AHC: Anglophonic anti-Draka

Yeah, to add on jotabe said, there have been studies with babies showing that we actually are born racist, if you want to call it that. (Basically, the studies show that once babies reach 3 months, an age where they can discriminate between what their care-givers look like and other types of people, they have a harder time recognizing and reading facial expressions of people of other races.)

I agree that empathizing with out-groups has to be learned, rather than being innate.

A secular form of "original sin", so to speak. How interesting!

These studies were featured in a Time cover story at one point, if I remember correctly.
 
Hmm, I've never ever heard of that, but it is interesting (I've heard dogs have a similar reaction depending on the breed). I would argue that's not really "true racism" since infants are hardly rational people yet, and while this "fear of the other" response might exist, I refuse to believe that it can't be conditioned out given enough time and exposure to people of other races (otherwise, how could an adopted child of a different ethnicity ever be successfully integrated into a familial unit?). Still, interesting subject.
 

maronruec

Banned
I don't completely agree with this. We are all born allophobic to a degree: we favor people who look like us, and dislike people different to ourselves. Specially towards individuals of our same sex (it could be argued that the opposite could be true, that we could feel more inclined to amiability towards individuals of different sex when their phenotype is different than our own).

Socialization can enhance or diminish this. And when it enhances it, it can do so in different ways, one of them being racism. But without our innate tendency to dislike what is different from ourselves, it wouldn't be as strong, i think.

What evidence is this based on?

Yeah, to add on jotabe said, there have been studies with babies

Which study would this be?
 
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