Biased

looked out at the faces in the crowd, searching for a connection. I found every face expression- less, their eyes distant. Each officer wore a crisp, clean uniform over a bulletproof vest. At the waist was a duty belt holding the essential tools of their trade: handcuffs, Taser, OC pepper spray, and Glock 17 9 mm firearm. The officers looked ready for duty, but no one seemed ready to engage with me.

For the first time in my career, I was facing a hostile crowd. There was no booing or yelling. There were no verbal complaints of any kind just a steely silence that was more eloquent than any words. I tried to make a few jokes. Nothing landed. I led them through an interactive shoot don t shoot simulation, which was always a crowd- pleaser. The exercise fell flat. I showed a few movie clips that in other places triggered bursts of laughter. Still nothing.

Finally, I caught the eye of LeRonne Armstrong, a captain whom I d worked with before on trainings designed to improve police- community relations. I knew he understood the importance of delivering this message to law enforcement. I was relieved to see his face, until I realized that his expression was one of concern for me. He was looking around the crowd with the same worry I was trying not to let show onstage. I saw him shifting uncomfortably in his seat. How, I wondered, can I possibly deliver this training ten more times to units across the department when I m not really sure whether I can make it through this first session?

Eventually, I stopped with the lessons, and the data graphs, and the images, and the jokes, and the movie clips. I decided to veer off my usual script and share a personal story.

I explained that some years ago my son Everett and I were on a plane. He was five years old, wide-eyed, and trying to take it all in. He looked around

about it. Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Jennifer Eberhardt s work is essential to helping us understand racial inequalities in our country and around the world. Michelle Alexander, author of New York Times bestseller The New Jim Crow

"In accessible language and compelling examples, Dr. Eberhardt draws on copious empirical research to challenge the idea of human objectivity and the tragic outcomes of this false belief. ...This book should be required reading for everyone." Robin DiAngelo, author of White Fragility

This book helps us to scientifically view how racial bias works in our own minds and throughout society.  We could not ask for a better guide to understand this reality than Jennifer Eberhardt. Her research reveals critical information that can help leaders better understand how biases can impact our judgment and how we are perceived by the communities we are sworn to serve. Kamala D. Harris, United States Senator from California

Jennifer is one of the great thinkers and one of the great voices of our time I believe her book will change the conversation on race in our society and perhaps our society itself. Carol Dweck, author of New York Times bestseller Mindset: The New Psychology of Success

Drawing on her pioneering research, Jennifer Eberhardt s new book offers a powerful exploration of how racial bias seeps into our classrooms, college campuses, police departments, and businesses. Bruce Western, author of Punishment and Inequality in America and Professor of Sociology, Columbia University

Biased is deeply relevant to education and other fields of work, within the U.S. and globally. Dr. Eberhardt s work offers a touchstone for educators, leaders, lawmakers, and all those who want a society that serves everyone equally. Linda Darling-Hammond, author of The Flat World and Education: How America s Commitment to Equity will Determine our Future

This is not someone who is just doing work in the ivory tower of a university. This is someone who is really out in the trenches working with police departments and the criminal justice system. Chris Magnus, Chief of Police, Tucson, Arizona

She is saying things that make people uncomfortable, but she has the evidence to back up the reality of what s she s describing [her work is] original, provocative, and rigorous. I think she has changed the way we all think about the American dilemma of race. Susan Fiske, Psychologist, Princeton University 
 
The hope for progress is greatly increased by Jennifer Eberhardt's groundbreaking new book on implicit bias. Biased presents the science of bias with rare insight and accessibility, but it is also a work with the power and craft to make us see why overcoming racial bias is so critical." Bryan Stevenson, New York Times bestselling author of Just Mercy