Race Test Results, May 3, 2010.

1. How did you react to your results? Were you surprised? Angry or hurt? Pleased? Discuss what you felt and why you think you felt what you did.

I was surprised by my results, as I do not judge anyone based on their race and I judge people as individuals. I was a little bit hurt to see my result, as it is not reflective of how I feel or any preference, and I don't believe that a test like this is an accurate measure of one's inner feelings or underlying prejudices. However part of me fears that my result on this test is correct and I have underlying prejudices that I do not know about, although when I think about it, I don't feel as if I do. I should say I am more confused than anything else.

2. Do you believe that your test results say something about you that you should pay attention to? Why or why not?

No, I do not. I actually feel as if my test result is (if I had to pick), the opposite of how I feel, as I always wished I was more ethnically diverse and I tend to admire multiculturalism, and I find world cultures from various parts of the world to be interesting. I don't feel that the test's result that I have a 'moderate preference for European Americans' to be true, because I always try to present myself as more ethnically diverse and I am proud of being a small amount African (even though it's under 10%), and am quick to point out that my own background is not 100% European. I think if I truly preferred European Americans, I would deny this rather than embrace it.

3. Do you think that these tests are valid? When you first saw your results, did you question or accept the tests' validity?

I questioned the test's validity from the moment I began taking it. I constantly made mistakes and would click the wrong button and it was difficult and easy to get confused, since the goal was to answer very quickly and the headings kept changing. I think that it's really difficult to determine if this type of test is accurate, but I don't believe that it is. I think my tendency to push the button on the right first (since I am right-handed) also played a part in my result.

4. Give examples of the cultural messages that many support attitudes linking a dominant group in your nation or culture with "good" or "superior" attributes and a subordinate group with "bad" or "inferior" ones. Are these attitudes generalizations that can be called stereotypes? How can generalizations be distinguished from stereotypes?

Generalizations tend to be the idea that the majority of the time, people from said group have specific characteristics or that the majority of the time, there are predictable patterns into which people and things fall, while stereotypes tend to be more sub-conscious, and carry the connotation that if something has a specific characteristic, it must belong to a certain group, or the idea that everyone from a particular group is alike. For instance, in this country there IS a, underlying bias toward those of European descent, where white people are generally perceived to be more educated. An example is when an African American speaks in an educated manner, they are sometimes told they don't "sound black" because they don't speak the way some people believe African Americans speak. In reality, the way one speaks is a result of the way their parents spoke and also, their environment and it is not linked to race. An example of a stereotype would be the stereotype of African Americans as "ghetto", and when someone who is white who dresses a specific way (very baggy jeans, large shirts, etc.) is told they "dress black".

Stereotypes and generalizations do have plenty of overlap though. I personally do not believe in stereotypes because I am often surprised by how often they turn out to be false.

5. If some of our consciously held beliefs, attitudes, and values are undermined by what Gladwell calls rapid cognition (others call this intuitive thinking or even gut feelings), what do you suggest we can do to combat jumping to (false) conclusions?

I think in order to avoid jumping to false conclusions, people should stop and think about the people they know, and see that not everyone of a particular group behaves the same way, at least as far as stereotypes go. I think if people begin to see that everyone and everything does not fall into predictable patterns, the world will be better off. I think that people can also avoid jumping to false conclusions by attempting to open their mind to alternative answers even after making a rash generalization or a first impression, because sometimes first impressions are not true. I try to do this and enable myself to be more open minded, and I often catch myself making false conclusions and generalizations and try to look at it from another perspective to open my mind.