Nov. 30, 2014

Study Says Whites Prefer African-Americans Over Blacks

Emory University's Goizueta Business School Dean Erika Hall

Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from the Louisiana Weekly

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - A new study suggests that Whites make clear distinctions between Blacks and African-Americans. The study, which challenges the myth of a post-racial America after the election of President Barack Obama, found that Whites are more accepting of African-Americans than they are of Blacks.

Interestingly, the study’s findings were released just weeks after a controversial interview during which actress Ravyn Symone told Oprah Winfrey that she is Black, not African-American.

Researchers concluded that the way people of African descent are labeled can significantly impact how they are perceived by mainstream society.

In the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, a research team led by Atlanta-based Emory University's Goizueta Business School Dean Erika Hall contends that “the racial label ‘Black’ evokes a mental representation of a person with lower socioeconomic status than the racial label ‘African-American.’”

“The content embedded in the Black stereotype is generally more negative, and less warm and competent, than that in the African-American stereotype,” the researchers write. “These different associations carry consequences for how whites perceive Americans of African descent who are labeled with either term.”

Hall and her colleagues demonstrated this phenomenon, and its implications, in a series of experiments. In the first, 106 white respondents were given a list of 75 traits such as “athletic,” “aggressive,” and “bold,” and asked to choose the 10 they felt were most descriptive of a specific group of people they were randomly assigned to evaluate. One-quarter of them selected the best traits for Blacks, while others did the same for Africans Americans, whites, and Caucasians.

“The stereotype content for Blacks was significantly more negative than for African Americans,” the resear­chers concluded. “In contrast, the stereotype content for African Ameri­cans did not significantly differ in perceived negativity from that of whites.”

In the second experiment, 110 whites were randomly assigned to view, and complete, a profile of a male Chicago resident who was identified as either Black or African-American. They estimated the Black person’s income and education level to be lower than that of the African-American’s, and were far more likely to think of the African American as being in a managerial position at his workplace.

In another experiment, 90 whites “expressed more negative emotions” toward a 29-year-old crime suspect when he was identified as Black rather than African-American. The results suggest “the label Black elicits more negative emotions than the label African-American,” the researchers observed, “but African-American does not elicit positive emotion.”

Hall and her colleagues noted that their findings have strong implications for the criminal justice system, where justice advocates say people of color and low-income defendants are routinely given harsher sentences than their white counterparts. “The choice of racial labels used in courtroom proceedings could affect how jurors interpret the facts of a case and make judicial decisions,” the researchers said. “Black defendants may be more easily convicted in a court of law than African-American defendants.”

The association of blackness with evil and a host of negative characteristics is a phenomenon that dates back to the days of William Shakes­peare when the famed writer associated the color black with filth, treachery and bestiality in his plays and sonnets. The color white, on the other hand, was associated with purity and virtue.

The study’s findings make it easier to understand a puzzling reality: How racial stereotyping and prejudice remain a serious issue even in an era where so many Black people are in positions of authority and prestige — including President Barack Obama. If such exceptional people are seen as “African-American” as opposed to “Black,” it’s easy to hold onto one’s negative assumptions about the latter group.

The study underscores how words that are often used interchangeably to describe people of African descent can have major implications for their personal and professional lives.

Nov. 30, 2014

Mayor Marion Barry - The One and Only!
By Dr. E. Faye Williams, Esq.

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Washington, DC lost another giant last week. Mayor Marion Barry lost his battle with a series of illnesses he’d suffered in recent years.  Until a few days ago, none of those illnesses stopped him from working for very long.  Even when he was hospitalized, his staff knew that the work had to go on.

There is, and never will be, another human being quite like the man who came to be known as “Mayor for Life”.  Until the day he died, no matter where he went, people referred to him as Mayor Barry.  He led Washington, DC to be recognized as the great city it is today.  It’s ironic that the city he led is the capital of the nation and is also looked upon as the number one capital of the world.

For those who want to be honest about the great things Marion did rather than concentrating on the things he did in his personal life, I can tell you about just a few things they could say.

He opened doors of opportunity for so many people.  I have a niece who told me she got her first job through the youth summer employment program Mr. Barry established—and thousands could tell you the same thing.

A woman recently told me he helped her to buy her first home, and she couldn’t have done it without his help.  Many others could tell that same story.

From his early days in office in the District of Columbia, he hired women in high level positions—positions in which women had not yet served in many cities across the country.

He provided job training for people who needed it.   He always had interns in his office and gave them experiences they’ll never forget.

He made it possible for students to have scholarships to attend colleges outside the city if they chose to do so.  He held a special place in his heart for senior citizens, and in return, he could always depend upon their support.

Early in his life he was a civil rights worker, and until the end of his life he was fighting for the rights of people who often could not fight for themselves. He fought against poverty, and he had the highest respect for his constituents.  I think he knew them all by name—and nobody in the city could deny knowing who he was and what he’d done for them.

It would be impossible to engage in a conversation with people in DC before the conversation turned to how Mayor Barry helped them with something in their lives.  He worked tirelessly for Home Rule and Statehood for DC.

I had the honor of working for Mr. Barry as his Legislative Director, later as his Chief of Staff. There was never a dull day.  The job was often exasperating, but always worth the effort. It was clear to all who worked for him that we had a responsibility to work for the least of these every day. Just as he worked through his personal challenges while doing good for others, we were expected to do the same.

I never knew most of Mr. Barry’s staff that succeeded us, but I can vouch for Linda Greene, Donna Rouse, LaRuby May and Vaun Cleveland; and I can say nobody worked harder than we did to preserve the legacy those who came before us helped Mr. Barry to establish. While with him, one of my responsibilities was to prepare his remarks. When I read his book, I was happy to see that he ended it with a line from a speech I prepared for him—Still Standing. Though he may no longer walk among us on earth, his memory will stand forever.

(E. Faye Williams is President/CEO of the National Congress of Black Women, Inc.www.nationalcongressbw.org.)

Nov. 30, 2014

Mayor Marion Barry - A Giant Has Fallen 
By Julianne Malveaux