Why we chose Jennifer L. Eberhardt’s Biased

We decided to choose a non-fiction book about race and racism. We considered So You Want to Talk About Race, which I had read last summer. I thought it would be a good book for discussion. However, we usually choose a book neither of us have read for Family Reads, so I suggested Biased. Thanks to Katie @ Doing Dewey for reviewing this book and putting it on my radar. Mom and I read and discussed Biased in early January. The storming of the Capitol happening in the midst of our readthrough.

We do not have to be racist to be biased. With a perspective that is scientific, investigative, and personal, Jennifer L. Eberhardt offers a reasoned look into the effects of implicit racial bias, ranging from the subtle to the dramatic. Racial bias can lead to disparities in education, employment, housing, and the criminal justice system–and then those very disparities further reinforce the problem. In Biased, Eberhardt reveals how even when we are not aware of bias and genuinely wish to treat all people equally, ingrained stereotypes infect our visual perception, attention, memory, and behavior.

Goodreads

Our Discussion 💬

A Jumble of Thoughts

I’ve struggled to write this post because we chatted about Biased for almost two hours. The bulk of our discussion wasn’t directly about the content of the book. Rather, we discussed current events, future prospects, and our personal experiences and family history. I spent much time attempting to hammer our discussion into a form suitable for public consumption. It didn’t work as I consider most of what we discussed too private or too tangential for a book review. Although I don’t wish to share our entire discussion online, I wanted to acknowledge it was a fruitful discussion that we wouldn’t have had if we hadn’t read Biased.

Neither our evolutionary path nor our present culture dooms us to be held hostage by bias.

Biased 5%

I will note some of the topics Mom and I discussed: that ‘present culture’, how it has and hasn’t changed throughout Mom’s lifetime, and how it may change in the future; the current state of the US and whether the ‘biases’ of tens of millions of people who voted for Trump a second time can ever be resolved; and the racism of older generations of our family and how we unlearnt/avoided inheriting such beliefs. Certainly, lots to discuss! We encourage others to read this book with a buddy on that basis alone.

Studies and Exemplars

Eberhardt describes real events and scientific studies to highlight how bias works. For example, she examines the police killing of Terence Crutcher to illustrate the various stereotypes and biases that influenced the officer’s actions (18%). Some study results that stood out for us: Preschoolers already connect the treatment of a person to that person’s character – i.e. if someone is treated badly, they must be a bad person (12%). Older students learning about historical events may think, “If that bad thing happened to someone, they probably deserved it” (58%). Did you know the ‘Unite the Right’ rally in Charlottesville happened three and a half years ago already? And yet some people claimed the Capitol attacks surprised them…

We can’t imagine what it must be like to be a Black woman training police officers to deliver anti-bias training. Early on, Eberhardt acknowledges “The steady stream of tragic scenes led me to question the value of what I was doing” (14%). She recognizes there isn’t a clear path forward. No quick fix exists for ingrained biases. Yet as a researcher who has a deep understanding of how bias works, she has to hope it can be fixed. It may take a hundred years before progress makes a substantial difference. We have to start somewhere.

Whether bad or good, whether justified or unjustified, our beliefs and attitudes can become so strongly associate with the category that they are automatically triggered, affecting our behavior and decision making. […] the process of making these connections is called bias. It can happen unintentionally. It can happen unconsciously. It can happen effortlessly. And it can happen in a matter of milliseconds. These associations can take hold of us no matter our values, no matter our conscious beliefs, no matter what kind of person we wish to be in the world.

Biased 11%

Overall, the most interesting part of the book for us was when Eberhardt digs into the science and background and why of bias. The later part looks more at the impact and effects of bias, which is a topic covered by many other books. Knowing how bias develops gives us the chance to try to deal with it, to identify and dismantle it.

Final Thoughts 💭

Mom and I both give this book ★★★★. Biased explores the impact of bias primarily via the policing of Black Americans. While there are no easy answers to how society can overcome racial bias, we appreciated Eberhardt’s well-written and informative exploration that spurred plenty for us to discuss and takeaway for further consideration.

Further Reading 📰

🍂 Read an excerpt
🍂 Author webpage
🍂 Interview @ BookPage
🍂 Reviews: Katie @ Doing Dewey
🍂 Related: Mom and I have previously discussed Lawrence Hill’s Black Berry, Sweet Juice: On Being Black and White in Canada and Adrienne Clarkson’s Belonging: The Paradox of Citizenship for Family Reads.

What writing has helped you better understand the impacts of bias, prejudice, or racism?