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January 07, 2003

Biases

Amy posted this link to a site where you can Test yourself for hidden bias.

Give it a try. I only took two of the tests, which ended up showing that I had an unconscious bias toward lighter skin, and towards associating European-American with American.

It does not shock me that I had an unconscious bias, but it does surprise me that the tests rated it as strong.

Part of me wants to say it's all wrong - I am free of such biases.

But I think the better way to deal with this is to say - yes, I know that I do have biases below the surface - I must examine my attitudes towards people remembering that they may be tainted.

The skin color result surprised me because I know many people (ok, let's be honest, women) of color whom I find very attractive. But I guess there is a difference between the way you look at people you know and the way you look at strangers in a crowd.

How much of what we say, and think "on the surface" is influenced by social norms?

When we lived in New Jersey, I remember how people who would never say something bad about African-Americans would say all sorts of things about the Indian-Americans - for some reason, prejudice against people from India had not yet become a no-no in polite company.

How often when you see a stranger in a crowd do you pop them into a skin-color or ethic classification, an almost reflex action? Be honest.

Being honest with yourself is crucial - you can't point fingers without understanding where you are coming from.

My thinking was the same when I was a journalist. People always say journalists should have no "bias". Bull. Everyone has biases about something. But you can ask a journalist to know their biases, and use that knowledge to treat people and groups fairly.

What you don't know about yourself can hurt.

Posted by markj at January 7, 2003 01:25 AM

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Comments

well said. I took 3 tests and on all three I had a bias towards people who had the same qualities I do. I wonder if that is so for all people, including minority groups. Awhile ago I went to diversity training at work and we learned that for different traits there is a "dominant" and "submissive" group (i.e. in the US dominant would be male or white, submissive female or non-white). The submissive group is slmost always more aware of the discrimination towards them than the dominant group is aware that they discriminate because it the norm in the culture that the dominant group is dominant. What is really surprising to me is, as you alude to, members of one submissive group aren't always simpathetic to other submissive groups issues. I work with a woman who is very passionate about womens issues, but will turn around and make a derogatory comment about "people from 3rd world countrys" and how they shouldn't be allowed in the U.S. Another guy I work with is gay, yet he made a derogatory comment about Asians. I told him that was a horrible thing to say and his response was: "as if anyone is going to sue me?", which just shows that he is aware that is in a submisive group and he feels he can use that excuse bad behavior. Well, I've gone off on a tangent here, but I must say that I wholeheartedly agree with you that what you don't know about yourself can hurt.

Posted by: amy at January 7, 2003 08:36 PM

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