Take Harvard's Implicit Bias Test...

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

A discussion occurring right now on Melissa Harris-Perry regarding implicit bias in the Zimmerman case.

Some findings:

1. Whites are implicitly biased against blacks.
2. BLACKS also are implicitly biased against other blacks.

Because we ALL are bombarded with negative images of black people, we ALL suffer from unconscious racism and make speak or act in a way that is racially biased and not even realize it.

The point to emphasize:

This test is about *unconscious* racism, not explicit expression of racial attitudes (e.g., calling someone the N-Word, etc.).

Take the test:

https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/demo/

The bottom line: To beat implicit bias will us to expose ourselves to others not like us as much as possible.

[MgtPA]

1. I just took the test, my results:

"Your data suggest a slight automatic preference for African American children compared to European American children."

I didn't expect this result, I'm a 60-year-old white lady.

Empathy?

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

5. Absolutely!! That empathy may stem from the fact that you have exposed yourself to blacks,

you learn more that they are humans like anyone else.

I feel that same about the LGBT community. Studies and public opinion demonstrates that as more people know lesbians and gays and/or have LGBT friends or family, it sensitizes them and they become more empathetic to their plight.

[tammywammy]

2. Very interesting!

Thanks for the link!

[markiv]

3. does the NSA get a copy of the result? nt

[pscot]

4. 6 percenter

slight bias in favor of black faces.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

7. then i am in good company... n/t

[ananda]

6. OK, I took it.

It came out moderately biased for European Americans.

This was based on the speed of my finger responses.

That was interesting, and I'm not surprised. I already knew I had
that bias, and I do consider myself somewhat racist. Knowing
this, I try to counteract or work on my biases consciously.

[Rstrstx]

12. Took the same test twice and got very different results

I don't know how they work it but your first test may be the most accurate or you may have to take the same test over and over multiple times to really get an accurate picture

[Sweet Freedom]

8. My results were

Your data suggest little to no automatic preference between European American children and African American children.

[malokvale77]

9. Must be something wrong with me.

I'm mostly of Norwegian ancestry, and scored in the 2% (strong automatic bias for African Americans).

Maybe because I live in Texas and see the blatant racism daily. I've never felt comfortable here.

[LWolf]

10. 2%

Your data suggest a strong automatic preference for African American compared to European American.

That's not really accurate; I don't feel like I have a preference one way or another. I think I just react very strongly to racism, overt or implied.

[knitter4democracy]

11. Slight automatic preference for African American children. Interesting.

I've just been a high school teacher for a year and a half in a school that was 67% African American, and for most of my teaching jobs, I've been in schools with decent diversity.

I should have been able to predict this, though. Even though I'm white and have children of my own, including a son (who is reading over my shoulder right now), I tend to be slightly biased against white male students. Most of my scary moments in teaching have been with white males, and the few times my job has been threatened by students, white males were behind it. I tend to keep a closer eye on them because of that availability bias.

[Azathoth]

13. What a useless test

First result: Strong preference for African-Americans
Second result: Moderate preference for European-Americans

This test isn't measuring bias; it's measuring how fast the brain can retrain itself after being conditioned through repetition to make a particular association.