Ethical Social Dilemmas: What Would You Do?
March 10, 2010 | Natalie
Ask the Hard Questions
The scenario: You’re in a women’s boutique, blanching at the price of the jeans you just have to have, and debating whether you’re bank accountant can take the blow. Then, you hear it. The saleslady saying, “I think you’re in the wrong place” to a young African-American woman a few clothes racks away. But it doesn’t stop at one comment. The blatant racism continues until the woman is frisked and verbally harassed. Do you keep your eyes glued to those jeans? Walk out of the store? Or step in?
What would you do?
Abc News presented this short series of social experiment titled What Would You Do? Basically they set up situations that would cause ethical dilemmas for people, insert some hidden cameras, and watch. Ranging from the “shopping while black” scenario above to gay PDA (Public Displays of Affection) to domestic violence to racial profiling, these shocking experiments forced me to reflect on my own personal courage and ask myself the hard questions: would I have said something if I was the one witnessing a real estate agent harangue a Muslim couple viewing a home, or if I had walked past the woman abusing her boyfriend in the park, would I have considered it domestic violence?
It’s so easy to do nothing. It’s easy to be disgusted and upset at discrimination, and chalk up your age or your influence as excuses to stay silent. It’s easy to ignore little comments and think that it wouldn’t be worth a confrontation. It’s easy. But is it right? I hope you know the answer.
When I watched these videos I was outraged at some people. How could they be silent as a woman wearing a head scarf was told “we don’t serve your kind here . . . take your jihad outside” at a gas station? We’re all educated about racism and discrimination, but many people don’t seem to acknowledge it in the present. It’s the twenty-first century, right? We don’t have slaves anymore . . .
I say we get rid of all the excuses, all the little fears and condolences that keep our lips pursed shut, and stand up for what we believe. There is no script telling you to slowly nod your head when a saleslady tells you, “You know what I mean? We had someone like her just last week . . .” How about a “No, I don’t know what you mean.” If you don’t confront the racist or the person hassling a gay couple, you’re not confronting the problem.
It’s easy on paper to say we’d do what’s right. But think about it. What would you do?
Ooo, I love sociological/philosophical experiments like this! What would I do? Golly…I wish I knew. I want to believe I would stand up for our freedom, for what is just, and what I believe is right and fair to all. And I have in the past, so I know it’s possible for me. But I got to this point after not being this way. So maybe what it takes is making the wrong choice for who you are first, realizing it was wrong, and then being able to confidently do what you think is right and in the best interest of humanity.
It seems to me that they had to construct these situations precisely because in real life, racism and abuse are not that blatant or black and white (forgive the pun, I meant morally). No one comes right out and says racist things in mixed company anymore (at least, not since my beloved uncle died). And any real estate agent harrassing people would automatically be sued. I just don’t know what a show like this proves, but maybe I’ll have to check it out for myself.