Lessons from Katrina: Do We Even Know Bias
When We See it In Ourselves? (cont'd.)
Similarly, our reactions to what happened are influenced by the associations we make. In a September 13 poll, USA Today asked whether people felt that President Bush "cared about Black people" based on the hurricane response. The poll showed that 65% of whites and only 25% of African Americans said they thought he did, and 21% of whites and 72% of Blacks felt he didn't. Even more telling, when asked whether the "looters" they were seeing were motivated by criminal intent or by desperation, 51% White responders said that they were motivated by criminal intent, and only 44% felt they were motivated by desperation, yet only 16% of Black respondents saw the motivation as criminal and 77% saw it as motivated by desperation. (Most of the media depictions of people engaging in the behavior referred to as "looting" were of African Americans). A dramatic difference when one considers that we all received basically the same information. We are simply seeing different worlds!
Katrina brought to the surface one of the core realities of diversity in our society -- that nothing is as simple as it seems. For example, the complex relationship between race and socio-economic status often seems to contradict itself. For example, African Americans who lived in or near the French Quarter or more affluent areas of New Orleans were generally not as hard hit as whites who lived in the 9th ward or other poorer areas, leading some to see the impact as one of class but not of race. However, the fact of how many of each group live where they do is a direct impact of race. Similarly, there has been little or no discussion about sexual orientation being a Katrina-related issue, and yet many gay or lesbian couples have had difficulty getting "family benefits," a direct result of the fact that they are denied marital status. The impact of bias often shows up "down the road a 'piece" from where the actual offense occurs.