Does Race Affect Whether People Help in a Crisis?

March 22, 2006 — -- A couple is having a raging fight in public, and it looks as if it could turn violent. Do you intervene or keep walking?

That's the question "Primetime" asked in a hidden-camera experiment last fall, with actors playing the couples. That scenario generated so mcuh interest that "Primetime" decided to pose a different question.Would people act differently based on the couple's race?

A white couple, portrayed by Sarah and Nate, argued in a suburban park in New Jersey. One person after another ignored the woman in distress until a few people finally stepped in.

A black couple, portrayed by Karen and Tom, also argued in a park, but this park was Georgia. In this case, the boyfriend appeared even more aggressive.

At one point Karen screamed, "You're scaring me! Just please, please! Would you let go of me!"

Several people passed by looking concerned, but most insisted it wasn't their business.

"It seemed like they were breaking up," said one woman. "Just a squabble."

Another couple kept walking, saying later that getting involved was too dangerous. A man who appeared clearly shaken said he wanted to call 911 but had no cell phone.

"I wasn't going to intervene in someone's else's fight. 'Cause he, that would potentially escalate him -- he was out of control, or was on his way out of control," the man said.

Tom, the actor, said he was shocked that no one helped, considering what he was doing.

"I was shaking her, kicking her in her booty, you know, head locks and choking her neck," Tom said. "I mean, things that you know you wouldn't think that anybody would let slide by in this society right now in 2006."

What Role Did Race Play?

Does race have anything to do with it? Karen has her own theory.

"I think it is 'angry black man' syndrome," she said. "It's an automatic fear."

Yet, of the 58 people who walked by Tom and Karen fighting, 15 of them stopped to intervene or call 911.

In fact, three times as many people stopped for Karen, the black actress, as they did for Sarah, the white actress.

But there was also a difference in the way people got involved. With Sarah, they stepped in and got between her and the abusive boyfriend.

But with Karen, people were more likely to keep their distance, and many simply told the couple it was inappropriate to air their dispute in public.

"There's a time and a place for things," one passer-by said to the couple. "This is not the time -- and certainly not the place."

That was something no one said to the white couple fighting in New Jersey.

"It did make me feel bad," Karen said. "I didn't get any sympathy."

Carrie Keating, a professor of psychology at Colgate University, said race did seem to play a role in people's reactions to the black and white couples.

"It seemed there was more empathy for the white victim than the black victim," Keating said. "It may be that you suffer a little bit of double jeopardy if you're female and black."

Deciding to Hold Her Ground

As the experiment with Tom and Karen was about to wrap, one more woman walked by, a woman who was compelled to act.

Approaching Tom and Karen, she said, "Excuse me, do I need to call someone?"

The woman, Tammy Billups, appeared calm and determined, and she looked the "abuser" right in the eye. She insisted she would not leave, even when Tom became confrontational.

Billups asked passers-by for a cell phone to call for help, and she continued to comfort Karen.

"It's OK, they're calling," she said to Karen, patting her on the shoulder. "I'm not going anywhere. I don't care."

For four minutes, Billups held her ground. Finally, she escorted Karen away. "I don't want you to be by yourself until he's gone," she told Karen.

When asked why she intervened, Billups said that she was frightened, but she remembered something she saw on TV.

"I've ... seen something like this on television before, but where they told you what to do, and they said to call and don't back away and get eye contact," she said. "And so, I thought I have to force myself to do that no matter what, even though I was shaking."

The show Billups had seen was last fall's "What Would You Do?," the first hour of "Primetime's" special series.

"I just thought, in the show it said, 'Stand there and don't leave,' and so I just thought, I have to do that for her," she said.

Karen was moved to tears. "Yes, it was in character, but it was also like, 'Thank you for seeing me as a person in distress.'"