#implicitbiases

Recently, I’ve picked up a lovely hobby of attending talks and colloquiums, and I am grateful for all the resources here at UCLA. It is a thrill to learn about various topics which I may not have been exposed to prior, with direct exposure to real, tangible issues at hand locally and nationally.

Tonight I attended a colloquium titled “From Healing to Action: Advancing Police Equity” hosted by UCLA Law, which emphasized instances of police brutality, the lost sisters (women murdered by police forces which are not usually broadcasted), and questions from African Americans in the UCLA / Los Angeles area who have personally been exposed to unequal treatment, living with the label of “suspicious” and “violent” by nature, essence, and definition, who were at the colloquium to have an open discussion about their experiences.

There were passionate speeches, tense moments, and many, many seeds of wisdom harvested at tonights talk, which featured a panel of an African American graduate student and woman activist working with Black Lives Matter LA, a UCLA staff psychologist focusing on social justice within the community, and the Police Captain of UCPD, who were answering honest questions inquired by audience members.

Some main seeds taken away from tonight —

- Implicit biases exist, and they mostly operate subconsciously. Such as associating black faces with suspicion, negativity, and danger. This phenomenon is empirically verifiable, as shown in research and studies. One can help themselves overcome implicit bias by introspecting on one’s own behavior to become aware of them.

- A new reality of growing up within an African American family is learning how to handle a situation with police officers. This is to prevent them getting harmed over a “snap decision.”

- There is a long, long list of victims of police brutality. And most of them aren’t televised, social media-ized, or broadcasted. These people were murdered, sometimes by officer error, and had families and friends.

- The Fourth Amendment only protects against "unreasonable" searches and seizures. This means police officers can, by law, or lack there of, start conversation and ask basic questions (which at times gets escalated), as long as they are not performing search and seizure and have “reasonable cause,” which is not always a reliable measure. The loophole in the Fourth Amendment is problematic and protects the actions of officers. It seems that police brutality primarily stems from a structural loophole.

- Citizens can file a testimony at any police station against a specific police officer or malpractice, and appropriate measures will be taken. Interestingly, a young adult black male stood up and accused the Police Captain of not actually responding to emails or addressing these concerns in reality. He also called out a police sergeant by name, who was also in the room, for trying to block the said young adult from filming a UCPD officer “kicking a homeless man in the head.” Tension ensued. 

- A young adult black male who was co-hosting the colloquium mentioned how he had been stopped 17 times in the past year at UCLA and asked the Police Captain what he could do to not be stopped so much. The Police Captain admitted to this number being unusually high. Another black male then openly admitted to being stopped 8 times in recent months. This experience is part of their reality. One might ask if young adult white males get randomly stopped as much. 

- Beautifully pointed out by the passionate graduate student/black woman activist, posting something on Social Media is not the end to addressing the social issues and injustices at hands. Once must take it upon themselves to recognize their implicit biases, become active and aware within one’s own community, and remain skeptical of “playing the script” with officers.