Write down a list of fictional films you have recently watched and the genre into which they fall (e.g., romantic comedy, drama, action film, horror, etc.). Next to the titles, note the main characters, their race and gender, and 2–3 defining characteristics. In how many of the films were the main characters a racial or ethnic minority? In films where the main characters were not racial or ethnic minorities, what kinds of roles did minority characters have? Do you detect any pattern in the kinds of roles played by actors of different racial or ethnic groups? Share and compare your responses with classmates.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is the federal agency charged with investigating claims of discrimination that violate federal civil rights law. Examine a wide selection of cases filed with the commission at the “newsroom” and “statistics” sections of their website: (http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/index.cfm and http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/statistics/enforcement/index.cfm). What patterns do you see in the types of discrimination claimed? Is the discrimination individual or institutional? Is it intentional or unintentional? Are there some areas of the country with more claims than others? Are some types of claims more common than others? Based on this analysis, how big of a problem do you think discrimination is in the United States today?
With a group of peers discuss what you would say your race was in the U.S. Census. Discuss why you would make that selection versus others. How do you know what your race is? How has society socialized you into thinking of yourself in this way?
To better understand your own attitudes toward racial bias, take the Race Implicit Bias Test at https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html. Click the “I wish to proceed” button at the bottom of the page and go to the “Race IAT.” After you perform the test, print out your results or submit them electronically to your instructor. Are you surprised by the results? Regardless of your race, what was the one question you scored low on? Where you surprised by this? Explain.
