Pondering about the Author of Silent Racism

In class on Monday, a very interesting question was brought up regarding the race of the author of ‘Silent Racism’. The question was to do with how ‘Silent Racism’ would be seen differently if the author were a black woman rather than a white woman. This question has invoked another related question that I now am pondering. It was clear that most of the class, including myself, had strong feelings about the way Barbara Trepagnier carried out her study. There were several critics and attacks against her and her ideas about racism. After our quick judgments and vocal responses, the question I now ask is whether we would have responded the same way if the author were a male rather than a female. In my opinion, questioning human response dependent on race is as legitimate as questioning human response to gender. So, I am wondering if knowing that the author is a woman gives readers a greater feeling of superiority or knowledge over her than if the author were a man. I am interested in this question as we have been learning about silent racism and how white people respond to colored people in a certain way without even realizing it. I believe that gender equality is similar in this way. People respond to women differently than they do to men, and whether people believe that women are now created equal to men, they are still not. Just like the way racism still exists. If a male wrote ‘Silent Racism’ would we be as critical?