Subject Guides: Anti-Racism Resources: Implicit Bias and Microaggressions

Implicit Biases and Microaggressions

Implicit Biases
Microaggressions

What are Implicit Biases?

Implicit biases are unconscious attitudes and stereotypes (Ruhl, 2020).
Such unconscious attitudes and stereotypes are present in the criminal justice system, workplace, school setting, and in the healthcare system.
There are many different examples of implicit biases, ranging from categories of race, gender, and sexuality.
These biases often arise as a result of trying to find patterns and navigate the overwhelming stimuli in this very complicated world. Culture, media, and upbringing can also contribute to the development of such biases.
Removing these biases is a challenge, especially because we often don’t even know they exist.
Specifically, implicit bias refers to attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions, and decisions in an unconscious way, making them difficult to control.

Ruhl, C. (2020, July 1). Implicit or unconscious bias. Simply Psychology. https://www.simplypsychology.org/implicit-bias.html

Harvard Implicit Bias Test
Also known as implicit social cognition, implicit bias refers to the attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions, and decisions in an unconscious manner.
Transforming Perception: Black Men and Boys
Black men and boys can reach every pinnacle of success our country has to offer. They also face a set of obstacles unique to them as they work toward those successes.
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Implicit Bias
Research on “implicit bias” suggests that people can act on the basis of prejudice and stereotypes without intending to do so.

eBook: Beyond Bias by Cathleen Clerkin
Understanding and working toward eliminating bias is an admirable goal for anyone, but especially for leaders.
eBook: Good* White Racist by Kerry Connelly
A no-nonsense call to action for all those willing to confront their complicity, Good White Racist promises, 'This is going to be hard, and you are going to be uncomfortable. But it will be worth it.'
eBook: Race on the Brain by Jonathan Kahn
Jonathan Kahn argues that an uncritical embrace of implicit bias, to the exclusion of power relations and structural racism, undermines wider civic responsibility for addressing racial inequality by turning it over to experts.
eBook: Tacit Racism by Anne Warfield Rawls; Waverly Duck
We need to talk about racism before it destroys our democracy. And that conversation needs to start with an acknowledgement that racism is coded into even the most ordinary interactions.

McCombs School of Business. University of Texas at Austin. (2018, October 31). Implicit bias: Concepts unwrapped [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/OoBvzI-YZf4

What are Microaggressions?

The everyday verbal, nonverbal, and environmental slights, snubs, or insults, whether intentional or unintentional, which communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative messages to target persons based solely upon their marginalized group membership (Wing Sue, 2010).
These hidden messages may invalidate the group identity or experiential reality of target persons, demean them on a personal or group level, communicate they are lesser human beings, suggest they do not belong with the majority group, threaten and intimidate, or relegate them to inferior status and treatment.

Wing Sue, D. (2010, November 17). Microaggressions: More than just race. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/microaggressions-in-everyday-life/201011/microaggressions-more-just-race

Websites

21 Microaggressions You Hear on a Daily Basis
A photographer at Fordham asked her peers to write down the microaggressions they've encountered. Here is what they had to say.
Allies and Microaggressions
When you see microaggressions occurring against colleagues, how should you respond? Kerry Ann Rockquemore offers guidance.
Microaggressions are a Big Deal: How to Talk Them Out and When to Walk Away
The police killing of George Floyd and the protests that followed have the nation discussing big issues of structural racism, policing and power.
When and How to Respond to Microaggressions
Microagressions are defined as verbal, behavioral, and environmental indignities that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative racial slights and insults to the target person or group.

Video

MTV News. (2015, July 22). If microaggressions happened to white people [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/KPRA4g-3yEk