Thread: Why Can't White People Identify Black People?

I don't know if black people would have trouble identifying a white person, but this has come up on a number of TV shows and I can honestly say that if I was the victim of a crime, I might have alot of trouble identifying the black man because I too see one person, then another, and cant tell them apart.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10360/1113570-115.stm

The above link is about a woman who was raped but the man she accused was set free because his DNA didn't match. She didn't falsely accuse him, she just couldn't identify him.

Why do white people have trouble identifying black people? Is it due to some sort of racism, is it something like color blindness, or is there really such similarities between them that its look looking at a set of twins?

Now I know that not everything you see on telly is the truth, but as I myself would have trouble telling one black person from another (but would have no trouble with whites) I wonder if there is anyone else who knows what I'm talking about?

http://academic.udayton.edu/race/03j.../justice03.htm

The link above shows that people have trouble postively identifying people of a different ethnicity.

Has anyone ever experienced this?

Many people have poor face recognition. My wife has a hard time recognizing actors when the dress and act differently than she is used to. I am sure there is an element of racism when suspects are falsely identified by white victims. On some level they think that black people are dangerous and that the person they pick in the lineup must be guilty of something; that and an innate desire for revenge and the desire to reduce their feeling of powerlessness. This is unfortunately encouraged by ambitious law enforcement officials.

I however am very good at facial recognition, regardless of race or age. I do not think that throwing out all victim IDs would be beneficial to justice.

Your statement is overly general.

White people can identify black people.

Some just don't bother trying. Others don't pay attention to details.

This happens not just to black people. The problem is that people don't have that good memories. Sure, the courts think that they do, but we don't. We tend to remember, with people we don't actually know, only certain features that stand out. If someone else has that feature we can become confused.

A lot of people get these 2 actors mixed up. Now imagine that you'd never met either of them, or seen them, get with the programme here, and one of them robbed you but the police line up or pictures contained only the other one. You might get confused and decide that since they are similar looking that they police have the right man.

Originally Posted by TBryant

On some level they think that black people are dangerous and that the person they pick in the lineup must be guilty of something; that and an innate desire for revenge and the desire to reduce their feeling of powerlessness. This is unfortunately encouraged by ambitious law enforcement officials.

I lol'd at this - you race baters... yall poke up everywhere dont cha? That is surly what happens, just evil whitey keeping ol blackie down - they must all be guilty of something, right? ROFL
Keep that racism alive and well, ya here

I am going on memory from a school debate/lecture/discussion as well as some past research because I am tired and bed is calling (don't feel like researching)... I believe the name that was mentioned was the other race effect but I could be incorrect.

Different theory's surround the facial characterization that different races see (or lack) between other races, especially for Caucasians. Most of the studies that I have read in the past state the reasoning that white people have the trouble is because the Caucasian ethnicity is the "most diverse", eg. eye color, hair color; certain more predominate features if you will.

Many races also exhibit the same issue of being able to tell other races apart - this has been theorized that people are coded either by genetics or by their environment to be attracted to, and thus see more differentiating characteristics, between those that are of their own ethnicity. It is odd however that many races point to blacks as being the least identifiable.

Of course there are also the racist studies - there is always the "that's racist" study - that state people cannot differentiate because after they code for the race they prefer they do not look more deeply at the features of an individual. I disagree with this because I have a few friends that date outside their race (one exclusively) and they have both told me that other ethnicitys look similar...

In the end though there are many theories but little concrete evidence as to why this occurs...

I think everybody has experienced this phenomenon at one time or another. But I think that article summed it up succinctly:

"Study after study has shown that all of us have difficulty recognizing individuals from other racial or ethnic groups, and that the phenomenon, known as the cross-race effect, is even worse for people in a majority population group.

White Americans have trouble recognizing black Americans. White French people have trouble recognizing Arab immigrants. Chinese people have trouble recognizing Japanese people."

Elizabeth Loftus has done extensive research on misinformation effect and false memories.

Also there has been progress in law enforcement to try and decrease errancy in eye witness testimony, like switching from simultaneous lineups to sequential lineups.

Add - I also would like to mention that when it says 'other racial or ethnic groups' that it would be more accurately stated as 'less familiar racial or ethnic groups'.

Makkedde: "Why do white people have trouble identifying black people? Is it due to some sort of racism, is it something like color blindness, or is there really such similarities between them that its look looking at a set of twins?"

I'm not sure your premise is correct. Your experiences may or may not be tyupical. Most of the research on eyewitness has been done by two doctors, Loftus and Loftus, and indicates that eyewitness identification is sorely overrated.

I know black people I have no trouple identifying. I suspect if you did a photo lineup for Martin Luther King, Jr. and for Harry Truman you might get confusing results.

I think mistakes in identity in criminal cases is more attributable to prosecutorial misconduct than anything else.

Originally Posted by Panzerkampfwagen

A lot of people get these 2 actors mixed up. Now imagine that you'd never met either of them, or seen them, get with the programme here, and one of them robbed you but the police line up or pictures contained only the other one. You might get confused and decide that since they are similar looking that they police have the right man.

Who are these people? Are they Americans?

Originally Posted by toddwv

Your statement is overly general.

White people can identify black people.

Some just don't bother trying. Others don't pay attention to details.

They can identify black eople, but what about the woman in one of the links I provided? She was raped and would have had time to study the face of her attacker, but she identified the wrong man. Surely she wasn't 'too lazy' to get a good look at him?