It’s starting.

Ghost-like mists are rising from the rivers and creeks. Early fall asters and mums are starting to bloom.  Nuts are falling onto the walkways. Desiccated leaves sparsely cover paths.  We have had some blissfully cool mornings.

Everything is pumpkin spiced.

That’s right, crisp fall days are coming. Gorgeous oranges, reds and yellows, the death rattle of dying leaves.  Soon warm coffee drinks will replace ice-cold teas. The loud whining sound of leaf blowers will replace the grinding sound of lawn mowers.

Fruits and vegetable stands will close. Late summer crops will die and dust from harvesting will spray the air.  Eventually frost will be sprinkled over the fields like diamond dust.  Bursts of steam will emerge from horse’s nostrils.

Autumn is coming!

Oh joy.  My least favorite season.

But there is one thing about autumn that I do appreciate–the vivid colors that emerge as the dense humid summer atmosphere gives way to the clear, bright skies of autumn.

I have always loved color. In my early scientific research, I studied human perception because it is just so fascinating, how our senses limit our perception of the physical world.

Humidity dulls our perception of colors because its scatters the sunlight.  Wavelength scattering is very important in our perception of color.  The reason that the sky appears blue is a phenomenon called Rayleigh Scattering.  In simplified terms, small atmospheric particles scatter the shorter, blue wavelengths; allowing us to perceive the sky as blue.  Interestingly, if our cones were more sensitive to shorter wavelengths, the sky would appear violet.

Artists have long maintained that there are places that have more vibrant colors.  The South of France was favored by Impressionists because they believed that the bright, clear air allowed them to see the full color spectrum.  Similarly, many Plein Air artists flock to places in Maine, e.g., Deer Island, that provide similar vividness.  For those looking for the brightest colors, look for places with high altitudes, less pollution and low humidity.

Cone receptors on the back of our retinas allow us to see colors.  We have three types of cones (called trichromacy):

• Short-wave cones for colors with short wavelengths, such as purple and blue.
• Middle-wave cones which are sensitive to medium wavelengths, such as yellow and green.
• Long-wave cones to see colors with long wavelengths, such as red and orange.

In the last decade, scientists have discovered that from 2% to 12% of women have a fourth type of cone receptor, called tetrachromacy. (Because it is an X-linked gene, it is highly unlikely that men could have it.)

In 2010, a woman was documented as having true tetrachromacy. Unlike trichromats who can see up to 1 million colors; tetrachromats can see up to 100 million colors. An artist, Concetta Antico, is a tetrachromat, who paints the world that she sees, and gives us a view into her perceptual world.

Since up to 12% of the women have four cones, why hasn’t it been discovered before?  There are two reasons, first we all perceive the world differently.  How many times have you perceived one color and another person perceived it as a different color?  That is due to both labeling and our perceptual visual system.

The second reason that it hadn’t been discovered is a little more complex.  It is believed that this fourth cone is a mutation of the Long Wave Cone (L).  This mutation can be minor, so the cone responds to similar wavelengths to the unmutated L cone.  In that case, while you would possess the 4th cone your perception would be indistinguishable from the vision of trichromats (3 cones).  If, however, the mutation causes the cone to respond to shorter frequencies (the yellow band); that creates tetrachromacy.

Some insects and birds are tetrachromats (have 4 cones). For example, zebra finches use their four cones to find food and select a mate.

As of yet there is no reliable test for tetrachromacy. Scientists are experimenting with scarf colors…but so far, they have found very few women who have full tetrachromacy.

But at least you know that when the bright clear skies of autumn appear, you know why you enjoy more vivid colors; and perhaps understand why some women may see colors a little differently.

Angela Rieck, a Caroline County native, received her PhD in Mathematical Psychology from the University of Maryland and worked as a scientist at Bell Labs, and other high-tech companies in New Jersey before retiring as a corporate executive. Angela and her dogs divide their time between St Michaels and Key West Florida. Her daughter lives and works in New York City.

About 20 years ago I was educated about white privilege. Until then, I was pretty proud of myself.  We moved to an urban school district so that my daughter would experience the real world (she speaks Spanish like a native).  Throughout my career, I hired mostly people of color. Every year, I required my daughter to accompany me to the Martin Luther King commemorative breakfast.

At one of these breakfasts, twenty years ago, a (white) Unitarian minister gave a speech on what it meant to be white; and everything changed.  While there were many examples, some were:

• If I get stopped by a policeman, I probably did something wrong
• If I encounter a policeman, I do not fear for my life
• When I attend a function, I can be assured that most people look like me
• If I behave badly, I don’t represent a group of people, it is just me behaving badly
• If I don’t win the house that I was bidding on, it is because I was outbid (not because I am not wanted in that neighborhood)

The list goes on.  But with each item, I realized my accomplishments were launched from an invisible white privilege springboard.  And white privilege was something that could be invoked without even knowing it.

Look at the example of the Central Park dog walker. She was illegally walking her dog off leash when a Black American man asked her to put her dog on leash. When she hostilely refused, he began videoing her.  She responded by calling the police and falsely accusing an “African American male” of threatening her. It backfired.  His post went viral and she lost her job.  In her apology, she indicated that she was not racist.  I suspect that is correct, it is just that when she needed it, she invoked her white privilege.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9Z2UpLmnsk

One of the most powerful explanations of white privilege was made in a 2017 video about a student race.  If you haven’t seen it, I urge you to.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4K5fbQ1-zps

Before I understood white privilege, I could point to myself as a success story.  While my parents paid tuition (it was inexpensive back then); I worked my way through college and graduate school.  I was the first in my family to be awarded a Ph.D. and I worked HARD.  I worked 7 days a week, long days that often went until 2 a.m.  I was motivated and driven.  But I had the heretofore unknown advantage of white privilege.  Not in acceptances or scholarships or jobs.  I got it from my parents and my culture who taught me that success was through education and hard work.  I got it by seeing adults who looked like me (okay, they were men, but the same color) who had used their education to accomplish great things.  My parents, relatives and other adults showed me the path to my success.

At the Republican National Convention, there were many stories of Black and Hispanic Americans overcoming odds to be successful.  Good for them! But that doesn’t mean that everyone can.  (Many had parents who taught them about the value of hard work and education.)

Isabel Wilkerson in her very powerful and painful book, Caste, The Origins of our Discontent, explains why Black Americans grew up not seeing the same path. Jim Crow laws limited any upward mobility. Any job above menial labor was closed to them, even in the North. Where there were opportunities, they were paid less.

It was the Indians who recognized that Blacks had been relegated to the same caste as their Untouchables (now called the Dalits). Like the Untouchables, Black Americans were prohibited from mixing with whites, from marrying outside of their race, were given inferior facilities and education, were required to treat whites with deference, while whites were expected to treat them as inferiors.  One legislator stated that their goal was to make sure that “the lowest white person was higher than the highest black person.” Through a reign of terror, such as lynchings, false arrests, and harassment they kept Black Americans in fear.  They passed discriminatory laws that prevented Black Americans from being successful.  Sadly, the police were called upon to enforce these racist laws.

The Nazis were so impressed by the Jim Crow laws that they implemented some to oppress the Jews.  Before the Final Solution, they followed American’s blueprint, taking away job opportunities, wealth, and confining Jews to the ghetto… sound familiar?

I urge you to take the few minutes to watch “the race.” Watch how some of the students saw that it was fruitless to race, other students wanted to win regardless of their advantages, and others tried to be supportive. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4K5fbQ1-zps

There is a phenomenon in Psychology called Learned Helplessness. Learned Helplessness happens when animals or people who continue to be thwarted eventually “give up” and do not see an opportunity even when it is presented to them. In a typical human experiment, participants were exposed to loud, unpleasant noises and told to “press the lever” to stop the sound.  Half of the participants had levers that worked and the other half had levers that did not work.  All participants in the latter group gave up pressing the lever; even when they were given a second session (and the lever worked).  The participants had learned that it didn’t matter what they did, so they quit trying.

Imagine what it is like to be told that it doesn’t matter what you do, you will be treated differently, not only from your experience but by your parents’ experiences and their parents’ experiences. Despite the elimination of Jim Crow laws, ubiquitous cell phones capture discrimination and harassment against Black Americans even today.

I am impressed by anyone who can “make it” through the system.  But we must remember that we can only build ourselves up by our bootstraps if we are given boots.

Angela Rieck, a Caroline County native, received her PhD in Mathematical Psychology from the University of Maryland and worked as a scientist at Bell Labs, and other high-tech companies in New Jersey before retiring as a corporate executive. Angela and her dogs divide their time between St Michaels and Key West Florida. Her daughter lives and works in New York City.