So there’s a lot of talk about racism right now, but it seems very clear that people are conflating group bias with racism. Racism is a particular bias against a people because of their race. Group bias is a bias against a particular group because of observed patterns of behavior in that group.
For example, if I approach a group of Black men in business suits in the business area of town my assumptions about that group are going to be different than if I approach a group of tattooed black men in gangster attire in the inner city. We all know this and we know that this is not racism. Racism would be if I were to treat both of these groups poorly simply because they were black.
This group bias (or what we more commonly call stereotyping) is different from racism because it really doesn’t have to do with the race of the people involved but rather the observed patterns of behavior with in a particular group regardless of race. For instance, if I approached a group of white men in gangster attire in a trailer park, I probably would treat them with much more caution then I would a group of black businessman outside an office building.
We all belong to different groups and we all discriminate against different groups based on patterns of behavior. In fact sometimes it can work to peoples advantage. For instance, anyone who has worked in landscaping knows that people with Latino sounding names are probably more likely to get hired and people with white sounding names. In addition, we all know the old stereotype about the black kids getting picked first for the sports teams.
This is messy business. In an ideal world, everyone would be simply judged as an individual and not by their group identity. I fully support working towards that as much as possible.
The Babysitter Bias
However life is complex, let’s take an example. Let's say you have a 5 year old daughter and you need a babysitter. You have a young man in your neighborhood who is a teenager and you know that he offers babysitting services. You also have a young woman in your neighborhood who also offers babysitting services. You don't know either of them very well but they both come from identical backgrounds have essentially an identical resume. However, you know that a young teenage boy is 10 times more likely to sexually abuse a young girl than a young woman is. Should you take this into account when deciding who is going to be watching your daughter while you are out of the house?
Now put yourself in the shoes of the young man who just got rejected by every person he offered to babysit for because people made assumptions about him because of his gender. In fact young men almost rarely offer babysitting services to people outside of immediate family for this very reason. It’s not fair as this young man would never sexually abuse a little girl. But the reality is that when push comes to shove, people are trying to analyze risks and costs and they will take the measures they believe will reduce those risks and costs.
The Challenge For Young Black Men
Sadly, this is the plight for many young black males. Young black males make up about 3 to 4 percent of the US population, yet they account for half of the murders and robberies. Employers sadly take this into account when they are hiring employees. It’s not fair to the innocent black man and we should do all we can to reduce this tendency. But before you are too harsh on them keep in mind you likely do the same thing when hiring babysitters and no one calls you a sexist. It’s easy to judge others and tell them what to do when you don’t bear any of the consequences of the decision. It's a complicated problem.
So How Big of a Problem Is This?
So does group bias hurt Black people more than white people. For sure. No one would deny that. But is it the primary driver of the high crime rates and poverty which give the black community this poor reputation?
No. Here is why.
The Black community in the US in 2020 stands apart from any other community IN HUMAN HISTORY with a STAGGERING and never before seen in the history of the world, single parent rate of 70% and even higher in some inner cities.
I cannot underestimate what this means and why it is the best explanation for the majority of the challenges the Black community faces.
Regardless of race the following is true for single parent homes.
90% of runaways and homeless children are from single parent homes. (US DHHS)
A teen in a single parent home is 5 times more likely to commit suicide. ( US Census)
71% of teen pregnancies come from single parent homes (US DHHS)
85% of children with behavior disorders come from single parent homes (US CDC)
71% of high school dropouts come from single parent homes. (National Principals Association Report)
85% of youth in prison come from single parent homes. (US Dept. of Justice)
Single parent children are twice as likely to drop out of high school; twice as likely to end up in jail; four times more likely to need help for emotional or behavioral problems. (US DHHS)
In Conclusion
So while group bias may be a problem, it should seem obvious to anyone with common sense what is going on and why all the privileges afforded to kids from 2 parent homes are denied to so many black people.
Having mass protests over group bias is like having a passionate argument about how energy efficient the windows are in a house that is on fire. And if you think the black family was destroyed by racism I encourage you to see my summary of Thomas Sowell's destruction of that false narrative.
K.E
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