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."

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.