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Since George Floyd’s murder just over a year ago, many of us have pondered whether we harbor unconscious racial bias. Surveys show most of us think we do not, but research says we’re kidding ourselves.
Now, my children are Korean Americans and I’m a white guy. So, being in a multi-racial family, I’ve experienced racism vicariously through my children, and it ain’t pretty. I’m not talking about inquisitive looks we garner in public, which are often harmless curiosity, or some of the wryly amusing stereotypes, such as when people assume my children, being Asian, are math savants. But, too often, there is nothing laughable involved, like the social and economic impacts of systemic racism, COVIDiots assaulting Asian Americans, or the profiling of people of color by some bad apples in law enforcement.
Then again, unconscious racial bias often proves subtler, like when my daughter and I go to supper or a movie together, just the two of us, only to encounter critical stares and whispers from disapproving types, perhaps assuming I am her sugar daddy. Were we of the same race, it’s unlikely such presumptions would emerge. This is fed by an underlying and often subconscious bias that people of different races must not be related.
After one of these “look at them” episodes, some of my faith in humanity was renewed when a best friend, Tom, overheard my son describe how a girl at his high school was forced to turn down his invitation to prom because her parents didn’t want her dating someone of a different race. When my son asked Tom what he thought about all that, he replied, “I love the mixing of the races.” Helps explain why he’s a best friend.
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The “Race Thing”
Now that my children are adults, we discuss the “race thing” more as peers than as parent/child. They talk about having moved to Chicago because of its ethnic diversity, and how growing up in a community oozing white privilege often left them feeling judged more on their racial heritage than other personal attributes.
They’re right about that. Studies show the first thing someone notices when meeting a new person is their race, then gender, followed by age. What’s more, this research also indicates that, as a whole, racial groups prefer their own kind (called “tribalism”), so much so that less than 10% of us are without measurable bias in this regard. Not surprisingly, for many, racial bias operates outside day-to-day awareness, affecting how we think and interact in ways that escape our notice.
So, while most of us harbor unconscious bias, some are actually conscious of this tendency in themselves and comfortable with it. Why? Two factors emerge from the research, and they have more to do with psychology than ideology. First off, the more uncomfortable one is with ambiguity (shades of gray, rather than black-and-white certainty), the more one will make snap judgments about others based on race. It’s an apprehensive person’s way of categorizing people (e.g., “He’s black so he must be in a gang” or “She’s Native American, so she’s probably an alcoholic,” and so on). Because presumptive certainty reduces their anxiety, these folks often act on their racial bias.
Secondly, people with low self-worth, often those who feel marginalized in society, are more likely to harbor pronounced racial prejudice. It’s a dysfunctional way to feel better about oneself by putting down others, and the easiest targets are those one perceives as “not worthy."
Once aware of and honest with oneself about indwelling racial bias, it can be intentionally addressed. This involves observing how and when one’s biases emerge, and then challenging them head-on. By combining self-awareness with the intention to reduce or dissolve racial bias, this attitudinal transformation becomes possible.
The Black Lives Matter movement has compelled more of us to look in the mirror, but we have a long way to go in seeing past the physical shells that envelope the human psyche and soul.
As Rev. Jesse Jackson remarked: “I hear that melting pot stuff a lot, and all I can say is we haven’t melted yet.”
For more, visit philipchard.com.
