RACIAL BIAS

What is racial bias, why is it important, and what can be done to challenge it?

Diggs succinctly summarizes a large body of research, particularly that relating to implicit bias. An anecdotal introduction describes an incident in 2018 involving the arrest of two Black customers that led to Starbucks’ providing anti–racial bias training to its employees. She goes on chapter by chapter to explain the neurological roots of bias, what implicit bias is and how it develops, and its destructive impact. She then reassures readers that although this a natural outcome of our brain’s tendency to categorize, it’s not hard-wired and therefore can be overcome. A final chapter presents attempts to counter these biases through psychological testing, organizational efforts, and school curricula. Finally, she offers readers concrete suggestions for things they can personally do. Clearly aimed at middle and high school readers, the text is presented invitingly, occasionally broken up with clearly captioned, relevant, and appealing photographs, callouts of important quotations, and set-off text boxes with examples. Quotations are clearly documented in the endnotes, but there’s no documentation for the statistics nor sources for the many studies described, which may limit research beyond the solid list of further reading she provides.

A timely and useful survey of a topic that deserves discussion.