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Tierra Davis
UWRT 1102
Ella Voltz
16 September 2014
Journal #4
The Harvards Implicit Association Test suggested that I have a slight automatic
preference for white people compared to black people. However, I grew up in a family full of
black and white people. Our races have never been a factor. My two closest cousins, who are
practically my brothers, are biracial. I live with two girls who are of the African American race.
But, as Ive gotten older I have begun to realize that people do cling to others who are most like
them. A lot of people tend to judge a book by its cover. The mass majority of my friends dress,
act, and talk like me; its human nature to be drawn to others similar to you.
This study allows people the opportunity to reflect upon ones self. Most studies are
typically one-sided questions. By this I mean there are only right and wrong answers, no inbetween. This specific study does not only provide you with multiple-choice answers; it
provides a variety of observational techniques. The numerous techniques provide the study with
a better understanding of your actual standpoint versus the right or wrong answer. In addition,
the study has broader horizon; depending on the magnitude of your results, your associations
may fall under slight, moderate, strong, or little to no preference, unlike most tests that say just
strong or weak. This provides the in-between answers that most studies do not specify.
What I have learned from this study is maybe I judge a book by its cover too much. I am
going to start acknowledging peoples inner self versus their outer appearance. Although my
preference was only slight, I feel like it should be little to no preference considering my family

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background. I feel a little guilty that I prefer white people over back people. Its not that I want
to prefer black people to white people, I would just be more satisfied with equal preferences,
which is how I thought I was. But, I do tend to stick to what I feel comfortable with, and again
people cling to what they are familiar with. Instead of clinging to the girl who wears the same
clothes as me and acts the same way as me, I am going to start trying to go out of my security
zone. It is not that I am uncomfortable speaking to others who are different; it is just easier to
make conversation with people you have common interests with.
In elementary school the majority of my friends were of the African American race. That
was the time in my life when I spent every waking moment with my two older cousins who I
spoke of earlier. The black race is what I was associated with most during that part of my life.
But a few years later my mom and I moved to Travels Rest, South Carolina, and thats when I
began to change my friend choice. It was just my mom and I, and of course all of the little girls
in my neighborhood. The neighborhood I lived in was a little more on the wealthy side. Very
few black people lived in Travelers Rest and the few that did, did not live in The North Cliffs.
After moving there I was surrounded with only white people, and that is when I began to
associate myself with only white friends. I really do not think its a preference. I think its more
of a habit.