Over the past several months, the often-hidden prejudice in our communities has become increasingly visible and empowered. The Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate crimes, recorded more than 1,000 acts of bias in the month after the presidential election, and this continues to grow. Maine has also seen a surge in racial bias all across the state, from multiple instances of Anti-Muslim graffiti in Portland, a swastika painted in the road in Fort Kent, and KKK fliers in Waterville, Augusta, Gardiner, Freeport, and Skowhegan. These recent acts only highlight the existing concerns about racial bias in Maine, from protests surrounding the governor’s racial comments to the Skowhegan Area School district’s refusal to change its “Indians” mascot.
One challenge Maine faces in addressing this swell of racism is our lack of diversity. Our status as one of the whitest and oldest states in the nation, coupled with our low population density, leaves most of us few opportunities to meaningfully interact with people who don’t look like us or don’t think like us. Research in social psychology tells us that without those critical opportunities to interact, we tend to resort to stereotypes and caricatures that promote discrimination.
In the absence of real, meaningful contact, our expectations about other groups can be shaped more by representations in the media. Since those representations are often inaccurate and reinforce stereotypes, they can promote prejudice and discrimination. For example, if the only contact someone has with African Americans comes from news reports where they are over-represented as violent or aggressive, they are more likely to automatically associate African Americans with violence. These stereotypes can promote fear or distrust of others, making meaningful contact that much more difficult.
Because of these challenges, groups in Maine must work to build cooperative multicultural and interfaith communities. When members of different groups work together repeatedly in a positive, cooperative project, those stereotypes can lose their strength.
In a classic study, Muzafer Sherif, a psychologist at the University of Oklahoma, separated two groups of eleven fifth-graders into identical cabins, the “Rattlers” and the “Eagles,” at a summer camp. Both groups quickly bonded in their own cabins, but without the opportunity to get to know the other group, they became hostile towards the others — eventually raiding their camp with sticks and stones.
When the researchers tried to mend relations between the groups, they began by just allowing them to interact freely on equal footing. Unfortunately, this simple contact only gave them more opportunities to fight. Instead, Sherif found that the groups needed to cooperate towards some shared goal before they started to relax their tensions. After working together to solve a threat to their shared water supply, raising funds together to see a film, and cooperating on a camping trip, cooperation improved. At the end of the trip, the Rattlers were even willing to share some of their hard-won money so that the Eagles could join them for milkshakes.
Like this experimental camp, Maine communities can grow stronger and reduce biases by finding ways to work together toward common goals. These collaborative interactions can have broad benefits to a community. For example, even just knowing that one of your close friends is cooperating comfortably with a diverse group can reduce prejudice.
Many communities are already building these cooperations through interfaith events, inviting multicultural opportunities and welcoming immigrants, and developing service projects that help address common needs, like feeding hungry Mainers. We can strengthen our communities by looking for opportunities to join and diversify collaborative groups like local organizations, athletic teams, or our town’s volunteer committees, all of which can provide opportunities to work with together towards common goals. Most importantly, we can look for any opportunity in our daily lives to cooperate with people unlike ourselves on equal terms towards common goals.
Jordan LaBouff is an associate professor of psychology and honors at the University of Maine. Andrew Tomer is a Graduate student in psychology at the University of Maine.