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According to the Sentencing Project, “If current trends continue, one of every three black American males born today can expect to go to prison in his lifetime, as can one of every six Latino males — compared to one of every seventeen white males.” Cornell Law School notes, “Race matters in the criminal justice system. Black defendants appear to fare worse than similarly situated white defendants. Why? Implicit bias is one possibility… Judges hold implicit racial biases. These biases can influence their judgment.”
In other words, justice is not blind. Unconscious racial bias can lead to racial inequality. It is important to be conscious of our hidden biases, but as Stanford Law School points out, “The goal of racial justice efforts should be the alleviation of substantive inequalities, not the eradication of unconscious bias.”
Implicit or unconscious bias is a mental shortcut “that fills in gaps in our knowledge with similar data from past experiences and cultural norms.” It is a normal part of how we make decisions. Unconscious racial bias pervades our law, education, and politics. It is not always a bad thing, but it often tends to be negative. National Public Radio notes, “There are big racial differences in how school discipline is meted out: students of color are much more likely to be suspended or expelled than white students, even when the infractions are the same.”
A U.S. Department of Education of Civil Rights 2014 Report revealed that “black students are suspended and expelled at a rate three times greater than white students.” The disproportionately high suspension rates start suspiciously early. Although black children make up 18% of preschool enrollment, they account for almost half of the children who receive more than one out-of-school suspension. In addition, the Washington Posthighlights, “black teens who commit a few crimes go to jail as often as white teens who commit dozens” (e.g., the absurd results from our “war on drugs”).
Implicit racial bias is a systemic issue in the recruiting process. According to Marianne Bertrand, an economics professor at my alma mater, The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, “[identical] applicants with white-sounding names are 50 percent more likely to get called for an initial interview than applicants with African-American-sounding names.” When it comes to Hollywood, casting directors often say “we just went with the best candidate,” but as actress Gabrielle Union points out, “If you’re never considered, you never have a chance.”
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