The Importance Of Discrimination In The United States

As to unknown bias, I am unsure how I can control such things, or when they will surface. I can only learn in this program how some things I do and say come off to other people and work through to achieve the needed balance discussed, which would not apply to clients. With clients, I need to adjust my self, because it is simply different, they come first.

“Stop trying to be good people.” It is only human to be biased. However, the problem begins when we allow our bigotry to manifest into an obstacle that hinders us from genuinely getting to know people. Long time diversity lawyer, Verna Myers, in her 2014 Ted Talk, “How to overcome our biases? Walk boldly toward them” discusses the implicit biases we may obtain when it comes to race, specifically black men. Myers purpose is quite like the cliché phrase “Face your fears.” Her goal is to impress upon us that we all have biases (conscious or unconscious). We just have to be aware of them and face them head on, so that problems such as racism, can be resolved. Throughout the Ted Talk, Verna Myers utilizes an admonishing yet entertaining tone in

Implicit bias is an individual’s internal beliefs regarding others and influences how people conduct themselves in various settings and situations and may result in injustices such as stereotyping or racial profiling. The National Center for States Courts defines implicit bias as “judgement or behavior that results from subtle cognitive processes.” This behavior is difficult to identify, because people typically respond and behave in ways that seem appropriate and protect their own interests. Furthermore, these beliefs are more often subconscious than overt. Some groups are working to deter implicit bias and promote diversity.

I think the first step to trying to get away from my unconscious biases is to become aware of my unconscious biases. The next step is to support others and become friends, mentors, and learn from others about their life and experiences. Abdel-Magied explains that to create change in this world of unconscious biases is to become a mentor to another person who is different than you. This solution made me realize I do want friendship from people who are easy to connect with, have similar experiences, or are around the same age as me. This Ted talk has inspired me to get out of my comfort zone and mentor other people who don’t have the same characteristics, personality, and experiences that I do. In this way I can become aware of my unconscious biases and do something to change my biases and be a change in this world. I know once I make these supporting changes in my own life the person who I am mentoring could be a mentor to me as well. I just love the idea that came to mind after watching Yassmin Abdel-Magied’s Ted x talk, I want to treat others as I would want to be treated and accept those because really I want to be accepted by others. Mahatma Gandhi says it best, “Be the change you want to see in the world.” I want to be that change for others in this world because of my unconscious

Knowing, understanding, and being aware of personal biases is the first step in the development of plans or strategies overcoming biases. As nurses we must recognize and be more sensitive to the care provided to patients and understand that differences do exist in and between the differing races, cultures, and ethnic groups (Giger, 2013, p. 3). The Implicit Association Test (IAT) is used to identify and provide an awareness to biases that are consciously or unconsciously present in an individuals actions and beliefs (Project Implicit, 2011). After completing the Race IAT, Gender-Career IAT and Religion IAT, I will discuss the prejudices, biases, and stereotypical thinking present in my life and share what steps can be taken to reduce or eliminate

After writing my first bias narrative I have a new perspective on being biased towards complex topics that can be debatable. The essay helped me become aware of other people's thoughts and opinions. The way I was raised had influenced me to always lean toward a certain direction and I always had a bias perspective on things. Bias, prejudice, and discrimination are all common terms because they connect to each other in a certain way. I don’t want to be the person that draws conclusions based on what I learned and what I've been taught.

For this assignment, I chose the Race Bias Implicit Association Test. I was surprised because I have taken this same assessment for another class years ago and my results changed. The first time I took the test, I received a result that did show a slightly biased preference for European American’s over African Americans. However, this time, I took my time to read and select the answer that I thought was best. However, this time around, the data suggested no automatic preference between African Americans and European Americans. I was honestly shocked at these results after conditioning myself to believe that slight implicit bias was normal after reading my results on my first attempt a few semesters back. The first time I took this test, I was devastated by the thought of even the slightest bit of bias as I’ve always been a bit of a social justice warrior when it comes to race issues. Initially I attributed the results to poorly worded questions and then attempted to rationalize by

No matter who you are or what part of the world you are from implicit bias are a constant issue in society. These tendencies typically stem from structural injustice, implicit bias, and personal discretion. Structural injustice is when a category of people are associated with an insufficient status when comparing to other groups of people engaging in the same actions. Implicit bias are stances and stereotypes that affect our comprehension, actions and decisions held by our unconscious manner. These bias are involuntarily and are done without individuals awareness or intentional control. Everyone is exposed to these biases at a young age through the media, parents, and teachers. Each individual holds possession of implicit bias whether they

During this week, I have consciously been paying attention when I go to class or dinner. I did not find myself going out of the way to avoid anyone. That does not say I don’t have any implicit bias, it only says this week I have not noticed any. I did call my mom and spoke to her about implicit bias. I asked her if she has ever gone out of her way to avoid a race. Her answer at first was “no”, but the longer we talked, she realized that she makes unconscious decisions that are biased. She did not realize that a decision of not walking up to get in your car at night because the man in the car next to you is African American is an implicit bias. I asked her if she would have walked out if the man was white and she said

While at Missouri State University I took SWK 219, Human Diversity. Personal prejudice was a topic of discussion in that class and we were encouraged to examine ourselves to find the ones we held. Despite what my seasoned professor told the class, I found it difficult to think of prejudices I had because I hoped myself to be better than that. I remember feeling confident that I would be able to work with anyone without bias or prejudice. What caught me by surprise with my client was the prejudice I found in myself towards someone like me, a white male. Our backgrounds were as different as anyone’s could be but because a prejudice against someone my skin color was not on my radar I was unprepared to see how it affected my service to him. With my client though I felt so responsible for the integrity of the information that I left behind the dignity and worth of the person. My client knew what he was talking about, it was his experience he was trying to communicate to me but I put him at a disadvantage due to my prejudice. He had to try and yell his experience over the wall I had already built before I met him. Unaware of all our prejudices when we first enter this type of work, we must be vigilant to identify them before they occur challenging any prejudice we find in ourselves to better understand who we are and become more effective at what we

Ironically, I am working with a population of students to whom most people assume we have similar characteristics and backgrounds. Unfortunately, many of the students and families I serve perpetuate negative stereotypical behaviors. Since, I fought many years in my predominately white corporate job(s) to be viewed as an individual and not as a negative stereotype it was very hard for me to look past my biases taking into consideration the negative stereotypical behaviors of my student/family population. Subsequently, I now realize it is imperative for me to adjust the lens through which I perceive this group of students and their families in order to be objective in my research.

Threat of bias is an important issue that faces people. One type of threat of bias is the stereotype threat. “The worst part of the stereotype threat is that it is self-imposed. People who are alert to the possibility of prejudice are not one hypersensitive when it occurs, but their minds are hijacked, undercutting potential” (Berger, 2017, pg. 495). I think we can all say that at one time or another we have stereotyped another person without getting to know them. I, however, have never experienced a threat of bias. Unfortunately, two members of my family have in their many years in the workforce.

Implicit bias is a concept that originally gained esteem during the 2016 election. It is defined as unconscious assumptions or stereotypes that are race-related. For example, if someone pulled up two pictures, a white female and a black male, and told you that one of them committed a crime, you are likely to choose the black male. You’re not racist, you have just been consuming all this media and images that paint black people or specifically males as being criminals. There are many options to attempt to fix this bias implanted in you. First, one should take a test to see if they even have a bias in the first place. If yes, then they should attempt to overcome it. They can do this by either hanging out with people of another ethnicity to learn who they are or to address that the racial anxiety exists and to work from there. In my opinion, this idea of implicit bias is incredibly important for people to learn about and possibly fix if necessary. Before this video, I had never heard of implicit bias and I always just figured I was stereotyping people whenever I had thoughts like the ones presented in the

For example, I noticed that because of my father not being in my life, I do not like working with male colleagues, communicating with a student’s father or accepting help from males when I may need it. I only feel comfortable with my male relatives, husband, and best friend. Consequently, I am going to try to explore and learn about changing my gender biases. In fact, I wonder if not addressing my personal gender biases may influence the kind of relationship I have with male students. Another revealed biases are my distance and reservations of working with affluent families or communities. I would like to learn more about the visible and invisible messages that have shaped my decisions. I became more aware of these biases and prejudices during the class activity where pairs shared stories pretending to be humpty dumpy. I found the activity was simple; yet, I found it to be the hardest. One reason I found it difficult was because I was paired with an affluent classmate that normally I keep my distance from because of her entitled comments and constant complaining about everything. And two, I was pretending to be a male. To be honest, I could not wait fast enough for it to be over. However, I recognize now it was an important experience because it allowed me to move away from comfort and to engagement in my own

The first, is learning about your unconscious bias. This requires that the individual is “honest with themselves,” which means they are willing to acknowledge their bias and work towards addressing these areas of concern. One method to uncover these bias is by taking the Implicit Association Test (IAT) offered online by Harvard University to measure the attitudes and beliefs that people unwilling or unable to report (Project Implicit & Harvard University, 2011). The next exercise is learning about microaggressions. This can be accomplished by utilizing the references in this essay, such as McCoy & Rodricks (2015), Sue (2007) and Yosso (2005) to gain further knowledge about the