Thursday, November 3, 2011

Blanchard & Ayvazian

Reflection

I can see where Blanchard is coming from, but I find it rather hard to believe.  Blanchard did a study in which the results were that most people/college students can be persuaded to change their minds regarding racism depending on what they hear someone else say.  I personally am not racist and I know there's nothing anyone could say to change my mind.  However, I did attend a highly segregated high school for a year and a half.  According to Blanchard, that could make the difference for me not being "uninformed".  Maybe the college students in his study all happened to be those uninformed, easily persuaded types.  But I still find it hard to believe that the majority of the people in the study just went with what the other person there was saying.  My answer would be the same no matter what!

I feel that Ayvazian has a good point.  She uses the example of cigarettes being banned which happened.  Everyone who was a non-smoker, against cigarettes, stood up and got what they wanted.  So in theory, it should work for anything else as well.  If all the white people stand up and say "Away with racism!", like William Stickland said, then it would HAVE to make a change.  I am white, a Christian, able-bodied, and middle class.  So according to Ayvazian, I could become an ally for black people, non-Christians, people with disabilities, or people of lower class.  In turn, allies reduce violence and "provide positive role models".  I thought this was a very empowering article.

No comments:

Post a Comment