Click & Aha!
Several weeks ago, I wrote about bias—particularly implicit bias, the unconscious attitudes we unwittingly allow to guide our thinking. I explained I had learned, via Harvard’s implicit bias tests, that I do harbor some racial bias I’d been unaware of. So, I’ve been trying to pay attention. Here are things I’ve noticed:
While listening to NPR on the car radio, I heard a female stand-up comic in an interview telling her personal story about how she got into comedy. I vaguely pictured her in my mind’s eye. And then she mentioned being a person of color.
Click! I was suddenly aware I’d presumed her to be white until her statement made me see the picture correctly. I wasn’t offended or disturbed. I didn’t think more positively or negatively about the voice on the radio. But I realized I harbor a presumption of whiteness when I hear a voice using standard American English. No actual harm was inflicted thinking about a person in radio land while in my car alone, but it was an “aha” moment about myself.
This definitely signals implicit bias. Whites do not have a monopoly on standard English. (Even the term standard English might imply some institutional bias, but that’s a discussion for another day.)
A few days after the radio incident, I was engaged in a group activity in a community building here in Carroll County. A woman sat on the sideline, presumably waiting for her friend who was taking part in the activity. This woman’s skin and hair might reasonably suggest Hispanic heritage. She was reading not one book—but two. And taking notes. My immediate reaction—before I could stop myself— was maybe she’s studying for the citizenship test.
Click! How dare I make such a presumption based on hair, skin color, and geographic location. Maybe she’s a doctoral student working on her dissertation. Or a college professor preparing her lecture. (Or an Arkansas librarian protecting her job.) I silently chided myself. Again, no outward harm, but an “aha” moment.
Then I noticed her tote bag, which bore the logo of an organization for which I’ve been a sustaining member (they get monthly money from my bank account) for as long as I’ve lived in Arkansas. This contributed to additional knee-jerk judgement, only now I perceived the woman as educated and politically like me, even though the organization is not inherently political, and you don’t have to have a college degree to donate.
Click! Aha! Yikes!
I’ve been reading about implicit bias. It’s learned. That is to say, we are not born with it—we acquire it. So, theoretically, it can be unlearned. But the research I read indicates nobody quite yet knows how to eliminate it. Programs aimed at conquering racial or gender bias have been instituted at various agencies—police forces, educational facilities, medical organizations—in attempts to mitigate the effects of racism or sexism on the job—but research indicates that if the training nets any positive result, it’s not usually long-lasting.
So how do I unlearn my implicit bias? I don’t really know. I’ve been immersing myself in books, movies and TV programs produced by and featuring members of non-white cultures hoping it will at least loosen the grip of these implicit biases. But there’s one thing I’m pretty sure of: I can’t unlearn it if I refuse to be aware of it. So, I will continue to pay attention—to catch myself in tiny acts of racial presumption (or any other unfounded automatic judgment) and try to learn from my mistakes.
I’ll keep you posted.