I came across this video of a social experiment in a retail store:
It's very similar to an experiment they did on the bystander effect except this time they were testing if anyone would intervene when someone was being openly discriminated against in an upscale clothing store. Similar to the bystander effect, only a small number of people intervened (many of which were minorities themselves) while others ignored, and even endorsed the behavior.
So, What Would You Do? We know that in hindsight it is easy to say we would help out, but how would you intervene? Would you address it directly on the spot or send in a complaint later? Would you actively stand up for someone who is a target of racism? How would you feel if you were a target of this type of discrimination? Would it have been different if it was just a department store? What do you think this says about the issue of racism in our country?
I feel the most difficult part about standing up for someone in a store is that the business of shopping is essentially to mind your own business. Very little communication is admitted from customer to customer, rather, it is primarily clerk to customer, and that is "their business". The dramatic progression in this video and the small size of the store really helped accentuate the bystander effect because the patrons were not allowed the excuse of ignorance to such a scene taking place. The subtler forms of racism, like profiling, lack of service, or poor service more common in upper tier stores is something that is easier to ignore as one goes about shopping.
Also a comment, there was a man in the video who said, "She played the race card, didn't she". This is a phrase that I hear far to often, or if it is not openly iterated, it can be heard in the skeptical overtones in conversations about the "supposed" racist encounter. This phrase stems from attribution bias in that accusing someone of playing the race card exonerates the situation/accused of accountability while placing the blame directly on the accuser/person(s) in question, and further accusing them of trying to deflect blame onto someone else for their own wrongdoings. The man in this video is doing just that--attributing internal responsibility to the woman (an outgroup member) and claiming in the assumed nature of his comment that it is common practice for minorities to blame the situation instead of taking responsibility. This attribution bias is further aggravated in how defensive one is about acting in a racist way or being accused of racist acts. Curiously this biased rhetorical defense strategy actually packs a double wallop because it redirects blame back on the individual and simultaneously stereotypes an outgroup for their inability to take responsibility for their actions thereby making it easier in future disputes to deny culpability.
Sidenote: I was really impressed with the owner of that boutique for allowing that to take place in his store.
It is hard to say how you would act or not given the fact that you are not in the real situation yourself, but I would like to say that I would have. I try to stick up for people in situations, and although I would not have known this woman, it was not right what was being done to her.
This situation was hard to ignore. The woman in the store was being very loud and drawing attention to her, along with the woman being discriminated. There was no way that people weren't noticing that this was happening to her.
Since I can't say specifically if I would help for sure there were factors present that would have given me reason to help her over others. If either woman had talked to me it would have broken the barrier and I would have said something in that instance. Also, if the woman had been dressed nicer rather than more casual I would have had something to play against the stereotype that they were trying to put forward.
I used to work in a department store and we did have people come in and shoplift from us. I had personal experiences of managers telling me to follow someone around because of suspicion of theft. The justification I was given was that they had been seen doing it before or were being shady. They were always african american and I have to wonder if that was why they were targeted or if they were really just molded from the stereotype.
I have a feeling that this situation (although maybe not this extreme) happens quite often. I worked as a sales associate at JC Penney for a couple of years in high school and saw this sort of thing happen all of the time. I didn’t think about it as much at the time, but when I look back on it I definitely worked with some people who showed their prejudices through their interactions with customers. A lot of the Hispanic community that shopped in our store surely noticed that there were a few employees that would keep a more watchful eye on them or (similarly to what Kim was saying last class) treat them differently at check-out than the person before them. I can’t imagine how it would feel to experience immediate distrust from the employees once you step foot in their store. The woman being discriminated against in this experiment mentioned that she must be “conscious of the way I dress before I go shopping”. Changing one’s schedule due to or mentally preparing for some sort of discrimination in your day cannot be good for one’s overall health. Being the white male that I am, it is hard to imagine what this would be like. I’ve been discriminated against because of my age (college students eating at a nice restaurant tend to receive poorer service than those who look like they can afford to tip big, wouldn’t you agree?), but it seems to me that being subtly discriminated against due to race, sexual orientation, etc. might be more damaging.
This situation is a gimme for me, especially since I was in a similar situation when I got kicked out of the Border Patrol Museum and none of the people around me spoke up.
Anyhow, I would have come to the woman's defense whether I had ever spoken to her or not. I don't see how not knowing someone, or not having spoken to someone, should deter me from speaking up and defending a person being overtly discriminated against. To me that's a cop-out. And it brings to mind this quote from Albert Einstein, which I took from the Holocaust Museum in El Paso:
"The world is too dangerous to live in- not because of the people who do evil, but because of the people who sit and let it happen."
I couldn't believe how many people decided to keep going on about their business as if nothing was going on. What year is this again?
Tom also brought up a statement one of the patron's made concerning "playing the race card". What Tom described in his post is what in sociology we call "revictimization". The woman was being victimized for being African American and was revictimized when she tried to defend herself.
The social experiment reminds me of what happen to me this past Monday; I went shopping at Dillard's in Crossroads Mall in Waterloo. I had on gray UNI sweats, and a old faded black t-shirt.
As into the store I see a sheriff officer, but no one else around, thinking that that was odd. I walked towards the Big-Tall section. As i turned the corner I was approached by a sales associate. She asked if I needed any help;I responded that i was just looking for right now. As I see another associate folding clothes in the suit department. The one lady walks off and I noticed that she looks at the lady folding clothes in the suit department, as I turn my head I noticed that the lady who greeted me nodding her head in my direction. I really didn't think of anything at the time because it is something that happens to me all the time.
As I was looking around, I feel someone looking at me; and I notice that the lady in the suit section was standing behind me. Re-arranging the Polo Shirts. So then I ask her can I help you, she did not know what to say. So then we started to converse about with I was looking for. So I got some shirts, and was getting ready to pay, and she noticed my UNI ID and she asked me, do you go to UNI. I replayed yes, she then says you go the because you play sports right, did you get a sports scholarship for football, soccer, or baseball. I looked at her and shook my head, and had to walk off, laughing and take a breathe.
So I asked her what University did she go to, she answered I haven't; oh I see and I smiled at her.
To be racially profiled, stereotyped or discriminated against can effect the psyche as a bad experience. Will I back to Dillard's maybe/maybe not, Did I handle it the right way, I would say yes and no, because I belittled her for not having and education in a sense. Each person is responsible for his or her actions, and we have to own our own actions as well. What would you have done.