In the first piece, Nita Mosby Tyler tells us why justice requires an accomplice: unlikely allies, and it is necessary to be willing to accept help because when we do not, change takes too long. In the second piece, it talks about the IAT, a way to measure biases that is implicit, which is helpful to pinpoint where police shootings are likely to occur to minorities. Both fit together because they talk about racism and how individual minds shape the community. By being an unlikely ally, you can change the community, and the community shapes what happens in individual minds.
I am a minority as well (Chinese), but certainly, I will speak up and be an unlikely ally if somebody is being treated differently for no justifiable reason. Mahzarin believes that the implicit bias cannot be easily erased, but enough sleep is one way to reduce our implicit bias, so I will try not to stay up late. In addition, I will take my time to make a conscious and deliberate decision, this practice can reduce the effect of implicit bias.
Those two pieces shift my thinking, especially the second one about implicit bias. We all have unconscious ideas about certain characteristics of people. And that can be evidenced when we are going to choose a person for a job, an admission, among others. Since the implicit bias operates primarily at an unconscious level, it is difficult to change. No training regimen has been shown to be particularly effective in removing implicit bias. But fortunately, some research shows that stereotypes can be forgotten. For example, women used to compose only a relatively small percentage of the musicians in the orchestras. But when orchestras began holding blind auditions in which applicants played behind a curtain and judges were unaware of their gender, the percentage of women selected to play in symphony orchestras doubled. And although there is still a long way to go, we must admit that there has been some progress. In the United States, for example, 94% of people oppose interracial marriages; this figure fell to 11% in 2013.
It is crazy that we have to go to extra lengths to ensure that people are unbiased in their decisions, such as holding symphony auditions behind a curtain. One would hope that humans are evolved enough to be able to be fair and consciously set aside their prejudices, at least for long enough to pick the right candidate for a position. Evidently, this is not the case. I wonder when the time will come when people can get over themselves and just be decent and respectful towards others.
when itco mes to humans judging one another, you might as well run in a circle because you will get nowhere fast. the fact is that we are imperfect beings living in an imperfect country, and we need to fight everyday to make it more perfect. its gonna hurt. its gonna take along time. but we need to do it.
Although the implicit bias is internalized, it is true that it’s possible to erase some stereotypes in our minds. It may take some real effort, but it’s possible.