Resist Racismhas a really good post up about anew studyon the effects of racism on mental health in school aged children.
To me, the idea that racism is somehow merely perceived, rather than validated from the start of this study, sounds just like people saying, oh you are being too sensitive, or oh, you are looking for something that isn't there, or oh, if your parents teach you about racism, you are going to see it even when it's not racism.
Here is a laughable comment from one of the doctors who performed the study:
It does not prove that discrimination caused the emotional problems, because unlike studies of older people, these children weren't followed over time. It's possible that prejudice harms children's mental health, but it is also possible that troubled kids prompt more discriminatory remarks from peers or that children with emotional problems perceive more bias, says study leader Mark Schuster, a Harvard pediatrician and pediatrics chief at Children's Hospital Boston
See, the kid must be troubled. Gee, I am kinda glad that I didn't go to Harvard after all. Darn. (snark)
the comments section to this article are jam packed with little gems, like this one:
Back in the 70's, when I as looking for work, blacks were hired in at many manufacturers before white women to fill the Affirmative Action quota's. They didn't scream racism then.
As a middle age, petite, white woman I have felt the sting of discrimination many, many times...so I am SOOOO sick of hearing this racist BS!
and here is another gem:
Their feelings of racial discrimination come not from any active discriminatory encounters they may have had, but rather from the constant bombardment of false information presented in articles such as this, and from their peers (parents such as they have, teachers, black "civil-rights" leaders, etc.). Having worked with young people, I have witnessed this first-hand among young blacks, who have been taught to play the "race card" whenever they can't cope with a particular situation because of inadequacies on their part. Any "survey" attempting to reveal their "mental health" are as a result, already biased and skewed toward error.
Now, not only does the study invalidate the very concept of racism in it's premise, but we can see that plenty of people are waiting at the gate to discount the effects of racism on children, or show their own silly asses examples of racism. I can't tell you how many times I have heard how affirmative action hurts white people, that is the number one answer used by white people to explain away privilege. I heard a guy the other day saying he didn't get a job because he was white, did it ever occur to him that he didn't get the job because he was an asshole?