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[Solly Mack]

115. Yes. Even if she never made explicitly racist comments in class, there is still her implicit bias.

Implicit bias would affect her understanding, her actions, and her decisions in class in unconscious ways.

Like overt and covert racism - you have explicit and implicit bias. Implicit bias is a bias you may not even be aware is at play - but it directly stems from your conscious thoughts about people along racial, gender, etc. lines)


Let's look at her own words.

"I'm just going to just go ahead and say it...the blacks are the ones causing the problems and this "racial tension". I guess that's what happens when you flunk out of school and have no education. I'm sure their parents are just as guilty for not knowing what their kids were doing; or knew and didn't care.

I'm almost to the point of wanting them all segregated on one side of town so they can hurt each other and leave the innocent people alone. Maybe the 50s and 60s were really on to something. Now, let the bashing of my true and honest opinion begin...GO!"

That's a blatantly racist comment rooted in willful ignorance and stereotypes. She is telling people how she really feels about African-Americans - they are uneducated and it's generational (because that's how she sees African-Americans), that any "racial tension" that exist is brought on by the victims of discrimination - not those doing the discriminating (because that's how she sees white people - just trying to get along in a world where nonwhites complain about everything). Then she goes on to tell the world how she thinks African-Americans are violent thugs who need to be separated so they can hurt each other instead of - white people. Oh, she says "innocent people" but she means white people - like herself and the abusive cop.

What this means is that her thoughts, her feelings, her beliefs will (no exceptions) manifest themselves into unconscious acts/decisions/ means of understanding - or implicit bias.

This will determine how she treats her students. She may not even be aware of what she's doing as she grades papers - but she'll still grade the papers of her African-American students more severely than her white students. Her attitude about her students' parents will spill over onto how she sees the student. She'll treat them differently.

White parents = good parent = student gets treated better.

African-American parents = uneducated, trouble making lazy thug who doesn't care about their kids = student gets treated worse.

She'll be more critical of her brown skinned students. She'll address them differently. She'll consider their answers weaker or dumb.

Her racism will, in all ways, impact the quality of education she passes on to her nonwhite students.

If you were to ask her if she does these things, she'd tell you, "No". And truth is the bias is so ingrained that people are often times unaware they are doing these things - hence, implicit bias.

So, yeah. She should have been fired. Frankly, all racist educators should be fired. (and cops, judges, public defenders, etc.) - Because absolutely none of them are capable of separating their racism from their actions and decisions. People in a position of public trust can and do adversely affect the lives of those they harbor racism/bigotry against and that's never a good thing. Just look at sentencing disparities, rates of conviction for the same crimes, and who, disproportionately, populates our prisons ... can't blame all of that on the lack of money.

No one escapes implicit bias - No one. But some people get up every morning knowing they have to fight against the urge to give in to the environment that helped shaped their early years. Sometimes it comes from your parents and home-life, sometimes it comes from your peers. Usually, one enforces the other. But people can learn and people can become aware and people can change - if they want to.

That woman's students can't afford to wait for her to change. Justice can't wait for police and judges and public defenders to change either. It's waited long enough.