Implicit Racial Biases: Unconscious judgements or attitudes towards people based on race - these are unconscious and may not be purposeful
Reading Rebecca Hains's article on how to respond when called out for being racist has a lot of great points that I think more people should read about. Hains's point about implicit racial biases would do a lot to help people stop being so defensive when confronted with the idea that they had done or said something racist. People generally think they have pure intentions, so the realization that implicit biases may exist that come from socialization, upbringing, and a variety of factors can help people realize that it's not necessarily them that is racist, but that outside factors may have led to them saying something racist, even if ultimately the responsibility is theirs to correct the action.
Hains brings up a similar point when she talks about recognizing the broader context in how this country itself still has lingering inequalities stemming from its history. White people tend to think that racism is overt and obvious, such as the use of slurs, but racism is often more subtle than that. Even just this acknowledgement should lead to white people taking a step back and recognizing that just because they aren't throwing slurs around doesn't mean they aren't being racist.
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI also did my post on Hain's article. I think it can be a useful tool for people who have been called out for actions or things they said. I think as a society, we are way better at calling people out for such things, but then not offering a tool for them to use to understand why what they did was wrong. It would be impactful if we saw more articles that could be shared on this topic, because I think they can be useful for the general public. Hain's general tips are so useful and even in a sense that we can all use this information, is even more appealing.
I think you summarized Hain's article fluidly. I like how you mentioned about the broader context piece. I would agree that white people really only think of racism as being slurs, but there's so much more to that. We forget that it could be anything and it could be something that isn't necessarily recognizable on the surface.