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Introduction
Racism has been and unfortunately, still is one of the prominent features of American society. Two centuries after slavery abolition and decades after the Jim Crow eras demise, racial tensions in the United States have yet to come to a meaningful resolution. Indeed, one finds it compelling to question the conventional perception of racism as an external force and analyze this social malaise as a human psyche product. Therefore, the logical question arises as to whether some personality traits predispose individuals to be more racist than others or, at the very least, be skeptical or apathetic about the ideas of racial justice. This essay argues that ones personality and views on racism are interconnected and contingent on apathy, motivational goals, and ego vulnerability.
Apathy
According to Coon and Mitterer (2008), personality can be defined as a persons amalgamation of relatively stable traits and emotional and behavioral patterns. The authors admit that each person has their own unique personality footprint, and yet, it does not include the possibility of categorizing and grouping people by certain traits. One way of understanding what common personality trains underpin racist inclinations is by interviewing White people themselves instead of stereotyping them from afar. This is what Cabrera (2014) did when she recruited 43 While male students at Western University (WU) and Southwestern University (SWU) to discuss race.
One of the themes that soon came to prominence after Cabrera (2014) encoded the rather lengthy, semi-structured interviews was apathy. Many White participants from WU highlighted their indifference to racial injustice, or in their words that it was a non-issue for [them] (Cabrera, 2014, p. 779). They struggled to see how the subject matter could affect or even at the very least, manifest itself in their daily lives. Some of them took it even further by denying the very existence of the problem, stating that American society was able to get past [racism] (Cabrera, 2014, p. 779). While it is outside the scope of Cabreras (2014) study, it could be compelling to find relationships between her themes and Big Five Personality traits explained by Coon and Mitterer (2008). One such trait is an openness that, when present in ones psychological portrait, drives a person to discover new concepts even if they are not related to their daily life. Therefore, one may speculate that maybe it is low openness that predicts apathy toward racial problems.
Dominance Motivation
Equality is a concept that has its avid opponents and proponents. While one side sees equality as a compassionate solution for dismantling the system of subjugation, others consider such attempts as a threat to natural competition. Dominance motivation is a psychological concept that reflects how people perceive social hierarchy, and those who score high in this trait are typically in its favor (Coon & Mitterer, 2008). Cabreras (2014) findings provide an interesting perspective in terms of racial dynamics. The scholar discovered that the majority of students at SWU were not at all apathetic about the issues of race they were angry.
Some of them were blaming affirmative action (policies introduced to support minorities at work and in academia) for their failures. They had a hard time accepting cultural diversity, pointing out that in the current political climate, they were forced not just to tolerate but applaud cultures foreign to their own. As one participant put it, racial policies were an infringement on freedoms (Cabrera, 2014, p. 801). In other words, these people saw minorities fighting for their rights as a personal attack and a threat to their status in the hierarchy.
Ego Vulnerability
Indeed, as shown previously, race talk makes many people uncomfortable. In her paper, Sue (2013) investigates the psychology of race talk and why White people often avoid conversations that revolve around racial justice. The scholar argues that one of the potential causes is White peoples vulnerability and defense mechanisms that they employ to maintain their ego. For instance, Sue (2013) writes that it is challenging to confront ones privilege because it would mean that one has unearned advantages over others. Similarly, accepting that one might be complicit in racial inequality is unsettling. Such thoughts could undermine the entire ego structure of a person and show them that they are not as innocent as they make themselves out to be.
Conclusion
Systemic racism remains insidious and profound, impervious to policies, social justice movements, and public sentiment shifts. Arguably, it is so challenging to dismantle racist structures because of how deeply ingrained prejudice is in peoples personalities. Personality is a relatively stable system, and while each person is unique, there are some observable commonalities between groups of people. Research showed that many White people who have a prejudice against racial equality are apathetic. They are closed to new experiences in the form of concepts that are not directly related to their everyday lives. The other side of this coin is anger motivated by the desire for a high status in the social hierarchy and dominance, which is also a personal trait. Lastly, it is often shaky self-esteem that requires ego preservation that prevents people from challenging their world views and checking their privilege.
References
Cabrera, N. L. (2014). But Im oppressed too : White male college students framing racial emotions as facts and recreating racism. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 27(6), 768-784.
Coon, D., & Mitterer, J.O. (2008). Introduction to psychology: Gateways to mind and behavior. Cengage Learning.
Sue, D. W. (2013). Race talk: The psychology of racial dialogues. American Psychologist, 68(8), 663-672.
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