Unraveling Bias

We need only scan the latest news headlines to see how bias and prejudice harm adults and children alike—every single day. Police shootings that give rise to the Black Lives Matter revolution, rampant sexual harassment of women and the subsequent #MeToo movement, and extreme violence toward trans men and women are just three examples. It would be easy to fix these problems if the examples stopped with a few racist or sexist individuals, but there are also biases embedded in our government policies, media, and institutions. As a developmental psychologist and international expert on stereotypes and discrimination in children, Dr. Christia Spears Brown knows that biases and prejudice don’t just develop as people become adults (or CEOs or politicians). They begin when children are young, slowly growing and exposed to prejudice in their classrooms, after-school activities, and, yes, even in their homes, no matter how enlightened their parents may consider themselves to be. The only way to have a more just and equitable world—not to mention more broad-minded, empathetic children—is for parents to closely examine biases beginning in childhood and how they infiltrate our kids’ lives. In her new book Unraveling Bias: How Prejudice Has Shaped Children for Generations and Why It’s Time to Break the Cycle, Dr. Brown will uncover what scientists have learned about how children are impacted by biases, and how we adults can help protect them from those biases. Part science, part history, part current events, and part call to arms, Unraveling Bias provides readers with the answers to vital questions: How do biased policies, schools, and media harm our children? Where does childhood prejudice come from, and how do these prejudices shape children’s behavior, goals, relationships, and beliefs about themselves? What can we learn from modern-day science to help us protect our children from these biases? Few issues today are as critical as being aware of bias and prejudice all around us and making sure our youth don’t succumb to them. To change lives and advance society, it’s time to unravel our biases—starting with the future leaders of the world.