Conclusion

The truth is, anyone can be biased, and almost all of us are. Stanford professor Jennifer L. Eberhardt (2019), who is African American, acknowledged that when she first entered a largely white school, she could not tell the difference in the facial features of her white classmates. They simply all looked alike to her. More tellingly, she revealed that when she took her five-year-old son on a plane, he saw an African American man and asked Eberhardt if the man was going to rob the plane. The kindergarten-aged child had no obvious reason to be biased against a Black man, yet there it was—drawing conclusions based on the stranger’s appearance. If Eberhardt and her son can be biased, then we might all want to take a breath and admit that we can be biased as well.

How Bias Helps and Hurts People

Normally we just think of bias as something that hurts people—like racism. But an important part of understanding racial injustice is also understanding how bias helps people. Doug knows that he benefited from parents who read to him at a very young age, and dinnertime discussions helped him develop a good vocabulary. That gave him confidence in school that probably made teachers think that he was capable and intelligent. They were biased in Doug’s favor even before they had any evidence to believe that he could be a decent student. Anthony drives a car that might cause some people to assume he is successful, intelligent, and hardworking, even though they have not met him— they just make a biased judgment about Anthony based on his car. But for every person bias helps, there are others it harms. Children arrive in the United States every day who are extremely intelligent, but who don’t speak English at home and don’t have the vocabulary that Doug or Anthony did as a child, so some people might draw negative conclusions about their intelligence and capability. Teachers do not even ask them to consider advanced classes or gifted and talented programs because, after all, they don’t seem ready for them. Similarly, some adults drive cars that are old and in disrepair, don’t wear nice clothes, and may not smell very good, so even before other people meet them, they can draw conclusions about the intelligence and capability of those adults. That might influence an employer to not even consider them for a job, an unfair act that hurts not only the adult with the old car but also everyone in the family depending on him or her for food and shelter.

Scenarios About Bias

Now that we know that bias can help and hurt, let’s think about three scenarios and how to talk about them. The first involves the simple act of getting to school. Whether you walk, take the bus, ride with a parent, or take public transportation, you might notice some patterns of how people of different races act toward one another. The second scenario is about taking a test in a class when there’s more to the story than the teacher may see. Third, we’ll consider how some students ask for help and others don’t, and how bias might influence this seemingly simple action that is so essential to student success.

Getting to School

Every day, Marie takes the bus to her middle school. She always saves a seat for her friend Sophie, who gets on the bus two stops down from Marie’s usual bus stop. One cold morning, a new student Marie didn’t recognize boarded. The new girl sat next to Marie, but Marie said, “I’m sorry, this seat is saved for Sophie.” The new student said, “There’s no saving seats on the bus, and don’t tell me what to do!” Then, in a surprisingly friendly voice, the new girl stuck out her hand and said, “I’m Thomasina, but you can call me Tommy.” Marie was surprised and a little scared and didn’t say anything. When Sophie got on the bus, Marie moved to sit next to Sophie. Tommy yelled, “What’s wrong with you? Are you too good to sit next to me?” Marie burst into tears and didn’t know what to say. When she finally arrived at school, she was afraid to tell anyone why she was so upset.

Discussion question: What advice would you give to Marie, Sophie, and Tommy?

Taking a Test

Jeff hated algebra. He had never been good at mathematics, but he especially disliked the way that his teacher, Mr. Boomer, seemed to ridicule him whenever he didn’t know the answer. “I can see you’re a real genius,” said Mr. Boomer sarcastically. On this day, Jeff was especially exhausted and upset. He had helped his mom with a double shift at the convenience store