GUEST POST from Don – BIAS? Not As Much…

BIAS?  Not as much…

I recently heard an extended interview with Mahzarin Banaji about bias in America.  In the interview she referenced an article she helped write in 2019, and updated some of the data through 2020, to make it more current.  It turns out that anti-black bias according to the research, in particular, has improved (become less biased in society) by roughly 24% over 13 years.  This is true in all areas of society, she said, including among all ages and genders.  In fact, it has improved in liberals, not just conservatives.

I was amazed and saddened.  From everything I have read IN THE NEWS in the last 5 years, it was hard to believe the data.  This was not reported.  That is likely because news reporting is not helped by this data.  I’m guessing they can’t talk about racism with as much urgency and angst if they admit that racial tensions are not as great now as they were in 2007.  It wouldn’t sell “newspapers.”  It would not rile up people.  After all, the news is a business (all businesses are “evil” aren’t they?) and all businesses are in business to make money.  They can’t make money from racism if there is less of it.  Sad, really!

Banaji and Tessa Charlesworth published the referenced article in August, 2019 called “Research: How Americans’ Biases Are Changing (or Not) Over Time.”  Here is their summary:  “While we have known that explicit biases change over time, there have been some doubts about whether our more deeply held implicit biases can shift as well. The authors’ new research shows … that the implicit attitudes of a society can and do…”

Here are some details:  “In 1937 only 33% of Americans believed that a qualified woman could be president; in 2015, 92% endorsed the possibility.”  Interesting.  We are told by press articles and those with some agenda that there still is a huge gender bias, but it appears we should not believe it to be as huge as it is being portrayed.  At least, we should question it.  

Another:  “In 1958 only 4% of white Americans approved of black-white marriages; today (2019) 87% of white Americans do.”  Obviously, this data is not part of the mainstream media’s message.  Clearly, opinions and attitudes DO change with time.  Further, the number of biased individuals appears to be dropping significantly decade by decade.

Is this understanding of the drop in bias something new?  One would think, based on what is seen in the news, that it must be.  It is not even considered in most articles that racism, sexism, or ageism biases have improved.  This published report denies that improvements were unreported.  They say that as of the early 1930s Gallup, Pew Research, and others were documenting long-term changes in attitudes and beliefs.  The study referenced here was published over 4 years ago.

It should be obvious that hiring practices have changed steadily.  There are people of color in top management positions, even at the very top levels.  There are women who also have broken through the glass ceiling.  There are women and people of every race in congress.  You would not have seen that 50 years ago.

Our understanding of changes in bias, as with many issues, is affected by our own experience subsets.  There is a problem with short-memories.  People only remember what things were like when they entered adulthood and thereafter, and have no tools to know what it was 20, 40, or 60 years previous.  Thus, to many, there is global warming every time summer happens.  This misunderstanding of the changes that have occurred in bias is made worse because the majority of adults are under 40 years of age.  Older adults have the experience of 40, 50, or more years, but those under 40 have been adults for 20 years or less and they have a much shorter experience subset.  They don’t know the biases from before they were adults and therefore do not have the full experiences to evaluate how biases have changed.  For that particular group it is difficult to SEE that any change has happened.  Thus, they are easily swayed by stories of racism HERE and racism THERE.  Without a basis for knowing how things were, they easily believe that nothing has changed for the better.  They are wrong.

So, are we being sold a “bill of goods?”  It appears so.  The press and institutions of higher learning COULD help us see the improvements which have happened.  They aren’t.

Let’s stop for a moment and admit that there still is racism and sexism.  Only it is incredibly less than it was even 25 years ago (before the memories of the majority).

Is every type of bias changing for the better?  Actually, no.  Some biases have not had the dramatic improvement which race and gender have enjoyed.  Ageism, disability, and body weight have not had significant improvement.

There is one other issue which can cause problems (and has).  Pendulums.  We saw with certain programs to advance people of one race or gender this problem…namely, it became nearly impossible for people of Asian descent to get into prestigious institutions of higher learning no matter how advanced their abilities.  In other words, they suffered from the bias of anti-bias.  

The goal of those working on dealing with bad biases in society is to take the bias to neutrality, not anti-bias.  They let the pendulum swing too far.  We don’t want the pendulum that was harming one race to swing so far that it now equally harms another race in order to “make the past right.”

So… what needs to happen?  

First, the press and colleges have to become honest about historical bias.  The truth should be the most important criteria.  If bias has improved (become less), then it should be a major part of our news.  Truth is that racism and sexism are not as pervasive as they were just a few decades ago.  We no longer live in the 1840s or even the 1940s.

Second, we need to establish what “neutral” looks like.  A clearly defined goal will help us.  If “colorblindness” is not sufficiently neutral, what is? 

Third, in the process of reducing historical bias, we should never push for anything which causes harm to any other person as a result.  We must control anti-bias pendulums which harm other races or sexes from the ones we wish to help.

Copyright 2023 Donald Whelpley

[PLEASE NOTE that Don is always open to discussing the thoughts and opinions he shares here and welcomes comments as shared in the comment section. He doesn’t use other social media platforms, as I do, and won’t see whatever you’d like to share with him if you post it elsewhere. ~ Sherry]

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