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A provocative new study from Northwestern University suggests that whites who are particularly worried about appearing racist seem to suffer from anxiety that may cause them to avoid interaction with blacks in the first place.

“The Threat of Appearing Prejudiced and Race-based Attentional Biases,” by Jennifer A. Richeson, associate professor of psychology and African-American studies and faculty fellow at the Institute for Policy Research (IPR) at Northwestern, and Sophie Trawalter, post-doctoral fellow, IPR, recently appeared in the journal Psychological Science.

The study participants - 15 white college students - tried to act in unprejudiced ways toward blacks primarily for appearance’s sake to avoid social disapproval — not because of their personal values.

And a related topic, “I’m not a racist; I have black friends”:

black people love us