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Denial on ‘100 Humans’ further proves racial bias

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Denial on ‘100 Humans’ further proves racial bias

No, the red shirt was NOT why J.P. was shot

Shamontiel L. Vaughn
Oct 18, 2021
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Denial on ‘100 Humans’ further proves racial bias

idoseecolor.substack.com
Photo credit: (left) Olasupo John/Unsplash, (right) Andrea Piacquadio/Unsplash

I had a feeling racial bias was coming. I’d cheered on every other decision made while watching the Netflix show “100 Humans.” Sometimes my cheering of the focus groups were in opposition to my own identity as a 39-year-old black woman. I shook my head at the 30-plus-year-olds and cheered on the 60-plus-year-olds in age competitions. I was pretty sure women would be entirely too talkative and overexplain until I heard that ridiculous “Tic Tac Toe” song.

I snubbed the seniors right along with myself, knowing good and hell well that I’d never remember the grocery list past the red apples, broccoli, coffee beans and toilet tissue. (Two hours later, I’m so impressed I remember that.) I was intrigued by how LGBTQ+ participants made a point of saying how “trans friendly” the hosts were only for everybody but one person (a woman who feels very strongly about not using the word “sexy” in word puzzles) got the matchmaking correct.

I’d even given a Toastmasters speech last month on sexism when it comes to how people view humor from men versus women, and my speech evaluator (a man) took that moment to disagree with an actual scientific study. According to this show, he was right to do so though.

Recommended Read: “Stop firing old(er) people ~ What Corporate America confirms every time it gets rid of older employees”

But there was one bias I knew was coming. I could tell it was close after I saw white people almost salivating at the 10-minute speech on mindfulness from the woman with the European accent. (I already knew the Midwest and the South were going to bomb.) Then came the shootout. If you have not seen the episode and don’t want to read more spoilers, I’d suggest you stop at this point and check out “Episode 4: Are You Biased?”

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