implicit bias

Starbucks Doesn’t Serve their Coffee Black

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Early last week, on April 12th, two Black men were arrested inside a Philadelphia Starbucks. The store manager had called the cops, saying there was a disturbance, that these men were refusing to leave the premises, and that she was scared. In response to the call, a group of police officers came inside the establishment, did not ask the two men any questions about their presence in the Starbucks, and immediately handcuffed them and walked them out to the patrol …

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An Open Letter to My “White” Black Friend

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It is very easy, I’ve found, to look out and look around and see behaviors and interactions that are silently swept into the cyclical system that White supremacy has made out of our country. It is valuable as it is easy to analyze and self-educate in response to these observations. A habit equally if not more valuable to the resistance to oppressive systems, however, is the ability to look inward to analyze and learn from one’s own behavior. In practicing …

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Mass Incarceration: Not Just a Social Problem

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Today when we talk about mass incarceration, many people may think that we are talking about a social problem. Yes, it is a big social problem, since America has become the country with highest incarceration rate for years, which is much higher than the incarceration rates of all other western industrial countries. Although each year the United States federal and states government spends about 70 billion dollars on incarceration, some prisons like which in Texas and California still got overcrowded …

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Wait…. Racism is a “Big Problem”?

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The fact that racism is a big problem will most likely not come as a surprise to many people. Yet, there are people who are just now seeing racism as a  “big problem” in the United States. According to a Pew research center poll, 58% now see racism as a big problem in the United States. What about the other 42%? These are the people who either think racism is somewhat a problem, small problem, or not a problem at …

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Microaggressions: Conscious or Unconscious?

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In our recent world, especially in developed countries, the concept of egalitarianism is accepted more and more widely by people. They believe the world should be a fair place which provides equal opportunity for each person no matter what one’s race, gender, or sexual orientation is. Because of this belief many people pay attention to their conversations and behaviors in order to not act as a racist or sexist. Egalitarianism is not only a inner belief, but it also becomes …

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Advice for a White Ally

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It starts with you. If you want to be an agent for positive change, your actions must be self-motivated. You have to start with yourself. Whether you’re aware of it or not, you’ve incorporated biases that frame your perception of people of color. It’s difficult to come to terms with this, because no one wants to think they hold prejudices. But we all do. And we often exercise these prejudices without knowing. We make fundamental attribution errors, linking others’ actions …

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Stark Realizations

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With the presidential election coming up on Tuesday, the next four years of policy are being decided.  Looking back at the campaigns leading up to this point, the rhetoric surrounding race has been interesting.  Much of the things said about race have been problematic, but prior to this semester I would not have understood why.  This semester of classes, with contemporary racism and multicultural psychology has been very eye-opening for me.  Coming from a predominately white town in New Jersey.  …

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