Racism is a reflex. Do you think you are a racist? Probably not. Am I one?
I thought not. Then I had a shocking experience with my own unconscious racial bias.
A few years ago we informally adopted a teen age boy from Soweto. Soon the house was filled with African boys.
One day, sitting bunched up on the couch, as usual, we were watching the news. A drug bust. A policeman spun a black teenager around, pushed him toward the police car. The young man braced himself, hands on the car’s roof.
I flinched as his hands hit the car. For a moment my world stopped and rocked.
How many times had I seen this? Hundreds?
How many times had I flinched?
Never.
How about you?
Please visit: Implicit.harvard.edu
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