Skip to content

Implicit Bias Resources

By Sara Jackson There is a wealth of literature available on implicit bias, and articles on the subject appear almost daily. The following is a non-exhaustive list of video, web, and print resources, some of which we used or referenced at our March 12 event. Videos Immaculate Perception?—Jerry Kang Ted Talk How to Overcome our Biases? Walk Boldly Towards Them—Verna Myers Ted Talk How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Discussing Race—J Smooth Ted Talk American Denial—Independent Lens film on Implicit Bias Online Resources Project Implicit ABA Spotlight on Implicit Bias Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity: Understanding Implicit Bias Academic Articles Implicit Bias: A Primer for the Courts—Jerry Kang State of the Science: Implicit Bias Review—Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity Trojan Horses of Race—Jerry Kang, 118 Harvard Law Review 1489 (2005) (Professor Kang’s original law review article on implicit bias and the Implicit Association Test) Implicit Bias in the Courtroom—Jerry Kang, et al., 59 UCLA Law Review 1124 (2012) The Id, The Ego and Equal Protection in the 21st Century: Building on Charles Lawrence’s Vision to Mount a Contemporary Challenge to the Intent Doctrine—Eva Paterson, Kimberly Thomas-Rapp & Sara Jackson, 40 Conn. L. Rev. 1175 (2008) (examines where implicit bias plays out in society and in the law, and discussed inroads for updating our jurisprudence to reflect modern social science) Recent News Coverage Is Everyone Just a Little Bit Racist?—Nicholas Kristof, New York Times Across America, Whites Are biased and They Don’t Even Know It—Chris Mooney, Washington Post When Talking About Bias Backfires—Adam Grant & Sheryl Sandberg, New York Times Blindspot: Hidden Biases of Good People —Matthew Hutson, Washington Post Sara Jackson is a member of our Board of Directors. By day, she is Pro Bono Coordinator at Georgetown Law's Office of Public Interest and Community Service.

Photo: Rachel Morris

Georgetown Street Law Clinic at Anacostia High School

By Dominique Rouge Rachel Morris, a student in Georgetown University’s Street Law Clinic, stands in the middle of a classroom of high school students and asks them to stand up. She designates one side of the room as “yes” and another as “no” and begins to ask a series of questions such as: “Is it okay for the police to enter Bob's house if they smell marijuana?” “Can the police arrest Bob if they received an anonymous tip that he is selling marijuana?” “Does reasonable suspicion allow the police to arrest Bob?” Rachel teaches at Anacostia Senior High in Southeast DC, which has an academic program specifically designed for students interested in legal issues. Georgetown Law students participating in the Street Law High School Clinic teach a two-semester elective course in practical law to students in fourteen high schools throughout DC —Rachel’s class is just one element of the students' curriculum. The Street Law program uses the law and legal scenarios to help high school students develop academic skills such as reading, writing, active listening, oral expression, problem solving, and analytical thinking. The program also dovetails with the high school civics curriculum. Rachel engages the students by teaching practical applications of legal matters that they will find relevant. Although the students understand applications of basic legal terms like “warrant” and “reasonable suspicion,” Rachel comments that she hopes to improve the students’ ability to articulate their ideas. In Rachel’s case, she not only empowers students living in low-income communities by developing their legal vocabulary, but also exposes students to legal concepts and legal training they can apply in their communities and professional lives.

Racial Justice Update: The DOJ Ferguson Report

By Greg Lipper At the first installment in our Racial Justice Series, we talked about racism, recent events in Ferguson and elsewhere, and how lawyers can address these issues. This week, lawyers at the DOJ Civil Rights Division issued a lengthy, scathing report on law-enforcement practices in Ferguson. We’ve collected a variety of links to coverage of the report and its implications for the legal system: Release of the Report Investigation of the Ferguson Police Department – DOJ Civil Rights Division Ferguson Police Tainted by Bias, Justice Department Says – N.Y. Times The Gangsters of Ferguson – Ta-Nahisi Coates/The Atlantic Reactions in Ferguson… and Beyond Silence in Ferguson, and Defiance Elsewhere, In Wake of DOJ Report – St. Louis Post-Dispatch Ferguson Mayor Says Scathing DOJ Report ‘Not Proof’ of Widespread Abuses – St. Louis Post-Dispatch The Problem Is Way Bigger Than Ferguson, Justice Department Report Reveals – Huffington Post Ferguson’s Neighbors In St. Louis County Greet Damning DOJ Report With A Shrug – Huffington Post Reforming Ferguson Law Enforcement Policing Task Force Recommends Body Cams, Better Reporting, More Sleep For Officers – Huffington Post Some in Ferguson Who Are Part of Problem Are Asked to Help Solve It – N.Y. Times After the Justice Department Report, What’s Next for Ferguson? – Washington Post The Federal Government Probably Won’t Dismantle the Ferguson Police. That’s a Good Thing – Vox The Ferguson Court System Nixon calls for improving Missouri courts after DOJ report on Ferguson – St. Louis Public Radio Two Police Officers, Court Clerk Out at Ferguson Over Racist Emails – St. Louis Post-Dispatch Ferguson Judge Behind Aggressive Fines Policy Owes $170,000 in Unpaid Taxes – The Guardian Greg Lipper is our Communications Director. By day, he is a litigator at Americans United for Separation of Church and State. You can follow him on Twitter at @theglipper.

Back To Top