Monday, October 26, 2015

______while black

Well I'll be!

As if it's not hard enough being black in America.

Let's see now, riding a bicycle while black is a problem.
Minding your business while black in a fancy hotel is a problem.
Shopping while black is a problem.
Staring while black is a problem.
Of course we all know that driving while black is a problem. (Even if you are in your own driveway.)
And even if you are laughing while black it can be problematic for some folks.

Now comes a new one: Simply walking while black.

"Sadly, it seems, “walking while black” can have dangerous consequences.

That’s because a recent study suggests motorists are less likely to stop for an African American pedestrian in a crosswalk.  A black pedestrian’s wait time at the curb was about 32 percent longer than a white person’s. Black pedestrians were about twice as likely as white pedestrians to be passed by multiple vehicles.

The small but provocative study — conducted by researchers at Portland State University in Oregon and the University of Arizona — suggests that biases just outside people’s conscious awareness can make them less likely to yield to minority pedestrians. And that could put those pedestrians at risk, said Kimberly B. Kahn, an assistant professor of social psychology at Portland State University.
Put another way: Not only do black men have to worry about being hassled — and possibly shot — by police for simply being black, they have to worry about being run over by motorists.

Kahn said a follow-up study is underway to see whether drivers also discriminate based on gender and whether crosswalk design and signage might change driver behavior.

But can it change deep-rooted stereotypes? Ralph Ellison devoted a novel to the profound invisibility of African Americans. Researchers have shown the same thing. Taxi drivers roll past black people hailing taxis. Doctors miss telltale signs of critical medical conditions. Teachers fail to see a minority child’s gifts.

Implicit bias describes the way that people may unconsciously be biased toward others based on their race, gender or some other group category even if they are not explicitly racist in their thinking.

Yet those subtle biases can emerge when people encounter a stressful situation or make split-second decisions, such as when driving. A U.S. study found that people in expensive or “high-status” vehicles were the least likely to yield to a pedestrian. An Israeli study found that drivers are more likely to yield to pedestrians in their own age group.

The effect of such subtle biases is complex. But it might cause minority pedestrians to act in ways that put themselves in danger, such as forcing the right-of-way when cars fail to stop for them, Kahn said." [More here.]

How did the black man cross the road? Very carefully.

*Pic from blackpast.org.







41 comments:

Bill said...


The FieldNegro said...
a follow-up study is underway to see whether drivers also discriminate based on gender


From miles and miles of running and biking, I would say more people stop for old people than any other group.

Anonymous said...

Bill, "From miles and miles of running and biking, I would say more people stop for old people than any other group."

But not for old black people. It's a damn shame the way Whites treat old Blacks. I hope there will be a rise in white consciousness about this. This is just plain wrong.

I am 80+ and walk with a limp and a cane, and I have been almost run over by white drivers.

BM are not safe whether walking, riding a bike, driving a car and in an upscale hotel. The odds are something is bad is going to happen to him regardless of his age.

Now I am confident that Josh will back this up because he used to live among Blacks and know what I have said is true.

Yīshēng said...

I NEVER EVER assume White people are going to stop for pedestrians. Especially if the driver is a woman (attached/talking) on her cell phone, of course!

Anonymous said...

If I see blacks, esp. multiple blacks, walking in my vicinity, my radar *instantly* comes on. Sorry. Even though I know you guys aren't all criminals, there is still a vastly larger chance you will get robbed or assaulted by blacks than by any other race.

Why do you think all black neighborhoods have bars on all the windows? it ain't because blacks are angels. :/

Anonymous said...

Crossing the street? Man, what a race of whiners blacks have become.

Everything be racist.

PilotX said...

At the risk of being picked on but anon at 9:31pm is obviously Digital Blackface. I mean really, 80 year old dudes troll websites? Really?

Martin Luther Caucasian said...

"That’s because a recent study suggests motorists are less likely to stop for an African American pedestrian in a crosswalk."

Well yeah, they don't want to get carjacked, squeegeed, or shook down.

I brake for squirrels, but negroes better watch out.

PilotX said...

On topic, you are on to something Field. Mrs. X and I notice there are yield signs near Illinois Institute of Technology and University of Chicago whereby if students are in the crosswalk you have to stop and most are mid-block. You don't see such signs in Latino or blah neighborhoods. College students should be smart enough to cross a street without these signs. Some are pretty brazen and will just walk out without looking just expecting traffic to stop while in the hood you do the thing where you judge it so the car doesn't have to slow down nor do you. Never expect a car to stop.

Honey Badger said...

PilotX said...
"Some are pretty brazen and will just walk out without looking just expecting traffic to stop"

Stupid white liberals. I hate 'em.

Black people, on the other hand, do not use crosswalks. They just cross wherever they are, taking half the road if that's all there is, and standing on the center line til the other side is clear. I've seen young mothers with two or three little kids standing on the double yellow line on busy roads with 40-45 mph speed limits. Don't give a fuck I guess.

PilotX said...

Because white people don't jaywalk. I learn something new everyday. Wait a minute, I see white people jaywalk everyday here in Denver doing exactly what Honeybadger accuses blah people of doing. I guess racists don't see white mistakes, they're perfect.

PilotX said...

And how do you know they're liberals Honey Badger? Because most conservatives aren't smart enough to go to IIT or U of C? That's not very nice.

Anonymous said...

Blogger PilotX said...
At the risk of being picked on but anon at 9:31pm is obviously Digital Blackface. I mean really, 80 year old dudes troll websites? Really?

11:56 PM
--------------
Yeah, you are probably right. He has to be a Digital Blackface. No 80+ year old bm would be on FN. Although I have seen him and SAP2 converse about Vietnam and the 60s.

Good thinking PX. You certainly know your how Blacks think and behave.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, you are probably right. He has to be a Digital Blackface. No 80+ year old bm would be on FN. Although I have seen him and SAP2 converse about Vietnam and the 60s.
---------------------
Yeah you're probably right, an 80 year old blah man would probably troll a website as an anon. I have asked him to get a screenname and discuss some topics but that would be too tough on an old man huh? Hell, you say you've been around for a while and you're still anonymous so it could be you. Games people play.

PX

--

Anonymous said...

Man, I didn't know Tarantino was down like that. I had him on one pf my flights a while back and he was cool.

PX

Anonymous said...

"Yeah, you are probably right. He has to be a Digital Blackface. No 80+ year old bm would be on FN. Although I have seen him and SAP2 converse about Vietnam and the 60s."


We should ask brotha Panther's take on the matter. That would be interesting.

PX

Josh said...

This was a "study" huh? I haven't checked it out yet, but let me guess how the "study" went:

"Researchers," a term we must qualify, saw white people standing at a crosswalk, and then black people standing at a crosswalk, and they thought, "Well, the baseline, scope, and all criteria of a theory can be illustrated if we just measure the amount of time people wait!"

Again, could be some egg on my face here, but I'm guessing that these "researchers" didn't do a whole lot of stuff that a first-year student in any scientific discipline that wasn't created by Marx would do; e.g. baseline the time of day vs. night, time in general, discern between individuals based on age, handicap, and other factors beyond race, etc i.e. morning traffic vs. rush hour. See which people stood there longer when they had enough space (X-Y, would be a guesstimate) to go. Interview the people after crossing to ask if they were actually waiting for a bigger opening, if they feared being hit, etc, so that maybe they could discern if people were individuals who may hang back for their own biases, or if all people are just pre-programmed robots who are supposed to cross at the exact same time.

I mean, not for nothing, but if you're a black person who agrees with the Fields of the world, then you already believe that everyone is racist and that every white person is out to kill you. So why wouldn't you hang back from moving cars a little longer just to be safe? But, of course, I'm sure this study "concluded" that the problem was somehow motorists not giving blacks opportunities to cross.

Now the "follow-up" will conclude that crosswalk designs are culturally biased and that automobiles are problematic.

Because everything's racist!

Anonymous said...

I am rolling my eyes at this study, like so many of these "implicit bias" studies. This sounds like the sort of experiment that falls apart when you examine it closely: poorly constructed and driven by the biases of the person conducting it.

A note of skepticism is warranted simply due to the fact that nobody wants to get into a collision! Even if you are a complete sociopath who couldn't care less about the ethical implications of running down a pedestrian, self-interest dictates that you wouldn't want to dent up your vehicle and deal with the legal and financial consequences of injuring or killing someone.

Drivers don't stop for black people? Only stop for people their own age? Drivers of expensive cars don't stop for anybody, the narcissistic meanies?

Not buying any of that. Those sound like the stereotypes in the mind of the researcher, duly confirmed by a rigged or incompetent) study.

Josh said...

"Those sound like the stereotypes in the mind of the researcher."

Agree fully. How does one get a mind to "research" this anyway? Because they heard, or they believe already, that crosswalks are racially problematic, so they enter into the topic with that frame of reference: Crosswalks are racist!

Also, few people who champion these sorts of studies seem to realize the tricks used. For example, during the duration of this study (which probably wasn't very long), 500 people, 250 black and 250 white, could have crossed at the same relative time, +/- 3s, and all that goes out the window if a young white person just blows through the crosswalk while texting or playing with their phone, while one random black person waits an extra 2 minutes because they're on crutches and want a larger opening before walking. When the mean is used to push the conclusion, it can literally force an anomaly to skew the entire topic. And they never seem to adjust for such things in these "studies!"

I will check out the study later when I get the time to do so, but I'm willing to assume here that it's an incredibly shoddy study, probably on par with asking white Tea Partiers those "black" questions and then weighting against them as racist no matter how they answered! Answer black people have it easier = white people saying affirmative action makes it easier for blacks. Answer black people have it harder = white people saying blacks aren't as smart or motivated.

These studies are conducted for one reason only: To show them off in front of a partial "studies" crowd at universities who want their biases confirmed. They're not making it into scientific journals. They're not causing any groundswell or seed change. They're all essentially masturbatory fodder for people who already believe everything is racist. And they're most definitely right up Field's alley! He doesn't have to invent the racism himself. He can just copy it from an outside source.

Josh said...

And if you think this one is bad, just wait 'til they "research" the differences between men and women.

Predictions:

- Women will have to wait longer
- More drivers honk their horns at women
- Women get harassed at the crosswalk
- Women are abused at the crosswalk
- Men drivers speed up when women cross
- Men are advantaged at crosswalks in cross times, driver behaviors, etc
- Crosswalks are unsafe places for women

Anonymous said...

@ Mr. Field Negro:

Most people do most things they do for motivations that are depressingly simple, and none too cerebral.

And most of these motivations can be described by one or more of the Catholic Church’s seven deadly sins.

When people grind on something or seem to be too fanatical about something for their own good, it’s almost always a simple personal motive. Any intellectual high-minded apologetics on their part is nothing more than a rationalization.

You will never be able to fix interpersonal problems based on disputes that began before you were born.

Anonymous said...

Dear Brother Field, thanks for the study. It was fair and thorough and revealed just how racist this country is.

If you can find research done on bloggers and the abuse they have to take from posters because of their color, please post it.

I think it would be quite interesting. I mean, just on this post alone brought out the racists. Just look at all the racist hits FN has received. I counted them and 70% of the comments made thus far are posted by ignorant anons and well-educated members with names.

I guess your post really got to them. The truth hurts.

Yīshēng said...

Anyone see the video of the resource officer slamming the black female student to the ground in class? Ironically just last week, I went COMPLETELY OFF on a whooteemee "teacher" for verbally abusing a group of Black and Brown 10 year olds!

URGH!!!!

Anonymous said...

"Anyone see the video of the resource officer slamming the black female student to the ground in class?"

When the officer tells you that you need to get and leave the room. and you refuse, that is what happens.

Bill said...


Gotta love it.

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The nice part is the text USA FOREVER, the FOREVER is crossed out.

PilotX said...

Taking steps to keep the White House blah. Dr. Ben now leading national polls.

Carson/Cain '16!

Bill said...


Yīshēng said...
Anyone see the video of the resource officer slamming the black female student to the ground in class?


Government schools.

If only the NRA or foxnews could be blamed there would be enough outrage to fix the system.

Anonymous said...

It's unfair to be black.

anotherbozo said...

I mocked the NY Times article on DWB and related bigotries (what a scoop!) but finally read it. It's a big article, full of statistics comparing white to black stops, ticketings, jailings for no good reason. Pretty comprehensive. You can still read it online:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/25/us/racial-disparity-traffic-stops-driving-black.html?_r=0

I'd earlier thought that the cellphone camera was the greatest servant of justice since habeas corpus, but now I think the statistician may be just as important to open the non-black public's eyes to what's going on.

Besides DWB and WWB there's also submitting resumés while black. Some canny researchers submitted almost identical job resumés to major companies from applicants with ethnic-sounding names like Tyrell or LeShawn on them, and from others with names like Brian or Frank. Guess which resumés got attention? Forgot the exact statistics, but they were measurable and very revealing.

I still want to read someone with a long memory, one that lived through the Civil Rights movement and has an opinion on whether we're better or worse off now, on balance. Maybe our criminal justice system mimics our current politics: we now have one black president, and if Republican polls mean anything, we could have two in a row. On the other hand we have black voter suppression, grotesque gerrymandering and politicians willing to starve public education, continue grotesque imprisonment policies and turn the clock back 100 years on social programs designed to even the playing field. Schizoid is too kind a word for it.

PilotX said...

The information about hiring practices has been available for years.

On another note I find it interesting that in S.C. You can shoot and kill 9 innocent people and be safely and softly escorted to a patrol vehicle and then taken to lunch (if you're a white male) but if you're a blah female teenager you're forcefully slammed to the ground and dragged across the room for not standing up promptly. Hmmmmm. Well at least this cop didn't do a tactical roll first like old Officer Tackleberry down in Tejas.

Anonymous said...

"I still want to read someone with a long memory, one that lived through the Civil Rights movement and has an opinion on whether we're better or worse off now, on balance."

Well, we do have our anonymous 80 year old friend who lived through the civil rights era. We should ask him.

PX

Bill said...


PilotX said...
but if you're a blah female teenager you're forcefully slammed to the ground


Why did the Black teacher single that student out and call for the administrators and police?

anotherbozo said...

@PX "The information about hiring practices has been available for years."

Yeah, sure, but it wasn't so neatly quantifiable. That's where the statisticians come in. Love how the study was organized and tabulated.

Wish I could find the article, but it's easily available out there.

Anonymous said...

"Why did the Black teacher single that student out and call for the administrators and police?"

Isn't it 'obvious'? She is Black and female, and she lives in S.C. Can't you see that?

Some of you FN Negroes amaze me with your lack of discernment. When will Field get some residents with ID with at least average IQ?

The only smart ones here are anons.

Josh said...

"It was fair and thorough and revealed just how racist this country is."

Okay. Is it fair? Is it through? How does the skeptical eye see it?

P1

I've searched 37 different web results now, and still cannot find the actual study. (Unless one wants to pay $30.) Dafuq is going on? However, I did find a few interesting things. For instance, the study's abstract says, verbatim, "Results support the hypothesis that minority pedestrians experience discriminatory treatment by drivers at crosswalks."

This isn't hard to understand. But just in case one doesn't know what it means: The researchers hypothesized firstly that blacks were being discriminated against by drivers. Conveniently, they found the "results" to confirm such. (LOL, anyone?)

I also found this, one of the study's "researchers," a woman who is only named as "Kahn" and is listed as "an expert in implicit stereotyping, biases and discrimination." Whatever the shit that's supposed to mean...

Anyway, verbatim: "These subtle forms of stereotyping are pervasive across society, and the majority of Americans hold some level of subconscious bias or association just by growing up in this culture...That's what makes contemporary forms of bias so pernicious—we may not be aware that we have these biases...That's where implicit bias comes from in the first place. So, you can think you're just driving to work and won't even notice that you were differently stopping for one pedestrian over others."

So, what she's saying: Most people--but, of course, she means white people--are racist even if they think they're not racist, because racism is something white people adopt as part of their subconscious by growing up in white society. Therefore, these white people don't even realize they're being racist, yet they're being racist.

Another expert heard from!

Yeah, she sure sounds like the type of person who would conduct a fair study!

Josh said...

P2

And I found this: "We used a controlled field experiment to isolate race as the independent variable."

Translation: The only variable we used was black vs. white. Not age, not handicap, not time of day, not work hours or rush hour vs. lax times, not the race or age of drivers, not the type of automobile, not weather conditions, not any other factor except the race of pedestrians: black or white.

And all I can find on how the study was actually conducted says, "Results (88 pedestrian trials, 173 driver-subjects) revealed that Black pedestrians were passed by twice as many cars and experienced wait times that were 32% longer than White pedestrians."

No mention of:

- How many pedestrians were white
- How many pedestrians were black
- How many drivers were white
- How many drivers were black
- What time of day X race attempted to cross vs. another
- What sort of outside conditions were controlled for
- The math of the study; e.g. the precise times for all 88

That last one is particularly important. They're pushing the literal conclusion that American drivers (white drivers being the implication, but no "controlled variable" to see if black drivers yielded for blacks either!) are racist because the average times are longer for black people. But what if black person #15 had to wait 4 extra minutes for some reason, whereas white people #s 2-38 were crossing during noonday traffic where traffic was a lot lighter? It doesn't illustrate any of that.

Could the study be legit? Certainly. Can one just conclude it's fair and that it paints America as racist? Look, the people this way inclined didn't need a fucking study. They think the nation is racist anyway, just like Kahn, one of the brilliant "researchers" who helped with the study.

Seriously. Show the study! They're not submitting it to science journals. They're throwing a price tag on it and charging people $30 to view it. Even news outlets won't pay for it.

None of this shit is fishy to any of y'all? For fuck's sake, you can be honest and still be black! They're not mutually exclusive propositions! lol

Bill said...


anotherbozo said...
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/25/us/racial-disparity-traffic-stops-driving-black.html?_r=0


Not too much bias.

Yet traffic codes are so minutely drawn that virtually every driver will break some rule within a few blocks, experts say. “The traffic code is the best friend of the police officer,” said David A. Harris, a University of Pittsburgh law professor

Follow the money.
Do cops get paid per ticket?
Does the government profit from the ticket?

Reducing traffic stops/tickets means less $$ for the government.

field negro said...


"PilotX said...
but if you're a blah female teenager you're forcefully slammed to the ground

Why did the Black teacher single that student out and call for the administrators and police?"

Bill, are you really this obtuse or are you just trolling? What does calling the officer to the room have to do with how the officer treated the young lady once he got there?

Anonymous said...

"Bill, are you really this obtuse or are you just trolling? What does calling the officer to the room have to do with how the officer treated the young lady once he got there?"

You have to ask?


PX

Anonymous said...

Yeah, he pretty much missed my point.

PX

Ohmigosh said...

Being black in America's a MAJOR problem when the ex-Cave Dwellers think your behind's related to Gorillas. Hard as hell to do anything under THOSE circumstances. Hatred has consumed the Majorities brains. They're suffering from Hatred Brain Cancer. Too bad Africans in America have to bear the brunt of this assholism.

Josh said...

lol @ basically, white people are neanderthals but blacks aren't gorillas!

Dammit. I just told Pilot I didn't break balls for a misunderstanding of this topic, but I can'ts helps muhselz.

We are all apes, every one of us. Blacks aren't "related" to "gorillas"; they are apes, as are whites and every homo sapien. Caucasians typically contain roughly 3% of neanderthal DNA. Though due to our spread-out, separate evolutionary paths, those whites in "caves" had to survive harsher elements and ultimately had genes that selected for better cooperation. They went on to build most of the world's most recognizable empires and governments, save Egypt, which folks wanna argue with anyway: Was it Sub-Sahara vs. more high-yella bastards. Irrespective: we're apes. Neanderthals, and other competing bipedal apes, were also all hominids.

We survived. They did not. We're all members of the primate order.

I don't know about hatred, but ignorance of extremely basic biology seems to run rampant throughout this nation of ours, regardless of race.