Research on the Marley Hypothesis has examined ignorance of historical racism and identity concerns as two broad influences on racism denial among White Americans (e.g., Nelson et al., 2013). The findings suggest that accurate Black history knowledge has a facilitative role in perception of current-day racism in the US. In a new line of research, I take these findings as a point of departure to examine this relationship in a different direction. The current research examines whether engagement with racist realities impacts what kinds of knowledge people claim to know. Using the bias criterion of a signal detection paradigm, I examine whether engaging with racist realities impacts biased claims of non-existent, fake information. Across 3 experiments, participants demonstrated biased responding and expressed greater familiarity with false, non-existent items when completing a knowledge questionnaire after answering racism perception items or listening to a radio clip about systemic racism. Discussion focuses on the implications of such biases for the cultural reproduction of ignorance and racial injustice.

Access Zoom Meeting Here

Meeting ID: 975 4482 8190
Passcode: 658537