Professor john a. powell, Haas Diversity Research Center, Director

and The Robert D. Haas Chancellor’s Chair in Equity and Inclusion

University of California, BerkeleyPresentation for the Northwest Area Foundation

August 17, 2012

Structural Racialization,

Implicit Bias, and Racial Equity

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What Are the Structuresthat Influence Our

Society?

Education Economic

Housing

Transportation

Healthcare Justice

Food

Communications

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Understanding Structures as Systems

These structures are not neutralThe implicit/unconscious helps

to create themStructures are systemsSystems are non-linear, complex,

and function through feedback

Towards Systems ThinkingUnderstanding structures

as systems requires looking for patterns and relationships

Systems thinking necessitates focusing on outcomes rather than intents or inputs 4

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Differential Positioning in Structures

These structures interact in ways that produce differential outcomes

We are all situated within structures but not evenly

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Not only are people situated differently with regard to institutions, people are situated differently with regard to infrastructure

People are impacted by the relationships between institutions and systems…

…but people also impact these relationships and can change the structure of the system.

Differential Positioning in Structures

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How are women situated vis-à-vis men in the job market?

How are people with disabilities positioned within transportation?

How are undocumented immigrants positioned in the justice system?

Differential Positioning in Structures

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The Circle of Human Concern

Differential positioning in these structures is a way to understand who inhabits the circle of human concern as a full member and who is pushed out of it

The Circle of Human Concern

Non-public/non-private

Citizens

Non-public/non-private Space

Elderly

MothersChildren

Felons

Undocumented

The Circle of Human Concern

Contextualizing Disparities How do we understand the

resulting problems? Disparities in one part of a

structure are not isolated from others

They need to be contextualized in relation to other structures, such as housing, education, employment, among others

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Mechanisms of Marginalization

There are similar mechanisms of marginalization within structures that work across social groups (women, immigrants, blacks, people with disabilities, Native Americans)

However, these social groups are not uniformly positioned in structures

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Differential Racialization

Structural racialization is when systems and processes produce and reproduce unequal outcomes along racial lines with or without intent

It is a relational process (i.e. groups are racialized in relation to other groups)

To go beyond the “Black-White” binary, we need to look at the “field of racial positions” (Kim 1999) that includes the public representation and groups relative positioning

Difference & Inequality  An individual’s particular “co-

formation” of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, class, language, religion, citizenship status, able-bodiedness, and geographic location marks how they are positioned in these structures as well as in concepts and stories

We can always refer to structural marginalizations along multiple axes of difference (i.e. structural gender marginalization)Bacchetta, Paola. 2007

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Five Faces of Oppression

1. Exploitation2. Marginalization 3. Powerlessness 4. Cultural Dominance5. Violence

Source: Young, Iris Marion (1990). “Five Faces of Oppression,” in Justice and the Politics of Difference

 Groups are differentially situated in

relation to these forms of dehumanization

A group may be high in one area, but low in another

A group’s relational positioning may also differ in different geographies

Oppressing others through Othering and dehumanization become easier to do if done a lot

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Five Faces of Oppression

Considering the Unconscious Mind

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Back to the Future

There is strong evidence that we are becoming more racially tolerant on a conscious level

Yet, more racially anxious on an unconscious level

• People are meaning-making machines.

• Individual meaning• Collective meaning

• Only 2% of emotional

cognition is available to us consciously

• Racial bias tends to reside in the unconscious

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We unconsciously

think about race even when

we do not explicitly discuss it

The Role of the Unconscious Mind

20 The Stroop Test

Our Brains in Action

Blue

Blue

Green

Please state the color of the text

Black

Red

Green

Blue

Black

Blue

Black

Red

Green

Green

Green

Red

Black

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And now, in Greek

The Stroop Test

If you are a Greek speaker, this will show this works in any language.If you are not – how much easier it is now! But why?

Remember: state the colour of the text

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Awareness Test

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrqrkihlw-s

Understanding Implicit/Unconscious Bias

People’s conscious values and beliefs are only part of how they process information and make decisions

Many biases affecting behavior towards others reside in the unconscious mind

 

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Understanding Implicit/Unconscious

BiasIn other words, people who

consciously value racial or other forms of equality can act and make decisions based on biases without even being aware that they have any biases at all

Implicit/unconscious bias is when a person’s actions are motivated by unconscious processes.

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How Implicit/Unconscious Bias

Leads to DiscriminationWhen one holds a

negative stereotype about a group and meets someone who fits the stereotype s/he may discriminate against that individual

It occurs even among persons who are not consciously prejudiced

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Priming

Our environment affects our unconscious networks

Priming activates mental associations Telling someone a scary story activates a frame of

fear

Claude Steele’s“stereotype threat”: For example, tell students about to take a test that

Asian students tend to do better than whites, and the whites will perform significantly worse than if they had not been primed to think of themselves as less capable than Asians.

Source: http://www.eaop.ucla.edu/0405/Ed185%20-Spring05/Week_6_May9_2005.pdf

Individuation: focus on the individual attributes of specific person versus categorization or perceiving person through filter of their social group

Source: Burgess, Van Ryn, Dovidio, and Saha, J Gen Intern Med (2007); Williams, 2012 27

Counteracting Unconscious Prejudice and Stereotypes

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Social Cognition: Warmth and Competence

Competence

Warmth

Low

High

Low

High

Esteemed: Your own

group, who you identify

with

Despised: African

Americans, Undocument

ed immigrants

Envied: Competent, but don’t really like

them: Asians

Pity : women, elderly, disabled

Source: Douglas Massey. Categorically Unequal: The American Stratification System. New York: Russell Sage Foundation. 2007.

Bringing Together Implicit Bias and Structural Racialization

Structural RacializationSystems Approach

PowerOrganizing

Implicit BiasCulture and Communication

The Problems of Race Neutral Poverty

Programs and PoliciesPoverty interventions must consider

the multiple underlying mechanisms of marginalization

When purportedly ‘neutral’ programs and policies for poverty alleviation are overlaid on already racialized practices, norms, and institutional arrangements, it is likely to not only leave such arrangements undisturbed, but perpetuate and exacerbate them

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Imagining a New Paradigm What is an alternative

vision? A model where we all

grow together A model where we

embrace collective, yet differentiated solutions

A vision that requires collective action to be successful

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Towards Targeted Universalism

This strategic framework starts with identifying the universal goals for all in education, health, civil rights, employment, etc.

Our strategies much be targeted based on the different situatedness of groups 32

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Towards Targeted Universalism

The framework should support the identification of specific obstacles in particular geographies and structures and stories that limit certain populations from reaching those goals

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Towards Targeted Universalism

Strategies are tailored to address the specific needs and situatedness of targeted populations

They may be geographically particular based on needs and resources in different locations

It is difficult to effectively benefit one group while leaving others marginalized

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Towards Targeted Universalism

Strategies often work on multiple scales based on the nature of the problem

They enable networks of institutions (funders, service providers, advocacy groups) with different assets/contributions to work together through linkages

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Creating InterventionsInterventions need to focus on the

following:Targeting structures and

(un)conscious bias Healing the breach of exclusion

created through racialized disparities

Creating a process of inclusion based on fairness

A focus on racial equity has broader implications for social relations and systems in our societyThese disparities effect the well-

being of our entire society, not just marginalized communities

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Creating Interventions If structural conditions are informed

by implicit bias, then what is the organizational structure that can engage this?

How do you strategically fund to address this?Analyze the problems, create multi-

scalar interventions, and fund to build capacity

This necessitates a flexible network, not just organizations or coalitions

It also needs funding over the long term

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Reflections on Situatedness

How are we each differentially situated in structures?

How do our own conscious and unconscious biases affect our philanthropic work?

Where are the groups we fund situated?

How are we situated vis-à-vis the groups we fund?

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Challenges in Practice In light of differential situatedness, how

are collective decisions made regarding the targeted allocation of resources to different groups to meet universal goals?

What are the challenges of framing and allocating resources in this way? For example, can perceived notions of

scarcity be overcome by framing investments in a particular group as also investments in the social fabric of our society?

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Challenges in Practice

While targeted universalism provides is an important framework for developing communications and informing policy and programming, it will not do all of the necessary work

What other strategies need to be considered to deal with unintended consequences, unanticipated resistance, implementation problems, etc.?

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