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The Persistence of Racism: Examining Discrimination Based
on Names |
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Racism is still a critical issue in today's society. It takes many different
forms, making it difficult to control through legislation. One example of racism
that was discussed in the podcast “How much does your name matter?” is
discrimination based on African American and white names.
The podcast’s guest, Steve Levitt, shared research that showed employers are
less likely to choose candidates for job interviews if they have black names.
This study is an example of racial discrimination, which is defined as giving or
withholding services and benefits based on a person's race. Latanya Sweeney, a
Harvard scholar invited to the podcast, also talked about structural racism.
This occurs when a system or service organization consistently produces a
discriminatory outcome. For example, Sweeney discussed an experiment that showed
searching for African American names on Google resulted in ads with arrest
records, while white names did not.
These examples show that racism is still prevalent in the United States.
However, changing the composition of our population is unlikely to change
people's attitudes towards race and ethnicity. Personal experience has shown
that numerical predominance or equality of either race does not change people's
perception of skin color differences. Older people tend to place more emphasis
on racial identity than younger generations.
To combat racism, prejudices about black and white names must be eradicated.
This can help to minimize structural racism and employment discrimination.
However, changing people's mindsets may take several generations. It is crucial
to educate people from a young age about diversity and the harm that racism
causes. By doing so, we can work towards a future where racism is no longer a
critical issue. |
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