Implicit Bias and Racialized Meaning

The title of this blog post is taken directly from a title of a subheading in chapter 6 of Sampson's Great American City. This part of the chapter is only two pages, however, there are a whole lot of discourse-worthy points packed into these two pages. I will approach these points using personal thoughts and anecdotes, as well, I will try to incorporate themes, concepts, and ideas that we have learned and discussed in class.

            The book mentions that stereotypes are “especially tempting” to the untrained intellect. What I gather from this is that any and every human being will be guilty of some level of stereotyping of another individual or group of individuals. These means that no matter how well-intended or pure-hearted an individual may be, they will still partake in some level of stereotyping others. That is only, however, for an individual who is not made aware of their very subconscious stereotyping of others. Once a person is made aware of their stereotyping, the hope is that they will no longer engage in that behavior. Sampson adds to this concept when saying “we make decisions habitually and without much introspection.” So, then, it seems that this action of stereotyping is a natural behavior of a human being. Therefore, until an individual is taught and trained to look inward and contemplate their thoughts about themselves, others, and the world at large, they will in all likelihood continue to stereotype others.

            You may be asking yourself, “What does this have to do with the urban community?” This question can be best answered in this one sentence by Sampson, “A body of research shows that Americans hold persistent beliefs linking blacks, disadvantaged minorities, and recent immigrant groups to many social images, including crime, violence, disorder, welfare, and their undesirability as neighbors.” The last few words of that sentence, which I underlined, are the main connection to our class discussions throughout the semester and the course as a whole. We have seen again and again throughout our readings in the semester the role that race bias and stereotyping play in the formation and/or deformation of a community, particularly the urban community. We saw specifically in American Apartheid, how the real estate industry, for example, played a huge role in not allowing African Americans into certain neighborhoods in the United States. Their “undesirability as neighbors,” which can be argued is founded in stereotypes, is arguably the main reason and explanation for the status quo we now see in many of our larger, segregated urban communities across the United States.

            The links I have included below in this post are to two interesting articles. The first has to do police training and raising awareness among police officers about implicit bias. The second article has to do with racial bias and stereotyping in general. Also, the photo I included is, in my opinion, a very deep and profound reflection of the stereotyping we see in society today (pay close attention to the mugshots and how the accused are dressed in their respective photos).

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/destiny-peery/implicit-bias-training-fo_b_9464564.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/04/upshot/the-measuring-sticks-of-racial-bias-.html