"Benign" Bigotry

The Psychology of Subtle Prejudice

by Kristin J. Anderson, Ph.D.

Indefinite Detention and the Belief in a Just World

The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of 2012, expected to pass congress this week, affirms the government's expansive power to hold individuals in indefinite military detention without charge or trial. And not just foreign individuals. The NDAA will allow U.S. citizens to be captured and held indefinitely without charge or trial. Let me repeat. Read More

Do Gay Professors have a Political Agenda?

Today, Inside Higher Ed reported on new research suggesting that undergrads think hypothetical gay or lesbian professors are more biased than their heterosexual peers. In one of the studies, 564 student participants rated two identical syllabi (except for a mention of whether the professor was gay or straight) for bias in a proposed class on Human Sexuality. Read More

Dissonance and Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell

Since 1993, the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy that bans openly lesbian and gay men from serving in the U.S. military has resulted in broken careers, diminished morale, and significant slowing of progress toward equality for LGBT people. This week congress may vote on whether or not to repeal this ban. Read More

Are Katie Couric and Diane Sawyer Perched on a Glass Cliff?

Given the current state of television news, that two of the three networks have women at the helm would have been much bigger news ten years ago than it is today. That Couric and Sawyer are in these still important positions reminds me of a curious phenomenon in organizational management: the glass cliff.

Read more about the glass cliff: Read More

Professor Gates and the Criminalization of Black Men in America

The recent arrest of Harvard University Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. reminds us of Alexis de Tocqueville's prediction nearly two centuries ago that the eventual end of slavery would be the start of a protracted and bloody struggle in America driven by the engine of racial inequality. Read More

Judging Sotomayor: Do Only Women and People of Color Have Personal Biases?

The Senate confirmation hearings of Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor are coming to a conclusion. Sotomayor, who graduated with honors from Princeton University and Yale Law School, has served as a prosecutor, trial judge and appellate judge in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. Read More

The Benign Bigotry of Pride Month News Coverage

June is Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Pride Month. This month Pride parades and other celebrations are occurring in towns and cities all over the U.S. and in many parts of the world. Read More

Kristin J. Anderson, Ph.D., is a professor at the University of Houston-Downtown and the author of Benign Bigotry: The Psychology of Subtle Prejudice (Cambridge, 2010).

more...