Implicit Biases

After taking the implicit bias test, I’ve realized that there are deep rooted insecurities about being on the darker side of the skin tone spectrum. Strangers tend to be more skeptical of my presence in stores, malls and classrooms than my lighter skinned or white counterparts. As a child, this made me think that I wanted to be lighter skinned in order to feel more accepted in society.

The implicit bias, in this case, is the belief that darker skinned people are more commonly linked to violence and crime. My own implicit bias became the idea that lighter skinned people haver it easier, which made me interact with them in a way that created that atmosphere. My father is biracial (his mother is white French) and he is more on the lighter side of skin tone. Even though he identifies as black, he is aware that his skin color has helped his hard work and education transition to opportunity.

Anderson Cooper and Soledad O’Brien conducted a Study with white and black children and their racial (or implicit) biases. Keeping in mind that all of the drawings for this study were the exact same, the skin tone changed as a gradient on the page. When asked who the “pretty” cartoon drawing was, an overwhelming amount of children chose from the lighter end of the spectrum. When asked about more negative attributes, the children did not hesitate to choose from the darker end.

Why is this important? In JRN 3290, we’ve discussed representation in the media and how these representations dictate how we carry though our lives. Children will eventually grow up. What may now seem like an interesting experiment, justified in pointing out children’s impressionnable minds, will become proof that the environment that surrounds these children reinforce these beliefs. When these children are policy makers, law enforcers, and casting directors these implicit biases will be there. And they will continue affect the way we see each other and the way we see ourselves.