Unconscious racial bias can influence what we see, what we do, and what we remember.

These are topics that Jennifer Eberhardt, author of the book, Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice that Shapes What We See, Think, and Do, has been studying for over twenty years. In one of her studies, participants were shown either black or white human faces and then asked to identify a crime-related versus a neutral object. She found that, “black faces facilitated the detection of the crime object, whereas the white faces inhibited their detection of those very same crime objects.”

Jennifer’s research led her to work with police departments, prison inmates, and companies. In each case, she couples awareness instruction with actions people can take. For example, she helped one company address online bias in reporting suspicious people in their neighborhood by shifting their response from “if you see something, say something” to “if you see something suspicious, say something specific.”

Jennifer is a Professor of Psychology at Stanford University and a recipient of a 2014 MacArthur “genius grant.” She has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and was named one of Foreign Policy’s 100 Leading Global Thinkers. She is co-founder and co-director of SPARQ, a Stanford "do tank" that brings together researchers and practitioners to address significant social problems.

The Host

You can learn more about Curious Minds Host and Creator, Gayle Allen @CuriousGayle and www.gayleallen.net.

Episode Links

Blindspot by Mahzarin Banaji and Anthony Greenwald

Language from Police Body Language Footage Shows Racial Disparities in Officer Respect

Scientific racism

Jennifer’s 2014 MacArthur Fellow video

The Racist Trope that Won’t Die by Brent Staples

When Resumes are Made ‘Whiter’ to Please Potential Employers by Bourree Lam

Whitened Resumes: Race and Self-Presentation in the Labor Market by Sonia K. Kang, Katherine A. DeCelles, Andras Tilcsik, and Sora Jun

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