harvard implicit association test:  HERE

my results:

Your implicit association results, appearing below, are for entertainment and educational purposes only. The tasks that you tried attempts to assess how strongly you associate the concept "Good" with presidential candidates and racial groups. The assumption of the task is that it should be easier to categorize the words and pictures if the two "focal" groups are associated in your memory. A majority of respondents find it easier to categorize Good words and images of White people together compared to categorize Good words and images of Black people. In the domain of political preference, Democrats may find it easier to sort Barack Obama images and Good words together, whereas Republicans might be faster sorting John McCain images and Good words together.

There is considerable speculation about the role of racial attitudes in candidate preferences for this election. Some argue that race may play a subtle role in voting preference, and others suggest that it is not a factor - especially given other pressing concerns such as the economy. We are testing the extent to which racial associations are related to candidate associations. Your scores are reported immediately below. Are they aligned with your conscious beliefs? With this task we hope to learn when these associations will, and will not, correspond with each other. The results of your tests are outlined below:

Your data suggests a slight automatic preference for Black people over White people

Your data suggests a strong automatic preference for Barack Obama over John McCain

Depending on the magnitude of your result, your automatic associations may be described as 'slight', 'moderate', 'strong', or 'little to no preference or difference in association'. How implicit associations affect our judgments and behaviors is not well understood and may be influenced by a number of variables. As such, the score should serve as an opportunity for self-reflection, not as a definitive assessment of your implicit thoughts or feelings. This and future research will clarify the way in which implicit thinking and feelings affects our perception, judgment, and action.

__________________________________________________________________

considering i was raised in a very vocally racist household, ultra-conservative, republican, white, middle-class, and strongly christian...

i wonder if i haven't, for the last 15 years or so, been subconsciously working extra hard to eliminate, in my own mind, what would otherwise be a preference for my own race and an inclination to associate members of my race with the concept of "good".  and, furthermore, re-associating the concept of "good" with people of races different than my own.  compensation of sorts.

i've mentioned this to vik before...i call it "spring theory".  it's not really a theory...it's more like a hypothesis for why, so often, people who are conditioned in such overbearing ways (as i was) seem to "spring" in the complete opposite direction when they get the chance...the way a spring, forced down, leaps with a force proportionate to the force applied against it when that force is suddenly removed.

i'm still white and i'm still middle-class, but i'm now a firm atheist, libertarian, & vocally anti-racist.  on a light note, i offer myself as possible supporting evidence for my own hypothesis and extend a welcome to parents who wish to attempt to squash the fucking soul out of their progeny by indoctrinating them with hate and prejudice:  go right ahead, you fuckers---your kids will flip it all on its ass when they get old enough and probably pull the plug on you -that- much earlier when you finally stop being able to take care of yourself. 

H.A.N.D.