#implicitbias

Subtle racism, also known as covert/implicit racism, refers to discriminatory attitudes, behaviours or actions that are less obvious and not easily identifiable compared to traditional forms of racism. Because subtle racism can be indirect, unintentional expressions of prejudice or unsconsiously expressed, they are often more challenging to recognise. Subtle racism can manifest in various ways, such as comments, actions or behaviours that subtly marginalise or demean individuals based on their race or ethnicity. Whether people might not be fully aware of their biases or actions or may even deny their racism when called out, subtle racism helps perpetuate discrimination and inequalities. 

Some examples of racially-based subtle racism are: 

Verbal: "Are you his nanny?" assuming that a person of colour is not a white child's parent; 

Action: a teacher not calling on students of colour; a server automatically serving white people first over people of colour; 

Racial profiling: stop-and-frisk policy meant to reduce crime but mostly targets people of colour.

Subtle racism is hard to detect at first glance unlike overt racism which is blatant and easily recognisable. Although subtle racism operates in a more covert manner, its effects may cause harm whether it was unintentional or not. Let's shed light into subtle racism, its impact on relationships and well-being, the challenge of recognition and how we can avoid being a subtle racist. 

Kinds of Subtle Racism: 

Colorblindness or Microinvalidations - ignores the unique experiences of different racial groups. For instance, the "All Lives Matter" as a response to "Black Lives Matter" may mean well, but can be considered racist as "Black Lives Matter" do not mean only Black lives matter or that Black lives matter more. The BLM movement only asserts that Black lives matter too, to address historical and current events, and some institutions' tendency to not treat Black lives as mattering equally with White lives. 

Stereotyping - assumes that someone's abilities, preferences, or behaviour are based on their race. For instance, assuming that an Asian woman is a mail-order bride, or a Mexican woman is a cleaning lady. 

Tokenism - including a person of colour solely to demonstrate diversity. For instance, hiring a person of colour to comply with diversity even though the role is essentially insignificant. 

Microaggressions - are small, everyday acts that communicate derogatory messages towards racial minorities, including: 

backhanded compliments (e.g. "You're beautiful for a dark-skinned girl.") 

cultural appropriation - loving a part of a culture (like Hip Hop) but fail to speak out for or recognise its people's struggles, or dominant groups erasing origins of certain cultures and taking credit for something they did not create (e.g. Elvis regarded as a pioneer of rock and roll but failing to credit Sister Rosetta Tharpe as an earlier rock and roll artist who influenced Elvis and referred to as Godmother of rock and roll). 

questioning someone's nationality or abilities. Saying, "You must be good at math" to someone with Asian descent or "I don't even see you as [insert race]". 

Effects on Relationships and Wellbeing: 

Subtle racism can erode relationships and negatively impact mental health. Constant exposure to microaggressions can lead to feelings of invalidation, frustration and stress. Over time, these experiences can strain personal and professional connections, contribute to a sense of isolation and introduce an atmosphere of negativity and even hostility in personal relationships, the workplace and community groups.   

How Do We Preserve Wellbeing and Avoid Being Subtle Racists: 

Self-education - recognise and acknowledge your own biases and actively seek to educate yourself and others about different cultures and experiences. 

Active listening - strive to create an environment where people feel comfortable sharing their experiences, and listen without being defensive or dismissive. 

Empathy - simply try putting yourself in others' shoes and strive to understand the impact of your words and actions. 

Language matters - choose your words carefully, avoiding assumptions or stereotypes. 

Speak up - if you witness subtle racism, address it respectfully to help raise awareness. 

Subtle racism is a pervasive issue that demands our attention. By shedding light on its existence, acknowledging its impact, and taking proactive steps to prevent it, we can create a more inclusive and equitable society. 

I went to a panel tonight on Reimagining Public Health in NYC - A Discussion on the Racial and Wealth Gap and Health Equity

Me:

Can you write an essay about the connection between redlining, income and wealth gap, and health outcomes in the Black community? Highlight the disparity in maternal mortality race based upon race

ChatGPT:

The connection between redlining, income and wealth gap, and health outcomes in the Black community is multifaceted and complex. Redlining, a discriminatory practice that involves denying financial services or access to housing based on race, has had a significant impact on the economic wellbeing of Black families. This, in turn, has contributed to the widening income and wealth gap between Black and white households, which has led to disparities in health outcomes.

Redlining began in the 1930s and was a federal government policy that allowed banks and other financial institutions to deny loans and insurance to people living in certain neighborhoods. These neighborhoods were typically populated by Black families and other minorities, and the practice was based on the assumption that these communities were risky investments. As a result, these neighborhoods were deprived of essential resources such as quality education, healthcare, and healthy food options.

The legacy of redlining has contributed to the income and wealth gap between Black and white households. According to a study by the Brookings Institution, the median wealth of white households is ten times that of Black households. This disparity is largely due to historical and ongoing discrimination that has limited Black families' access to education, employment, and housing opportunities.

The income and wealth gap has had a profound impact on the health outcomes of the Black community. Black Americans have higher rates of chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease, which are often linked to poverty and limited access to healthcare. They are also more likely to die from these diseases than white Americans.

One area where the impact of these disparities is particularly stark is maternal mortality. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Black women are three to four times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications than white women. This disparity cannot be explained by differences in income or education level, as it persists across all socioeconomic levels.

There are several reasons for this disparity, including the fact that Black women are more likely to experience complications during pregnancy, such as hypertension and pre-eclampsia. They are also more likely to receive substandard care during pregnancy and childbirth, including being ignored or dismissed when they report symptoms of distress. Studies have shown that implicit bias and stereotypes about Black women's pain and abilities to cope with childbirth are also factors.

To address these disparities, it is essential to address the root causes of redlining, income and wealth gap, and implicit bias in healthcare. Policies and initiatives that promote equitable access to education, employment, and affordable housing are essential. Additionally, healthcare providers must receive training to recognize and address implicit biases that may affect their care of Black patients. Finally, Black women must be empowered to advocate for their health and hold healthcare providers accountable for providing high-quality care.

Unconscious bias—whether it’s targeting race, religion, sexuality, ability, body type, or the mountain of other ways in which we judge each other—does not necessarily stem from active hate, and is not as easy to spot within our friends and ourselves. But it impacts our communities every single day. So we need to do a better job acknowledging it.

We can start by taking this Harvard Implicit Bias Test. The most responsible thing we can do right now is recognize ways to improve ourselves.

This Issue Time features a panel of experts answering your questions and addressing your concerns on Implicit bias.

Ask our panel of experts a question now

Laura Mather, PhD, is an expert on unconscious bias and the neuroscience behind decision-making. She has built creative software solutions for the National Security Agency, eBay, and her own startups, Silver Tail Systems and Talent Sonar. Her work has been featured in many outlets including NPR and the New Yorker and her writing can be found in Ozy, Salon, Time Motto, Fast Company, Forbes, and the Huffington Post, where she is a regular blogger. She is the winner of the Anita Borg Institute's 2017 ABIE Award for Technology Entrepreneurship. Tanya M. Odom is a global consultant, coach, facilitator, writer, teacher, storyteller, ally, and thought-leader focused on equity, civil rights, and diversity and inclusion. Tanya’s unique portfolio career has allowed her to work in the education, private sector/corporate, not-for-profit/NGO, law enforcement, and university/college arenas. Tanya's work focuses on topics including :  Diversity and Inclusion, Inclusive Leadership, Race/Racism, Challenging Conversations, Mindfulness, Coaching, Innovation and Creativity, Educational Equity, and Youth Empowerment/mentoring. Joe Gerstandt is a speaker, author, and advisor bringing greater clarity, action, and impact to organizational diversity and inclusion efforts. As a keynote speaker and consultant, Joe works with everyone from Fortune 500 companies to small non-profits. Bryant T. Marks, Sr. is a minister, researcher, master teacher and human developmentalist.  His calling/passion/purpose is to develop the knowledge, wisdom, and skills of others that will allow them to reach their full potential and live their lives with purpose and passion. He is particularly driven to identify the factors that foster the affirmative personal and academic development Black males and create programs and publications that incorporate these factors. Dr. Marks combines research from social, educational, and cognitive psychology with hip-hop, STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) and African/African American history to engage, inform, and inspire audiences of all ages and backgrounds.

Harvard recently released an Implicit Bias Test which can supposedly uncover our unconscious biases. No, the test isn’t gonna deem you a terrible person. You can do different categories like -- race, sexuality, ability, religion, etc.. 

It’s simply a tool to uncover the ways in which society has taught us to think in manners that may negatively impact one another. These same learned patterns of bias materialize through our everyday interactions, and reinforce the very issue at hand as others interact and observe such bias.

Anyways, there’s gonna be an IssueTime about it tomorrow on @action if you have any questions. If you’re a skeptic, go ask industry experts some tough questions -- I’m all for holding information under scrutiny! 

Also, don’t forget ... 

Last week I signed up for Bumble BFF in hopes of expanding my circle of friends. Although I have a small group of wonderful friends who live near me and an extended group of friends with whom I grew up but who now live in different countries, I thought it would be nice to meet some new girlfriends to just hang out with whenever and wherever.

A couple of days in and I realized that I was not getting any matches even though I had swiped right on a large number of people that I thought would make great potential friends. I have a simple and yet straight-forward profile which lists interests that are similar to those of the women that I was swiping right on.

A light bulb went off in my head and I wondered if the reason I was not getting any matches was because I am black and a great majority of the women in my 15-mile radius is white. I decided to do an experiment and changed my main profile picture to one of my boyfriend and I (he’s white) and lo and behold, almost suddenly I had a couple of new matches!

The part of me who thinks that people are inherently good wants to believe that it was pure coincidence that I started getting matches as soon as I changed my profile picture to one that had my white boyfriend in it. However, the realistic part of me knows that, most likely, people were swiping left on me based solely on the color of my skin because if they had taken the time to read my short bio, they would realize that we had quite a bit in common and were looking for similar things in our new friendships.

Although I was initially frustrated and annoyed that people were potentially dismissing me because of the color of my skin, I had to be honest with myself and come to terms with my very own implicit biases because I was doing the same exact thing that I was afraid white women were doing to me: I was swiping left on other black women!!! I was saddened by this realization and immediately decided to not swipe left or right on anyone until I had read their bios. Then, and only then, if I did not find that we had anything in common or if there was something in their bio that read like a red flag, I would swipe left. Otherwise, I was going to swipe right on everyone.

I honestly do not know what to make of this self-realization because I am a black woman myself! I’ve been thinking a lot about this for the past week and I feel confused, saddened, and embarrassed by my own actions. The silver lining for me is that I realized what I was doing and made a conscious effort not to let it happen again.