Chapter 25 Exercises: Race, Ethnicity, and the Politics of Desire

Exercise 25.1 — Python: Analyzing the Racial Matching Matrix

Type: Quantitative / Computational Difficulty: Intermediate Estimated time: 60–90 minutes

Setup

Run the code/racial_preference_analysis.py script from this chapter to generate the synthetic Swipe Right Dataset analysis. Ensure you have numpy, pandas, matplotlib, seaborn, and scipy installed.

Tasks

Part A — Reproduce and Describe

  1. Run the script and examine the heatmap (racial_matching_heatmap.png). In 150–200 words, describe the three most striking patterns you observe. Be specific: which cells show the highest and lowest values? What does the diagonal look like, and what does it mean?

  2. Examine the In-Group Preference Ratio bar chart (ingroup_preference_ratios.png). Which racial group shows the highest IPR? Which shows the lowest? What does a high IPR indicate — and crucially, what does it not indicate about that group's overall desirability?

Part B — Modify the Analysis

  1. Open racial_preference_analysis.py and locate the MATCH_RATE_MATRIX. Modify the matrix to represent a hypothetical equal-hierarchy scenario in which all cross-racial match rates are equalized at the grand mean, but within-group rates remain unchanged. Re-run the script. How do the IPR values change? What does this thought experiment reveal about how hierarchy and in-group preference are (and are not) the same phenomenon?

  2. Add a third visualization to the script: a heat map of the difference between the original match rate matrix and your equal-hierarchy version from Part B. Use a diverging colormap (red = lower than equal-hierarchy baseline; blue = higher). Which cells show the largest negative deviation? What does this mean structurally?

Part C — Interpretation

  1. Write a 300–400 word interpretation of the full analysis. Your interpretation must: - Avoid any framing that naturalizes or justifies the hierarchy - Cite at least one scholar discussed in this chapter to contextualize what the patterns mean - Address the question: what would the matrix look like in a society without racial hierarchy, and is that achievable?

Exercise 25.2 — Preference or Prejudice? A Structured Argument

Type: Analytical Writing / Debate Difficulty: Intermediate Estimated time: 60 minutes

The following claim is a common response to critiques of racialized dating preferences:

"Calling my racial preferences racist is policing my sexuality. I can't help who I'm attracted to. Attraction isn't a choice."

You will construct a structured argument engaging with this claim.

Step 1 — Steel-man the position (200 words). Present the strongest possible version of this argument. What genuine concerns about coercion, privacy, or the limits of political obligation does it raise? Engage charitably.

Step 2 — Respond using three distinct frameworks (300 words total): - The empirical challenge: What does the non-random, historically correlated pattern of racial preferences suggest about whether they are simply "natural"? - The philosophical challenge: Drawing on Robin Zheng's distinction between individual racism and preferences produced by racist socialization, what is the difference between having a racist preference and being a racist? - The mutability challenge: What evidence from contact theory and media exposure research complicates the claim that preferences are fixed?

Step 3 — Synthesis (150 words). Is there a position that takes individual agency seriously while refusing to treat racialized preferences as politically neutral? Articulate it.

Exercise 25.3 — Media Analysis: Romance on Screen

Type: Cultural Analysis Difficulty: Accessible Estimated time: 45–60 minutes

The Task

Find ten recent (2020–present) Netflix or streaming romance films or series and collect the promotional poster/thumbnail image for each. You can use streaming platform browsing, Google Images, or a fan wiki.

For each poster: 1. Record the title, year, and platform. 2. Identify the apparent racial identity of the romantic lead(s) shown. 3. Note whether the cover foregrounds an interracial couple, a same-race couple, or a solo individual — and if solo, their apparent race.

Analysis Questions (400–600 words total)

  1. What racial patterns do you observe across your sample of ten? What proportion of romantic leads appear to be White? Black? Asian? Latino/a? Multiracial?

  2. When non-White romantic leads appear, how are they framed? Are they in "mainstream" romance films, or in productions explicitly marketed as genre-specific (e.g., "Latinx romance," "Black love stories")? What does the difference in framing suggest about who is imagined as the default romance consumer?

  3. Is there evidence of the "default White" problem described in this chapter? Or has the streaming era meaningfully shifted representation? Use specific examples from your sample.

  4. Choose one poster that you found most striking for racial representation reasons (positive or negative) and analyze it in depth (150–200 words): What is the image communicating about who is desirable, to whom, and under what terms?

Exercise 25.4 — Personal Reflection: The Architecture of Attraction

Type: Reflective Writing (ungraded or grade-protected) Difficulty: Personal / Challenging Estimated time: 30–45 minutes Note to instructors: Consider making this exercise grade-protected (complete/incomplete) and allowing students to write in first or third person. The goal is honest reflection, not self-incrimination.

This chapter argues that our desires are not spontaneous or purely internal — they are formed by the cultural and historical environments we grow up in. This exercise invites you to examine that claim from the inside.

Prompt (500–700 words)

Reflect honestly on the following questions. You do not have to share your reflection publicly; this is for your own thinking.

  1. Have you ever noticed what seem like racial patterns in your own attraction — either in who you find attractive or in who you perceive as attractive in general? You might notice patterns in the people you find yourself swiping right on, the actors or public figures you find compelling, or the people you have dated or pursued.

  2. If you do notice patterns, where do you think they came from? What specific cultural sources — media you consumed, communities you grew up in, messages (explicit or implicit) you received — might have shaped those patterns?

  3. Have your attractions or aesthetic responses ever shifted over time — perhaps as you were exposed to different communities, different media, or as you became more critically aware of race? If yes, what does that mutability suggest about the nature of attraction?

  4. This chapter distinguishes between noticing racialized patterns in your desire and being required to change them — arguing for curiosity rather than guilt or mandate. Does that framing feel useful to you? What are its limits?

A note on honesty: The point of this exercise is not to produce the "right answer" (e.g., "I am not racist because I am attracted to people of many races"). The point is to practice noticing the architecture of your own attractions — the social and historical structures that built the room you desire in. Honesty, even uncomfortable honesty, is more analytically valuable than reassurance.