Discrimination by Default

How Racism Becomes Routine

Nonfiction, Reference & Language, Law, Discrimination
Cover of the book Discrimination by Default by Lu-in Wang, NYU Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Lu-in Wang ISBN: 9780814795064
Publisher: NYU Press Publication: January 16, 2006
Imprint: NYU Press Language: English
Author: Lu-in Wang
ISBN: 9780814795064
Publisher: NYU Press
Publication: January 16, 2006
Imprint: NYU Press
Language: English

Much as we “select” computer settings by default-reflexively, without thinking, and sometimes without realizing there are other options—we often discriminate by default as well. And just as default computer settings tend to become locked in or entrenched as the standard, discrimination by default creates a situation in which disparate outcomes are expected, accepted, and taken for granted. The killing of Amadou Diallo, racial disparities in medical care, the dominance of Whites and men in certain professions, and even the uneven media attention paid to crimes depending on their victims’ race and class, all might be cases of discrimination by, or as, default.
Wang contends that, today, most discrimination occurs by default and not design, making legal prohibitions that focus on those who discriminate out of ill will inadequate to redress the largest share of modern discrimination. She draws on social psychology to detail three ways in which unconscious assumptions can lead to discrimination, showing how they play out in a range of everyday settings. Wang then demonstrates how these dynamics interact in medical care to produce an invisible, self-fulfilling, and self-perpetuating prophecy of racial disparity. She goes on to suggest ways in which institutions and individuals might recognize, interrupt, and override the discriminatory default.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Much as we “select” computer settings by default-reflexively, without thinking, and sometimes without realizing there are other options—we often discriminate by default as well. And just as default computer settings tend to become locked in or entrenched as the standard, discrimination by default creates a situation in which disparate outcomes are expected, accepted, and taken for granted. The killing of Amadou Diallo, racial disparities in medical care, the dominance of Whites and men in certain professions, and even the uneven media attention paid to crimes depending on their victims’ race and class, all might be cases of discrimination by, or as, default.
Wang contends that, today, most discrimination occurs by default and not design, making legal prohibitions that focus on those who discriminate out of ill will inadequate to redress the largest share of modern discrimination. She draws on social psychology to detail three ways in which unconscious assumptions can lead to discrimination, showing how they play out in a range of everyday settings. Wang then demonstrates how these dynamics interact in medical care to produce an invisible, self-fulfilling, and self-perpetuating prophecy of racial disparity. She goes on to suggest ways in which institutions and individuals might recognize, interrupt, and override the discriminatory default.

More books from NYU Press

Cover of the book Feminist Legal History by Lu-in Wang
Cover of the book Global Feminism by Lu-in Wang
Cover of the book The Bully Society by Lu-in Wang
Cover of the book The People's News by Lu-in Wang
Cover of the book The Digital Person by Lu-in Wang
Cover of the book After the Cure by Lu-in Wang
Cover of the book Upending the Ivory Tower by Lu-in Wang
Cover of the book Signature Wounds by Lu-in Wang
Cover of the book Whose American Revolution Was It? by Lu-in Wang
Cover of the book Light in the Heavens by Lu-in Wang
Cover of the book Organizational Psychology in Cross Cultural Perspective by Lu-in Wang
Cover of the book Mea Culpa by Lu-in Wang
Cover of the book What the Rabbis Said by Lu-in Wang
Cover of the book In the Web of Class by Lu-in Wang
Cover of the book Growing Old in El Barrio by Lu-in Wang
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy