Racism can be a tough thing to study. In situations where all
things appear even, they might not be even at all. For example,
in situations where employers are refusing to hire minority
candidates, the argument could sometimes be made (although maybe
not successfully) that there are extenuating circumstances. A
truly successful study of race should be made in a laboratory of
sorts. The only difference between two people should be skin
color. Well, thanks to the internet, the great equalizer, we do
have such a situation, eBay. Three Yale and Harvard researchers
conducted a study called, “Race Effects on Ebay.” The results?
Americans are racist. Even when selling the exact same items,
buyers responded more favorably to white people than to black.
From Good Technology: The researchers auctioned off moderately
priced baseball cards, which were photographed held in either a
dark black hand or a white hand. Though the cards themselves
were the same, cards held in a black hand sold for about 20
percent less than car