Lessons from Katrina: Do We Even Know Bias
When We See it In Ourselves?
By Howard Ross,President Cook Ross, Inc.
Our recent experience with Hurricane Katrina has raised questions about beliefs and associations of race in our society. Accusations of racism in response to the storm have been countered by assertions to the contrary. The impact on poor versus wealthy residents of New Orleans, as well as responses to evacuation warnings by different groups, raise concern and curiosity. Additionally, the difference in access to services during the reconstruction raise questions about whether the needs of some are more important, and responded to more quickly and completely, than the needs of others.
As so often happens, our attack/defense response has obscured the opportunity for an inquiry into deeper understanding. The assumptions underlying various points of view are that these kinds of decisions are based on intent, or defended by lack of intent. In fact, the post Katrina debacle is a revelation of a much deeper dynamic that underlies race, socio-economic status and other differences in our society. It may have been the result of implicit beliefs and associations so deeply buried in our psyches that we don’t even see them.
Take height bias, for example. As Malcolm Gladwell points out in his recent book “Blink,” less then 15% of American men are over six feet tall, and even fewer, less then 4%, are over six foot, two inches in height. Yet when we look at the ranks of corporate CEOs, the number of people of these heights in the positions are staggering. Almost 60% are over six foot tall, and almost 40% are six foot two inches or taller. I doubt very seriously if members of boards of directors, in choosing those CEOs, sit around and say, "Get me a tall one!" Yet the numbers are dramatic enough so that one would have to conclude that they represent more than a coincidence. The reality is that people implicitly associate height with any number of leadership qualities. We hear it in subtle and not so subtle references: "He has a certain presence about him."