Are you a racist? You probably don't think so and might even be offended at the suggestion that you are - but how can you be sure? How do you know that you don't have any unconscious racist inclination? You can't be sure and, unfortunately, there is a chance that if you are white in America, you do have such inclinations without ever realizing it.

Ananova reports on recent research:

In those with racist tendencies, a surge of activity was seen in part of the brain that controls thoughts and behaviour. Scientists believe this reflected volunteers' attempts to curb their latent racism. After interacting with real black individuals, the same group performed poorly in a task designed to test mental resources. The American researchers concluded that harbouring racial prejudice, even unintentionally, stirred up an inner struggle that exhausted the brain.

This isn't the only research that has revealed latent, unconscious racism in people who professed no racist beliefs and who surely believed that they weren't at all racist. The fact of the matter is, though, that we don't have direct and immediate control over many deep feelings we have acquired over a lifetime of development. It's not our fault that they exist and it is good that we struggle against them; however, recognizing that they exist leads to a couple of important observations.

First, we should keep in mind that even a person with no professed racist beliefs might have their actions motivated, even a little bit, by unconscious racist attitudes. Such motivation could, over time, lead to a pattern of discrimination even when absolutely nothing of the sort was intended. Second, studies such as this should force us to keep in mind that we don't always control the impulses which drive us - we might be able to struggle with them, but we don't have complete control.

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