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Lessons from Katrina: Do We Even Know Bias When We See it In Ourselves? (contd.)
These associations have an even more pervasive impact because they are self re-enforcing. As a 6'5" man, I have had a lifetime of people looking at me in a certain way: expecting me to be the leader in groups that I am in; noticing my strengths; for that matter, noticing me at all! We know this plays out in the way people are reacted and responded to on an interpersonal level as well. I often have people ask me, "How tall are you anyway?" I doubt if very many 5'1" tall men have the same question asked. Why? Because we are more comfortable asking the question when it is being asked to identify a trait that is "favored." These experiences begin to reinforce that sense of my own leadership competence. I begin to believe that the way people treat me is the way I am. I feel more present. I have more confidence. I expect that people will be interested in what I have to say, so I speak more freely. At some level, I begin to exhibit the same qualities that people attribute to me. I become the stereotype that people have about me. In my own mind, though, I would much rather believe that these traits are the result of my own competence than I would that they are the benefit of my biological luck!
The same may be true in the opposite case, if a person holds a negative stereotype. Their behavior towards people in the stereotyped group may similarly reinforce their feelings, both in their own mind and in the behavior that is encouraged or expected in the person they are stereotyping. We have known about this phenomenon for years.it has been called the "Pygmalion Effect" after the George Bernhard Shaw play of the same name that later was made into the musical, My Fair Lady. People invariably act in accordance with what is expected of them, and their behavior then is more data to reinforce the expectation.
All of this played itself out painfully in our reactions to Hurricane Katrina. When people accuse governmental officials of not acting fast enough because of a lack of concern about the largely low-income African American population of New Orleans, the reaction is strong . . . and defensive. "How could you suggest such a thing . . . I would never make such a decision." And yet, might there have been a faster reaction if the people in trouble were people more similar to those in leadership? In fact, it is very likely . . . but not necessarily consciously or intentionally. Our sense of outrage and concern may still have been there, as it was, for example with the Tsunami or the Pakistani earthquake, but our sense of urgency is clearly greater when people affected are more similar to us, as in the case of tragedies that occur within our own country. And reactions to crises are based on past cultural experiences. The reaction of citizens to government warnings may have been based on how much our history has taught us to trust government, Access to resources needed to evacuate may impact people's ability to do so. People's willingness to evacuate may be impacted by how welcome they feel they may be in another location. Willingness to listen to the advice or encouragement of law enforcement officials may be impacted by our historical relationship with law enforcement officials, etc. All of these factors, as well as many others, are likely to be impacted by race and class.
(Lessons from Katrina - Contd.)
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The world is moving so fast these days that the man who says it can't be done is generally interrupted by someone doing it.
Harry Emerson Fosdick
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