I asked him, “What makes the difference between some one I had to fail last

winter and someone I’ll have to give an A to this fall?”

“I have a car,” he said.

“How can a car make such a difference?” I asked, puzzled.

“Well, I live downtown near the Art Center. In a car it’s a thirty mi nute trip. On a bus it’s an hour and

half both ways on a good day.” Embarrassed, he looked down at the floor as he said, “On a bad day I

would be OK till I got out here to Main Road. Then it would be hit or miss whether the bus drivers

would pick me up. A couple of them would even swerve to splash slush all over me . If they did, I’d feel

so bad I just got on a bus going back home.” When aske d why he didn’t come in and tell me about these

difficulties he said, “I was so embarrassed about doing so poorly in your class I just couldn’t get myself

to come in.”

Questions

Discuss the following with the people sitting next to you and look for as many different perspectives as

you can find.

1. How would you have reacted to these explanati ons? How does this aff ect your thoughts about the

reasons for his behavior?

2. What would you have done next?

Please do not go on to the next section until asked b y your instructor to do so! Exploring Unintentional Racism : The Case of Tim Hanks

Robert W. Grossman , Psychology Department, Kalamazoo College

Thomas E. Ford , Department of Sociology, We stern Michigan University

Part III—Racist?

I was crushed. I admitted to Tim th at I had assumed he didn’t come to class regularly and had trouble

with his assignments because he didn’t like my cla ss. Tim said, “Oh no! I rea lly liked your course. It

was just first on my schedule and so, if even one driver didn’t pick me up, I couldn’t get to it on time.”

I didn’t say that I’d thought Tim had no motivation and poor academic skills. In fact, at that moment,

though I was too embarrassed to admit it to him, I rea lized how racist my assumptions were. Partly I was

projective because I attributed Tim’s behavior to the things that would have caused me to behave as he

had. If I didn’t get to class on time or failed to get my homework done, it would be due to my low

motivation. By implicitly assuming Tim was just like me, I had dramatically misunderstood Tim’s

behavior in a very racist way.

But worst of all was the realization that my attri butions were simply intell ectualized versions of

unconscious racist stereotypes about African-Americans. I’d thought, “Tim doesn’t have the academic

skills to do the work nor the drive and motivation to co rrect his deficiencies.” “Lack of academic skills”

was my way of covering the unconsci ous feeling that Tim wasn’t bright enough to do college work. In

essence I was saying he was lazy. If the school had consulted me on a decision to let Tim have a second

try, my attributions could have ruined Tim’s chances. Luckily they didn’t ask me. If he had come in to

see me during his first semester, w ould I have confronted him on his “low motivation”? Ironically he

missed his appointments so I didn’t confront him. If I had, what effe ct would that have had on him and

his willingness to relate to me in the future? Here I was, a “sixties liberal” and a self-convicted racist.

I wondered if my nonverbal communication gave Tim a ny hint of these underlying feelings. If so, did

they in any way contribute to his hesitancy to co mmunicate about his trans portation problems the term

before? As a clinical psychologist I would have to guess that my nonverbal signals, and those of my

colleagues, probably did contribute to Tim’s uneasiness. I wondered if my fear of maki ng a mistake with

a minority person and deeper discomfort being ar ound someone who looked so different made me more

hesitant to ask why he was having troub le in my class in the first place.

What I learned was one didn’t have to be a bigoted bus driver to be part of th e system of racism. All I

had to do to was to make a “natural” “assumption of similarity” and give in to my “normal” fear of

difference. I didn’t have to hate African-Americans or consciously disc riminate against them all. All I

had to be was myself, and the racism operated.

Questions

Discuss the following with the people sitting next to you and look for as many different perspectives as

you can find.

1. Do you a gree with the instructo r’s conclusion that he is a racist? Ex plain your answer. 2. How is prejudice different from discriminati on? For example, would you have considered the

instructor racist if he had told the readmissi on committee about his view of Tim as lacking

academic skills and the motivation to improve them ? Would you consider the instructor racist if

he had confronted Tim on his low motivation?

3. Find someone who disagrees with you. Write out th eir definition of racism and compare it with

yours. Do they disagree? If so, on what di mensions? Do they agree? If so, along what dimensions?

4. How would you characterize the difference between the racism of the bus drivers and the racism

of the instructor? Are both kinds equally prevalent in our society, and to what degree are they both

destructive?

5. Can you think of any examples of racism in your experience? How are they similar to and

different from this example? Was your experience nearer the “ bus driver” end of the racism

continuum or more like th e instructor’s “racism”?

6. Take some time to think back and see where your attitudes toward African-Americans may have

come from. Do you remember the first time you met or saw an African-American? Were your

views affected at all by the television, newspapers, and movies you saw as a youngster? What

were your later experiences like?

Please do not go on to the next section until asked b y your instructor to do so! Exploring Unintentional Raci sm: The Case of Tim Hanks

Robert W. Grossman , Psychology Department, Kalamazoo College

Thomas E. Ford , Department of Sociology, We stern Michigan University

Three Theories from Social Ps ychology That Are Useful in

Understanding Our Reactions to This Case

One theory that helps make sense of our reactions to this case was developed in the research of Gaertner

and Dovidio ( 1986 ). Gaertner and Dovidi o distinguish between aversive racism or unintentional racism

and old-fashioned, or blatant racism . In contrast to old-fashioned racism, which is characterized by

overt hatred for and disc rimination against African-A mericans or other minorities , aversive racism is

characterized by more complex, ambi valent racial attitude. On the one hand, aversive racists are well-

intentioned people who typically (1) avoid acting in a racist manner, (2) support public policies that

promote racial equality, (3) sympathi ze with victims of past injustice, (4) identify with liberal political

agendas, (5) possess strong egalitarian values, and (6 ) regard themselves as non-prejudiced. On the other

hand, aversive racists almost unavoidably posse ss negative feelings and beliefs about African-

Americans (it may be built into the social fabric of our minds). In contrast to the old-fashioned racist,

however, the negative fee lings experienced by aversive racists are not hatred and animosity toward

African-Americans, but rather discomfort, uneasiness, or fear in the presence of African-Americans

(which may be built on our biologically based fear of strangers). In addition, th is negative affect is

frequently unacknowledged or dissociat ed from the self because it conf licts with one’s egalitarian self-

concept and value system.

Because aversive racists are concer ned with maintaining an egalitaria n self-concept, they typically do

not consciously or intentionally di scriminate against African-Americans. The negative affect underlying

the racial attitude of aversive raci sts, then, is likely to influence behavior in subtle, unconscious, and

unintentional ways. That is, the aversive racist is likely to discriminate ag ainst African-Americans only

in situations in which discriminatory behavior can be easily rationalized, such as when the norms for

what is appropriate (non-raci st) behavior are unclear ( Gaertner, 1973 ), or when there are nonracial

justifications for one’s discriminatory behavior ( Gaertner & Dovidio, 1977 ). People may unconsciously

and unintentionally discriminate ag ainst African-Americans even whil e consciously making every effort

to behave in a non-racist manner.

A second set of ideas that are helpful here are from attribution theory and the concept of fundamental

attribution error (FAE). This framework helps us understa nd the racist implications of the way the

professor thought about Tim Hanks. This theory explores how we account for or explain the causes of

behavior we perceive. The process of trying to account for cause is called the attribution process.

Researchers in this area po int out that one may conclude that a given behavior is either indicative of the

actor’s disposition (i.e., personality, a ttitudes, etc.) or the situation in which the behavior was performed

(e.g., Jones & Davis, 1965; Kelley, 1967 ). The FAE was then introduced as the natural tendency to

unknowingly overestimate the extent to which another person’s behavior is indicative of his or her

disposition and underestimate the extent to which it is indicative of the situation (e.g., Fiske & Taylor,

1984 ).

It is argued that the FAE can have ra cist implications because whites ar e more likely to make derogatory

dispositional attributions for negative behaviors performed by an African-American versus another

white person. For instance, in one small class of under graduate students that did this case, 29 students proposed a total of 77 different explanations for Tim’s behavior. Of those 77 explanations, 59 (77%)

suggested dispositional causes wher eas only 18 suggested situational cau ses. At least one dispositional

cause was listed by 27 of 29 students, and 18 ( 67%) students proposed only dispositional causes.

Some of the more popular attributions were: (1) Tim did not like the class, (2) Tim lacked motivation,

(3) Tim was embarrassed by his poor performance, (4) Tim was shy, (5) Tim was lazy, and (6) Tim was

irresponsible. Only 11 students mentioned even a sing le situational cause for Tim’s behavior, and each

of those students also listed at least one dispositional cause. In a ddition, the situational causes listed

tended to be more vague and abstract than dispos itional causes. For example, one student making a

situation attribution said “there might be something else going on in his life besides the class.” Four

other students thought that Tim might have “family problems.” Interestingl y, none of the students

reported racism as a possible cause for Tim’s difficulties.

A third concept from social psyc hology that is important here is institutionalized racism (Jones, 1991,

pp. 610 -611 ). Although this concept applies mo re to organizations than to individuals, this case can be

used to see how a person can unintentionally contribute to decisions that have racist consequences. In

particular, if the professo r in our case were invited to sit in on a readmission decision for Tim, he might

offer his opinion that Tim just lacked the motivation, skills or appropriate self-discipline to be a part of

the program. Based on that view, the admissions committee might deny Tim a second opportunity to

take courses. This would appear to the admissions co mmittee to be a fair, colo r-blind and therefore non-

racist decision. In fact, because th e environmental conditions are quite different for Tim than they would

be for a Caucasian student, the deci sion would have a racist or discriminatory effect. In other words,

“color-blind” usually means that we treat people as if they we re white-middle-class or even white-upper-

middle-class. The existence of institutional racism makes it important that we all examine our academic

policies to see if there are any negative racial, social , or ethnic effects. If there are, then we need to

examine our assumptions about how level the playing field really is. Making fa ir, seemingly race-blind

decisions may actually lead to racist policies and we might be overlooking unique barriers to success.

This case suggests that it is valuable to recognize social category memberships like race, and examine

those memberships for the constraints, benefits , and perspectives that go along with them.

Some discussion questions for these thr ee ideas from social psychology include:

1. How does the concept of “aversiv e racism” fit your reactions in th is case? (Fit reactions in your

teaching?)

2. Do discomfort, uneasiness, and /or fear char acterize your reaction when in the presence of

African-Americans and other underrepresented groups?

3. Does your behavior ever unintentionall y end up discriminating against members of

underrepresented groups?

4. Were the responses of the instructor in this case more dispositional or situ ational? List each of his

attributions and decide which type they were.

5. Can you find examples of situational and dispositi onal attributions in your responses to this case?

Which type predominates?

6. Do you see that the professor’s behavior with the admissions committ ee could have been an

example of institutionalized racism? Can you thi nk of any other policies that might have this

effect? 7. Does emphasis on “academic rigor” ever have a discriminatory ef fect in courses?

A second set of discussion questions (if there is time) related to Tim Hanks being the only African-

American in a class of 120 students include:

1. How do you think being the only African-American in a class of 120 affected Tim? How do you

think you would you feel if you were Tim?

2. How do you think this affected the way other students perceived him?

3. Why would it have been hard for Tim to find a fr iend to ride with? Or a group to study with? Or

someone to get notes from?

4. Do you think Tim would have been looked at as the spokesperson and/or example for minorities

in the class?

References

! Fiske, S.T., and S.E. Taylor. 1984. Social Cognition . New York, NY: Random House.

! Ford, T. E., R.W. Grossman, and E.A. Jorda n. 1997. Teaching about unintentional racism in

introductory psychology. Teaching of Psychology 24(3):186-188.

! Gaertner, S.L. 1973. Helping behavior and racial discriminati on among Liberals and

Conservatives. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 25:335-341.

! Gaertner, S.L., and J.F. Dovidio. 1977. The subt lety of white racism, arousal and helping

behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 35:691-707.

! Gaertner, S.L., and J.F. Dovidio. 1986. The aversive form of racism. In: J.F. Dovidio and S.L.

Gaertner (Eds.), Prejudice, Discrimination and Racism: Theory and Research . Orlando, FL:

Academic Press, pp. 61-89.

! Jones, E.E., and K.E. David. 1965. From acts to dispositions: The attribution process in person

perception. In: L. Berkowitz (Ed.), Advances in Experime ntal Social Psychology . New York:

Academic Press, vol. 2, pp. 219-266.

! Jones, R.L. 1991. Racism: A cult ural analysis of the problem. In: R.L. Jones (Ed.), Black

Psychology 3rd edition. Berkeley, CA: Cobb & Henry Publishers, pp. 610-636.

! Kelley, H.H. 1967. Attribution theory in social psychology. Nebraska Symposium on Motivation

14:192-241.

Date Posted: 01/26/04 nas

Originally published at http://www.sciencecases.o rg/racism/racism.asp

outline our policy concerning permissible reproduction of this work.