You don’t have to be racist to be biased.
Unconscious bias can be at work without our realizing it, and even
when we genuinely wish to treat all people equally, ingrained
stereotypes can infect our visual perception, attention, memory, and
behavior. This has an impact on education, employment, housing, and
criminal justice. In Biased, with a perspective that is at
once scientific, investigative, and informed by personal experience,
Jennifer Eberhardt offers us insights into the dilemma and a path
forward.
Eberhardt works
extensively as a consultant to law enforcement and as a psychologist
at the forefront of this new field. Her research takes place in
courtrooms and boardrooms, in prisons, on the street, and in
classrooms and coffee shops. She shows us the subtle–and sometimes
dramatic–daily repercussions of implicit bias in how teachers grade
students, or managers deal with customers. It has an enormous impact
on the conduct of criminal justice, from the rapid decisions police
officers have to make to sentencing practices in court. Eberhardt’s
work and her book are both influenced by her own life, and the
personal stories she shares emphasize the need for change. She has
helped companies that include Airbnb and Nextdoor address bias in
their business practices and has led anti-bias initiatives for police
departments across the country. Here, she offers practical
suggestions for reform and new practices that are useful for
organizations as well as individuals.
Unblinking about the
tragic consequences of prejudice, Eberhardt addresses how racial bias
is not the fault of nor restricted to a few “bad apples” but is
present at all levels of society in media, education, and business.
The good news is that we are not hopelessly doomed by our innate
prejudices. In Biased, Eberhardt reminds us that racial bias
is a human problem–one all people can play a role in solving.