Understanding Implicit Bias

UNDERSTANDING IMPLICIT BIAS

IMPLICIT BIAS

Racial and Economic Justice

WHAT IS IMPLICIT BIAS?•Definition: Attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions, and decisions in an unconscious manner.

•These biases, which encompass both favorable and unfavorable assessments, are activated involuntarily and without an individual’s awareness or intentional control.


WHERE DOES IT COME FROM?Residing in the subconscious, these biases are different from known biases that individual may choose to conceal for the purposes of social and/or political correctness.


WHERE DOES IT COME FROM?


WHERE DOES IT COME FROM?•We learn these associations at an early age. •The media and news programming affects implicit associations


THINGS TO KNOW!

1. Everyone has implicit bias. Sorry. Even people with a commitment to being impartial, like judges


THINGS TO KNOW! 2. The implicit

associations we hold may not align with our

declared beliefs or reflect stances we

endorse


THINGS TO KNOW!

3. We favor our own in group, although we can still hold biases against our in group.


THINGS TO KNOW! 4. Implicit biases can be unlearned through a number of debiasing techniques.


EXAMPLES OF IMPLICIT BIAS


IMPLICIT BIAS IN THE WORKPLACE


IMPLICIT BIAS IN GENDER


PLAYING THE RACE CARD Shared Fate/Shared Destiny Protesting systems not protesting people Responsibility not culpability Intent and impact Systems and individualsImplicit bias World as it is and world as it should beMultiple truths The Bounce back The Assist


PLAYING THE RACE CARD Shared Fate/Shared Destiny • Comment: Why do we need affirmative action, it’s unfair! • Answer: Race-based preferences in admissions is good for the whole university community. Here’s

how

Protesting systems not protesting people • Comment: Black lives matter is racist. • Answer: When Black people are protesting it is NOT against white people (or an individual police

officer), its againist racialized systems and structures that restrict human life and opportunities because of race

Responsibility not culpability • Comment: I grew up poor too! I do not have white privilege• Answer: People may benefit from racialized systems unintentionally. Doesn’t mean you’re culpable

or guilty. The real question is about responsibility. Now that we’re aware, what action will you take?


PLAYING THE RACE CARD Intent and impact • Comment: Mexicans sure do know how to make a good taco. • Answer: Ouch! You may have said something that may have rubbed a few people the wrong

way. Will you please say more about what’s behind that comment so that people understand your intent.

Systems and individuals• Comments: Black people are always blaming White people for their problems. Slavery is over. • Answer: Race is a system with a lot of moving parts that interact and overlap overtime.

Attitudes and behaviors you see in some communities are not a reflection of culture or human defect. But a reflection of trauma and the result of a legacy of generational inequities inflicted overtime. We need to both, transform systems and heal the individual families.

Implicit bias • Comments: She isn’t racist. Her grandbaby is Filipino. There is no way he wouldn’t hire Asians.• Answer: Just because she hasn’t hired any people of color doesn’t mean she isn’t a racist.

Maybe the bias is not overt and explicit. Maybe it’s implicit. And needs to be brought to their attention


PLAYING THE RACE CARD World as it is and world as it should be• Comment: I am color-blind• Answer: Yes, we’re all human and should not see people through the

color of their skin or other physical characteristics. That’s the world as it should be. The world as it is has conditioned us to see race. What are the Action we can take in the world as it is to create the world as it should be.


PLAYING THE RACE CARD When two people start to argue use… Multiple truths • Is it possible that both of your are right. Your lived experience is your truth.

Maybe there is a shared truth somewhere in the middle

When someone says something that is totally off the chain use…The Bounce back • Let me pose the question back to you? Let me ask your question a different

way

When someone asks a difficult question use…The Assist • I really appreciate your question. That's a good/hard one. What do other

people think.







WHAT CAN I DO ABOUT IT?Raise Awareness

• Provide implicit bias trainings• Small Group Examples

Seek to acknowledge real

people

• Surround yourself with people that demonstrate your goals • Invest effort into learning the stigmatized/stereotypic group

Check Processes and Decision

Making

• Use decision support tools and slow down in decision making• Develop guidelines that offer concrete strategies to fix it (eliminate ambiguity)

Feedback mechanisms

• Seek feedback from others and articulate your reasoning• Adopt a peer review process


Education

Understanding Implicit Bias