The killing of George Floyd by police officers in Minneapolis and the shooting of Jacob Blake by police in Wisconsin have led many police departments in the US to deal with unpleasant situations they have avoided till now. As thousands have marched in the streets to protest against racial inequality, many others have also been forced to ask some difficult questions about their levels of prejudice. While some people mistake racism as being only plain prejudice, there is another crucial component that affects our decision and actions towards others: implicit bias. An implicit bias is any prejudice that has formed accidentally and without our direct knowledge – and it can often counter our obvious beliefs and behaviors. Usually, it reflects a mixture of personal experience, attitudes around us as we have grown up, and our wilder exposure to society and culture –including the books we read, television we watch and news we follow. Many police departments in the US have pointed to strategies aimed at tackling implicit bias as evidence of their attempts to root out racism from their ranks. Police departments are not alone in hoping tackling unconscious bias can bring about change. Multinational corporations have also commanded implicit bias training in response to racist incidents involving their employees. What kind of tone does this passage have?
