Study shows that white liberals dumb down when talking to Black people

Source: Nomad / Getty

Study Shows White Liberals Dumb Down To Speak To Black People

The movie Sorry To Bother You You focused on the idea of Black codeswitching as a means to survive, thrive, and be professionally successful. A new Journal of Personality and Social Psychology study shows that white people, liberals in particular, also have a form of codeswitching that has nothing to do with flourishing and everything to do with what is described as a “competence downshift”.

According to the Washington Post, the study was centered around a book club and the diction and vocabulary that white liberal members of the club used when communicating with Black members. For example:

A new study suggests that the words you use may depend on whether the club secretary’s name is Emily (“a stereotypically White name,” as the study says) or Lakisha (“a stereotypically Black name”). If you’re a white liberal writing to Emily, you might use words like “melancholy” or “euphoric” to describe the mood of the book, whereas you might trade these terms out for the simpler “sad” or “happy” if you’re corresponding with Lakisha.

That’s racist as hell, even if it isn’t meant to be. The study also shows, strangely, that white conservatives are less likely to alter their diction.

The results of the study’s “preliminary evidence” ultimately argues that America’s desire to go “post-racial” result in the people obfuscating their racism and manifesting bigotry in other less explicit ways.

“White liberals may unwittingly draw on negative stereotypes, dumbing themselves down in a likely well-meaning, ‘folksy,’ but ultimately patronizing, attempt to connect with the outgroup,” argues the paper, titled “Self-Presentation in Interracial Settings: The Competence Downshift by White Liberals.”

If you’re white and consider yourself an ally this is something for you to chew on.