Lack of facial recognition = racial bias?

A study came out from Brown University that claims facial recognition may be key to racial bias.

In a nut shell, it's easy for us to recognize the different facial features of those in our own race, but it's harder to recognize the same differences in people of other races. It's no one's fault, that's just how our brains develop. What the study concluded is that when people are trained to recognize such differences, their subconcious racial bias is decreased dramatically. Interesting!

I think this study has some bearing, but it leaves some things out. Commenters on the site noted that if a person is brought up in a household of two races, they'll be able to recognize the facial features of both, so it's not necessarily confined to just your race.

Also, many people didn't notice facial differences of any race if two people had the same haircut and same basic head shape.

Third, many commenters noted that it wasn't restricted to just race. A young commenter explained that, because she is never around elderly people, all of the elderly look the same to her, regardless of race.

But those things aside, I can see where this study might have some bearing. Racism, in my opinion, comes partly out of ignorance. If a kid grows up and never meets a person of another race until he or she is 30 years old, what will they know of this person?

If everyone outside your own race looks the same to you, what will you know of them? Once again, it comes from ignorance.

I think once you know a person, even only casually, no matter what race they are, you'll be able to pick them out in a crowd of others of the same race, and consequently not judge them based solely on racist stereotypes. When you're able to differentiate between facial features, you're able to see people more as human than a random group of strangers.

And let's face it, strangers are scarier than friends.

What the study is proposing to do is train people to recognize all of these different facial features in all races, leading to less racial bias in society. It's a hefty task, but certainly worth while to give a try!