The Elevator

The first few weeks of this semester we talked about race as a social construct and different stereotypes attached to the racial hierarchy. I went to a high school in a very affluent neighborhood where the student population was predominately white. Out of the 800 kids in my high school, we had one black person- who was in fact only half black and it was Bernie Williams Junior, Bernie William’s son. Bernie Williams was the star New York Yankee center fielder. Bernie Williams Jr. was half black and half Puerto Rican. The whole entire faculty was white as well.

I was in history class and we were discussing current day racism and prejudices. To start off the lesson, my teacher asked a question: “If it were 12 am and you were in an elevator alone and 2 black guys walked in would you walk out?” Most of the girls on my class said that they would get out of the elevator, and most boys said they would leave as well except one male student said if they tried to jump him he was stronger and could defend himself. A few minutes later, she asked the same question but said, “If it were 12 am and you were in an elevator alone and 2 white guys walked in would you walk out?” The whole class said they would remain in the elevator. Finally, my 30 year-old white female teacher admitted she agreed with the class majority and would also leave the elevator if two black men walked in oppose to two white men.

These questions, and the attitudes of my classmates emphasize institutional racism and race as a social construct. Most people think blacks are more violent and dangerous than whites. The fact that people admit comfortably that they’d leave the elevator because they were “scared for their safety” or “nervous they’d get hurt,” is an extremely sad state of affairs. The two white men could be just as or more dangerous than the two black men, but just because of pigmentation it automatically makes the darker skinned men more dangerous. These stereotypes that black men are dangerous are learned from different media outlets, or the lack of diversity in my school district. Furthermore, social construction is a major part of these questions as well. It almost seemed “natural” or “obvious” for my classmates to say that they’d feel more threatened by the black men than white men due to skin color.

Lastly, whiteness and white privilege is portrayed in this class situation. Since whites have an invisible privilege that provides them with opportunities other races do not have, they have the upper hand and special advantages. Since the “2 white men” in the elevator have white skin, they automatically are let off the hook and my classmates entering this elevator do not see them as a threat. The two black men are at an extreme disadvantage in this situation.

Overall, that class lesson never really impacted me until taking Sociology 134. I’ve learned that stereotypes are extremely detrimental to different races and that whiteness gives me and my other classmates an unfair advantage and invisible privileges. If I were to go back and answer these questions again, I would leave the elevator if it were two black or two white men because I would feel uncomfortable being a twenty-year old girl in a situation like that. Race and skin color have nothing to do with my comfort level. Race should not be a factor in a simple hypothetical elevator situation, or a real life situation. When safety is compromised it has nothing to do with race but that person as a whole.