It sounds like a lot of work. Is it okay to harbor stereotypes if I just keep them to myself and treat everybody the same anyway

The problem with keeping our own prejudices to ourselves and just trying not to act on them is that stereotypes influence us even when we do not realize it. Several psychological experiments have shown this quite clearly. In one (Bargh and Chen, 1996), subjects were given a long, boring task on a computer screen. Before each trial, a White or Black male face was shown on the screen so quickly that the subject did not have conscious awareness of the image. When an error message flashed and the subject was told he or she would have to begin the task again, those subjects (White) who had been subliminally shown a Black face showed more hostility than those who had been shown a White face. Our emotional reactions are so automatic that we do not even have to be aware of the stimuli that provoke our prejudices.

However, just because stereotypes can operate automatically and outside of awareness, that does not mean that there is nothing we can do about them. Keeping prejudice and stereotypes to ourselves is not a good way to deal with them. One of the best things to do is to confront themÑto push through the anxiety we feel about being prejudiced and racist and discuss these issues honestly with others. Groups like the National Coalition Building Institute have designed ways to discuss these issues in ways that members of different groups talk about their personal experiences and thoughts about their own group and other groups. APA's program of Conversations on Race represents another forum in which these topics can be broached. We list these groups and others, as well as other things people can do to counter prejudice and racism in "Ten Things You Can Do" later in this publication.