In March, Donna Trumbo and Twiana Armstrong of ABC Equity Consulting were again our featured guests at the PCDCC meeting. They focused on Implicit Bias, and how it effects our daily lives. The Central Committee had an opportunity to learn about their individual unconscious bias and how it influences their judgements and perceptions of others. The open discussion came from a two-part training series facilitated by ABC Equity Consultants. Participants were able to have open conversations about systemic racism and implicit bias. Implicit (unconscious) bias is a perception that occurs automatically and unintentionally, that nevertheless affects judgements, decisions and behaviors. Studies have shown that implicit bias can especially affect people's decisions and their behavior toward people of different ethnicities and stereotypes. The good news is that there are practical ways to overcome our bias. (see below) The Central Committee is committed to help dismantle systemic racism through yearly diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging training.

IMPLICIT BIAS

STEREOTYPES are generalizations about a group of people that ignore the reality of individual differences.

However, IMPLICIT BIAS is a form of bias that occurs automatically and unintentionally that affects judgements, decisions, and behaviors Research has shown that implicit bias can pose a barrier to recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce. Implicit bias can manifest in expectations or assumptions about physical or social characteristics dictated by stereotypes that are based on a person’s race, gender, age, ethnicity, etc.

Bias, prejudice or simply ignorance, can lead to isolation, vulnerability, disadvantage and discrimination at school, work, in stores and other services. Bias can also take place based on where people live. For example, a transgender living in a rural area might be subjected to implicit bias because a trans is singled-out as being “different” or “strange” because of people’s transphobia and lack of education.

TYPES OF IMPLICIT BIASES

Ableism (directed at people who may exhibit or seem to show signs of mental or physical disabilities)
Ageism (based on age)
Homophobia (targets those who are attracted to members of their own gender)
Racism (based on a person’s skin color or cultural identity)
Religious prejudice (based on a person’s system of beliefs, practices or worship)
Sexism (focused on a person’s gender)
Sizeism (based on a person’s weight and outwards appearance)
Transphobia (heteronormism) (targets transsexual or transgender people)
Xenophobia (focuses on people from other countries)

THREE WAYS TO OVERCOME IMPLICIT BIAS

CHANGE YOUR MINDSET: Be humble and mindful; be internally motivate to address your own implicit biases. =
DEBIASING: Scrub your brains from implicit bas. Remold our biases by counter-typical examples; use stereotype replacement.
DECOUPLING: Learn to break the causal link between bias and behavior.