Please welcome back Ryan Hansen, a graduate student in clinical psychology. He writes about the subconscious effects that racism has in split-second decisions:
The
paradox of modern racism is that we live in a culture in which few people will admit to being racist, yet one has only to look at demographic data on income, healthcare disparities, and incarceration rates to realize that racism still exists.
Dr. Anthony Greenwald asserts that
implicit associations underlie many of the stereotypes and prejudices that cause so much harm in our society. Dr. Greenwald’s research helps to explain the aforementioned paradox by showing that even some of the most
well-intentioned people can hold implicit attitudes and more easily pair good attributes with Caucasian individuals and negative attributes with Black individuals.
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| Dr. Anthony Greenwald |
If you haven’t tried it before, I suggest
participating in Dr. Greenwald’s
experiments online, which can show you empirically how often your
split-second decisions regarding race can be surprisingly biased. If you just completed the experiment linked above, you most likely had an easier time
paring good words with Caucasian faces and negative words with Black faces than the reverse (often regardless of your own race).
Often, this result is interpreted as showing that most individuals have implicitly
positive attitudes toward Caucasians and implicitly negative attitudes toward Black people. However, Dr. Greenwald recently made the point that it could also be interpreted as having a neutral attitude toward Black people and a substantially more positive attitude toward Caucasians, particularly if you are Caucasian.
There is no shortage of research suggesting that
we tend to like people who are like us, and are more likely to help them out as a consequence. Often preferential treatment (particularly of loved ones and family) isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but if done systematically, it can have
consequences that are just as horrible as if one were deliberately trying to be racist (see post:
Microaggressions).
Often, finding jobs and other opportunities rely as much on
favors and networking as they do on objective qualifications, and if white individuals are much more likely to have a friend/neighbor/relative to
help their career along, the net effect can be almost as bad as if employers hung a sign saying “Non-whites need not apply.”
Similarly, I know that I would have had little chance of completing my master’s degree if I had not benefited from a thousand acts of kindness, from mentors who took me under their wing, to friends and family who pressured me to fill out applications, to university bursars who made exceptions when I had filled out the wrong forms. Dr. Greenwald’s research suggests that if I had been a racial minority, in each of those thousands of interactions,
there would likely have been a fractional second of implicitly biased thinking, and the effects of those milliseconds could add up into countless missed opportunities, hassles, and unintentionally racist acts.
These findings have
tremendous implications for us as Christians. Jesus did not say to “do unto others
who are like you as you would have done to you” (
Luke 6:31). Jesus, as a Jew, went out of his way to minister to other ethnic minorities, such as the
Samaritans and the
Gentiles, as well as other groups that other Jews would have had both implicit and explicit negative attitudes toward (such as tax-collectors and prostitutes). In
Mathew 25:31-40, Jesus explicitly says that we are to minister to strangers, and that this will be one of the criterion by which we will be judged when he comes again in glory.
Most of us, when asked if we are racist, try to determine if we have done anything
overtly negative that we know of. However, we must also ask ourselves if we have been as nice, kind, or helpful to others that are different from us as we are to individuals who are similar.
I believe that until we, both individually and as a society, are able to answer that question in the affirmative, we are not living out Jesus’s will to “
love (all) our neighbors as ourselves” and truly live in the communion of the Church as he intended.
What are airlines really valuing when they offer these first-class options? Higher profits? More loyal customers? Is a subliminal message being portrayed that these things are most important at the expense of perpetuating class wars? 
United Methodist Pastor, Lorenza Andrade Smith posed the question, “How do we live simply, so that others can simply live?”
How do we stay alert to our active participation in roles of power, privilege and social class? Furthermore, when we recognize our participation, how do we begin to break the chains of bondage that we are so comfortable participating within? It’s easy to dismiss certain situations by stating ‘that doesn’t apply to me' or 'I’m not affected by that’ but these statements are the same statements that put us into social class categories and keep us bound to stereotypes involving class issues. 
In today's economy, we hear a lot about the financial struggles of the country. But while we often debate issues of white-collar economics, the struggles of lower-income groups are disparaged.
Employees may be held at work long after their shift is over, if that is what the boss deems necessary. Maybe they need to pick the kids up from school, but they don't dare leave and risk losing their jobs. Workers may be required to maintain an open schedule to be placed in shifts as is convenient for the company, but may not be told their schedule until the last minute, and so cannot line up child care or other jobs.
Have you ever considered the miracle of a tiny seed growing to be a delicious fruit or vegetable that brings nourishment and enjoyment to your taste buds? Or been awe struck by the beauty of a single flower, only to imagine the countless flower variations? 
Art communicates in the gaps when words are just not enough. The visual arts are a nuanced way for me to dialogue about God’s heart for justice while also worshiping the Creator who gave me the ability to create visual art alongside Him. Throughout the Old Testament, the value of art is clear. Consider the intricate details of the Temple or how it was the trumpet players who led the procession around the walls of Jericho.
The artist worships God when his or her art points to His character, His salvation, His healing, and His value for all His people. Visual art is not just reserved for those who are natural artists. God is a visual and creative God who has made each of His people in His image and likeness. As image bearers of the divine, we are called to reflect Him as we worship Him.
But we rigorously maintain the idea that merit is our only currency for success. And in our world, rewarding effort and good work is important for the advancement of society. But it is not what's important for the advancement of Christ's Kingdom.
