“EVERYONE’s a little bit racist, sometimes.”
Scientists say there’s a good reason audiences worlwide have chuckled knowingly to the famous song from the hit musical Avenue Q.
A team from researchers from a US college psychology unit have found that nearly all of us a predisposed to a little bit of racism, The Daily Mail reported.
But it’s not our fault, apparently, with scientists instead blaming the influences of pop culture on our prejudices.
“What you have is stuff you’ve picked up, from reading, watching stuff on the internet,” said Paul Verhaeghen.
“One of the things these findings suggest is that for those of us who, like me, very often feel guilty about these gut reactions you have and you’re not supposed to have is those gut reactions are normal and they have very little to do with you.
“They have more to do with the culture around you. What is more important is your behaviour, rather than your gut reaction.”
Mr Verhaeghen, the brains behind the study at Georgia Tech, revealed that volunteers were quick to form “gun” from the letters ‘g, u and n’ after seeing a black person’s face.
“It suggests that most people associate black people with violence and this seems to be universal,” he said.
The study’s shock findings on how we’re hardwired for racism have been picked up by the British Journal of Psychology.
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