The Problem We All Live With by Norman Rockwell

The Problem We All Live With by Norman Rockwell
Ruby Bridges attends school in New Orleans.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

The IAT and Me

The IAT

The results from the IAT were intriguing. My 'preferences' or should I say alleged preferences (so yes, I am a bit defensive on this) were stronger than I imagined they would be.

Test results put me with the majority, the 48% who strongly preferred or identified with European Americans. I may take the test again now that I better understand what I was supposed to do when first facing the four options part of the test. I was a bit unclear on the directions at the start of that portion.

That being said, I'm not entirely surprised by my results. I am a product of my environment. I grew up in Barrington where for a while we were the 'others'. Those from the Italian section of town (back when there truly was such a place) were thought of as a minority and as less white. Many in that community bought into and perpetuated the same. Fitting in and being more white was one of the options presented to us and often the only one that we saw. Therefore, emphasizing my whiteness and NOT my ethnicity in my community and by extension in my home was imperative.