Psychology Prof. Michael Kraus discussed the inaccurate perceptions around racial inequality progression in the United States Monday afternoon in Chambers Hall.

Kraus said he became interested in studying American misconceptions about racial progress after college classes exposed him to the realities of racial injustice.

“I think I’ve always been interested in how people think about the world,” Kraus said. “How people think about what’s fair, how society is organized and how people are treated.”

The event, “The Narrative of Racial Progress,” is part of the Fay Lomax Cook Monday Colloquia series hosted by the Institute for Policy Research. With around 50 people in attendance, Kraus explained his past decade of research on the narrative of racial progress and the economic indicators of how progress in equality is perceived.

The audience engaged with Kraus’ observations on the assumption that racial equality has improved over time because of historical developments like the Civil Rights Movement and the presence of high-achieving people of color in society.

Nicholas Benson, a program assistant for the IPR, said he understood where a lot of the misconception around racial progress was coming from.

“It’s this compounding effect of optimism,” Benson said. “There is also maybe a basis from the media having an overestimation of how equal we are and how much progress has been made.”

Kraus said those who saw equality as something that happened by itself often saw policies around equity and civil rights as unnecessary. He said this is consistent with the reversal of diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in the past few days in the federal government.

Audience member and Feinberg Prof. Joseph Feinglass said the decline of racial disparities in the U.S. is a very common attitude among white Americans.

“It seems like everyone thinks racism has gotten better,” Feinglass said. “Things may have changed in terms of interpersonal behavior, but it does not seem like things have changed in terms of this vast overestimate of crucial progress.”

The final portion of Kraus’ talk was about how to promote realistic perceptions of racial inequality and the importance of safeguarding advancements in diversity and equity, especially in education.

Kraus said it is important to speak truthfully about inequalities and to protect work on diversity and inclusion, especially when it is under threat by certain policies.

“I think that funding projects like the ones that we’ve done is going to be more difficult and that universities will have to be prepared to defend our freedom to do that kind of work,” Kraus said.

He said progress is possible and has happened in his lifetime, but that it is also important to remember that progress towards racial inequality is not linear, automatic or guaranteed.

“I think nothing that we’ve faced up to this point is going to be as hard as that,” Kraus said.

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