Racial Stereotypes Research Articles

Understanding and Improving Black Social Worker and Student Experiences in England

This article explores the experiences of Black newly qualified social workers and student social workers in England. Drawing on related studies that have begun to outline the challenges faced by Global Ethnic Majority social workers in the UK, the article highlights that this is both an important and under‐researched area. The article provides a much‐needed contribution to understanding the unique experiences of Black social workers through a thematic analysis of interviews with Black social workers, providing an opportunity for social work colleagues, managers, educators, and academics to understand the challenges and obstacles that these social workers face. The research reveals a dire situation in which Black social workers are hindered by racial stereotyping, discrimination, and invisibility. Black social worker voices also highlight suggestions for best practice and guidance for the social work sector about how to improve. By centering these underrepresented voices, this article provides an opportunity to acknowledge and begin to rectify the barriers and challenges that Black social workers face.

Beyond the Male Stereotype: Complicating Female Geek and Nerd Figures in Contemporary US Comedy Series

The “nerd” or “geek” in US-American film and television has been a popular mainstay to represent distinct social hierarchies. This article aims to highlight the emergence of engaging and relatable female nerds and geeks that subvert the stereotypes associated with such figures in comedy TV series and sitcoms. Humour in these comedy series exposes the silliness of perceived stereotypes associated with geekdom and “othered” cultures, while at the same time questioning and resisting them through complex female characterization. This article analyses these current shifts in representational patterns that highlight different dimensions including race, sexuality, societal conflicts and interpersonal relationships of funny and “nerdy” female characters in American television. Through a comparative analysis of the geeky characterizations of Amy Santiago from Brooklyn Nine-Nine (2013-2021) in juxtaposition to Betty from Betty en NY (2019), and Devi Vishwakumar from Never Have I Ever (2020-2023) it demonstrates that gender and racial stereotypes influence the portrayal of “geeky” female characters who frequently have not been permitted to be fully developed characters but had to suppress their intelligence to be likeable. This portrayal has significantly changed into the depiction of powerful female nerds on screen in the last two decades.

Racial Tropes in the Foreign Policy Bureaucracy: A Computational Text Analysis

AbstractHow do racial stereotypes affect perceptions in foreign policy? Race and racism as topics have long been marginalized in the study of international relations but are receiving renewed attention. In this article we assess the role of implicit racial bias in internal, originally classified assessments by the US foreign policy bureaucracy during the Cold War. We use a combination of dictionary-based and supervised machine learning techniques to identify the presence of four racial tropes in a unique corpus of intelligence documents: almost 5,000 President's Daily Briefs given to Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, and Ford. We argue and find that entries about countries that the US deemed “racialized Others”—specifically, countries in the Global South, newly independent states, and some specific regional groupings—feature an especially large number of racial tropes. Entries about foreign developments in these places are more likely to feature interpretations that infantilize, invoke animal-based analogies, or imply irrationality or belligerence. This association holds even when accounting for the presence of conflict, the regime type of the country being analyzed, the invocation of leaders, and the topics being discussed. The article makes two primary contributions. First, it adds to the revival of attention to race but gives special emphasis to implicit racialized thinking and its appearance in bureaucratic settings. Second, we show the promise of new tools for identifying racial and other forms of implicit bias in foreign policy texts.

African-American Cultural Expression: The Defiance of Black Aesthetics

This research delves into the transformative realm of Black Aesthetics as a profound and resilient cultural resistance strategy employed by African-Americans. In a historical context marked by the degradation of the genuine image of African-Americans through Western perspectives, Black Aesthetics emerges as a dynamic force challenging stereotypes and reclaiming agency over cultural narratives. The study explores the foundational influences of key socio-political movements, namely the Harlem Renaissance, the Black Power Movement, and the Civil Rights Movement, in shaping and catalyzing the development of Black Aesthetics. During the 1920s, the Harlem Renaissance served as a crucible for cultural revitalization amid the multifaceted struggles faced by African-Americans. Fueled by a desire to break free from racial stereotypes, this movement laid the groundwork for the emergence of Black Aesthetics as a tool for empowerment and self-expression. The subsequent impact of the Black Power Movement and the Civil Rights Movement on Black Aesthetics is examined, revealing how these movements contested prevailing Western perspectives and sought to redefine the narrative surrounding African-Americans. The Black Power Movement, emphasizing self-determination and autonomy, stood in stark contrast to the assimilations goals of the Civil Rights Movement, collectively contributing to the nuanced evolution of Black Aesthetics. Through an interdisciplinary lens, this research navigates the intersection of art, ideas, and socio-political dynamics, elucidating how Black Aesthetics serves as a cultural resistance mechanism. It explores the multifaceted dimensions of this resistance, including the creation of alternative narratives, the celebration of cultural identity, and the reclamation of dignity. Ultimately, this research contributes to a comprehensive understanding of Black Aesthetics as a transformative force in cultural resistance, shedding light on its historical roots, its evolution through significant movements, and its enduring impact on reshaping the narrative of African-American identity.

PR and racial identity: a study of black people in the public relations profession in Brazil

This work maps the market, social, and racial landscape in which black PR professionals are situated, aiming to identify the main interconnections and challenges they face in Brazil, a country where racism remains a deeply ingrained issue. The research was conducted using an exploratory method with both qualitative and quantitative approaches. The research techniques employed included documentary research, bibliographical research, and the administration of a semi-structured questionnaire to black individuals working in the field of public relations across various regions of the country. The analysis reveals the media's influence on identity construction and underscores the significance of ethnic diversity in communication. The primary findings indicate a lack of representation and the perpetuation of stereotypes concerning black professionals in the media, which contrasts with the reality of the industry. The research underscores the necessity of promoting ethnic diversity in PR and communication at large, while also addressing stereotypes and access barriers. It emphasizes the importance of inclusive policies to combat racial inequality in all its forms. Regarding the questionnaire, respondents reside in 12 of Brazil's 27 states, with the highest participation observed in São Paulo and Goiás. The majority of respondents were female (81%) and fell within the age group of 26 to 35. Of the respondents, 78.5% self-identified as black, while 21.5% identified as brown. Concerning monthly income, most professionals earn between 3 and 5 minimum wages, and 84.8% live on an income below the ideal threshold for a good quality of life, despite holding a higher education degree. The survey also revealed that a majority of black PR professionals graduated from private universities through affirmative action programs. In terms of their professional field, participants predominantly work in the private sector, specializing in areas such as content production, communications consultancy, digital marketing, institutional communications, and customer relations. However, they face challenges related to racial discrimination, with 56.4% reporting missed job opportunities due to their skin color. Furthermore, only 25.3% officially hold or have held leadership positions. Regarding the perception of racism, 82.4% believe it is present or very present in the communications market, and 57.7% reported experiencing some form of racial discrimination at work. Participants' accounts indicated that racism manifests through discrimination based on appearance and ethnic characteristics, racial stereotypes, invisibility, difficulties in gaining recognition as leaders, and unequal compensation. In conclusion, despite the advancements resulting from affirmative action and social movements, black PR professionals in Brazil still encounter inequalities and racial discrimination in the job market. This study underscores the importance of acknowledging and addressing these issues while promoting ethnic diversity within organizations and the field of Public Relations. Failing to discuss the racial challenges faced by PR professionals limits their opportunities and development. It is essential for black PR professionals, organizations, and universities to take a stand and raise awareness about this reality. To be heard, understood, and drive practical change, we must first identify the existing problems. The coming together, discussion, and advocacy for visibility, respect, and opportunities among black PR professionals, in a conscious and political manner, are also crucial for strengthening and recognizing this group of professionals. Collectives, organizations, personal connections, and academic relationships can serve as instruments to challenge the prevailing whitewashed narrative and contribute to building a genuinely diverse and socially responsible field of Public Relations.

White Americans' blame attributions and empathy towards Black victims of police violence: How pejorative stereotypes 'engulf the field'.

We examined the dynamics of minority-directed police violence by considering how our White participants' empathy for Black victims may be influenced by critical intragroup differences related to racial stereotyping. Although the role of stereotyping in reactions to Black Americans accused of crime is well-established, we explore the influence of pejorative Black stereotypes on reactions to Black victims of police violence. Specifically, we investigated the roles of individual differences in the endorsement of the Black criminal stereotype among White observers and manipulated the crime-unrelated stereotypicality (i.e. stereotypical, counterstereotypical) of Black victims of police violence. White US MTurk participants read about a White policeman shooting a Black man (Study 1, n = 140) or sexually assaulting a Black woman (Study 2, n = 166). Across both studies, strong stereotype endorsers reported relatively low empathy for stereotypical victims, mediated by greater blame towards those victims. This finding demonstrates the relevance of heretofore untested motivated reasoning processes in the outgroup empathy deficits literature. Weak stereotype endorsers showed relatively high empathy and low victim blame regardless of Black victim stereotypicality, indicating limited sensitivity to outgroup member suffering is not inevitable. We consider the practical implications of the findings for policing and for citizenship education.

Racialized Sexism: Nonverbal Displays of Power in Workplace Settings are Evaluated as More Masculine When Displayed by White (vs. Black) Women With Implications for the Expression of Ambivalent Sexism.

We hypothesized that White (vs. Black) women in high- (vs. low-) power poses would be evaluated as particularly masculine and unfeminine due to greater perceived violations of gendered racial stereotypes. As predicted, White (vs. Black) women in high- (but not low-) power poses were evaluated as more masculine and less feminine (Studies 1-3). Moreover, greater perceived masculinity of White (vs. Black) women in high-power poses predicted more hostile sexism; and, lesser perceived femininity of White (vs. Black) women predicted less benevolent sexism. Finally, these associations between masculinity/hostile sexism and femininity/benevolent sexism serially mediated reduced hiring desirability of White (vs. Black) women (Study 2). Study 3 replicated these serial indirect effects and found that these effects emerged regardless of job status and even when controlling for socially desirable responding. We conclude that gendered racism leads sexism to be expressed toward White and Black women embodying power in distinct ways.

Exploiting Cultural Biases via Homoglyphs in Text-to-Image Synthesis

Models for text-to-image synthesis, such as DALL-E 2 and Stable Diffusion, have recently drawn a lot of interest from academia and the general public. These models are capable of producing high-quality images that depict a variety of concepts and styles when conditioned on textual descriptions. However, these models adopt cultural characteristics associated with specific Unicode scripts from their vast amount of training data, which may not be immediately apparent. We show that by simply inserting single non-Latin characters in the textual description, common models reflect cultural biases in their generated images. We analyze this behavior both qualitatively and quantitatively and identify a model’s text encoder as the root cause of the phenomenon. Such behavior can be interpreted as a model feature, offering users a simple way to customize the image generation and reflect their own cultural background. Yet, malicious users or service providers may also try to intentionally bias the image generation. One goal might be to create racist stereotypes by replacing Latin characters with similarly-looking characters from non-Latin scripts, so-called homoglyphs. To mitigate such unnoticed script attacks, we propose a novel homoglyph unlearning method to fine-tune a text encoder, making it robust against homoglyph manipulations.

Representation of Race and Ethnicity in Mainstream Advertising: A Critical Analysis of Racial Stereotypes in Global Advertising Campaigns

This discussion examines the impact of racial stereotypes in advertising, focusing on the psychological effects on marginalized communities and the reinforcement of racial biases and discrimination. Racial stereotypes in advertising can have detrimental psychological effects on individuals, leading to feelings of invisibility, self-doubt, and low self-esteem. It can also reinforce internalized racism and create a sense of otherness or alienation. Furthermore, these stereotypes can perpetuate existing racial biases and contribute to discrimination in various domains of life, hindering progress towards equality and social justice. Advertisers have a responsibility to challenge and dismantle these stereotypes, promoting inclusive representations and actively working towards a more equitable society.

Making up Monsters, Redirecting Blame: An Examination of Excited Delirium

Abstract: This paper examines the controversial diagnosis of excited delirium, which is often employed after individuals die during an encounter with the police. Rather than asking the important, and widely explored, question of whether the diagnosis is real or not, here, we consider how it operates in the world and why it seems to stick around, despite growing controversy and resistance to its use. First, we consider the question of what kinds of people are made up through the diagnosis of excited delirium, exploring how racial stereotypes are exploited and certain behaviors are engendered through the illness script offered by excited delirium. Next, we ask what work excited delirium doing is doing in the world, unpacking how it tends to justify force and redirect responsibility, as well as who is it serving, and who is it not benefitting. Finally, we interrogate the slippery logic of excited delirium, examining how the way it is employed renders it non-falsifiable, and therefore impossible to uncover as real or unreal.

Policing Motherhood, Controlling Families: Race, Reproductive Governance, and Trans Women’s Parenting Rights

Transgender people face multiple challenges to securing and maintaining parenting rights, yet most studies on trans parenthood focus exclusively on trans masculine people’s experiences and feature majority white samples. To address gendered and racialized gaps in knowledge, I conducted 54 semi-structured interviews with trans women in the United States, who parent or wish to parent, across race and class backgrounds. Using the intersectional frameworks of racialized transmisogyny and reproductive governance, I examine the barriers to parenting rights that trans women encounter in adoption and custody disputes. I find that judges and case workers use racist and anti-trans stereotypes when evaluating “parental fitness,” which (1) institutionalizes racialized transmisogyny in the law, (2) increases the regulatory power of legal institutions, and (3) reinforces dominant mothering ideologies. I also discuss how everyday people (i.e., partners and family members) co-construct the legal and symbolic meaning of motherhood, illustrating the centrality of trans reproduction to the policing of trans and other minoritized communities.

Understanding the Experiences of Ethnoculturally Diverse Boys

Abstract While targeting boys early in adolescence with healthy relationships programs in educational settings has shown to be promising in promoting supportive and violence-free relationships, these programs have not meaningfully considered the impact of intersecting identities on program design and delivery. The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand the lived experiences of boys positioned at specific intersections of gender, race, and ethnicity and how this understanding can inform future healthy relationships program design in educational settings. The findings show that racially and ethnoculturally diverse boys navigate racial and ethnic stereotypes in their schools and communities, impacting the way they navigate relationships. Our recommendations include fully integrating content on diversity (rather than specialized diversity units) and having facilitators with similar lived experiences lead programming in order for healthy relationships programs to connect with and engage with a broader diversity of youth.

“Moving Through and Beyond ”: Asian American Theatre and Performance Studies

Abstract: For decades, Theatre Journal has deeply engaged with different aspects of Asian American theatre and performance. This essay surveys a range of Theatre Journal articles published from the 1990s in order to map out this distinctive area of theatre and performance studies. Key articles by James Moy, Karen Shimakawa, and Daphne Lei grapple with the legacy of racial stereotypes and the aesthetics and reception of contemporary Asian American performance. Essays by Angela Pao, Celine Parreñas Shimizu, Sean Metzger, and Ju Yon Kim emphasize the racialized bodies of actors and the history of yellowface and brownface acting, while Christopher Eng, Christine Mok, Megan Shea, and Dan Bacalzo emphasize the intersectional and transnational dimensions of Asian American expression. These and other scholars of Asian American theatre and performance continue to engage with new aspects of immigrant and refugee performance as well as gender and sexuality in Asian American theatre. At a time of changing demographics and cultural visibility, this essay helps us see how scholars have addressed the enormous diversity of Asian American experiences and perspectives as well as common preoccupations about visibility and representation, the persistence of orientalist typecasting, and the dynamic and complicated nature of Asian American identity.

Abstract A007: Expanding clinical trial awareness among Black communities through digital engagement

Abstract Background: Black patients are less likely to be enrolled in clinical trials compared with White patients, resulting in reduced access to breakthrough treatments and limited understanding of treatment effect. Ineffective dissemination of cancer research, education, and interventions among the public contributes to cancer inequities. Dissemination rarely involves non-research audiences and end-users. We conducted community-engaged research through focus groups with Black community members and family members of cancer survivors. Through these efforts, we are creating a culturally responsive public service announcement (PSA) video to increase clinical trial awareness among Black audiences. Methods: We conducted 5 focus groups over two phases with 1) social support networks of Black cancer survivors (n=20) and 2) Black community members (n=30) to inform the PSA to be disseminated through media and public health outlets. A final focus group will be conducted to elicit video feedback after production. Phase 1 focus groups informed PSA content. Data was triangulated with qualitative data from Black women with breast cancer, oncologists, clinical trial staff, and advocates from a concurrent study about clinical trial participation. Phase 2 focus groups sought feedback on video content prior to production. Content and thematic analyses identified themes and recommendations. Results: For Phases 1 and 2, we used maximum variation sampling to recruit Black participants (n = 50) varied in age, geographic region, education, and gender. Phase 1 themes included: 1) clinical trial mistrust due to experiences of racism persists, but diminishes with younger respondents or those who participated in clinical trials; 2) clinical trial trust-building was associated with transparency from medical experts and information relayed by someone in the Black community and from clinical trial participants; 3) invasive procedures impact views on risks and benefits of participation; 4) messages that are not coercive, but support decision-making are more credible; and 5) sharing the PSA on social media with links to primary resources was recommended. Phase 2 participants reported that the: 1) storyline and script were informative, culturally representative, realistic, and understandable; 2) participants saw themselves in the characters and family dynamics; 3) opening scene should be altered to avoid racial stereotypes; and 4) storyline elicited desire to pursue additional information before making a decision about participation. The script triggered discussion about factors impacting low clinical trial participation and ineffective information dissemination to Black communities. The revised script integrated participant feedback; the video is under production. The PSA is planned to be aired on a national cable network. Conclusions: By eliciting and integrating feedback from Black community members, we developed a culturally representative and responsive PSA that facilitates agency for decision making and information seeking about clinical trials that can be widely disseminated. Citation Format: Eliza B. Cohn, Ryan Huu-Tuan Nguyen, Leslie Carnahan, Kauthar Salum, Neha Hippalgaonkar, Tigist Mersha, Ana Williams, Robbin Block, Kent Hoskins, Vida Henderson. Expanding clinical trial awareness among Black communities through digital engagement [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 16th AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2023 Sep 29-Oct 2;Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2023;32(12 Suppl):Abstract nr A007.

Board Games of the 20th Century and their Cultural Impact on Reinforcing Racial Stereotypes

In the twenty-first century, video games grew incredibly more popular and transitioned to the mainstream. However, many of these games face criticism for gameplay features that propagate problematic racial caricatures and stereotypes. By looking at board games from the twentieth century, this paper shows that racially problematic gameplay is not an exclusively modern trend; instead, it is but one facet of an entire play industry that has been replicating and disseminating racial (and often racist) stereotypes for decades. While many board game developers intended for their games to be critical of social issues, market forces demanded that these games reframe their messaging to better comply with narratives and views, however flawed and damaging, that were familiar to the consumer population, namely parents seeking wholesome entertainment for their children. Structured board games throughout the last century, including Monopoly, Blacks & Whites, and Mystery Date, have further entrenched the notion of the “white normal” by honoring characteristics associated with white Americans and condemning traditionally nonwhite characteristics and lifestyles. Furthermore, Dungeons and Dragons and other tabletop, RPG fantasy games caricaturized actual races within the fantastical settings of their games, turning white individuals into graceful elves and nonwhite individuals into brutish orcs. An investigation of board games throughout the twentieth century reveals the tendency of dominating social views and cultural messages to reinforce themselves across generations, as social messaging in games and other consumer products are necessarily defined by the whims of the market and the wishes of the consumer.

Effects of facial skin pigmentation on social judgments in a Mexican population.

People quickly and involuntarily form impressions of others based on their facial physical attributes, which can modulate critical social interactions. Skin pigmentation is one of the most variable and conspicuous facial traits among human populations. Empirical evidence suggests that these variations reflect ancestral ecological selective pressures balancing cutaneous vitamin D synthesis with the protection of the dermis from ultraviolet radiation. Nevertheless, skin pigmentation may currently be subject to additional selective pressures. For instance, the colonial era in Central and South America developed a highly stratified society based on ethnic origins, and light skin pigmentation became associated with higher social status and deference. This association could have originated through historical social learning that promoted favorable social perceptions towards individuals with lighter skin color and unfavorable perceptions towards individuals with darker skin color, which could still be present in the perception of current populations. Facial skin pigmentation is also sexually dimorphic, with males tending to exhibit darker skin than females, a difference that could be driven by sexual selection. To explore whether social learning and sexual selection represent additional selective pressures on skin pigmentation, we tested how this facial trait influences fundamental social perceptions in a Mexican population (N = 700, 489 female). We sampled facial images of eight European American males with natural lighter facial skin and eight males from an indigenous pre-Columbian community from Mexico, the Me'Phaa, with natural darker facial skin. We produced stimuli from these images by varying the skin pigmentation while preserving the facial shape. Stimuli were rated on attractiveness, trustworthiness, perceived health, dominance, aggressiveness, and femininity/masculinity. We found that the natural light-skinned faces were perceived as more attractive, trustworthy, and healthy but less dominant than the natural dark faces. Furthermore, by varying the facial skin color in these original groups, we altered the perceptions of them, mainly their attractiveness. These results partially support the hypothesis that dark facial skin color may help males compete for mates. Also, the results strongly support the view that lighter facial skin color became associated with social benefits through social learning in this Mexican population. Our findings, when viewed through the lens of cultural evolution, align with previous research in social psychology and anthropology. They hold the potential to offer a comprehensive understanding of the origin of this social phenomenon of cultural transmission, which currently plays a role in the formation of racial attitudes, stereotyping, and racial inequality in Mexican and other Latin American populations.

Self-Determination to Better Health Outcomes: A Study of Diabetes in the Native American Community

Increased self-determination in health care by the Native American community may help combat preventable diseases like diabetes. The racial stereotyping of Native Americans in medical clinics has been found to directly correlate to health disparities such as poor care and poor medical outcomes (Solomon et al.). However, since 1975, the ISDEAA, or Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act, provides three major avenues by which Native Americans may receive health care: directly from the federal government through the Indian Health Service, through a Title I contract to administer part of their own health care programs, or through a Title V compact to take over all of their own health care (Marley, “Ambiguous Jurisdiction” 433). Longitudinal research into the diabetes prevalence rates across time for each of the 574 federally recognized tribes should be juxtaposed against the timeline of when each individual tribe evolved from Indian Health Service dependent to Title I, and then finally to Title V. I had sought to prove that diabetes prevalence rates for Native Americans show a lagging decline as self-determination of health care increases. Further collection of specific, tribal, micro-level data is necessary to prove or disprove this point. Ultimately, this conceptual paper is a proposal for further data collection by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, which is in charge of the Indian Health Service.

From “Chinese Colonist” to “Yellow Peril”: Capitalist Racialization in the British Empire

The literature on “racial capitalism” exhibits a tension between the term’s evocative power and its conceptual imprecision. This article navigates this tension by developing the mid-level concept of “capitalist racialization,” which specifies the role of capitalist abstractions in the construction of racial hierarchies. I elaborate this notion around the racialization of Chinese migration in nineteenth-century Southeast Asia. I focalize the figure of the “Chinese colonist” as an index of the capitalist standards by which British observers ordered colonial populations in their reflections on imperial political economy. I argue that the racial stereotype of “the Chinese” as commercial, industrious, and “colonizing” people emerged from the subsumption of colonial land and labor under capital. Their “colonizing” capacity rendered Chinese migrants simultaneously an economic asset to the British Empire and a potential threat to the white world order. “Capitalist racialization” therefore highlights new inroads into the entwined histories of capitalism, racism, and empire.

Taking Stand‐Up Seriously: Comedy as a Site for Imagining Decolonial Futures

Stand‐up comedy is a rich arena of sociological inquiry that enables social actors to utter bold truths in a way that educates rather than offends. As such, stand‐up comedy can inform conversations around potentially “thorny” issues like racial inequality. This article draws on primary qualitative content analysis of the work of Kura Forrester, a female, Indigenous comedian in Aotearoa New Zealand, to illustrate the potential of comedians and the medium of stand‐up comedy as agents of change. We employ the concepts “parrhesia,” “critical public pedagogy,” and “prefiguration” to argue that stand‐up comedy provides a valuable opportunity to challenge racist stereotypes, encourage critical reflection on “race‐thinking,” and imagine out loud what an alternative, decolonial future in Aotearoa New Zealand might entail.

Controlling (Mental) Images and the Aesthetic Perception of Racialized Bodies

Aesthetic evaluations of human bodies have important implications for moral recognition and for individuals’ access to social and material goods. Unfortunately, there is a widespread aesthetic disregard for non-white bodies. Aesthetic evaluations depend on the aesthetic properties we regard objects as having. And it is widely agreed that aesthetic properties are directly accessed in our experience of aesthetic objects. How, then, might we explain aesthetic evaluations that systematically favour features associated with white identity? Critical race philosophers, like Alia Al-Saji, Mariana Ortega, Paul C. Taylor, and George Yancy, argue that this is because the perception of racialized bodies is affected by the social structures in which they are appreciated. The aim of this paper is to propose how social structures can affect aesthetic perception. I argue that mental imagery acquired through the interaction with aesthetic phenomena structures the perception of non-aesthetic properties of bodies, so that aesthetic properties consistent with racist stereotypes are attributed to individuals.