"Any time you can get people to treat people as individuals, you reduce the effect of stereotypes," said Brown University cognitive scientist Michael Tarr. "It won't solve racism, but it could have profound real-world effects."

The above statement was found in the very interesting article   "Researchers try to cure racism" by Brandon Keim

if you click on the name of the article can read the full article.

And before you weigh in on the discussion I would urge you to go to the following site

https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/

and take the race bias test, and also take some time to read the research.

Some of you will already know what expect but the research has shown that many (of all races yes there are blacks biased against blacks) that are completely unaware of their biases.

If this happens, don't dismiss the test out of hand because you are upset with the results.  Think about it first and try to be open minded.

The key to fighting stereotypes (in my opinion) is the recognition that we all are individuals.

I have a very unusual commute to work and it allows me to spend 30 min every day talking to my coworkers before I drive home.

One day I was taking to the only two other black women where I work.  My thoughts as we talked was "how different we are"

There was me, reserved and strongly liberal, completely antiwar, although I have nothing against those in the military, I admire their courage.  Cat owner, highly educated, born out of the states, well travelled no kids, no sig other and no desire to have one at the moment, or to get married.

Then there was another woman, she had been in the military.  She was born here, but was very well traveled, highly educated, outgoing, scientist, dog owner, once married, had kids, wants to remarry.

And the last was a strong outgoing woman, except when it came to men, then she was very shy.  Also born and had only had limited travel although she wanted to do it more, was not married, but really wanted to be in a relationship and to get married, highly educated but not a scientist.

The problem with racism is that some would look at the three of us and assume that we were all the same.  With the same outlook on life, the same desires, motivations and experiences.

It does not help that most of the images of blacks that people with little contact with them receive tend to be negative and 2 dimensional.

The trick I think is to know your biases, not to be perfect and not have them.   We all have them and it does not make us bad people.

Ignoring them, treating people in a biased manner and being oblivious to it, then turning around and saying "I don't see why minorities whine so much" does not make us bad people either, but can have a very negative effect on the well being of the black people you do interact with.

On the flip side, as minorities we also have our biases, it is no better for us to assume that all whites are racist, or that all the bad things that happen to us is due to racism.

Rather than automatically assuming that something is racist, perhaps we should give people a chance to explain and reach an understanding before we rush out to condemn and accuse?

Obama is a great stereotype breaker, but my worry is that if he is not joined by many other images the reflect the variety of the minority communities in the states, it won't do much to change the way we all see and treat each other.

Someone made a comment on one of my posts that my lips looked swollen.   Was that racist?  Was that an insult?  Was that just a comment?

I don't know and it really does not matter, I like them just the way they are, they came from the black blood in me and are a wonderful part of me.   My golden skin comes from the mix of the black and white in me, and  other things came from the south american indian in me.  They are all wonderful and they are all me.

As I am secure that having big lips is in no way a bad thing you may not like them and that is your choice we live in a (mostly) free country. I choose to take the remark as just a comment, not be offended, and leave it at that.

As minorities we need to become more secure that there is nothing inherently negative about us, despite the constant bombardment in our culture and media sources to the contrary.

Once we do that it will become easier not to take offense to each and every attack that comes our way.  I am in no way saying that we should ignore racism, just that we should pick our battles with care.

I would rather see people out fighting to make sure that blacks are not given bad loans despite the fact their credit is fine, or are charged more for cars

American Renaissance News: NAACP Says Bank Giants Steered Blacks ...

The bank was forced to start giving out more loans to blacks even thought ..... blacks were given higher loan rates than whites with similar credit histories. ... blacks loans if they as, “individuals”, had worse credit than whites… ...

NAACP: Wells Fargo, HSBC Forced Blacks Into Subprime Loans

1. Mar 13, 2009 ... A real eye opener given that we like to think of ourselves as color blind. .... Blacks get worse loan terms than whites when all qualifying ...
   
3. Lawsuit: Banks Steered Blacks To Bad Loans - CBS News
   
4. Mar 13, 2009 ... Blacks still were disproportionately steered into subprime loans when their .... how can you possibly say that it was worse for blacks? ...
   

Race Matters - Review of Nissan Car Loans Finds That Blacks Pay More

1. Review of Nissan Car Loans Finds That Blacks Pay More .... imposed lower markup caps on loans for new cars, which whites are more likely to buy than blacks. ...
   
   http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1355/is_21_111/ai_n27263597
2. Blacks pay more for loans on cars | Jet | Find Articles at BNET
3. Blacks pay more for loans on cars from Jet free in Sports provided by Find Articles.
4. Review of Nissan Car Loans Finds That Blacks Pay More
5. 7/4/01 Review of Nissan Car Loans Finds That Blacks Pay More. By DIANA B. HENRIQUES ... know the race of the customers whose cars they finance. ...
   http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-6628991/Blacks-pay-more-for-loans.html
6. Blacks pay more for loans on cars. | Goliath Business News
7. According to federal research, Blacks have been paying higher rates on auto loans than other auto buyers. Blacks paid a typical auto loan rate...
   
   

That our access to healthcare is the same and that once in it we are treated the same (not better, just the same)

RACISM AND HEALTH CARE IN AMERICA: LEGAL RESPONSES TO RACIAL ...

African-Americans Need Equal Treatment For Pain, SLU Study Finds

Pain is undertreated in African Americans | AORN Journal | Find ...

Discrimination Contributes To African-American Health Disparities

Than stand outside a newspaper headquarters picketing because of a cartoon!

And more and more research is starting to show that discrimination is bad for our health

Study Links Discrimination, Blacks' Health

Some medical researchers have begun to suspect that such incidents take a physical toll as well and may play a role in why black people tend to have much poorer health than white people. Over time, chronic, low-level stress from such incidents may increase the risk for a host of ills, including heart disease and cancer, according to the theory