Data to Challenge Conceptions of Racism: The Science of Racism by Keon West

 The Science of Racism: Everything You Need to Know but Probably Don't - Yet by Keon West

The Science of Racism book cover

Author, Researcher, and Professor Keon West

Major thanks to Abrams Press and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of Dr. Keon West’s The Science of Racism: Everything You Need to Know but Probably Don’t -Yet. I’ve been looking forward to reading this book for a few months, and it came along at an ideal moment as the Trump administration seeks to remove protections against discrimination and find ways to roll back programs and progress aimed at improving diversity, equity, and inclusion in many different areas in American life. Although Dr. West is a research professor in England, much of the research he uses throughout the book is either from the US or relevant to the US. I could also tell from Dr. West’s writing that he is an educator. He is able to take one of the most complicated social problems of the past 3 centuries and provide some research to explain how racism remains a problem. Part of the need to use research to justify the existence of racism in society is due to the fact that many people have proclaimed that racism is no longer an issue or that those who doubt racism suggest that the inequalities are largely a result of personal flaws or characteristics (see Dinesh D’Souza). However, I appreciated that Dr. West not only evaluated the arguments of those who are racism skeptics, but also those who advocate for more change due to systemic racism and white privilege (see Robin DiAngelo). Dr. West acknowledges both arguments, but also identifies that neither uses data and research to support their points. Instead, they largely rely on anecdotal evidence and emotional appeals, which tend to emotionally impact readers, but really do not provide the kind of meaningful support takes a complex phenomenon like racism and allows us to better understand the reasons for its existence. For Dr. West, understanding the reasons will also allow us to better identify ways to treat this issue and find ways to appreciate diversity, while also learning how to become more inclusive. In addition, Dr. West is able to present the complexities of psychological research and concepts and makes them comprehensible by using meaningful analogies that would appeal to readers. I found this aspect of his book especially helpful, and I felt like his explanations provided a useful way to better understand the research, and how the design of certain studies can identify the different ways that racism continues to occur in areas, especially in job hiring. A popular research study/design throughout the book involves sending out CVs/resumes to prospective employers. The resumes contain the same information, but the names are changed to be names that are Black or Hispanic sounding. As Dr. West explains, white applicants received more call backs and job offers than Black and Hispanic applicants. Dr. West also presents variations on these research studies, but sadly the results end up being the same. These research studies present convincing evidence of the continued presence (and influence) of racism in society, and they also help to dismantle the kinds of spurious arguments that racism deniers make.

I really appreciated the organization of the book as well. Dr. West tackles the question of whether racism is “real” or not, and presents convincing research to document its reality and its impact on minorities. He also helps to define several terms that are often used loosely in public that possibly add to further confusion and misunderstandings about racism. Again, I felt like this is an area where Dr. West’s expertise and experience as a teacher helped inform his writing, presenting key definitions and exploring differences and complexities related to issues like systemic racism, unconscious bias, and conscious biases that are often exhibited by people. While we all have our biases, Dr. West’s definitions help to explain not only the differences among these various biases, but also how factors in society and our experiences ultimately shape these biases. Furthermore, Dr. West explores several other variations on the CV studies, but that were shocking to read the results. In one instance, white and Hispanic applicants were called back under false pretenses that led to a further interview, while a Black applicant was sent home, informed that there were no interviews that day. And while Dr. West repeatedly stresses that “anecdote is not data” and that “anecdotes, no matter how shocking, or captivating, or terrible, can scientifically prove that people of color are treated worse than White people”, his deep dive into the research literature of racism and discrimination provides the kind of “data… we’d need to make statements about the prevalence of racism.” Unfortunately, too often people seem to pay more attention to the kind of emotional appeals and the personal connections that they establish with the anecdotal examples, ignoring the science and data that are more representative of the pervasiveness of racism and discrimination in our reality. This idea about the kind of emotional anecdotes also appears in the next section, which examines the complexities of racism. In particular, I was both appalled and intrigued to learn more about how reverse racism is used more and more to prevent the kinds of changes that are needed to address systemic racism in various areas. Look around today and we can clearly see these bad faith charges of “reverse racism” happening to unwind and dismantle protections that have been hard fought and won over the past 60 years. We can also see how quickly people of color are criticized and “canceled” when they speak out or make a comment about race. Dr. West uses some specific examples (Sarah Jeong, Adjoa Andoh), but then presents research data to show how frequently white people are rated as a preferred racial group. I won’t go into the results, but it was somewhat shocking to read that these results mirror the Doll Test (mentioned later) that Dr. Kenneth Clark conducted in the 1950s, which was used to overturn school segregation in the Brown decision. Despite all of the progress and some people declaring racism is no longer in existence, it seems like the data prove otherwise.

The last section was also powerful to read, for many different reasons. I currently serve on a DEI committee at work, and I’ve always tried to ensure that the content we present to students is representative of the various experiences and backgrounds that our students may come from. In education, I know that this is important for various reasons, chief among them engagement and understanding. That is, by finding what is familiar and representative of students’ experiences, it makes learning easier or at least easier for students to connect with and engage with. When there is cultural incongruity, students are more likely to disengage or misunderstand the information. Furthermore, this is not difficult work, especially if you have knowledge or a background in the area. It’s also a reason why there is a greater need for diversity in the workforce--- having people from a variety of backgrounds and experiences helps inform and contribute to the kind of products we create, and also makes those products more representative and appealing to the diversity of America. Dr. West acknowledges the importance of diversity, but also identifies some of the weaknesses in implementing change in diversity across the workforce and education. In particular, he looks at the limited impact that many diversity training programs have on people. I hadn’t thought much about this, but I understand his point. First, these programs seek to change attitudes, and not behaviors that might influence attitudes. Furthermore, they kind of take a negative approach by focusing on what we shouldn’t do, rather than advocating the best approaches. While this might not be true of all programs, Dr. West identifies some great possibilities for effectively revising diversity training programs to have more of an impact. He presents some actionable steps people can take, including having more intergroup contact, education, and modifying our media. I loved these approaches, and I’ve always felt that these were important steps to take. When I was teaching, I was often the only white person in the room, and I recognized that my experiences were much different from my students. It enabled me to learn to listen more and allow students to share their experiences and backgrounds with one another. Furthermore, it also helped my students in that many times, one of them could put ideas and concepts into more understandable terms. They could break it down to their peers better than I could. Furthermore, increasing intergroup contact also allows us to be more understanding and empathetic of other groups’ experiences with racism and possibly recognize our own behaviors that might be construed as racist (or sexist, ableist, ageist, etc). In addition, I’ve always found it important to modify media. Dr. West talks about the kinds of representation in texts, starting from an early age. Chapter 12 mentions some children’s books that kids can read, and Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats was on there. That book, along with Corduroy were some of the books that I made sure my kids read when they were young. It’s not something I intentionally though about since these are award winning books, but I now realize how important it is to provide my kids with diverse reading experiences that show a variety of characters. I also started to think about this when I noticed that most of the books we were reading showed opposite sex parents, and this didn’t necessarily represent some of the families that our friends and family members had. Although Dr. West doesn’t address these kind of -isms directly, I think that this book helps to also open up discussions about other forms of discrimination and lack of representation that happens in society. Dr. West does acknowledge that these other kinds of -isms are happening in society, and that to incorporate them would probably require more books; however, I really appreciated that this book provided some ways to open discussions and possibly address these issues.

With the terrible and regressive changes that have been happening in the US since the start of the second Trump administration, The Science of Racism is an essential book to read. Even if we didn’t have all of these changes, I still would recommend this book since racism has not diminished or gone away, and that working to keep biases and discrimination in check is more than just activism. It requires a dedication to education, increasing intergroup contact by broadening our experiences with others and those who are different, and changing our media diet to incorporate more diverse experiences. I’ve always been one to appreciate and seek out differences, but I know that others might like to maintain homogeneity. Keeping the status quo has potentially dangerous implications, and finding ways to appreciate if not engage with more diversity is necessary. I’ll end with this excellent quote from Stokely Carmichael that Dr. West used to show how racism isn’t necessarily about attitudes, but about power. “If a White man wants to lynch me, that’s his problem. If he’s got the power to lynch me, that’s my problem. Racism is not a question of attitude, it’s a question of power.” I got shudders reading this quote since many protections in various areas, work, education, civil rights, have been eroding and disappearing, which shows the kind of power inequality that makes racism so pernicious. I also think that this quote and Dr. West’s research and analysis helps to challenge our perceptions about race and racism, bringing me, at least, a further understanding of how racism continues to persist and impact people. This such an important book for people to read today. The only recommendation for change I would make to Dr. West is to incorporate more graphics—whether these are charts, graphs, or other kinds of infographics, to help visualize the data from studies better. I found myself going over the study results a few times just to better understand the numbers and results, as well as the conclusions drawn about the results. I think that with visualizing some of these results and presenting the data in a visual form, it might help readers better understand the results and implications of these studies. Nevertheless, this was an incredibly powerful and important book to read.