Understanding Prejudice and Racism

This project examines the roots, consequences, and possible solutions to the prevalence of racism in present day society. The innateness of being able to rapidly form prejudices has been extremely beneficial from an evolutionary point of view, but this trait has led to present day problems such as racism and discrimination. Tests have been developed to score a person's level of explicit racial bias and implicit racial bias. The results frequently show that a person reports being less racist than what they really are. This is examined through studies targeting college students, policemen, and medical professionals. This implicit bias has shown to lead to quicker trigger-pull times in some policemen and possible bias of medical professionals towards certain patients. Having explicit racial views are also associated with certain health risks such as hypertension. I conclude that the only possible solution to overcoming racism today is through education.