Our behavioral biases with a magnifying glass of France 2 – Liberation
In a waiting room, four chairs are arranged against a wall, with two men, dressed in the same way, seated side by side in the middle. Only difference: one is black, the other is white. Where will the guinea pigs sit? There is no shortage of it: four successive participants settle on the chair next to the white man. Are they influenced by the configuration of the part? The two men then exchange their places. And there too, participants choose – with one exception – to sit next to the white man.
This is the kind of sequence in the heart of the show Are we all racist?broadcast this Tuesday, June 17 on France 2, and followed by two documentaries: Blacks in France And I am not Chinetoque: History of anti-Asian racism. The device is articulated around well -known experiences in the field of social sciences, leaning over the influence of racist prejudices and, more broadly, discrimination on our behavior – another sequence is thus interested in glottophobia, that is to say the stereotypes attached to certain accents.
The 50 voluntary participants are not aware of the subject of the show, and think they are taking part in tests on the « mysteries of the brain », for a program presented by Jamy Gourmaud. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, the presenter Marie Drucker deciphers the various experiences in the company of the actor-director Lucien Jean-Baptiste, a great witness to the program, and the psychosociologist Sylvain Delouvée, lecturer at Rennes 2 University.
Ingenious and effective device, adapted to the time with its mixture of reality TV (the guinea pigs even comment on experiences in a sort of confessional) and « react », this vogue format on Twitch or Youtube in which content creators are filming in the process of reacting to videos-here, Lucien Jean-Baptiste links the results of these tests with his own experience. In addition, the explanations of psychosociologist Sylvain Delouvée bring a welcome scientific counterpoint, never moralizing.
Some have in any case felt targeted by the provocative title of the show. This is the case withAlexandre Devecchiowho split a ticket on Friday in Le Figaro Magazine Without even having seen the program: « Will France Télévisions » Brainwasher « the French on the existence of a systemic racism in our country? » A few days earlier, Sonia Mabrouk had wanted to launch the debate on CNews, there too on the basis of the title: « If we really take the title at the foot of the letter, maybe anti-Lanc racism will also be recognized? » she hoped.
Looking at Are we all racist?they may well be disappointed, given the universality of racist prejudices demonstrated here. And this is what we could blame on the show, which arrives in a timing which seems incongruous: at the time of a frantic release of speech or even racist acts, the simple analysis of our behavioral biases towards this or that skin color seems to come from a much more serene era.
