Abc Experiment: Is Racial Profiling Exaggerated?

[Kromovaracun]

ABC recently did an experiment to test whether people make assumptions about the relationship between criminal behaviour and race in the United States.

They arranged for three separate actors to hack away at a bike chained to a post with various tools - one was white, one was black, one was an attractive white female. The differing responses are quite striking - you can view them here:

http://www.upworthy.com/know-anyone-that-thinks-racial-profiling-is-exaggerated-watch-this-and-tell-me-when-your-jaw-drops-2?c=ufb1

Are reports of 'racial profiling' or racial stereotyping exaggerated or not? Does this happen to a similar degree in the United Kingdom or not?

[ummmm]

That is shocking.

The reaction to the girl was quite funny.

[jno]

more striking than I thought it would be. I don't know that you'd get the same responses in the UK, though. Not so many old white men in a hurry to call the cops.

[LazyGun]

It is really quite striking, watching these videos,how much we all,to one degree or another, subconsciously even, employ racial profiling in making value judgements about people and events we witness.

I had seen the videos before - but not with the one with the girl in it.

Really does hammer home the point that you should "check your privilege" before arriving at a conclusion....

[jim360]

What terrifies me the most about this is the fear that I'd be the same way.

[naomi24]

Perhaps it’s cultural profiling rather than racial profiling The white actor looked like a bloke with a bike, whereas the black actor looked like a kid messing about with a bike. I wonder what would have happened if he’d have been adult and dressed differently. I think a lot of what is considered to be racial profiling is actually cultural rather than racial.

[Kromovaracun]

"The white actor looked like a bloke with a bike, whereas the black actor looked like a kid messing about with a bike"

I don't know - they seemed to be dressed in much the same way to me, except that the black actor was wearing a red shirt. Plus they both told passers-by that the bike wasn't their when they were asked...

[naomi24]

I actually think this video is quite sneakily made. Although the commentator says the two are dressed similarly, they’re not really. The white man has well-fitting jeans and a T-shirt. The black actor looks very young, has baggy trousers and a baggy T-shirt. Additionally, if you listen to the dialogue, when the white man is asked ‘Is that your bike?’, he says ‘Technically, no’ – and he asks if the observer knows who it belongs to. One observer assumed he was a park-keeper - I imagine thinking he was removing a bike that had been left there for a while. However, when the black acor is asked the same question, 'Is that your bike?', he says ‘Technically, no, but it’s going to be’ – in effect telling the audience directly that he is stealing the bike. I don’t believe this is a wholly honest experiment.

[Brenden]

They were only acting - not conclusive.

[woofgang]

I didn't look, but Naomi is right, for any conclusions to be drawn, the actors should be dressed the same (the woman too, or in the same way but according to gender) and should say the same things. Behaviour should be identical, accent may differ but tone of voice and words should not.

[woofgang]

I just watched it....I think it does say some interesting things about how people make assumptions about other people but not about race per se. I would like to see two other actors added to the scenario, a cute black female who behaves like the white female and a black male dressed in expensive "mainstream" clothes.

[Kromovaracun]

"However, when the black acor is asked the same question, 'Is that your bike?', he says ‘Technically, no, but it’s going to be’"

But exactly the same thing happens when he didn't say so, either. I suppose the clothing thing is fair enough - it'd be interesting to see how someone would have responded to someone doing it in a full business suit.


"One observer assumed he was a park-keeper - I imagine thinking he was removing a bike that had been left there for a while."

She also said, "young white men don't generally carry burglary tools." I don't know - I think there's enough to conclude there's a racial element affecting the perceptions that passers-by formed of the two actors.

[jim360]

Maybe Naomi has a point -- this experiment ought to be repeated very often and in several places, etc., before we can draw too many conclusions. But even then it's enough to raise eyebrows.

[naomi24]

Krom, //She also said, "young white men don't generally carry burglary tools." I don't know - I think there's enough to conclude there's a racial element affecting the perceptions that passers-by formed of the two actors.//

But the woman who said that was black, so where does that leave us? Clearly she gained the same impression as everyone else, so perhaps rather than instantly putting it down to racial profiling, we should be asking why, regardless of colour, all the onlookers reached the same conclusion.

[Kromovaracun]

Hmm. Good point. Perhaps the impressive/dramatic appearance of the results made me a little blind to the flaws in method. It wouldn't be the first time it happened on television.

[ludwig]

I'm sure there's something to what they're saying - if we're honest we all make assumptions about people based on appearance.
However, I wouldn't trust the way that clip is edited and presented to us to believe that it's as clear cut as they're making out. I'd trust it about as much as Daily Mail article.

[Answerprancer]

"I'd trust it about as much as Daily Mail article".
Same here.

[LazyGun]

@ Birdie - LoL. Not a massive fan of cliched phrases myself, rather like the Daily Mash - difference is that I think that the notion, however cliched, has a fundamental truth, whereas the Daily Mash appear to think that anyone can pass any kind of stereotyped opinion or judgement they like, regardless of their own personal circumstances :)

[naomi24]

Krom, Not racial - cultural.