ABC News Show Poses Tough Questions

Earlier this year, my wife and I were fascinated by a program on ABC named What Would You Do? In this show, individuals are confronted with ethical dilemnas, while a hidden camera captures all. Many of these scenarios deal with racial issues. A recent scenario featured 3 White teenagers (actors) vandalizing a car in a New Jersey park. (Click here to watch the segment). Repeatedly, dozens of people walked by the car without saying a word, merely dismissing the activity or choosing to ignore what was happening. Amazingly, only 2 people stopped and challenged the youth and only 1 call was made to the police. Ironically, on the other end of the park, 2 Black teenagers were sleeping in car, and several people contacted 911 about them!

Later, the producers of the show turned the tables by having 3 Black teenagers (actors, again) vandalize the same car in the park. This time around, passerbys in the park immediately contacted 911 and several of them confronted the youth. Nearly a dozen calls were made to 911 when the Black teenagers were vandalizing the car, while only 1 was made to authorities when the scenario featured the White teenagers.

To me, it seemed that the White young men were actually given the benefit of the doubt or completely ignored, which was apparent from the lack of reaction that they received. On the other hand, the Black young men immediately had the police called on them. One person that called 911 even stated that she would not allow the Black youths to "come into her neighborhood" and vandalize cars "in her backyard". Her statement was very telling. Because the Black teenagers looked like they didn't belong, they immediately had suspicion cast upon them and were viewed as criminals. On the other hand, the White teenagers were perceived to belong in the neighborbood, and their antics were dismissed by some as teenage, bad behavior. With both scenarios, one would hope that the reaction from others would be the same. One would hope that the reaction would be to contact the police immediately when a crime is being committed - regardless of the race of the perpetrator.

Stereotypes played a major role in the reaction of people to the actions of the teenagers. Would the juvenile justice system also show bias and be influenced by similar stereotypes? Is is possible that the reaction of the police would be influenced by similar stereotypes? These were the questions that I asked myself after seeing this segment. Are perpetrators committing similar crimes judged differently because of their race? What would you have done?