Racism: The IAT Test

I just took the Race IAT test to see if I have any bias, and it turned out that I have a slight preference to black people. I am white and this result surprised me mostly because I have only personally known four black people in my lifetime and the rest have been white. However, I do not believe that this test truly tested if we are racist or not. I think the test was based off of reflexes and how quickly you can hit the space bar when you see specific words or faces. I do not believe that I am biased in any way towards people based on their race. I cannot say that I do not have thoughts regarding stereotypes, but I would never deprive someone of equal opportunity because of their race. 

In my opinion, there are people who are racist and there are people who are prejudiced. I believe that all people are slightly prejudiced because we all grow up in different areas and cultures that influence how we think about a certain race or religion or ethnicity. Prejudice is when you are biased or think certain thoughts about someone subconsciously. It’s those thoughts you have when you first see a person and we all have them. To me, being racist is when you go out of your way to offend another race, religion or ethnicity. When your thoughts are directed at people based on the color of their skin or prayer book in their hand. And most especially someone is racist when they base their words and actions on something we can’t really control; our race or ethnicity. 

           Some people believe that by admitting to the fact that we are prejudiced will help stop discrimination in the world. But I disagree because the fact of the matter is that no matter whether or not we admit that we are prejudiced, we’re still going to have those same thoughts about people. Admitting it won’t make it go away. I do not believe that prejudice is a problem because everyone has it about everyone else. Racism is the problem and in order to target that, we need to just keep doing what we’re doing; we are learning to accept people for who they are. It has been a slow process, but it’s not something that can be rushed. We can’t stop stereotypes from surfacing or prejudices from being in our minds, but we can change who we interact with and how we do so.

No Cupcakes Allowed...Yea That Might Be the New Sign Posted at Airports

I found an article about airport security recently that shares the story of a woman who wanted to take a cupcake--yes a cupcake--on an airplane and was not allowed to. According to a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agent, the woman attempted to bring the cupcake in a "jar filled with icing" onto the plane in her carry-on bag. The woman was stopped as the amount of jelly inside her cupcake exceeded the limits of 'gel' allowed on a plane (According to: http://blog.tsa.gov/2012/01/cupcakegate.html).

As much as I would like to poke fun at this, I do agree with the agent's decision in confiscating the cupcake because they were acting in the best interest of the people. Aside from the cupcake issue, airport security has been adjusted drastically post-nine-eleven. I believe that it is truly an issue of convenience vs. safety, and in my opinion, if I have to wait in line for an hour with a screaming baby behind me in order to ensure my safety, I will do it. So much of our society is based off of fast, fast, fast. Fast talking (texting), fast travel (cars going 120 mph with a speed limit of 55), fast food (Mcdonalds, etc.). We are used to fast and we get anxious when things don't go as quickly and smoothly as we planned. But if it meant saving your life, wouldn't you be willing to slow things down a bit?

I presented this issue to my class today, and one of my colleagues told me a story about how she had a little pedicure kit in her carry on that she didn’t realize had a Swiss-army switchblade in it. When she got to her hotel and was doing her nails, she realized it was in there. This was after having gone through security. My teacher then went on to tell the class that he had gotten through security with an actual switchblade knife in his carry on. No one stopped him and it was not detected in his bag whatsoever. My class seemed to support the argument of the agent from the cupcake article, saying that security should be increased because of average people getting through undetected.

So while security lines can be inconvenient, especially when it’s been forty-five minutes and the baby with new parents behind you won’t stop crying, it is important to remember that security is not there to piss us off; it is there to protect us. And, just a word of advice, if you want security to go as fast as possible, take precautions because you’re not just making the line longer for yourself. Moral to the story; if you really want a cupcake, just eat it before you get to the airport.