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Detecting Bias

3 years ago, sitting in the same Journalism class as I am today, I began covering the death of Michael Brown at the hands of the Ferguson Police Department. This event is what catapulted me from my tiny rural town into the forefronts of national news. The shooting of Brown, over an alleged petty theft, disturbed me greatly. The story made international news and caused an uproar across the nation. It is categorized as what some believe to be the birth of the Black Lives Matter Movement.

As I dug deep into the information surrounding the case as well as the victim and the officer, Darren Wilson, I was struck with how many personal testimonies were being made in his defense that he wasn’t racist. This is when I was introduced to the term Implicit Bias.

Implicit bias plays a large role in media bias. Often times, reporters aren’t “trained” to be biased. The Newark Advocate, for example, has no political agenda. Their stories cover a wide variety of topics and have variations of depth. One would think that the reporters would hold no bias; however, it’s human nature.

The Advocate’s Bethany Bruner, writes about the biases she is aware she holds when dealing with the coverage of child rape trials. Though Bethany herself is not perfect, and I have read many stories of hers where she fails to shield her bias, the only way to combat implicit biases is being cognizant of the ones you personally hold. The first draft of a piece may be riddled with implicit bias, however, the following drafts need to be focused on bias deletion. Understanding the importance of word connotation helps with this process. Also, having another set of eyes on the paper will help recognize and remove bias.

Unfortunately, there will always be bias in the media. So, it’s important to be able to independently weed out bias. When picking a news source, make sure it is credited. Though you may be a strong conservative or a strong liberal, try reading news from an impartial source such as PBS, BBC, and CSPAN. If you can’t fathom giving up your favorite CNN or Fox News, don’t. Instead try listening to 30 minutes of each to ensure both sides of the story is being addressed.

For my college application essay I had to write about a problem that I’d like to fix. I chose to write about aspiring to fix racial implicit bias within the American police force. Below is my essay, explaining ways I think bias can be combatted.

Arrested Development: Policing Bias

A problem in today’s society that I would like to fix, I have already unraveled and acknowledged within myself. The problem at hand has cost thousands of unwarranted deaths, countless injuries, and injustices: racial bias within our police force. Cases of unconscionable police violence could have been prevented by awareness and education about these biases.

Implicit biases are inclinations that are formed within our subconscious mind. Everyone is guilty of hosting these biases. Though one may not act on racial biases through action or speech, there are still wheels that turn within one’s mind that subliminally make decisions unfairly. These biases often reveal themselves in life-or-death situations such as police encounters.

Two years ago, in the wake of the death of Michael Brown at the hands of the Ferguson Police Department, I was heartbroken. Not only was I heartbroken, I was admittedly exacerbated. As editor of my school newspaper, I covered the shooting, the trial (or lack thereof), and the heartbreaking aftermath of Brown’s death by rioting in the streets of Ferguson, Missouri. As months and years rolled on more names were added to the list of unarmed black Americans killed by police. Through my reporting, I scoured the news and consumed every bit of information obtainable on these profligate deaths. Eyewitness accounts, video footage, police statements, all at my disposal only worsened my confusion and utter brokenness at the tragedies headlining American newsstands.

Upon sharing my frustration with a teacher, he introduced the notion that implicit biases may be the root of all misfortune striking our country. We hear the statements made by family members and close friends on behalf of the police officer accountable for taking an innocent life. “He/she is not racist by any means” followed by a specifically chosen piece of evidence to back their claim up to ensure “this is not a race issue.” Upon explanation of what implicit biases truly were, it began to click for me. These officers are not racist in their day-to-day lives. They do not act freely out of prejudice; however, when faced with a perceived life-or-death situation, their subconscious mind kicks in and handles the decision-making for them, subsequently treating minorities unfairly and ultimately taking their lives.

This was very troubling to me. Though it seemed these officers had not acted out of malice, they were racially swayed. I wondered what biases I held. I always took great pride in my acceptance of diversity. The argument I always used was “my brother is black - I can't be racist”. The teacher guided me to an implicit bias test administered by Harvard University. I took it carefree, adamant that I could never be racist. The test features a series of black and white faces and facial features, along with positive and negative words. To my horror, I watched my subconscious mind associate the bad words more easily with the black faces. Likewise, the good words, with white faces. The results came back that I had a slight preference for white people over black people.

In the face of a situation in which we are at fault, we can do one of two things: accept responsibility or insist we have done nothing wrong. I chose the former.

Immediately, I began pushing back against the biases that unintentionally rise to my consciousness. The sheer awareness of these biases caused my mind to think differently. Which is why I am so inclined to believe that if this test (or perhaps a stricter one) were mandated to officers, it would change the way they police. These universal statutes would send the message to the hurting 21st century that we want to and will do better. Our unfortunate trend of unconscious bigotry will be combated, not ignored. Fair and impartial policing is a right that all American citizens deserve. Being cognizant of our own biases gives us the responsibility of our own minds.

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