Study: Confederate Flag Unleashes Racist Attitudes

[Donnachaidh]

http://www.alternet.org/news/149612/study%3A_confederate_flag_unleashes_racist_attitudes

White college students exposed to images of a Confederate flag judged a black person more harshly and expressed less willingness to vote for Barack Obama in 2008.

he Confederate flag, which continues to fly on buildings throughout the American South 150 years after the Civil War, is a potent symbol. But of what? Cultural heritage, answer many Southern whites. Lingering racism, insist many blacks.

Newly published research provides evidence supporting the latter view. It suggests exposure to the flag evokes anti-black sentiments among whites, regardless of their stated beliefs on racial issues.

Specifically, white students at a large state-supported Southern university who were exposed to images of the still-ubiquitous battle flag judged a fictional black character more harshly. They expressed less willingness to vote for presidential candidate Barack Obama in 2008.

“Whether or not the Confederate flag includes other nonracist meanings, exposure to this flag evokes responses that are prejudicial,” a research team led by Florida State University psychologist Joyce Ehrlinger writes in the journal Political Psychology. Displays of the flag, the researchers assert, “may actually provoke discrimination -- even among those who are low in prejudice.”

More at the link --

[wilt the stilt]

1. My daughter is at UGA

It was Robert E Lee day the other day and that was s more celebrated than MLK day. I need to get out of here.

[KeepItReal]

2. At least it's not Ole Miss...

I do respect that there was a movement to change their mascot from the Rebel soldier to Admiral Akbar, though.

[Capitalocracy]

3. "Lingering racism, insist many blacks." Uhh...

You don't have to say blacks think it's lingering racism. There's at least one white guy who thinks that too, me.

[madinmaryland]

8. Make that two white guys.

[digitaln3rd]

4. Really?

Did they also do a study on why the sky is still blue and the grass is still green too?

[Pancho Sanza]

5. Interestingly, respondents from DU would exhibit the opposite reaction.

So that 'study' is bullshit. The Confederate flag nowadays is a RESULT, not a CAUSE of racism.

[texshelters]

7. I suggest you read the study more closely

They did compare two groups in the South, one that had a Confederate flag on the desk when being tested and the other that didn't and there were statistically significant differences in each group.

It seems the presence of the flag made some difference to their reactions.

Peace,
Tex Shelters

[texshelters]

6. I wonder what would happen with white students

at Berkeley, Madison or Ann Arbor as opposed to a Southern university, were giving the same test. I suspect Southerners in general are more susceptible to the lure of the racist flag, er, symbol or cultural heritage, if racism is part of your culture.

I wonder if you had a picture of Hitler on the desk what their response would be.

I suspect most white Southerners wouldn't vote for black man anyway.

Peace,
Tex Shelters