February 14, 2013

Having been in the civil rights field for several decades, we have read and been offered numerous explanations for the inequality that exists in America. From it being the product of overt racist beliefs on the part of bigots, to socio-economic explanations to historic discussions of the remnants of slavery–some analyses last, others prove ephemeral and faddy.

In recent years, a novel theory has taken hold that suggests that people harbor biases and prejudices of which even they are unaware (“implicit bias“) and that those biases manifest themselves in the real world as discrimination and inequality.

The rise in popularity and acceptance of the Implicit Association Test (“IAT”) has offered what seemed like “evidence” that despite protestations of innocence, most of us harbor bias and that, as one advocate (Eva Patterson of the Equal Justice Society) has written—it is “social science research” that needs to be used “to prove that discrimination exists even when it is not tied to an overt act.” Patterson argues that the IAT is proof positive of just how pervasive and dangerous bigotry is—it has a hold on us of which we are unaware and it pervades how we act in the world. Patterson, and others, urge that the realtively new “science” needs to be drummed into the heads of judges and legislators to help them understand the world.

The IAT has become an exceptionally useful arrow in the quiver of those who argue that not much in America has changed, that we are a racist and discriminatory society that simply has a veneer of acceptance and tolerance. There are too many “civil rights” organizations who are wedded to the notion that the apparent increasing tolerance in America is a charade and that the disparities among racial and ethnic groups in terms of unemployment, income, health outcomes, etc. remain because of racism, mostly of the covert, subliminal kind. It’s a theme that gets hammered away at within academia, at conferences and in articles galore. America remains profoundly racist, it just doesn’t know it; so the message goes.

We have long been uneasy about questioning the data that the IATs offer, we are neither academics nor statisticians, but something seemed amiss. Virtually every poll that has come out over the past decade dealing with attitudes on race (many from the highly respected Pew Center) have evidenced greater tolerance and acceptance of differences based on race, ethnicity, religion and sexual orientation among virtually all cohorts of Americans. The data isn’t even close. We have ” target=”_blank”>decade.

Additionally, and not incidentally, Americans elected an African American president of the United States and did so in no uncertain terms. His being black was not an obstacle to a majority of Americans (not just a plurality in 2012) electing him our commander-in-chief.

And yet the IATs were this nagging data set that seemed to indicate that the optimism of all the polls and the other indicia of progress might be illusory—that we were unconsciously bigots and none of us really knew when or where or how that hate it will manifest itself in what we do.

Saturday’s Wall Street Journal had a fascinating ” target=”_blank”>link to the Levitin article and common sense might win out.

I am a hero junkie. I look to meet heroes to learn about what they have done and what makes them tick. I am very blessed when they accept my invitation to become activist partners and soul-friends. This morning, I had coffee with my new friend Mamie Currie Hughes, an 83-year-old mother of five. Ms. Hughes shared with me that not so long ago she was not allowed to come into a coffee shop like this one unless she was brought in by a white man. The humility and modesty I saw in Mamie belie the unbending determination she has exhibited for decades as a bold community and civil rights activist.

Mamie has long been prominent for her political service. She represented the 4th district in the Jackson County Legislature for 6 years in the 1970s, and eventually chaired its Health and Welfare Committee. During this time, Ms. Hughes was chosen by her peers for the honored position of Vice-Chair of the Legislature, and a few years later she was appointed by President Carter to be Regional Director for ACTION, a Federal Volunteer Service Agency, where she oversaw more than 20,000 volunteers in four states. She was also ” target=”_blank”>Mamie Hughes is one of the only women in Kansas City who has a bridge named after her. During the 71 Highway road construction, her assistance with negotiations on behalf of the residents of the area inspired the city to come together to make the project successful. She calls it a “people bridge” and notes that it’s for all of us, signifying people tearing down walls.

Mamie has served on the administrative boards of an impressive list of organizations. Today she serves on boards of the Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City, ” target=”_blank”>Missouri Compromise of 1820-1821 brought Missouri into the Union as a slave state. In addition, the ” target=”_blank”>Uri L'Tzedek, the Senior Rabbi at Kehilath Israel, and is the author of “” target=”_blank”>one of the top 50 rabbis in America!”