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What Would You Do?

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Mon, 2010-09-20 08:04

#1

Maysie

Maysie's picture

What Would You Do?

I just saw this on my morning Facebook feed.

It's a clip from what looks like an intelligent tv show called "What Would You Do?"

It's about 6 minutes. Please watch before commenting.

YouTube clip here

The set-up is a public park on a bright sunny day. In full view, a young white man is trying to steal a bike, clearly does not have keys to the lock, and variously hammers, saws, uses bolt cutters and finally an electric saw to cut the chain. Over 100 people pass him, some look, but except for one couple they all do nothing, including not call the police.

Some are interviewed after.

Then a young Black man, the same age and dress as the young white man tries to steal the bike. While we can predict, correctly, what happens, what's more interesting to me is how (white) people justify their actions/inactions.

Issues Pages:

Mon, 2010-09-20 09:04

#2

theboxman

I'm not surprised by the difference in reactions, but oddly enough, the sheer blatantness of it did surprise me. Of course, it could be the editing, but nonetheless, even the tone of the confrontations were telling. It would have been interesting to see what rationalizations would have been offered if the people who challenged the black kid claiming colour-blindness were shown the tapes of the white kid not getting confronted.

Mon, 2010-09-20 10:00

#3

absentia

I'm surprised by the uniformity of reactions; i would have expected more variation. And while one stereotype is confirmed, another is negated.

When asked why they didn't stop the white thief, several people said they were afraid - which was an obvious lie: none of them looked the least bit afraid. On the other hand, i might have expected elderly white people to be somewhat intimidated by a black youth, but they were not. Maybe because he was so cute? I supposed both "thieves" were meant to appear harmless and were well-spoken, but the fair one looked like an adult, while the dark one looked like a kid. I wonder whether that's significant. It might be worthwhile repeating the experiment with people of the same race and different ages.

Mon, 2010-09-20 10:13

#4

Snert

Snert's picture

Quote:
It might be worthwhile repeating the experiment with people of the same race and different ages.

They actually did repeat it with a so-called attractive woman, with pretty predictable results.

Mon, 2010-09-20 10:41

#5

absentia

Snert wrote:

They actually did repeat it with a so-called attractive woman, with pretty predictable results.

Oh, that's just nauseating. Not sure what it's a test of, exactly. Barbie worship?

Mon, 2010-09-20 11:18

#6

Pants-of-dog

I'd probably ignore them both.

Real bike thieves, in my experience, will stop trying to steal the bike and scuttle away as soon as they notice you looking at them.

Mon, 2010-09-20 15:57

#7

absentia

Yeah, but it's the two different sets of reactions to the same action that they were interested in.

But this video is now an educational tool for bicycle thieves.

Mon, 2010-09-20 16:03

#8

Stargazer

Aw, I see people took a lot from this video. Predictable but sad.

Mon, 2010-09-20 17:32

#9

milo204

very interesting, although it's more because it confirms my suspicions about people. I see it all the time here in winnipeg. FN homeless are routinely treated with much more disdain by the public than white homeless. and the level of fear is much higher as well.

isn't it kind of like our society, where the crimes of "the other" be they a racial group or the people of another country are amplified, while our own crimes go largely unnoticed?