Understanding Implicit Bias: Its Impact and How to Challenge It (Full Transcript)

Speaker 1: You may have heard the term implicit bias before, but what is it? Why does it happen? And how does it show up in our lives and world? Implicit biases are essentially thought processes that happen without you even knowing it. Basically, mental shortcuts and judgments that occur in both positive and negative ways, some of which you might not even agree with. These biases stem from very normal mental functioning and exposure to things like the media, news, our education, and any type of experience with others. Think of these experiences as having an invisible effect on how your brain gets wired, something you are unaware of as it happens. This wiring creates mental associations that lead to biases because of the cycle of socialization. Consider this, when you hear peanut butter, your mind likely goes to jelly. Despite peanut butter and jelly being completely independent from one another, we all associate them in this way because we constantly see them represented together. We all have associations like this that we haven't intentionally created. It's important to understand that not all of our implicit biases are as innocuous as peanut butter and jelly. These biases too often shape the language we use and the ways we interact with others based on race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, and other cultural identities. This cycle of socialization can lead to microaggressions, stereotypes, discrimination, and even violence. These unintended sentiments that are embedded within the cycle of socialization are built around a culture of white supremacy that we must continually acknowledge, confront, dismantle, and disrupt to advance the work of racial and social justice. We know that to advance racial and social justice, we must be willing to challenge our implicit bias by confronting the biases in our own lives. Just as our brains have been wired to create these unjust associations, it can also be unwired as you confront and disrupt the process by questioning your assumptions, educating yourself, and taking a stand. At the NEA, we challenge you to stay engaged, dig deeper, and ignite your passion for racial and social justice in our world, communities, and schools.