race test

I've been at Central since noon, working on debate stuff. After a while, we got bored with debate. The kids decided to try to take the race test. None of the kids could get it to work. They kept filing the images and words in the wrong caterories, and the results were inconclusive. So I took it.

When I first took it, it came back saying I have no preference between black and white. This time it said I have a "strong preference" for African-Americans over Caucasian Americans.

"Huh," I said. "That means I'm racist."

"Against your own race!" Geoffery shouted, laughing. "Welcome to the Dark Side!!"

Seriously, this is a fascinating development. I first learned of this test through Malcolm Gladwell's best-seller, Blink. In it, Gladwell said he often scored as slightly prejudiced against blacks, which alarmed him because he's "half black." Indeed, he reported, blacks often score as prejudice as well.

He did say, however, that he could change this if he took the test after being surrounded by positive images of blacks. This part of the book was one of the best arguments I've ever seen for diversity. He writes that one can reduce prejudice by spending time with blacks.

MMy most recent results on this test would seem to support this, since I took it while spending an afternoon with brilliant black teens.

Kinda cool.