"No More Black Targets" is Fighting to Remove Black Silhouettes from Shooting Ranges
122 replies, posted
[QUOTE]If you’ve ever been to a shooting range, you know the drill: You choose a gun, load it with bullets, put on the necessary visual and hearing protection and then aim at a black silhouette, ready to shoot it dead. Now, one group is working to change that. Calling themselves No More Black Targets, this art collective is fighting to remove the black silhouettes that have been so popularized in tv and movies and replace them with art like this[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE]An academic study published by University of Illinois researchers drew together findings from 42 different studies on trigger bias to examine whether race affects how likely a target is to be shot.
“What we found is that it does,” Mekawi told NPR’s Arun Rath, who covered the story.
“In our study we found two main things: First, people were quicker to shoot black targets with a gun, relative to white targets with a gun. And … people were more trigger-happy when shooting black targets compared to shooting white targets.”[/QUOTE]
[IMG]http://uproxx.files.wordpress.com/2017/02/ezgif-com-resize-66.gif?w=650[/IMG]
[url]http://uproxx.com/life/no-more-black-targets-art-shooting-range/[/url]
[QUOTE]“In our study we found two main things: First, people were quicker to shoot black targets with a gun, relative to white targets with a gun. And … people were more trigger-happy when shooting black targets compared to shooting white targets.”[/QUOTE]
Oh of course, it must be a race thing. Not that the contrast makes a generic black on white target easier to see or literally any other more reasonable explanation. :rolleyes:
Interesting theory. So would switching it to have white targets on black backgrounds have the numbers flip-flop?
I know some shooting ranges have pink silhouettes.
Do people really actually think a silhouette is more than just a silhouette?
I understand the reasoning behind this... But silhouettes are black. It's a way of showing "generic target"
Seems reasonable!
ah, finally people are focusing on what matters to fight racism
I go to the shooting range often enough to feel like the statement
[QUOTE]“In our study we found two main things: First, people were quicker to shoot black targets with a gun, relative to white targets with a gun. And … people were more trigger-happy when shooting black targets compared to shooting white targets.”[/QUOTE]
seems kinda tenuous.
The gun range I go to has full size silhouettes, also in black, but it also has smaller white circular targets too. I don't have any idea what's shot at more often in truth, but the times I've gone I see a fairly equal spread of precision targets(The smaller white circular bullseye type things) and the full size silhouettes
i used to use empty pizza boxes for plinking and now i struggle with the instinctive urge to shoot pizza deliverymen on sight
Is it still racist in their eyes if the racist drawings are on a green silhouette?
I'll paint mine brown then??
A target is not a human.
Black targets are black because they are supposed to represent a silhouette. If it was supposed to look like a black person it would have a shirt on.
Some of the art shown actually makes the target look more like a living being, making their argument that black targets=more police on minority shootings completely worthless.
This seems like an art gallery that is attempting to be controversial to gather more attention
A complete non-issue, also a silhouette is completely race neutral, if you back light any color enough it will become black.
While I can kind of see where they're coming from with this (constant training against black targets probably does subconsciously nudge you towards being more likely to shoot an african-american versus a caucasian), I think they're going about it pretty poorly.
Targets need to be functional - you need to be able to see where you shot, afterward. Those lines and numbers are functional bits, covering them up with art makes them unusable. Or are these supposed to just be promotional posters?
If they could put out something that was still fully-usable, but not black, that would be fine. Gray, maybe? You don't want colors and you generally want dark silhouettes because people, especially the ones you'll be shooting at, are generally clothed darker than their surroundings. Arguing for a mix of white and black targets would also make sense.
I also highly doubt this is the most pressing issue in gun-related race relations right now... the energy and resources behind this could probably have been used better elsewhere.
Why bother putting all that effort into your art if it's going to be shot repeatedly and thrown in the trash afterwards.
[QUOTE]“In our study we found two main things: First, people were quicker to shoot black targets with a gun, relative to white targets with a gun. And … people were more trigger-happy when shooting black targets compared to shooting white targets.”
[/QUOTE]
Are you actually fucking kidding me? Like seriously this shit is getting ridiculous.
[QUOTE=FlakTheMighty;51833919]I understand the reasoning behind this... But silhouettes are black. It's a way of showing "generic target"[/QUOTE]
yeah look at this group of black people
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/M3lTm29.png[/IMG]
wait hold on
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/AgIvLXX.png[/IMG]
[QUOTE=gman003-main;51833944](constant training against black targets probably does subconsciously nudge you towards being more likely to shoot an african-american versus a caucasian)[/QUOTE]
this armchair psychology is ridiculous and i guarantee it has no basis other than your personal feelings
[QUOTE=Bazsil;51833957]this armchair psychology is ridiculous and i guarantee it has no basis other than your personal feelings[/QUOTE]
And you based that on what? Your own personal feelings?
I haven't seen any psych literature on this exact subject, but this sort of psychological effect is very common and well-supported. I wouldn't expect it to be a major real-world issue but I would expect it to be a measurable effect in controlled experiments.
[QUOTE=gman003-main;51833985]And you based that on what? Your own personal feelings?
I haven't seen any psych literature on this exact subject, but this sort of psychological effect is very common and well-supported. I wouldn't expect it to be a major real-world issue but I would expect it to be a measurable effect in controlled experiments.[/QUOTE]
you havent seen any literature on it, of course, but still you want people to believe that it's well-supported anyway that shooting at a pitch-black, vaguely human-shaped cutout subconsciously primes people to gun down black guys specifically because you say so
yes, i personally feel that this is absolutely ridiculous and i'd love to hear some sort of support for it
[QUOTE=gman003-main;51833944]While I can kind of see where they're coming from with this (constant training against black targets probably does subconsciously nudge you towards being more likely to shoot an african-american versus a caucasian), I think they're going about it pretty poorly.
[/QUOTE]
no
this is simply ridiculous in every aspect. the generic shade of black has nothing to do with how the human brain interprets other races. i actually find the idea of this laughably racist in itself. like, black people can apparently be compared to [I]anything[/I] black.
[QUOTE=gman003-main;51833985]And you based that on what? Your own personal feelings?
[B]I haven't seen any psych literature on this exact subject,[/B] but this sort of psychological effect is very common and well-supported. I wouldn't expect it to be a major real-world issue but I would expect it to be a measurable effect in controlled experiments.[/QUOTE]
all he did was point out that you pulled that statement out of your ass (personal feelings), and you just confirmed that you don't know what the hell you're talking about
[QUOTE=gman003-main;51833985]And you based that on what? Your own personal feelings?[/QUOTE]
What did [I]you[/I] base [I]your[/I] statement on?
so if we change them to blue or red, when are people going to get offended about that
This is the ultimate example of "correlation is not causation". They admit it's correlated on their website and make no attempt to link the two statistics, instead throwing out "unconscious bias" without explaining how this bias can play a part in this.
[QUOTE]Young black men are 3X more likely to be shot and killed than their white peers.
The data is clear: between 2015 and 2016, 69% of these shootings were against victims that were non-violent and unarmed.
A disturbing potential correlation: The most popular target for shooters to learn to use their firearm is a black silhouette.
Unconscious bias can be deadly and it is contributing to one of the biggest violence issues in modern America.[/QUOTE]
I get that unconscious bias exists and it's something everyone suffers from (though not always necessarily with race) but they make no effort to prove that's the reason why, or even one of the reasons why, the shooting statistics are so skewed.
[QUOTE=gman003-main;51833944]While I can kind of see where they're coming from with this (constant training against black targets probably does subconsciously nudge you towards being more likely to shoot an african-american versus a caucasian), I think they're going about it pretty poorly.
Targets need to be functional - you need to be able to see where you shot, afterward. Those lines and numbers are functional bits, covering them up with art makes them unusable. Or are these supposed to just be promotional posters?
If they could put out something that was still fully-usable, but not black, that would be fine. Gray, maybe? You don't want colors and you generally want dark silhouettes because people, especially the ones you'll be shooting at, are generally clothed darker than their surroundings. Arguing for a mix of white and black targets would also make sense.
I also highly doubt this is the most pressing issue in gun-related race relations right now... the energy and resources behind this could probably have been used better elsewhere.[/QUOTE]
Um no. REAL studies show that cops are more likely to hesitate when in a situation involving deadly force with a black person. They're quicker to shoot a white person or other races.
It's a piece of fucking paper you shoot at. People can get over it. Manufactured outrage. Bullshit studies which correlate to nothing. Studies found that many people who have killed blacks ate food. If you eat food you're more likely to shoot black people.
[QUOTE=RikohZX;51834018]so if we change them to blue or red, when are people going to get offended about that[/QUOTE]
You're not allowed to shoot red because you're harming the REPUBLICAN PARTY
You wouldn't want to be UNPATRIOTIC now, would you?
See, this is why I use zombie targets exclusively.
[QUOTE=RikohZX;51834018]so if we change them to blue or red, when are people going to get offended about that[/QUOTE]
Probably never.
One of the main reason people use black targets is because you can see where your rounds impacted far more easily than on a white, or any other color, more easily. The reason people are more "trigger happy" with black targets is because they don't need to pause between shots to assess where they're hitting.
This is one of the most petty and trivial race issues I have ever heard of.
[QUOTE=gman003-main;51833944]
Targets need to be functional - you need to be able to see where you shot, afterward. Those lines and numbers are functional bits, covering them up with art makes them unusable. Or are these supposed to just be promotional posters?
[/QUOTE]
Gonna go out on a limb and assume the people behind this project aren't avid shooters.
[editline]16th February 2017[/editline]
[QUOTE=Ridge;51834052]See, this is why I use zombie targets exclusively.[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=Cyke Lon bee;51834055]Probably never.
One of the main reason people use black targets is because you can see where your rounds impacted far more easily than on a white, or any other color, more easily. The reason people are more "trigger happy" with black targets is because they don't need to pause between shots to assess where they're hitting.
This is one of the most petty and trivial race issues I have ever heard of.[/QUOTE]
What about a very dark green?
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