Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice That Shapes What We See, Think, and Do

by Jennifer L. Eberhardt

Back then, racial bias was commonly viewed as the product of ignorance. So, the thinking went, simply bringing people into contact with one another would soften hostile racial attitudes, by allowing everyone to replace broad stereotypes with individual names, faces, and facts. Once the barriers of bias were relaxed, social integration would allow minorities to rise. Some of that optimism surrounding equal access to education has indeed been borne out. Black students who attended integrated schools for at least five years earn 25 percent more as adults and are in far better health by middle age than their counterparts from segregated schools. And the benefits extend past racial lines and over generations. People of all races who attended racially diverse schools are more likely to have friends of other races, choose to live and raise their children in integrated neighborhoods, and have higher levels of civic engagement than those who did not. But the promise of school integration as an antidote to prejudice ran into hurdles that advocates didn’t expect. As it turns out, simply sitting in the same classroom together isn’t enough to remedy timeworn prejudices. The benefits of interracial contact are conditional.