Academic discussion on racial bias and empathy without actionable leads

sexist, or X-ist in some cases than others, either because the individual lacks top down control or because they decide to relinquish it. In parallel with Singer’s work on the relationship between pain empathy and our classification of others as fair-minded cooperators or narcissistically-minded cheaters, so too does race influence our expression of compassion toward those in pain. Both Caucasian, Black and Asian subjects showed stronger activation in the pain-related areas of the brain when viewing individuals from the same race experience pain than when viewing individuals of a different race. When Black subjects played a computerized game involving social ostracism, they showed stronger activation in areas of the brain involved in social pain when excluded by Caucasian players than when excluded by Black players. When others suffer and we have the opportunity to help them, we are more likely to help those of the same race, and feel good about it as evidenced by activation of brain areas involved in reward. Our biases, both implicit and explicit, influence our compassion toward others and our motivation to help. This statement is true whether we are looking at evidence from young children or adults, and using measures that assess sensory perception, behavioral judgment, or activity patterns in the brain. Beginning with an evolutionarily ancient brain system that was designed to distinguish friendly ingroup members and antagonistic outgroup members, we populate the inner sanctum with people who we perceive as most like us, using both fixed and variable features. With time, the walls surrounding this sanctum close, attributing the full richness of human nature to those within, and bleaching it from those outside. Bleaching humanity Draw an imaginary circle around yourself with a diameter of about fifty feet. Now imagine packing this circle with people, forming an expanding set of concentric circles that radiates out from those closest to you to those you don’t know at all. Based on social network analyses by sociologists such as Nicholas Christakis, the majority of people within the inner circles will be like you in a number of ways, including their race, religion, political affiliation, food preferences, and aesthetics. This includes family members and close friends, but also those we work with, vote for, and play with. As you travel from the inner core to the outside, you will find less in common. Some in the outer core will not only have less in common, but as noted earlier in this chapter based on work by Gray, Wegner and Haslam, will be perceived as less human, stripped of dimensions of experience and agency that define humanity. Some will appear like objects, others like animals. When we transform others into objects, we have stripped away core aspects Hauser Chapter 3. Ravages of denial 100 HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_012846