White People Just Don’t Understand???

June 28, 2007 by Marc Lamont Hill

To white Americans, giving up television is a hardship; being black is not. That’s the upshot of a series of studies by researchers at The Ohio State University.

Whites Just Don’t Understand the Black Experience
By Margaret Kamara

To white Americans, giving up television is a hardship; being black is not. That’s the upshot of a series of studies by researchers at The Ohio State University.

As part of the studies, whites of different ages and geographic regions were asked how much they deserved to be paid for living the rest of their lives as an African American.

Respondents generally requested less than $10,000 to become black. However, they said they’d have to be paid $1 million to give up television for the rest of their lives.

“The costs of being black in our society are very well documented,” says study co-author Philip Mazzocco. “Blacks have significantly lower income and wealth, higher levels of poverty and even shorter life spans, among many other disparities, compared to whites.

“When whites say they would need $1 million to give up TV, but less than $10,000 to become Black, that suggests they don’t really understand the extent to which African Americans, as a group, are disadvantaged,” says Mazzocco.

In another scenario, the references “white” and “America” were omitted, and participants were asked to select between being born a minority or majority in a fictional country called, “Atria.” They were warned of the disadvantages that the minority group faced — the same disparities faced by black Americans — and they said they should be paid an average of $1 million to be born a minority.

“When you take it out of the black-white context, white Americans seem to fully appreciate the costs associated with the kinds of disparities that African Americans actually face in the United States,” Mazzocco says.

For the rest of the story, click here.

Categories: MLH
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21 Comments

1. natural nubian wrote:

ok, so what i wrote sounds racist as hell, and i do understand that not all CCs have no souls.
but i still don’t trust ‘em far as i can throw ‘em…..even if i only can curl 10lbs.

June 28, 2007 @ 10:41 am

2. natural nubian wrote:

ok, so what i wrote sounds racist as hell, and i do understand that not all CCs have no souls.
but i still don’t trust ‘em far as i can throw ‘em…..even if i can only curl 10lbs.

June 28, 2007 @ 10:41 am

3. ting wrote:

Where did you graduate from?

June 28, 2007 @ 10:43 am

4. DCI74 wrote:

NYU

June 28, 2007 @ 10:50 am

5. ting wrote:

sweeeet. Well DC, all this work you are doing, I am sure you are not getting paid nearly what you deserve. Keep up the good work!!

June 28, 2007 @ 10:59 am

6. Garrett wrote:

As of 2004, the out of wedlock birthrate for blacks was 67%.
While having a strong family is no guarantee of future success,
the data show that a child of any ethnic origin is much better off if they do have a mother and father.

June 28, 2007 @ 12:56 pm

7. ting wrote:

GREAT statements damali….just great.:-) wow, I have nothing else to say.

June 28, 2007 @ 1:11 pm

8. Heavenly wrote:

Go ‘head, damali.

June 28, 2007 @ 1:15 pm

9. ting wrote:

a shot of inner turmoil anyone?

June 28, 2007 @ 3:10 pm

10. ting wrote:

damali, are you a lawyer?

June 28, 2007 @ 4:07 pm

11. ting wrote:

damali, i’m actually going to go with social worker or clinical psychologist. I would also like to purchase an advance copy of any upcoming books you may be publishing. thanks.

June 28, 2007 @ 4:10 pm

12. DCI74 wrote:

I like that Nubian King

*placing money on the plate that folds not jingles as I nudge ting to put her dollar in quarters back in her purse

June 28, 2007 @ 5:52 pm

13. Hal wrote:

Wow…I missed all of this today. This conversation is truly interesting and makes me think about a lot. I was at a retreat today at the Great Blacks In Wax Museum in Baltimore. After we discussed work issues, some of us elected to stay for a tour and I am so glad I did. Seeing the struggles and triumphs that our ancestors went through and the lynchings, beatings and numerous other atrocities just made me feel so good to be who I am and state that I have such a strong lineage. I wish that everyone could say the same about themselves. I don’t have any words to contribute to this discourse because I think that Damali has written very well for a number of us. I just hope that at some point we can all reach the same level of understanding and be balanced. Peace. I’m tired.

June 28, 2007 @ 5:59 pm

14. DCI74 wrote:

Sounds like a great exhibit Hal, I’m going to see about taking some of the kids in my program to B’more to see it.

June 28, 2007 @ 6:11 pm

15. tavius johnson wrote:

So you LIKE Neil Diamond?

June 28, 2007 @ 10:06 pm

16. ting wrote:

Leave it to Ed to kill a moment…..

June 28, 2007 @ 10:59 pm

17. damali wrote:

ed,

we all said what we had to say. we all know that we don’t agree w/tavius. so my ‘hug’ is a just a way of saying ‘we ain’t gonna agree today, but i respect your opinion’. if you think that’s pathetic, then so be it. i certainly won’t be losing any sleep over it.

June 28, 2007 @ 11:15 pm

18. hustlers barely legal wrote:

hustlers barely legal…

Relevant links for hustlers barely legal….

October 14, 2007 @ 8:19 am

19. On This Day In History wrote:

On This Day In History…

I couldn’t understand some parts of this article, but it sounds interesting…

November 22, 2007 @ 7:21 pm

20. Square Foot Gardening wrote:

Square Foot Gardening…

I couldn’t understand some parts of this article, but it sounds interesting…

November 27, 2007 @ 12:29 am

21. Discount Cosmetics wrote:

Discount Cosmetics…

I couldn’t understand some parts of this article, but it sounds interesting…

December 8, 2007 @ 2:48 am

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