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Running head: JOURNAL CRITIQUE
Journal Critique
PSYC 351-D02
Liberty University
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JOURNAL CRITIQUE
Abstract
Discussing race is a sensitive subject in our society which has led to avoiding it all together. The
idea of colorblindness says that we are all human beings and race does not matter. Instead of
acknowledging that the person in front of you is different, we categorize everyone as being the
same. By doing this, we dismiss the person’s identity. Our ethnicity, race, values, spirituality, and
culture define who we are. Asserting a colorblind persona is often perceived as being racist
which is opposite of the intention. By acknowledging race, we show acceptance and
understanding of our differences. Apfelbaum, Sommers, &Norton’s Seeing Race and Seeming
Racist? Evaluating Strategic Colorblindness in Social Interactions, provides insight on the
patterns of colorblindness among college students.
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Journal Critique
Interactions between black and white individuals has been strained since our country was
founded. Unfortunately, in 2019 we are still experiencing racism despite the efforts of so many
efforts to create equality in our country. So how do you know that someone is racist versus
appearing racist due to their interactions in society? The scholarly article Seeing Race and
seeming Racist? Evaluating Strategic Colorblindness in Social Interaction, provides insight on
how using the idea of strategic colorblindness can have to the opposite affect as intended.
Strategic colorblindness is an idea adopted by many whites to divert from acknowledging race
during social interaction, thus appearing to be unbiased (Apfelbaum, Sommers, &Norton, 2008).
Summary
The first study comprised of 101 white undergraduate students who had no knowledge
that the study was racially motivated. Each participant was paired with a black or white
confederate, who were believed to be other participants. Each pair was presented with thirty
photographs which contained five dimensions: gender, race, background color, marital status,
and city of residence (Apfelbaum et al., 2008). The participants were allowed to ask questions in
order to determine which picture the confederate was holding. When the participant was paired
with a black confederate, he or she avoided the question of race, but when paired with a white
confederate the question of race was asked. The opposite results occurred when the black
confederate asked the white participant questions about the picture. The majority of black
confederates asked about race when questioning the participant about their photograph. When the
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confederate was white, race was asked 42.7% of the time and when the confederate was black,
race was asked 10.3% of the time (Apfelbaum et al., 2008). When a black confederate started the
questioning then let the participant ask question, 95.3% asked about race (Apfelbaum et al.,
2008). These findings suggest that white individuals may be more influenced by the opinions and
beliefs of black individuals when examining race-related issues.
The second study comprised of 74 black and white undergraduate and graduate students
broken up into groups of 2 to 4. Their task was to watch several video clips of white actors using
the colorblind and race-acknowledge approach, then give their perception of the content. When
the actors used the colorblind approach, the black participants saw them as being racist, but
white participants felt that acknowledging race came of as being prejudice. This study showed
that there is a divide between how black and black and white individuals interpret colorblindness
in social interactions.
Critique
Evan Apfelbaum, Samuel Sommers, and Michael Norton came up with the idea to
conduct these studies while attending an engagement party. They noticed that a white friend of
the engaged couple seemed to be offended when race was mentioned. The groom was a white
male from up North and the bride was a black female from down South. Evan and Samuel are
psychology professors at Tufts University and Michael is faculty at Harvard Business School.
Their studies pretty much have a target audience of everyone since we all interact with
individuals from many races and cultures every day. It would be safe to say that the white
population may learn more from their studies, since the idea of colorblindness seems to have a
more negative impact than the positive. The methods used were ethical and were able to produce
measurable quantitative results. Bar graphs and mediational models were used to display the
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results. By not letting the participants know that the studies were racially motivated, biased
results were avoided. If they had prior knowledge of this, their actions would have been bias
causing the results to be skewed. The article included bibliographies and footnotes to support the
information provided. For the most part the material was easy to understand and provided great
insight on how our intentions for good can be perceived as bad.
Conclusion
The studies presented in Seeing Race and Seeming Racist? Evaluating Strategic
Colorblindness in Social Interaction, shows that when whites’ use the colorblind approach in
social interactions, the result will more than likely be negative versus positive. Trying to look at
the everyone as equal in every aspect seems like the right thing to do, but it really diminishes
who we are.
In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So, if God has
given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. 7 If
your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. 8 If your gift
is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given
you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for
showing kindness to others, do it gladly (Romans 12:6-8, NLT).
Our race, culture, experiences, gender, and spirituality help define who we are. We have
been given special gifts that set us apart, but also bring us together. God places us where we are
intended to be and it is important that we acknowledge that we are different yet still one in
Christ. “From one man he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided
beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries” (Acts 17:26,
NLT). God’s children from all over the world are coming together so that we can learn from one
another and become one. In order to become one, we have to acknowledge that we are all God’s
children who bring different perspectives and values to the table. If we continue to dismiss the
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beauty of being different, we will never become one in Christ. Acknowledging and accepting
diversity helps us unite versus the colorblind approach, which leads to segregation. The norm
should be to embrace our differences versus dismissing our differences through the colorblind
approach.
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References
Apfelbaum, E.P., Sommers, S.R., & Norton, M.I. (2008). Seeing race and seeming racist?
Evaluating strategic colorblindness in social interaction. Journal of Personality and
Social Psychology, (95)4, 918-932. Doi:10.1037/a0011990.
Sue, D.W., & Sue, D. (2016). Counseling the culturally diverse: Theory and practice (7th ed.).
New York: John Wiley. Pg. 34.
