Are Supporters of Donald Trump Prejudiced Towards Minorities

Hidden Bias and Stereotypes

There is no doubt that all humans harbor some form of bias against another ethnicity, another religion, another culture, a person simply different from the norm (like a motley homeless person), or perhaps another political party. The Southwestern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) presents a very objective and helpful list of explanations for bias, stereotyping, prejudice, and hidden bias. This paper responds to the SPLC material, to the test given, to my own beliefs about bias (including my biases) -- and to the current American political scene, which shows how one candidate has gathered momentum by tapping into the prejudices, fears and biases of certain segments of the public.

Reflection on Hidden Bias

After taking the test and reading carefully through the "Teaching Tolerance" tutorial by the Southwestern Poverty Law Center, I am more knowledgeable about these topics than I was before. I have a bias against conservatives who ruthlessly, without justification, attack President Obama. My bias is not against Republicans per se, but against far right conservatives, who, for example, tried to convince Americans that Obama wasn't born in the U.S., and that he is a Muslim. They were called "birthers," and their assertions that Obama was ineligible for the presidency (because he was allegedly not born in the U.S.) was, in my opinion, a thinly veiled form of racial discrimination. If I meet someone who espouses those views, I excuse myself and leave that discussion. It may be rude, but I am intolerant of discriminatory behavior when I believe there is a racial bias behind it. So I discriminate against racism and ethnic biases that demean Mexican immigrants.

I have been in a situation with two African-American friends -- at a restaurant -- when I clearly felt that the server was nervous when taking their orders. That rang a bell when I read on page two of the SPLC tutorial that "Members of minorities continue to report humiliating treatment by store clerks, co-workers and police." Also, there are clearly biases (not always blatantly presented) against Latinos in many parts of the nation.

I am very personally interested in what is said and done during national election processes -- and I am glued to the dynamics of American politics per se. I care very deeply about the future of our country; hence, I continue to this day to be confused and even angry at the United States House of Representatives when it comes to fairness for Mexican immigrants that are here illegally. In 2013, the United States Senate passed legislation that would allow path to citizenship to an illegal immigrant, providing that the person: a) serve the country in some way (military) or do other community-based work; b) learn English; c) pay a fine; d) have had no arrests or outstanding warrants; and g) wait up to 4 or 5 years. Shamefully, the Speaker of the House of Representatives refused to bring the legislation up for a vote. Reportedly, the Speaker knew the House would never pass this legislation because the far right wing tea party would lead the charge against it.

Was that hidden bias? Or was it outright prejudice against people of Latino heritage? The Gallup poll showed 65% of Americans support a path to citizenship for the 11 or so million immigrants here illegally. That's two out of three adults favoring giving these folks a chance at citizenship. The 11 million or so immigrants already are making huge contributions to the American economy, but when asked as to why some conservatives opposed this bill the answer always comes up that it is "amnesty." This is clearly a political lie that is used as justification for prejudice. The definition of "amnesty" is nowhere close to what the 2013 legislation tried to do for illegal immigrants.

The Southern Poverty Law Center explains that prejudices " ... are often accompanied by ignorance, fear or hatred ... they are formed by a complex psychological process that begins with attachment ... to an 'in group'" -- in this case, the House of Representatives is the "in group" and Mexican immigrants are the "out group." "Amnesty" is actually a hateful response to what is actually a humanitarian proposal to give illegal immigrants a chance to fulfill their dreams and be part of the mainstream of American society.

The SPLC is not accurate when they say that "... negative stereotypes with many immigrant groups ... have largely disappeared over time." If that is true, how does the SPLC explain the popularity of Donald Trump when he says Mexican immigrants are rapists, murderers, and "bad people"? Trump's biases against people of color are very obvious to anyone paying attention to the primaries, and his insults are an embarrassment to Americans who favor fairness and justice.

In the peer-reviewed article by Vesla Weaver -- in the journal Political Behavior -- the writer explains that "Skin color influences cognitive perceptions above and beyond race" (Weaver, 2012). Weaver explains a survey in which over two million people took the "Implicit Association Test," which clearly demonstrated "both explicit and implicit preference for light-skin compared to dark-skin" (p. 161). The results showed that 68% of respondents " ... were faster to pair dark-skin with negative words and light skin with good words" (Weaver, 161).

Weaver is alluding to African-American skin color in this scholarly article, not the brown skin of Latinos, but the point is well made. And when it comes to Obama's skin color, which is not very dark, he is still an African-American and he has been attacked over and over by opponents who, in my opinion, have a hidden bias and an unspoken agenda against blacks. A political advertisement run by John McCain in 2008 depicted (through the use of "image data analysis reduction techniques") Obama as having darker skin than he actually has (Weaver, 160).

Study after study, Weaver explains, documents a " ... strong association between phenotype and negative perceptions and these results always go in one direction -- darker-skinned, less Eurocentric-appearing blacks and Latinos are perceived as being less intelligent and attractive and more lazy, poor, and prone to violence" (160). In a recent Donald Trump rally, a white attendee sucker-punched a young black man who was being escorted out of the auditorium. The attack was captured on video, and shown many times on CNN. When Trump was asked about this attack, he claimed the young protestor was threatening the man and giving "the finger." These were false statements.

Moreover, when the attacker was arrested, Trump promised in public to pay that fellow's legal fees. What message does that send to the African-American community? In the eyes of African-Americans, there is no doubt that Trump is a racist. In the eyes of Latinos, when Trump claims he will deport 11 million illegal immigrants, and claims that Mexicans coming across the border are "rapists" and "murderers," there is no doubt about his prejudice. This is not a matter of hidden bias; this is, as the SPLC explains, "Discriminatory behavior," which begins with "negative stereotypes and prejudices."