For those of you that haven't been keeping up with the political race, there is an African American man named Herman Cain currently running for the Republican nomination. Recently, several accounts of sexual harassment claims have come out that were lodged against him during his former employment. But Soon after a woman named Sharon Bialek came forward and specifically described a particular incident.
But one thing that I found interesting was that the news seemed to make a big deal about this time having a white woman accuse a black man of lewd behavior. Many are harking back to the history of black men being accused of preying on white women in America. Interracial relationships in general are still a bit of an issue in our world, even Cracked recently brought it up in an article about things Hollywood seemed unwilling to show. And the media has always seemed to favor stories involving the proverbial blonde woman with blue eyes.
I personally don't really think that an accusation from a white woman is really all that different from that of a black woman, but what do you think? Do you think it will it grant any more validity to these claims in the eyes of the voters? Or do you think it is just another example of lynch mob mentality making a big deal out of percieved events?
I also agree that I find that an accusation from a white woman is really not all that different from that of a black woman. However, I believe that since all of a sudden a white woman stepped out against this man, it was more of a shock. People may be more racist than they perceive to be. According to the textbook, in a study done by John Dovidio, Jennifer Smith, and others (1997), they found that when certain circumstances and situations arise that provoke whites to excuse a negative response, they become more likely to discriminate against African Americans (162, 7th edition). Therefore, in Herman Cain’s case, this whole issue could have been heightened due to the fact that since this white woman stepped out and accused Cain, more people felt more negative thoughts toward Cain. Since this certain circumstance or accusation arose that allowed others to express a negative response, a discrimination feeling arose. Therefore, people started to think to the past, and think of negative feelings toward black people, when black men preyed on white women.
ReplyDeleteI think it is important to look at how the media is influencing how people would treat a case like this subconsciously. In our text, there is a study by Coltraine and Messineo in 2000 that studied 1,699 TV commercials and found that the characters with the greatest degree of prominence and authority were either white or male. I think this is important to consider in the Herman Cain incident. Although the importance of the story may have been different if the woman was black, I think that because of the media, we as a people respond to the racial difference in a way only empowered by the media. I think that this will greatly affect Cains votes but I think that this would have also happened if the woman was black.
ReplyDeleteRegardless of race, accusations involving an alleged sexual harassment case are always going to draw negative attention. Whether the woman was black or white, the issue would be brought to light. However the fact that there is this distinct difference in the woman's race could be emphasized in the Herman Cain situation because people tend to associate with others that have share similar demographic variables (Warren, 1966). If the woman were black, it would still be just as serious but the fact that the woman was black was more shocking. According to A Two Stage Model of the Attraction Process by Byrne et al. (1986), dissimilar people are avoided so it appears to be more of a surprise that this woman is white.
ReplyDeleteThis particular issue very much accents on people's general perception of stereotypes, the fact that this is even a question (whether there is a difference in impact when an accusation comes from a white woman rather than a black woman) already displays the way in which there is an embedded idea of stereotyping that occurs.
ReplyDeleteIt also deals with the concept of 'ingroup' and 'outgroup' perceptions being defined as 'the tendency to discriminate in favour of ingroups over outgroups'.
Therefore it may be that many of the white population affected by this story are likely to favour the white woman who has been sexually harassed.
On the other hand, if it had been a black woman that came forward with this accusation, black individuals would not be able to separate this 'ingroup' perception as the person known to have committed this crime is also black. There would be no perceived superiority in race.
This ingroup favouritism is important to identify where favour and support sometimes falls. If there is a differentiation in race, for example in this case with the white woman. Many of her race will be there to support her but had it been a black woman, there would be less and if not, no 'ingroup' favouritism. This is ultimately seen as part of the 'social identity theory', the theory that people favour ingroups over outgroups in order to enhance self-esteem.
The topic of race has been a continuous issue throughout the United States and it’s possible that from the constant talk of racism, we have already stereotyped people unconsciously. “In other words, we don’t have to believe a stereotype for it to trigger illusory correlations and self-fulfilling prophecies, or to bias how we think, feel, and behave toward group members. Sometimes just being aware of stereotypes in one’s culture is enough to cause there effects” (Kassin, pg. 141). I think this is part of the reason why the charges on Herman Cain is being played out so big; because it unconsciously invokes the stereotype of a black man preying on a white woman. Patricia Devine (1989) says that we are highly awareness of stereotypes from cultural influences, such as lessons from parents and information from the media, that people will automatically activate the stereotypes when they are exposed to where they see the stereotype fits.
ReplyDeleteAlthough it is difficult to admit, the political world is still heavily biased toward the white male ingroup. That said, any skeleton in one's closet that can be unearthed and complicate a campaign for an individual can and will be found and pointed out in a campaign. This dominance of caucasian men means that anything that a person of a different race could have done will be treated as if it is worse than anything a white man could do. Because Herman Cain is an African American and because the leaders of the party maintain a Social Dominance Orientation the entire situation becomes exacerbated. We as a whole are used to this social norm, this "desire to see one's ingroup as dominant over other groups and willingness to adopt cultural values that facilitate oppression over other groups" and embrace it. (Kassin, 152) I do believe that the media has a field day with news affecting the blonde female "average American" and I do believe this is why the situation has been so highly focused on.
ReplyDeleteAnother issue is how woman are portrayed in the media (Kassin 156). This case deals both with racial and gender stereotyping. Recently, in most of the countries sexism is used in terms of politics in order to change the direction of the elections or campaigns. We watch a lot of scandals in the news where the woman is portrayed powerless and the man is authoritarian. I agree that the race of the woman wouldn’t change the results tremendously. Even the woman was black; it would still be on the news and get the same attention. However, the textbook suggests that stereotyping is an automatic process (141). Therefore, I think that the woman being white adds a little bit of spice on the issue. However, I wonder how would people react if a white female candidate were to sexually harass a black or white man.
ReplyDeleteThe study of race in the media is a fascinating subject. White females are often sympathized more in the media, especially under bad circumstances. How many African-American children are reported missing and have huge press conferences about them? Think of all the women who have accused black men of assault or sexual harassment and as soon as it reaches the media, the normal response is to blame the man. The fact that prejudice of African American men is more severe than ever is a sad development in the equal civil rights movements.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the accusation is not different if it is a white woman or a black woman. I think that how the media has approached it makes a difference. Violent and sexual news has always been a selling event for the media. And now having race added into it strikes even more attention and can be drawn into many different directions even though the race is not important in this situation.
ReplyDeleteThroughout history, studies show that people develop a certain understanding and a certain image of African Americans because of community influences. The white people from the North and in the South develop an attitude toward black people because of community influences even if they have not met people specifically. The media reminding society with these events can make people give even more attention to the news (Wegner,1997). The media here has embedded the thought of race to people’s minds by fasten upon that the woman is white.
This particular article very relevantly relates to a the passages in the book that relate to eyewitness testimony, and particularly how it is not a dependable source of accusation. Kassin explains that an estimated of "77,000 people a year are charged with crimes solely on the basis of eyewitness evidence (Goldstein et al,. 1989). This is related to the human mental process which involves acquisition (where the witness sees the event), storage (where the witness keeps the event in the brain), and retrieval (in which a human has the ability to remember and look back upon said event). According to the textbook, any of these three stages can be faulty, making eyewitness testimony a very unreliable source for judgment in a way. In this case, one doesn't even have to worry about the woman being white and accusing an african american man. One must first take into account that this eyewitness account might not even be reliable in the first place
ReplyDeleteThe whole controversy over Herman Cain and the alleged sexual harassment charges to me isn’t so much about racism as it is about smearing-names-in-mud styled politics. Similar to how pretrial publicity heavily biases juries and verdicts in high-profile court cases (Kramer et al., 1990), a high profile allegation concerning politicians running for office will likely bias voters in the upcoming election. Additionally, news acquired through television rather than print (pretrial, pre-election or otherwise) is even more influential/biasing (Ogloff & Vidmar, 1994).
ReplyDeleteIt’s not the first time these kinds of things have happened- more and more in modern political campaigns, each side focuses more and more on digging up dirt on their opponents to smear their reputations and therefore chances of being elected. Though racism and stereotyping may play a factor in how “shocking” this news may be, this seems more like (at least to me) a way to smear the political candidate’s reputation until hard evidence concerning the charges comes out and proves otherwise. Like the original poster said, this may be more about “lynch mob mentality making a big deal out of perceived events” rather than racism and stereotypes.
I think that in the public eye, a white woman coming forward creates more of a response than a black woman would. This is not because people are explicitly racist, but rather implicitly racist. The book mentions a study in which 600 death penalty cases from Philadelphia were examined. Researchers found that in cases involving a white victim, the more the defendant's physical appearance was stereotypically black, and the more likely he would be sentenced to death.
ReplyDeleteMedia tends to exemplify the in-group biases of our society because of our long-standing unequal statuses. The research of Billig & Tajfel (1973, 1974) suggests that children and adults readily develop biases toward their own group. Since those of Caucasian descent were considered the majority, people (children in particular) formed in-group favoritism towards the "Whites" as opposed to the "Blacks". Even "African Americans are also more likely to shoot at the possibility threatening man if he is black than if he is White." (Social Psychology and the Human Nature, Pg. 395) Out-group favoritism also occurs on occasion if the out-group is the more "dominant" group.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that this question is still interrogated every now and then clearly shows that there still is stereotyping around. This shows ingroup and outgroup recognition.
ReplyDeleteI think the reason why charges on Cain is bigger than it should be, because it resorts to the stereotype of a black man preying on a white woman; because this kind of news also never gets old. There will always be a stereotype so it would always get a certain group interested or angered in the situation.
This is not the first time this has happened- and for sure definitely not the last.
It is interesting to note when people come forward. It is very much in line with the Penn State coach. At least 2 janitors witnessed the assault but did not go to the police. When a person is perceived as a powerful figure, there seems to be a certain status necessary to be taken seriously on your claim, especially when its one person’s word against another. One might question whether a white woman coming forward is more likely to gain attention than a black woman about a sexual assault by a black man. If the event is flipped around and the focus is on the politician and the accusation against him, it may reinforce the stereotype that all politicians are crooked. At this point the whole situation becomes a question of stereotypes.
ReplyDeleteOur readings and the text book suggest that as members of racial in-groups and out-groups, racism continues to be a part of our culture.
ReplyDeleteThe results on the Implicit Association Test (page 152, Table – Baron and Banaji, 2006; Durham et al, 2008) suggest that although outwardly people may see themselves as not being racist, when it comes to their implicit attitudes they still found a pro-white bias.
Monitoring of brain activity by Alan Hart and others (2000) which is outlined in the text showed different responses to pictures of racial out-group members. Further to this it was found that direct eye contact from racial out-group members could be seen as a threat.
I think this is what could happen to Herman Cain – although many people will say it doesn’t matter about the color of the skin of the person alleging the sexual harassment, there may be some implicit feeling that if it is a white person making the complaint about a black person, it is possible that members of the white in-group are more likely to believe it, even if this is not what we actually say should happen.