Local View: Acknowledging bias is the first step to moving past it

I’m white.I’m male.
I was raised in a white household by two white parents within a predominantly white community.I admit I carry implicit bias.But I believe I can say that confidently without compromising my character.The National Center for State Courts defines implicit bias as the result of “subtle cognitive processes” that “operate at a level below conscious awareness and without intentional control.” So, phew, I can’t help it. Turns out, having implicit bias doesn’t chip my breastplate of righteousness or equate me to a racist; it makes me human.In essence, every moment of my life, positive or negative, has left some impact, big or small, on the way in which I respond to future experiences - the results of which are uncontrollable, subconscious emotions to the things I see and the people I meet. By virtue of being alive (and awake), I can escape it. Good news again. Not my fault.But by understanding and identifying my bias, consciously disallowing it to influence my actions, I stand on moral ground. Only by permitting an implicit bias to manifest itself in racist behavior or thought do I step down.So it’s disappointing to see our country’s leaders allowing implicit bias to be perceived as a demeaning, broad-brushed accusation rather than as a humble admittance of a genuine human flaw, as if the term is a threat to the integrity of our police or white Americans as a whole.We only move forward and solve problems effectively by being honest with ourselves. It’s not a you-vs.-me or them-vs.-us issue. By posturing from a stance of prideful territorialism rather than cooperative construction in our conversation, we fail to get anywhere but further apart.Abraham Lincoln once told us, “Only by defiant humility of our flaws does mankind achieve ultimate greatness.”Actually, I made up that quote. But who cares? It helped me seem more right, sounded good and I bet you believed me. Sam Renk graduated last year from the University of Minnesota Duluth with degrees in biochemistry and Spanish. He is working in Duluth and making plans to pursue a graduate degree at the University of Minnesota.I’m white.I’m male.
I was raised in a white household by two white parents within a predominantly white community.I admit I carry implicit bias.But I believe I can say that confidently without compromising my character.The National Center for State Courts defines implicit bias as the result of “subtle cognitive processes” that “operate at a level below conscious awareness and without intentional control.” So, phew, I can’t help it. Turns out, having implicit bias doesn’t chip my breastplate of righteousness or equate me to a racist; it makes me human.In essence, every moment of my life, positive or negative, has left some impact, big or small, on the way in which I respond to future experiences - the results of which are uncontrollable, subconscious emotions to the things I see and the people I meet. By virtue of being alive (and awake), I can escape it. Good news again. Not my fault.But by understanding and identifying my bias, consciously disallowing it to influence my actions, I stand on moral ground. Only by permitting an implicit bias to manifest itself in racist behavior or thought do I step down.So it’s disappointing to see our country’s leaders allowing implicit bias to be perceived as a demeaning, broad-brushed accusation rather than as a humble admittance of a genuine human flaw, as if the term is a threat to the integrity of our police or white Americans as a whole.We only move forward and solve problems effectively by being honest with ourselves. It’s not a you-vs.-me or them-vs.-us issue. By posturing from a stance of prideful territorialism rather than cooperative construction in our conversation, we fail to get anywhere but further apart.Abraham Lincoln once told us, “Only by defiant humility of our flaws does mankind achieve ultimate greatness.”Actually, I made up that quote. But who cares? It helped me seem more right, sounded good and I bet you believed me.Sam Renk graduated last year from the University of Minnesota Duluth with degrees in biochemistry and Spanish. He is working in Duluth and making plans to pursue a graduate degree at the University of Minnesota.