Abstract

Excerpted From: Anupama C. Connor, Teaching and Learning about Implicit Bias in the Legal Practice Classroom: The Lesson of Sandy Jordan, 68 Saint Louis University Law Journal 519 (Spring, 2024) (31 Footnotes) (Full Document)

The term “implicit bias” was developed by psychologists to describe the unconscious stereotypes and attitudes that individuals use for quick thinking. The truth is, having implicit biases is part of what makes us human beings. Our brains evolved to create schemas to help us process the huge amounts of information and data we receive every day. We view some biases as morally objectionable while others as not. For example, when we see a young child or elderly person, we might assume that they need more help with certain physical tasks than we would if we were looking at a young or middle-aged adult. I started with my Sandy Jordan example to illustrate that we are all guilty of implicit bias, even me: an Indian woman who herself has been the target of racial and misogynistic decisions and slurs.

The problems arise, of course, when we have implicit biases based on traits like race or ethnicity that are both unrealized and unfair. I remember an example of this when I was a law student myself in the early 2000s. Our Civil Rights professor asked us to raise our hands if we were aware of the affirmative action policies at our law school. Virtually all of our class, the vast majority of whom were white, raised their hands; the Black, Asian, and Latino students also raised their hands. Then our professor told us that our law school did not have an official affirmative action policy. He asked us to examine why we assumed it did. And he made us question whether thinking that the law school had such a policy made us feel any differently about the students of color or women in the class. Back then, we did not really use the term implicit bias, but our professor was getting at the same underlying issues, and asking us to recognize and challenge the beliefs we might have had.

Study after study confirms that implicit biases are hard wired in us. There are a couple of studies in the professional or law school context that really drive the point home. One such study found that a resume with the name John was sixty percent more likely to get an interview than an identical resume with the name Jamaal. A second study asked law firm partners to comment on a memo written by a fictitious associate. Half the partners were told that the writer was white and the other half that he was Black. The other data points provided-- that the writer was a third-year associate and graduate of NYU law school--were the same. The comments in response to the Black associate's work were uniformly more critical than that of the white associate, even though it was exactly the same work product. This unfair treatment is, of course, why recognizing and reckoning with implicit bias is necessary in our classrooms.

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I was pretty disappointed in myself when I realized the huge mistakes and assumptions I made about that student who reached out to me during my first year of teaching. However, because I made such a blunder, it was a clear indication to me that I needed to think about the larger issues of the implicit biases I carry and think about ways to address them for myself and for my students. It was a good first lesson for me and one I will keep in the front of my mind each year I teach. Being aware of our implicit biases is an ongoing task and one I encourage you to embrace. I may picture Tracy Flick again, but if so, I will have the self-awareness to check my assumptions.

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