Are You A Racist Ally? Take The Implicit Association Test
This test could be one of the steps to take for those of us wanting to look inward rather than outward in the anti-racist fight.
As we all know, there has been a series of horrendous, system-driven events in the United States over the past few months. The police murders of Black Americans such as Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, and George Floyd have pushed many non-Black folks to wonder what we can do to live an anti-racist life.
In the search to find our place in the fight against racism, we may think that our only role is to have those tough conversations about white supremacy with our non-Black friends and family members or to call out clear examples of racism like police violence. Of course, these actions are important and a part of anti-racism but they are not the entire role of non-Black folks.
Anyone who wants to engage in anti-racism needs to look inward and recognize the thoughts, feelings, and actions both conscious and unconscious that they uphold which contribute to white supremacy. As Layla F. Saad said in her book Me and White Supremacy:
If you are willing to dare to look white supremacy right in the eye and see yourself reflected back, you are going to become better equipped to dismantle it within yourself and within your communities.
Once you are ready to look inward and really figure out how you contribute to white supremacy and benefit from white privilege, you may feel overwhelmed with where to start. While there are many tools that can help you learn and dissect your complacency, a great place to start is an implicit association test that will determine whether or not you have subconscious preferences for either white or Black people.
A popular implicit association test that will help you determine your subconscious racial biases was created by three scientists in 1998. Project Implicit has a series of tests that allow participants to see their biases in a number of categories including race, gender, sexuality, disability, and religion.
The race (Black-white) test should only take around 10 minutes to complete. When taking the test, you will be asked to sort various photos of individuals with white skin or black skin as well as words that have either a positive or a negative connotation. Through this sorting, the test will be able to analyze whether or not you are answering with a preference towards either white or Black individuals.
Your results will tell you that you have either a strong, moderate, slight, or no automatic preference for either Black or white people.
As you can see from the chart above, the majority of participants have at least a moderate preference for white people compared to Black people. Only 14% had a preference for Black people. It is very likely that when you take this, you will find that your subconscious bias is positive towards white people.
This doesn’t mean that you should just quit trying to be anti-racist. On the contrary, it means that you now have a better understanding of how strongly you have subconsciously been affected by the white supremacist society that you grew up in. Use the results of your test as proof and motivation to start dismantling racism at a more personal level.
In the past few weeks, there have been so many non-Black people who have decided that enough is enough and it is time for an anti-racist change. If you have read this far, then I am sure you are one of them. Recognize where you need to improve, keep educating yourself, elevate Black voices, and make the commitment to truly involve yourself in the anti-racist fight. It is going to take all of us.
