You're probably at least a little bit racist and sexist and homophobic. Most of us are.
Before you get all indignant, try taking one of the popular Implicit Association Tests. They measure people's unconscious prejudice by testing how easy — or difficult — it is for the test-takers to associate words like "good" and "bad" with images of black people versus white people, or "scientist" and "lab" with men versus women.
These tests find that — regardless of how many Pride parades they attend or how many "This is what a feminist looks like" T-shirts they own — most people trust men over women, white people over minorities, and straight people over queer people. These trends can hold true regardless of the gender, race or sexuality of the test-taker. I'm from India, and the test found that I'm biased against Asian-Americans.
There is research indicating that these types of implicit prejudices may help explain why cops are more likely to shoot unarmed black men than to shoot unarmed white men, and why employers are more likely to hire white candidates than they are equally qualified black candidates.
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DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
Our experiences create our biases.....
ReplyDeleteIf you have ever watched someone illegally park in a handicap spot and have them rant at you when you call them on it - you're likely to be biased against a group that person would be a member of.
If you have ever been in a car accident with someone that hit you and didn't have insurance (or a driver's license) - you're likely to be biased against a group that person would be a member of.
If you have ever watched three people do the same stupid thing - with or without watching others do it - you're likely to be biased against a group these three would be a member of.
The thing to remember - every individual represents 'their' group and can cause biases based on their actions....there are good members and bad members of every group. We need to take a minute and determine if the individuals we are encountering fit the group we have a bias about.
I don't need no stupid test to tell me that Black people are mostly bad, Gays are sick, Transgender people are Nuts, and Obama, and Hillary hate America!
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