Undergrad students drive research
Dehumanizing people of color can lead to deadly consequences, according to James McGraw, a UVU student who presented at the Utah Conference on Undergraduate Research, (UCUR) Feb. 17 in the Classroom Building.
McGraw, who worked on the research with UVU students Madison Hanks and Brandy Tidwell, cited the police officer-involved shootings of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown and Walter Scott. Their presentation, “Race and Embodiment in Law Enforcement,” examined how racial bias can work on a subconscious-level that includes dehumanizing and objectifying marginalized communities. Some students were accepted to present their research at the National Conferences on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) in Memphis, Tennessee this April.
McGraw, a psychology student, focused on the theory and philosophy of embodiment and disembodiment when it comes to implicit racism. According to their research, disembodiment denies empathy and the humanity of other people.
The reality for many people of color is that they are nine times more likely to be stopped and searched by police than Caucasians, according to the 2016 Sentencing Project, a non-profit organization which advocates for fair policies in the U.S. criminal justice system. It also said that African-Americans are five times more likely to be imprisoned than Caucasians.
Hanks, a senior psychology major and president of the Black Student Union, focused her research on the legal consequences of racial bias and statistical information about where it occurs, such as the New York Police Department’s stop-and-frisk policies that disproportionately affect African-American and Latino communities.
Their research said racism disembodies people and allows implicit racism to stereotype people of color as criminals.
Mcgraw said that there’s a misunderstanding of what is meant by racism these days and how currently, implicit racism is just as insidious as explicit racism.
McGraw cited a study by Project Implicit, a non-profit organization of researchers interested in showing the public various biases related to race. This test revealed that participants, both white and nonwhite, have a delayed response when describing black people with positive adjectives, versus when they saw pictures of Caucasians. It also showed that non-whites responded with implicit bias.
He cited Emmanuel Levinas’ face-to-face philosophy as a solution to grow empathy, which calls for decreasing physical distance with one another. McGraw said that an engaged interaction between the community and the police is a good place to start.
UCUR, which began in 2007, is an annual conference where students gather statewide to showcase their research. This is the second time the conference has come to campus. This year 104 UVU students presented.
The conference is made for students in all disciplines, according to Richard Tafalla, assistant vice president for academic affairs, scholarship and faculty development. Topics range from physical science, trades, social justice and the new addition of performing arts.
Tafalla said that every year the number of presenters for UCUR grows, but it remains competitive in terms of acceptances. Over 500 students in Utah attended UCUR this year.
UCUR is in relation to NCUR. It also promotes student’s efforts, passions and research — which is often interdisciplinary.
Hanks was accepted to present at NCUR this spring on another topic, involving student ratings of instructors. For UCUR, her social justice presentation stemmed from the research lab within the Psychology Department. “Our research suggests that law enforcement personnel need to be retrained in how they view the use of lethal force. For instance, if law enforcement personnel were to view the aggressor (a black male) as an actual person rather than an aggressive object, this could reduce the risk of lethal force and lead to other non-lethal outcomes.”
Hanks said that she and her colleagues are preparing their manuscript for publication and will continue their research.
