In this first part of this piece, the author classifies people who say “I know these stereotypes quite well, but I don’t for a moment endorse them”. I related this back to the last article we read about mindbugs in the way that it is important to recognize the implicit biases one has but to also control them. Similarly, the article mentioned IAT tests. The author stated that the constant unintentional propaganda such as commercials, stories, and jokes is what propels many people’s unintentional biases, even if they don’t consciously hold these harmful views. Similarly, the self-defeating stereotypes are a product of societies views on specific groups that one is a part of.
Another thing about the mindbug experiments that stood out to me was when the author talked about the test takers “total lack of awareness that the gender of the name played any role in their decision about fame”. I am curious how to hold people accountable for their biases and these mindbug tests that can come off as insensitive even though they don’t know the implications of their actions. I for one would be nervous to take a test like this in front of a group of people. Then again, I took the Black Americans/ Harmful Weapons test they mentioned and revealed no correlation.
I think people’s biases are often born from automatic responses. I don’t think they always need to be held accountable rather than having a teaching moment.. For eample, there are certain biases that keep us safe. Assuming that a dark alley way might be dangerous is one way biases can help us avoid potentially bad situations. However, when they are carried over into biases aganist people of color and gender is where it becomes problematic.