We first consider the idea that disseminating scientific information about the biology of race will undermine racism (the dissemination hypothesis). Next, we examine the idea that increasing interracial interactions will weaken various components of racism (the contact hypothesis). Finally, we consider the proposal that, instead of attempting to eliminate racist beliefs and prejudices, people should learn to control them (the self-regulation hypothesis). We end with some concluding remarks on the potential compatibility of the three proposals. One might argue we should use every idea at our disposal to deal with racism. We disagree; some ideas are better than others, and we hold that empirical psychology can provide guidance on which proposal might be compatible with each other, which are unlikely to be effective, and how to best allocate our all too limited resources.
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