Check your implicit bias

With February being Black History Month and March dedicated to women's history, this is a good time to look at bias and how it can have unseen and negative effects on others. Recently, in the space of less than a week, I encountered two white males who insisted that they believed quite strongly in "separate but equal" and did not see anything wrong with that. I guess they did not recall their American history of the Supreme Court decision Plessy v Ferguson (1896), which created the "separate but equal" doctrine for education; nor Brown v Board of Education (1954) which overturned it more than 50 years later. These were people I would normally consider to be level headed and fair minded, but who I now realize could be of significant danger to others. My initial reaction was one of disgust and disappointment and an intense sadness that the people they serve in our community are subject to this type of prejudice and discrimination. But the reality is that it was there all along, and I was simply not aware of it. Sexism and racism are forms of violence and abuse, even in subtle ways such as a sense of superiority over others and in language which overtly states that "normal" is male. Anne Wilson Schaef called it the "white male yardstick" in which normal is white male and all else is deviant. Think of ACT questions that are about what teen boys are interested in such as questions involving sports rather than relationships. (There have been significant efforts in recent decades to remove these biases). Implicit bias is defined as an unconscious belief or attitude toward a particular social group. Many schools and businesses provide training that help folks realize their implicit biases and learn to adjust these automatic beliefs and ways of thinking that can lead to discriminatory behaviors. Our local Black Heritage Library offers the training. All of us want to declare that we are not biased or racist or sexist, but the reality is that we are all creatures of our environment and circumstances. The way I explain it to my students is that "normal" is what we experienced as a child or were taught as a student. It is not until late adolescence and young adulthood that we realize that other people's "normal" is not the same as ours. Harvard has some free online tests on biases in several different areas that I encourage my students to self administer: Implicit.harvard.edu. It is a matter of personal growth and actually increases our sense of wonder for the world around us. It is also a way to become aware of who and what we have to be careful of and have our emotional guards up against. Setting our biases aside as we become aware of them and developing a sense of curiosity about others are qualities we want to develop in ourselves and in our children, coupled with an innate confidence that we have the knowledge and abilities to keep ourselves emotionally and physically safe. There is more that is good than bad in our world, but to be fully human and adult, we need to continue to become aware of it all. If you believe you are the survivor of discrimination or abuse, and in need of additional supports, consider consulting a local mental health professional to assist you. We are here to help. Stephani, LISW-S, DCSW MAC, is an outpatient therapist at Firelands Counseling and Recovery Center in Fostoria and Fremont, and on professional staff at the Ohio State University at Lima.