Unraveling Bias by Christia Spears Brown

Author:Christia Spears Brown
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781953295897
Publisher: BenBella Books
Published: 2021-08-30T00:00:00+00:00

When we see discussions today about “national security,” pay attention to the skin color of who is considered a threat.81 You will likely find that race seems to determine government reaction and perceptions of what’s threatening more often than anything else.82 We see the combined preferences for Whites, along with the belief that immigrants of color represent threats to American safety and way of life, reflected in our history of immigration policies that allowed White Europeans to immigrate at the exclusion of everyone else. For example, in 2018, then-President Trump asked, “Why do we want all these people from shithole countries coming here?” “Shithole countries” apparently referred to Haiti and countries in Africa. Trump then wondered why there aren’t more immigrants to the United States from Norway.

But objective data highlights how this is a biased perception of threat: both the FBI and Department of Homeland Security report that “racially and ethnically motivated violent extremists—specifically white supremacist extremists (WSEs)” are “the most persistent and lethal threat in the Homeland.”83 White supremacist groups actually conducted 67 percent of terrorist plots and attacks in the United States in 2020,84 yet, despite this objective data, research shows that immigrants of color are more likely than White people to be perceived as threats to our safety, security, values, and way of life.85

Time and again, we see this: Japanese Americans were “threats” to “national security,” Asian Americans are health “threats” by “bringing in viruses,” Arab Muslims are “terrorists,” and Mexican Americans are “rapists and drug dealers.” We are warned by politicians that if we don’t stymy immigration, “our” national identity will be destroyed. While data suggests we should be most scared of White supremacists, political rhetoric and biases point us at immigrants of color.

These biases that immigrants of color are threatening outsiders get adopted by children, who perceive immigrants of color to be less American and more aggressive than White immigrants. These biases are directed at children as well. Despite being the “land of immigrants,” the policies and politics at the national level, combined with a singular media narrative, normalized the rejection and exclusion of millions of children. The adults in charge must stop centering policies and conversations around the race and nationality of children—and must start seeing their humanity.

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