Unconscious Bias

Moule, Jean. "Understanding Unconscious Bias and Unintentional Racism: Acknowledging our possible biases and working together openly is essential for developing community in our schools."
Phi Delta Kappan. Jan 2009.


Ms. Moule discusses the complex reality of unconscious bias in society and the classroom. Her thesis focuses on the idea that society dictates that racism is an inherently evil practice perpetrated by bad people, but that most of us are walking around with racist biases that we may not even recognize ourselves. From that foundation, the conclusion is that it would be better to seek out and acknowledge our subconscious racist tendencies in order to correct them than to simply shove them under the rug. The most interesting findings in the study were that even anti-racism activists harbored these unconscious sentiments.

I found this article to be very worthwhile and frank discussion about the realities of racism today. Sure there are extremist views on race that are flatly bigoted and cruel, but the reality is that most people are not criminally racist despite having underlying racist tendencies. I think that one of the best things that American society could do to improve race relations is to stop making racial distinctions taboo. As a white woman, I have often felt that the expectation is for me to completely colorblind and that any acknowledgment of other races has the potential to be held against me. I am sure that I have unconscious biases like those described in the article but so long as my actions are consistently fair and well-intentioned, I don't think that I should be fearful of being judged a bigot.

I truly believe that the more time one spends interacting with a variety of human beings (race, religion, lack of religion, sex, sexual orientation, affluence and many other categories make up my definition of "variety") the less unconscious bias they will harbor. Comfort with individual is typically generated overtime, so it seems to follow that the more time one spends with individuals from a particular group, the more likely they are to become comfortable with that group. Personally, after spending the last 4 months with my nearly exclusively Filipino students, I am a lot more comfortable with Filipinos. Prior to my students, I knew a few Filipinos that I liked (many who were in the Navy with my father) but the extended contact has simply increased how much I understand and embrace them. This brings me back to my original point, that if I would have unconsciously offered a negative response to a Filipino accent before, it wasn't a matter of immoral racism, simply a question of the comfort level that I felt as an individual with limited experience.