Nonprofits & Activism
How racial bias works — and how to disrupt it | Jennifer L. Eberhardt
Visit to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized talk recommendations and more. Our brains create categories to make sense of the world, recognize patterns and make quick decisions. But this ability to categorize also exacts a heavy toll in the form of unconscious bias. The TED Talks channel features the best…
Marie's Memoirs
June 22, 2020 at 8:25 pm
Really appreciate this talk. Some great points and thought provoking notes. Thank you for sharing!
Mark N.
June 22, 2020 at 8:33 pm
Just don’t smell. That’s all I care about when I’m on an elevator with someone.
SeeWhatHadHappend Was
June 22, 2020 at 8:38 pm
hello Ted Community! I love you all. enjoy!
Wentra w
June 22, 2020 at 8:51 pm
This is good information. I lost some respect for TED talks a few weeks ago when they posted a video of a citizen of China putting down the alleged evils of capitalism. It was pure propaganda. But, hopefully. I can still find some gems like this among the junk.
Wayne Donoghue
June 22, 2020 at 8:51 pm
Somewhere in the world there is a white person interacting/socializing/working with a black person, thinking to himself “don’t come across as racist”…. Somewhere else in the world there is a white boss who happened to choose the white candidate for the job over the black candidate, who had the same thought in his mind before making the decision which he genuinely felt was best for his business! And over here in the world, we have a black woman on YouTube, contributing to a future in which my kids will face the same thoughts! Where my kids will pay the price for the actions of a handful of white people in power! Yes, racism is as alive as ever today! But I don’t think black people realize that they’re not the only ones who suffer from it
szeriman13
June 22, 2020 at 9:05 pm
we in central EU are in different level. we have racism because of the language, you know when everyone is white we need to find another way, why to hate each other. 😊
Blow Me
June 22, 2020 at 9:07 pm
I think it’s obvious her son has been looking at the FBI statistics on race and crime
Stephen Monte
June 22, 2020 at 9:13 pm
Great work being done around racial profiling.
Blow Me
June 22, 2020 at 9:28 pm
Why are Asian people so successful in America?
Blow Me
June 22, 2020 at 9:15 pm
Why can’t white people live among themselves without being called racist for it? I wonder if this was happening to a white person in a black neighborhood would she be talking about it?
Justin Vincent
June 22, 2020 at 9:50 pm
U guys know
China is flashing money on India’s neighboring countries. And they are ganging like bully. And bullying poor India
Shafty
June 22, 2020 at 9:59 pm
Oh sod off with this already.
Gori Lla Kong
June 22, 2020 at 10:10 pm
When we choose to play victims it is on us and not everyone. These same statistics that she claims also asks if teachers stereotype individuals on a first meeting. And the answer is “yes”. But not only white teachers, but black, brown, and Asian teachers as well. Where is the justification for that idea? When we fall into categories, it just means that some characteristics are present and it is up to the individual to change that. Either by moving away from bad influences, motives, and behavior. That is why schools are important and role models are important also. A strong family and faith are key to bringing up a child nowadays. Different environments help also. If a child only sees the same color and environment and behavior and then is exposed to a different environment, a child is more likely to embrace the change and try to mimic the actions that were seen. So saying it is a race issue is not the issue it is an added factor. The underlying factor is where it stems from and that is from the home first and talking to children by walking on eggshells. The true hard fact is when we see a difference, we tend to be leery about the change and how it makes up feel. Remember the gut feeling when you knew something was wrong and then you did it anyway. I know this seems like a rant of some sort, kids nowadays are more desensitized to violence and difference more than we were as children. Children see violence more on news channels than any tv or movies. Every day a child if forced an opinion or idea almost every second and is always told to accept the change. But no one is taking accountability for the changes and actions that are produced but instead, we are just pointing fingers to the next person hoping they will take the blame for our actions.
Aya Elmahdy
June 22, 2020 at 10:40 pm
Very empresive
Kees Jansma
June 22, 2020 at 11:12 pm
Impressive*
Olga Spyridoula Ioakeim
June 22, 2020 at 10:47 pm
❤️💜💙
wererabbit20
June 22, 2020 at 10:53 pm
Made up story to who can I blame, what utter rubbish
Just Me
June 22, 2020 at 10:57 pm
so your child has issues and we are to blame. says more about your child’s influences rather than blaming others. The more you go on the more you discriminate, you either vote as one and move forward as one or keep regurgitating all the same stories and stereotyping; every police officer, you most likely caused your child skewed perception listening to videos and views such as this.
The perceptions of your son are due to listening to your bias such as describing police as on person and one kind, that is discrimination. Another you can quote all and any report or study and get what you want to hear, depending who the backer is.
You complain that teachers perceive whites as individuals and blacks as groups, is that the same as black teachers, so they are either discriminating also or your “report” is convenient. You complain about that report yet YOU see all police as a group.
You are a racist by default and that is why this perpetuates, all one-sided and always wanting different treatment so make your mind up one way or the other. people like you perpetuate the stereotype. Your video has done nothing but creates discrimination with conflicting and convenient quotes from unknown alleged reports.
So police and teachers are racists yet half are minorities, so they are also racists, you cause racism with narrow-minded categorising based on limited to no actual experience. You limited exposure is a reflection of 300m people and your child’s bias is caused by the whites and not by listening to your spoonfeeding.
Even Ted is grown spinless and letting people sput nonsense well one less subscriber.
Nothing about equality which is all benefiting from change, yet all this is about what you can get from it – positive discrimination is by default discrimination and so the merry go round goes on. People that were no racist and all they hear is sweeping claims as white are a group, are racists, the exact same issue with your school “report” so terrible a report with how many actually participating in the study? Terrible discrimination against blacks, you claim, yet you can call half the country racist because they are whit – you hypocrite.
If a white man died from a black cop, we would await the court hearing, we would consider what happened before the incident, we would not make a martyr of a career criminal who at the time was using counterfeit money. One cop was stupid and he will be in jail nothing to say it was racist, yet another man, drunk in possession of a car, stole the stun gun from a cop and attempted to fire it at the cops, shot, again if white, not much of a story, but he was black so was racism and nothing to do with the fact they were dealing with a violent criminal.
Always someone else’s fault, if that person is white! Good and bad everywhere but racism car is played and so a new generation of racists grow up listening to the hypocrisy of the do-gooders, and the white, sick of being stereotyped because a lone cop, in a state a thousand miles away killed a career criminal being arrested.
Does not matter what good that white man has done to assist the community, he is white same as the cop so is a racist. The politicians in the White House, the Military, the Judiciary, Obama, so much racism holding every black person back.
Of course, there is no white poverty, poor health, low education etc.
The irony that your own racism influenced your son and you blame the whites also for that.
Cristiana de Souza Bastos
June 22, 2020 at 11:00 pm
Thank you for the enriching lecture, Jennifer.
आदित्य Aditya मेहेंदळे Mehendale
June 22, 2020 at 11:01 pm
No Side-camera! Please!!
mike logan
June 22, 2020 at 11:22 pm
Racism goes both ways. Bias comes from life experience.
Elektric Skeptic
June 22, 2020 at 11:23 pm
Beautifully stated – heartbreaking truths… ✊🏼🖤✊🏼🖤✊🏼🖤✊🏼🖤✊🏼🖤✊🏼🖤🖤❤🖤❤🖤❤
TONY- NERD
June 23, 2020 at 12:03 am
How about Asians ?
Jason Jones
June 23, 2020 at 12:16 am
Thomas Sowell and Shelby Steel… read them
J F
June 23, 2020 at 1:17 am
Thomas is such a great guy.
Brenda Rua
June 23, 2020 at 1:10 am
This is a very enlightening presentation. So are the knee jerk responses against it. Those should be studied too.
razumfrackle
June 23, 2020 at 1:23 am
Blame Hollywood… the most racist business in the United States.
Ami Hontalas
June 23, 2020 at 1:27 am
Just read her book. So glad Ted is having her speak to this topic.
redngolden
June 23, 2020 at 5:37 am
Racial bias is when you judge people as privileged on the basis of their skin colour.
Maria Bobzhenko
June 23, 2020 at 5:58 am
I am not American and don’t know the whole context. I just want to add something.
In my country (Ukraine, Eastern Europe) we have almost only white people. If you ask how a black person associates, people will say: white teeth, bright ethnic clothing, dances, jazz, blues, Louis Armstrong.
People of Ukraine would not say “guns, drugs, crime”. Let’s ask ourself why is it so in the USA, where black people actually live for so long and are so well represented in the society.
I’’m not trying to offend anyone here. But it’s not really about race.
Sasha Townsend - Tulsa
June 23, 2020 at 6:26 am
Excellent talk. Thank you, ma’am.
manicpixieriley :o
June 23, 2020 at 6:57 am
ahahaahha yikes I’m early enough that the comments are completely taken over by racist brainwashed trolls yelling into the void about the dAmN LiBsSss!! lmao
Skeptical Slim
June 23, 2020 at 7:00 am
1:08 Even children have more common sense than adults… 😂
LarkAscending
June 23, 2020 at 8:50 am
Thought food for bright minded people, Quote
“People are being fired for posting the “wrong opinion” online, then they are being removed from the internet for it too.
How did we get here?
The answer is simple: critical theory has spread like a cancer from our academic institutions into the culture, business, and politics.
What is critical theory?
According to Stanford: “Critical Theory” stems from Western European Marxist tradition known as the Frankfurt School. According to these theorists, a “critical” theory may be distinguished from a “traditional” theory according to a specific practical purpose: a theory is critical to the extent that it seeks human “emancipation from slavery”, acts as a “liberating … influence”, and works “to create a world which satisfies the needs and powers” of human beings (Horkheimer 1972, 246).
The world, according to critical theorists, is binary. There are oppressors and there are the oppressed. The oppressors are straight, white, Christian males. If you grew up poor and worked your entire life to provide a decent home for your family you are a “privileged oppressor” simply because of your skin color, sexual orientation, political opinions and religious beliefs. Everyone else is “oppressed.” Critical Theory is a thought system of destruction and pure bigotry. This is by design. You’re not safe if you happen to be a member of the oppressed class either. You still have “privilege” and must do your part to destroy your own form of oppression on those with less “privilege.”
For example:
If you are black, but happen to be a straight man, you are still an oppressor to women, gays, trans, and disabled people.
If you are black, but happen to be a straight woman, you are still an oppressor to gay, trans, and disabled people.
If you are a gay black trans man, you are still an oppressor to disable people.
If you are a gay black trans man who is disabled, but happens to be a conservative, you are an oppressor to Democrats.
Confused yet? You should be.
Critical theory is designed to divide and conquer. It’s a system of revolution, suffering, chaos, and violence.
We are now seeing it start to manifest in our culture, media, business, politics, and even our churches.
The champions of the oppressed, the saviors fighting this system of oppression, just so happen to be straight white Democrats like Joe Biden.
Funny how that works.
For speaking about this, you will be blacklisted. You will be shamed. You will be called a “racist.” You will be considered an enemy, working on behalf of the system of oppression. There are those who think that by virtue signaling against “racism” or by supporting critical theorists that the mob will pass them by. This is a foolish mistake. The mob does not care if you are an “ally.” Your skin color, your sexual orientation, your able body, and your political beliefs are all inherently “oppressive.”
This destructive system of thought and bigotry must be rejected by every part of our society and culture. We must expose it for what it is and prevent it from annihilating western civilization. That is the only option. Cowering and appeasing to the mob of critical theorists will accomplish nothing. We see our representatives, businesses, and churches all taking this approach. It’s wrong and it’s doomed to fail. “
ANYTNSharp
June 23, 2020 at 9:20 am
Oh come on the kid learned that from the black culture he’s exposed to … Is he told to be careful in black area where he lives? Is he told to watch his belongings around the other black kids? That’s not racism that’s what he’d been exposed to. Everybody thinks they are more likely to be robbed by a black person because of media, looting, rap, his surroundings I presume in a black niegbourhood. To blame white people on that just creates more of a divide. Think about it, white people are responsible for themselves and what white people are responsible for black people also. Raising your child telling him he should feel different? Teach him his life is what he makes it, to set an example for others, to treat everyone the same. I’m about 2 1/2 mins in and already I can tell this is a joke. Blaming white people just because they are white is racism, take responsibility for goodness sake
Charlie-Mouse
June 23, 2020 at 9:21 am
Ok so where to start.
I find it difficult to believe that her 5 year old made that statement and if he did then that is on her as she would have exposed her son to such thinking.
When her son is older and enters a lift with white people it seems to me that he is acting on his own biases, without any interaction he automatically assumes that the people in the lift are racist. I hate lifts, I have being in a confined space with people I don’t know. I hate having my back or front virtually pressured up against a total stranger. My niece has a phobia of lifts, she always takes the stairs but on the odd occasion where there is no choice then she has a look of terror on her face and is ready to bolt any time the door opens.
I 100% agree we all have biases and that most of us do not act on them. That is fine, I don’t want to change your thinking.
I think that the black community needs to look at ourselves. Look at how rap stars perpetuate the stereo type, pimps, hoes, drugs, money and guns. How are they helping the situation, ask one of them at tell me they are.
George Floyd was unjustly killed by the police.
David Dorn was murdered in cold blood by Stephan Cannon, where was the BLM, news and celebrities outrage over that? Where is David Dorn’s protest, where is the outrage over his death?
The black community has to get its act together and fix our own sh…house first.
As a black man I am sick to death of having to tell my white friends they are not racist, sick of wasting my energy defending white people who aren’t racist. My energy be could better spent focusing on actual real issues not fake made issues by people who cannot even get their own house in order.
You want people to start listening, then treat them with the respect you want for yourself.
A Bhattacharya
June 23, 2020 at 6:17 pm
Her son feels the tension in their bodies (inside an elevator). It’s not an assumption that everybody is racist…
Charlie-Mouse
June 23, 2020 at 11:06 pm
A Bhattacharya he says feels their tension because a black man is in the lift, that is what she is saying. That is an assumption that they are racist, he is assuming they are tensed up and attributes that to him being black. That is him acting on his own internal bias.
ITouchTheSky 8GladysWorld8
June 23, 2020 at 9:59 am
I agree with you. The world is beautiful because it’s colorful. Black is beautiful, white is beautiful, brown is beautiful. In this world, there are good and bad people, and didn’t depend on the color of their skin. Lovely watching and listening to you on the top of the mountain of Italy.
Malcolm Jones
June 23, 2020 at 10:01 am
More idenity politics which is dividing the world. All lives matter. No such thing as white privilege.
dj Curiosity
June 23, 2020 at 10:16 am
There would no whites,no Chinese,no Russian, Mexican etc..without Africa dna..
bookbag man
June 23, 2020 at 11:22 am
Reminder for presenters to emphasise correlation ≠ causation and not slack on word choice just to be easier to understand
Interesting talk.
Martin-Paul Kamerun
June 23, 2020 at 11:49 am
Just reading the comments section illustrates how much extra work is needed, why voices like hers are crucial. The amount of denial and defensiveness is amazing. Folks, is it that hard to take a step back and reflect?
ХОРОШО
June 23, 2020 at 11:50 am
It seems your son is smarter than you are.
Ben Greening
June 23, 2020 at 3:07 pm
“it’s as though the sins of one child get piled onto the other”. Almost like one white guy doing something awful means all white people should be treated as if they’re acting on the same Bias.
Scott Carey
June 23, 2020 at 3:52 pm
Crying racism is the last refuge for a scoundrel in the 21st century.
Raffaele Filosofi
June 23, 2020 at 4:05 pm
OK, I AM READY TO SEE MY COMMENT CENSORED. LAST YEAR NINE UNARMED BLACK PEOPLE WERE KILLED BY THE POLICE. NINETEEN UNARMED WHITE PEOPLE WERE KILLED BY THE POLICE. ALMOST SEVEN THOUSAND BLACK PEOPLE WERE KILLED BY OTHER BLACK PEOPLE. CAN YOU HEAR ME MR. CENSOR? SO I AM ASKING YOU IF BLACK LIVES REALLY MATTER, BECAUSE IF THEY DO YOU SHOULD REARRANGE YOUR PRIORITIES. RACISM IS NOT THE TOP OF YOUR PROBLEMS, TRUTH IS.
C21, The Vinc Group
June 23, 2020 at 4:34 pm
Sounds more like a case of bad parenting rather than racial bias.
Midnight Rambler
June 23, 2020 at 5:28 pm
far left bs
Mr Mike
June 23, 2020 at 6:24 pm
I have a light complexion and “good hair” … I love messing with people.
Happiest Moment
June 23, 2020 at 6:49 pm
From Happiest Moment YouTube channel ..
Hi amazing and beautiful person reading this comment right now have a wonderful day and God bless you always 😊😊
Arcux
June 23, 2020 at 7:00 pm
Holy crap! The editing on this! It’s almost as if it was chopped up and spliced back together to make the most punctuated points….as if perhaps the omitted segments lacked a clarity of thought or articulation. Maybe that’s just my bias talking. Spliced TED talks matter!
madison king
June 23, 2020 at 8:01 pm
nice profile pic
Kenshin
June 24, 2020 at 12:37 am
What
madison king
June 23, 2020 at 7:55 pm
I think that this video would have been much more powerful if the video started at 4:56
AircraftOfSomeType
June 23, 2020 at 8:07 pm
Nonwhites aren’t institutionally discriminated against and white-privilege is a myth.
scanegnax
June 23, 2020 at 9:05 pm
black racism has already come
Rooted Reality
June 24, 2020 at 1:29 am
So… you are why they target white women in California to balance the numbers 🤣😂… they don’t change, police that rarely are held accountable, just find ways to justify what they do
Brian Demarest
June 24, 2020 at 2:11 am
Lots of claims, doesn’t name a study or results for you to consider.
This kind of video harms BLM.
Merto6
June 24, 2020 at 8:25 am
So if a 5 year old says it, it must be just how it is. Surely nobody taught him racism he must have observed how things really are. Same way cops do. They go after black people because they don’t want to waste their time. They are just being efficient.
RSM
June 24, 2020 at 8:27 am
Very interesting. I agree that reflexion is the solution.
RSM
June 24, 2020 at 8:27 am
Very interesting. I agree that reflection is the solution.
V Esch
June 24, 2020 at 11:02 am
Malcolm Gladwell also discusses racial bias
挖鼻屎彈你
June 24, 2020 at 12:48 pm
😒
Danky Skull
June 24, 2020 at 4:11 pm
New title: How to make up racial bias – how to push communist race baiting ideological subversion.
Theseus
June 25, 2020 at 3:15 am
When black people are racist its called ‘racial bias’ but when white people do it, its racism. 🙁
K jhn
June 25, 2020 at 5:11 am
Yawn nothing like a Ted talk to put you to sleep 💤
El Kudos
June 25, 2020 at 11:05 am
Screw you, TED, ты – стал рассадником анти-интеллектуальной заразы, умер изнутри, went the way of History channel, Discovery channel and National Geographic. Когда-то, давно уже, спикеры были неплохие, сейчас на этой платформе светиться – зашквар.
В свете всеобщего психоза я лучше пойду смотреть Колмана Хьюза, прямо на его канале.
Адью.
Philipp Wettmann
June 25, 2020 at 2:53 pm
from observing my own biases, I think, that is a very good description.
Gregory Lambert
June 25, 2020 at 4:27 pm
let me get this straight – her 5 year old has bias and its somehow the fault of white people? This woman is full of crap. Racism and racial bias are wrong from anyone, including black people.
Elizabeth L
June 25, 2020 at 5:13 pm
Everyone should hear this. It is not enough to say you are “not racist.” We, and I do mean WE, myself included, need to take moments for self reflection into our own bias. We must do this work if we hope to dismantle systems of oppression. Remember, racism is not a black issue, it is a white issue that white people must reckon with.
Adele D
June 26, 2020 at 1:47 pm
It sounds so much better when black people speak with higher voices like hers. The voice quality matters
Adele D
June 26, 2020 at 1:50 pm
A very nice study 👏👏👏👏👏🤗
Lisa
June 27, 2020 at 4:59 am
Thank you so much for this. Children are taught early “stranger danger”, which may contribute to overreactions to strangers minding their own business.
Jensen Parr
June 29, 2020 at 4:05 pm
Strict parenting correlated to racist development
lev
June 27, 2020 at 6:13 am
Bias has reason. First black community should be more safe and more successful. And bias will stop to exist. Remove positive descrimination of blacks and they will integrate fast like any other colored people ,like Indians Chinese and so on
ここ
June 27, 2020 at 7:12 am
cadence, diction
andrew worth
June 27, 2020 at 8:12 am
Basically a very sound message based on a good understanding of human nature, but a couple of times I thought I saw signs of her own interpretations of situations showing racial bias. I naturally smile at people on elevators, so do most others I encounter, nothing to do with race.
andrew worth
June 27, 2020 at 8:23 am
We all have instincts to put objects, animals, people in the the world around us based on what our senses tell us about them. It’s an instinct older than humanity – a gazelle that doesn’t assume all lions are predators won’t live long.
How we judge all of the objects in each category will be based on our experiences and observations. If all the black people we had knowledge of were all peaceful geniuses we’d instinctively expect the same from others we later encountered. We also expect certain characteristics from other races based on acquired understanding – that’s instinct, Eberhardt does suggest a sound approach to suppressing those natural biases, or you can just remind yourself to always treat people as individuals and not as members of any collective.
Alisa Ritter
June 27, 2020 at 10:50 am
Amazing video. You will make a difference!! Also, I want to be Youtube friends
Mison Chan
June 27, 2020 at 7:11 pm
The second example：Different areas have different law.
Michael Archuleta
June 28, 2020 at 5:53 am
She’s really good
Mista Bee
June 28, 2020 at 1:07 pm
With a 5 yr old the parent can very much take almost full control over what that child watches and sees. So actually, what is she letting her little son see for him to make that racial statement? I don’t want to here her trying to blame society for her 5 yr olds behavior already. That’s her own damn fault if he’s talking like that. And sorry but NO a 5 yr old CAN’T tell us what’s going to happen next. Wth.
Chris Dunne
June 28, 2020 at 10:24 pm
As a white Paramedic who worked for many years in the city, (still full time but not in urban areas now) I read a very long study, from Cambridge I think, about bias as it relates to medical treatment of black patients. Very similar methods described in this lecture. The white care providers, all known as decent, caring professionals, were totally susceptible to bias and withholding or delaying treatment. It was a good study. Against my imbedded self awareness and judgement, I had to say, they are talking about me.
An example is, a made up description of patients, mostly black, that we say have “incarceritis’ when we pick patients up from jails and holding cells. The premise being, they are faking so the can get out of jail for awhile.
So I did a little test on myself. In my mind I removed the jail and focused only on the Patients words. I literally pretended they were white.
And guess what happened?
I did a lot more 12 leads and I started a lot more IV’s.
Act on what the patient is saying. That’s it.
John Mc.
June 29, 2020 at 1:45 am
Know our minds are corrupted by the news by keep talking about race. We need to look at each other as Americans love each other equally if they would just talk about. I bet you people would just look at each other the same. Yes we need to talk to our children as Americans no race. You know it takes 30 days to brack a habit. So if we all and the Media and social media would only each other by name or as Americans thing would change alot. So remember to look at each other as a person not race. And don’t get me wrong we all can be proud of our heritage.
Firestar
June 29, 2020 at 2:25 pm
Efficiency (typical no-brainer) comes at it’s cost. Good video!
Jensen Parr
June 29, 2020 at 4:02 pm
Racial bias operates at the highest echelons and we as a grassroots movement are able to enact lasting affirmative action
Wanda Montanez
June 29, 2020 at 8:56 pm
Powerful!!
Thor Jørgensen
June 29, 2020 at 11:03 pm
There’s a reason why it’s called “quick to judge”
Slow to judge sounds much more reasonable, and surely will lead to more informed decision making.
Think before you act.