Researchers at New York University have shown in their new study that White children who are exposed to more racial inequalities due to intrinsic differences between people are at a higher risk of being racially bias toward Black children.
According to the study published in PNAS more than 640 White children residing in the United States were examined.
“This study examined how children’s exposure to and beliefs about racial inequalities predicted anti-Black biases in a sample of 646 White children (4 to 8 years) living across the United States,” the authors wrote in their report.
“We found that for children with more exposure to racial inequality in their daily lives, those who believed that racial inequalities were caused by intrinsic differences between people were more likely to hold racial biases, whereas those who recognized the extrinsic factors underlying racial inequalities held more egalitarian attitudes.”
“These findings are particularly important in light of legislation in several states banning discussions of the societal factors underlying racial inequalities from children’s classrooms.”
