Effects of Racism
The anti-Black American racism on 4chan is a tangled web of lies, out-of-context information, misinformation, and disinformation. Before analyzing the structure of this web, I'd like to state what I believe about the effects of racism on Black Americans. I believe that racism against Black Americans has four main forms of effects on Black Americans: direct effects, effects through the media, effects through relatives, and effects through the neighborhoods in which Black Americans live. Let me introduce each of these forms of effects briefly. Direct effects: When someone -- say, a doctor, or teacher, or police officer -- holds racist beliefs and assumptions, those racist beliefs and assumptions may influence how they interact with individual Black Americans. For instance, racist assumptions by doctors can lead them to disbelieve what Black patients are telling them about their health. Racist assumptions by teachers can lead them to judge Black students...