System 1 vs. System 2, Implicit bias, and Microaggressions Assignment | Get Paper Help
Write 400 MINIMUM words (there wasn’t an option for this word count) In response to any part of our discussion of system 1 vs. system 2, implicit bias, and microaggressions. Your writing should include a thesis statement, each paragraph should start with a topic sentence, and each paragraph should include concrete detail and commentary. (You do not need to have an introduction or a conclusion). Please only use information in the provided notes to make a stance.
***After EXAM #2***
04/20/20
Racism
- “re-education camps”- China
- Han Majority
- Uighurs are an ethnic minority
People with “black” sounding names were 50% LESS likely to get called back for an interview for the same job application
- Explicit and Implicit racism – (Kelly A Burns)
(this unit and a lot of discussion in America) focus on anti-black racism)
There’s racism against lots of groups
Microaggressions ß Ultimate goal
Implicit Racism:
“Don’t we know better? How is there so much racism?”
“How do you get so many people who think that racism is bad acting in ways that are racist?”
Question: How can we make sense of people who genuinely think that racism is wrong, acting in racist ways.
Human Cognition/Psychology:
- System 1: unconscious, fast, automatic
- System 2: conscious, slow and effortful
A ball and a bat together cost $1.10. The bat cost a dollar more than the ball. How much does the ball cost?
Standard Answer: 10 cents ß seems obvious
Actual answer: 5 cents
$0.10 + 1.10= $1.20 ß system 1
$0.05 + $1.05= $1.10 ß system 2
Why do we have these two systems?
- Evolutionary explanation for system 2 is pretty obvious ß reasoning is helpful
- You’re in the savanna. You see something. It could be a lion. OR maybe it’s just a gazelle.
- Do you want to reason this out?
- JUST RUN!
- If you’re relying on system 2, you’re already dead by the time you figure it out
- It makes A LOT of sense to have system 1
System 1: Does it prefer false (-) or false (+)?
(-) You judge it’s not a lion BUT it actually is.
OR
(+) You judge it’s a lion BUT it’s not
SYSTEM 1 : Prefers FALSE +
System 1: dead (SCREAM danger… even if there is none)
System 2: some calories burned
Grocery Store System 1 is probably at work when we see someone sneeze in the grocery store
- We haven’t had the opportunity to learn about the danger firsthand
System 1: gets trained second-hand by stories, narratives, people telling us things, etc.
Why is it important that you don’t have to lean that lions are dangerous firsthand?
- How would you learn that firsthand that lions are dangerous?
- Getting mulled by a lion
- But then you’re dead
Think about how various groups are portrayed I the media?
- People of Mediterranean decent are often portrayed as terrorist
- Black people are often portrayed as gangsters/thugs
- Woman are often portrayed as unintelligent and helpless
Microaggression:
- Are words and behaviors that happen in everyday interactions that “send denigrating messages to certain individuals because of their group membership
You’re real honest, for a Jew ß Microaggression
(seems like compliment, BUT then turns into an insult)
04/22/20
How to Structure a paper:
Step 1: Thesis Statement ß (what do I want my reader to believe?)
Step 2: Generate 3 topic sentences ß (why is the thesis statement true?)
Step 3: Concrete detail and commentary for each paragraph
Step 4: Intro
Step 5: Conclusion
“You’re pretty for a black girl” ß Insulting (Microaggression)
- Black woman isn’t generally pretty (beautiful or good looking)
- Standard for beauty in our society reflect a bias in favor of whiteness (Eurocentric)
“You’re pretty for a white girl” ß way less problematic
- This doesn’t draw on pre-existing negative stereotypes
Microaggression: the something to count as a microaggression it generally need to be targeted at a disadvantaged group or member of a group
WHY MICROAGRESSION need to be targeted at a disadvantaged group… ?
Answer: because there are different degrees of threat
Macro-aggressions:
- “Cracker” ß a racial slur used against white people
- Racial slur against Jewish people – “you should be put in the oven” … “where Hitler when you need him”
- There are different degrees of threat associated with these two things
- For historical oppressed group, there’s an implicit threat involved in microaggressions
System 1 vs. System 2
- System 1: Unconscious, fast, automatic à because system 1 is trained up by narratives/representations b/c leaning by experience will get you killed—don’t want to learn that “tigers are dangerous” by experience) – in our society narratives/representations are often racist/ sexist/ ableist
If you live In America, the odds are Very GOOD that your system 1 is racist/sexist/ableist
- You’re totally unaware of it
(This should force us to be humble. We very much need to avoid being racist or sexist or ableist but ALSO, were very likely to act in these ways B/C system 1)
Microaggressions: (two types):
- Micro-insult: when a person, usually unknowingly, acts in a way that invokes stereotypes of targeted groups, “convey[ing] rudeness and insensitivity and demean[ing] a person’s identity”
- Micro-invalidation: “exclude, negate, or nullify the psychological thoughts, feelings, or experimental reality” of people in oppressed groups.
“That wasn’t racist. You’re just being sensitive!”
04/27/20
Racism
Question: what is racism?
- Natural kinds – exist independently, “carving nature at its joints” the deep structure/organization of the universe, things studied by physics and chemistry
- Social kinds – exist because of the way we think about or organize the world. Don’t carve nature at its joints, the way we have structured the universe, things studied by anthropology and sociology
- Natural kind – atoms, electrons, gravity
- Social Kind – military rank, money, UTSA
Race is not a natural kind. Race is a social kind
- Race is a social kind (social considerations)
How do we know that?
Racialized features fall on a spectrum
- Skin tone
- hair texture
- Facial features
- physical builds
Saying that race is a social kind doesn’t matter that race doesn’t matter,
- Race means A LOT
- The (only) reason race matters a lot b/c of the way we as humans have decided to give importance.
2x accounts of the nature of racism?
- Affective accounts – understand racism in terms of affective states (desires and emotions)
- Cognitive accounts – understand racism in terms of beliefs (representations of the world)
Garcia <- affective account
Elegant criticism of cognitive accounts:
- Racism is morally wrong
- Beliefs are not morally right OR morally wrong.
- Therefore, racism is not (primarily) about beliefs.
Why should we think (2) is true?
Alexandria believes: “Santa Claus is real”
- “She’s right” – It is true that “Santa Claus is real”
- “She’s wrong” – It is false that “Santa Claus is real”
Emotions and desires can be morally wrong
- Sally takes pleasure in torturing cats
04/29/20
*** EVERYTHING DUE FRIDAY, MAY 15TH @ 12:50***
The Heart of Racism (Garcia)
Affective or Cognitive definition of racism?
- Affective Definition: he’s not focusing on beliefs, he’s focusing on emotions/ desires
How does Garcia define racism?
- (definition) Racism is a vicious based disregard for the welfare of certain people
- Racially based hatred ß hate
- Failure to care an appropriate amount ß not caring
- Disregard is a question of hatred/lack of care ß this is not about beliefs
- Inclusion of “vicious” means that for something to be racist, it must be morally bad/wrong
It’s wrong to believe that “Santa Claus is real” ß This is true
- What does “it’s wrong” mean?
- The belief is false.
- What does “it’s right” mean?
- The belief is true.
(We validate beliefs as true of false.)
Genene Jones ß I don’t care about her welfare; this isn’t vicious disregard, b/c it’s based on my assessment of her character
What about actions?
- Actions are racist when they’re motivated by vicious racially based disregard
What about racist beliefs?
- Are formed as a way of rationalizing vicious racially based disregard
- “Jews are dishonest” ß This seems like an instance of racism
What about institutional or structural racism?
- The institution is infected by the vicious racially based disregard of it’s member
- The US criminal justice system is wildly racialized. For more non-white people are stopped by police, arrested, prosecuted and convicted.
It looks like Garcia has a problem making sense of these, b/c his definition is all about disregard, but there’s no disregard in beliefs and institutions aren’t capable of disregard (b/c disregard is a mental state and institutions don’t have mental states)
How does Garcia respond to these challenges?
– He’s going to give us the “infection” model
Infection Model: disregard id the fundamental feature or racism, but other things can be racist in virtue of being “infected” by this disregard
Consider this belief:
- “Jew’s are dishonest” ß Why does someone believe this?
- “Texans are dishonest”
- “Idahoans are dishonest”
- “People that shop at HEB are dishonest”
In a lot of cases, racist beliefs are the result of vicious disregard.
- A lot of very racist beliefs about subjugated groups show up after the subjugation
- Racist beliefs often form as a way to rationalize pre-existing disregard
CHALLENGES
Responses = highlighted
What about actions?
- Actions are racist when they’re motivated by vicious racially based disregard
What about racist beliefs?
- Are formed as a way of rationalizing vicious racially based disregard
What about institutional or structural racism?
- The institution is infected by the vicious racially based DISREGARD of its member
- The US criminal justice system is wildly racialized. For more non-white people are stopped by police, arrested, prosecuted and convicted.
- Vicious racially based disregard from individual police
- Vicious racially based disregard from politicians
- Vicious racially based disregard from citizens
“Broken windows theory of policing”
“Stop and frisk” ß policy where policy stops LOTS of people to question and frisk them, usually limited to certain neighborhoods
05/01/20
Is racism in the heart? – Shelby
- Criticize Garcia
- Give his own account of racism
Garcia – affective account of racism
Shelby – cognitive account of racism
Garcia defines racism as: a kind of vicious, racially based disregard to the welfare of certain people.
- Racially based hatred (KKK)
- Failure to care enough about others wellbeing (racially based) ex. (criminal justice system)
Rage Against the Machine “Those who work forces are the same who burn crosses”
Shelby criticizes Garcia:
If Garcia’s definition is right, then:
- Anything that fits the definition must be racist
- Shelby tries to give an example that shows that something can fit the definition without being racist. (it’s too broad)
- Peter X – is a white man, he has racially based disregard for Andre b/c Andre is romantically involved with a white woman. Supports black liberation ideology.
- Andre – Black man who is romantically involved with Karen.
- Karen – White woman is romantically involved with Andre.
Shelby says: Peter X is not racist, but Garcia wrongly classifies him as racist.
Oppressed minorities will discourage romantic relationships w/ members of the majority. Is this just racism? Why is this phenomenon fairly common?
When Andre is romantically engaged with Karen, a good portion of his energy is going toward spending time w/ and helping Karen, her family, and her friends (who are White)
- Anything that’s racist, must fit the definition
- Shelby tries to give an example of something that is racist but does not fit the definition. (it’s too narrow)
- Sally is a 105 y/o white woman, she was born in 1915 and raised in a deeply racist religious cult. She’s had almost no experience interreacting with non-white people. Sally thinks that black people are genetically prone to violence. B/c of her religious background, she believes that all people are children of god and are due the same respect. She has no disregard for black people.
- Sally looks pretty racist, (Imagine her on a jury.)
- Shelby says: Sally is racist but does not meet Garcia’s definition
- The definition is too narrow. There are cases of racism it fails to capture.
How can we know if something is racist?
- What makes something racist? ß Shelby and Garcia are trying to answer
05/04/20
Shelby
- Two criticism of Garcia
- Peter x scenario Garcia’s definition is too board- it classifies things that aren’t racist as racist
- Sally Scenario: Sally was born in 1915, raised in a deeply racial religious cult, she thinks that black people are genetically determined to be violent, she never met a person who wasn’t white, she’s also convinced that all people deserve the up most respect and her emotions and attitudes mirror this, she doesn’t have any racially based disregard
Sally has racist beliefs à has no racially based disregard (everyone deserves respect)
- She lacks the negative emotions or disregards that Garcia thinks is required for racism
- She does have deeply racist beliefs
- If you have any doubts about this, imagine sally on a jury
- Garcia has to think that Sally isn’t racist, but she is racist
- Garcia’s definition is to narrow; there are racist things that Garcia classifies as non-racist
*All of this shows Garcia’s definition is BAD*
Shelby defines racism:
- Racism is an ideology
- Ideology: a widely shared illusionary systems of beliefs that functions to establish or reinforce structures of oppression
- Illusory: not true
- Beliefs: cognitive
Example of Ideology: non-western people are uncivilized and benefit from the civilization that colonization brings
(this set of beliefs gives the excuse that they need to reinforce structures of oppression)
“Spicy Latina” ß Objectifies Latina woman, invalidates their emotions à reinforces a structure of oppression
Garcia gives a criticism of cognitive views:
- Racism is morally wrong
- Beliefs are neither morally right nor wrong
- Therefore, racism cannot be defined in terms of beliefs
Garcia and Shelby agree: Racism is morally wrong?
- Question: But does the wrongness have to be part of the definition of racism
- Garcia says “yes”
- Shelby say’s no”
- Here’s something else that’s morally wrong: torturing babies for pleasure
- Shelby will agree that racism is morally wrong but disagree that the wrongness needs to be part of the definition
- The definition does need to help us understand what is wrong about racism
Shelby has a very similar problem explaining how actions, emotions, institutions can be racist
- Racism is primarily about beliefs
- Shelby makes use of the same kind of infection model
- Shelby thinks: (racist attitude is a result of the ideology)
- Garcia thinks: (racist beliefs are often results of racist attitudes and emotions)
** Exam (15 question) short answer**
| Which of the following is an example of a microaggression? | ||||||||
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· Question 1
10 out of 10 points
| System 1 responds to narratives, stories, and representations because…. | |||||||||||
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· Question 2
10 out of 10 points
| Telling someone that they’re overreacting to a joke they saw as racist is likely a… | |||||||||||
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· Question 1
10 out of 10 points
| We know that race is not a natural kind because… | |||||||||||||
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· Question 2
10 out of 10 points
| An affective account of racism holds that… | |||||||||||||
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