Overcoming Implicit Biases

Dushaw Hockett, the founder and Executive Director of Safe Places for the Advancement of Community and Equity, begins his talk on biases by stating that the way that people engage with racial conflict and other kinds of difference in the US is both inadequate and incomplete.

By beginning with this powerful statement, Hockett introduces the need to overcome implicit bias by bringing awareness to it and confronting it head-on. This is important as people aren't aware of the implicit biases that they hold which often run against their conscious beliefs, which makes it difficult to accurately acknowledge them.

In order to bring awareness to some of these biases, Hockett asks his audience to call out the words they associate with the words they see on the screen behind him. He continues by further considering the importance of confronting implicit biases, as there's a disconnect in how differences in the US are being addressed in regards to implicit and explicit actions.

In order to reduce one's likelihood of acting on their implicit biases, Hockett recommends that his audience takes the 'Implicit Association' test as a preventative measure, and to reduce the level of shame that tends to come with discussing one's biases. With this, Hockett promotes a culture of honesty and conscious progression, so that people can truly align the values they express with their subconscious thoughts.