A circular perception-habit feedback loop makes black failure the default American frame.

Evidence

Most Americans, conservative and liberal, see African Americans as failing. That perception shapes our habits, and our habits, in turn, shape the perception. Black people fail in schools and in the workplace, and we fail our families and our children. Not even the black middle class is safe from these judgments. Aside from obvious exceptions like Kenneth Chenault or Oprah Winfrey, the prevailing stereotype holds that the majority of African Americans are failures. — Eddie S. Glaude Jr., Democracy in Black, 540

Categorization

• DEFINE: This circular feedback is Glaude’s operative definition of racial habits — perceptual frames self-reinforced through behavior.