How racial bias works -- and how to disrupt it | Jennifer L. Eberhardt

翻译人员: Shu Fei Chow 校对人员: psjmz mz

Some years ago,

几年前，

I was on an airplane with my son who was just five years old at the time.

我和年仅五岁的儿子一同搭乘飞机。

My son was so excited about being on this airplane with Mommy.

第一次与妈咪搭乘飞机 让他感到非常兴奋。

He's looking all around and he's checking things out

他不断环视周围，四处张望，

and he's checking people out.

目光不停地打量着别人。

And he sees this man, and he says,

然后他看到了某位男子，说：

"Hey! That guy looks like Daddy!"

“嘿！这个人看起来好像爹地！”

And I look at the man,

我就看向这位男子，

and he didn't look anything at all like my husband,

而他看起来完全不像我的丈夫，

nothing at all.

一点也不像。

And so then I start looking around on the plane,

于是我也开始环顾机舱，

and I notice this man was the only black guy on the plane.

发现这位男子是飞机上 唯一的黑人男性。

And I thought,

我当时心想，

"Alright.

“好吧。

I'm going to have to have a little talk with my son

我得和儿子好好谈谈，

about how not all black people look alike."

让他知道不是所有的黑人 都长得一样。”

My son, he lifts his head up, and he says to me,

我的儿子抬起头，对我说：

"I hope he doesn't rob the plane."

“我希望他不会劫持飞机。”

And I said, "What? What did you say?"

我说：“什么，你刚才说什么？”

And he says, "Well, I hope that man doesn't rob the plane."

儿子说：“我希望那人不要劫持飞机。”

And I said, "Well, why would you say that?

我说：“为什么你会这样说？

You know Daddy wouldn't rob a plane."

你知道爹地是不会劫持飞机的。“

And he says, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, well, I know."

儿子说：“是啊，是啊，我知道。”

And I said, "Well, why would you say that?"

我说：“好，那为什么你会这样说？”

And he looked at me with this really sad face,

于是他用一种悲伤的神情看着我，

and he says,

回答道，

"I don't know why I said that.

“我不知道我为什么会这样说。

I don't know why I was thinking that."

我不知道我为什么会有这种想法。”

We are living with such severe racial stratification

我们生活在 一个种族分明的社会当中，

that even a five-year-old can tell us what's supposed to happen next,

就连一个五岁孩童都能告诉我们 接下来可能会发生什么事情。

even with no evildoer,

即便没有作恶者，

even with no explicit hatred.

即便没有明确的仇恨，

This association between blackness and crime

黑人和罪案之间的连接

made its way into the mind of my five-year-old.

早已渗入我五岁儿子的思想，

It makes its way into all of our children,

也渗透进了所有孩子，

甚至是我们每一个人的脑海中。

into all of us.

Our minds are shaped by the racial disparities

我们在这个世界上 所看到的种族差异

we see out in the world

早已塑造了我们的思维方式，

and the narratives that help us to make sense of the disparities we see:

那些叙述合理化了 我们所看到的差异：

"Those people are criminal."

“那些人是罪犯。”

"Those people are violent."

“那些人是施暴者。”

"Those people are to be feared."

“要恐惧那些人。”

When my research team brought people into our lab

当我的研究团队把研究对象 带到我们的实验室，

and exposed them to faces,

让他们观察不同人的照片时，

we found that exposure to black faces led them to see blurry images of guns

我们发现人们看到黑人的面孔时， 会更快、更清楚地

with greater clarity and speed.

辨认模糊的枪支影像。

Bias cannot only control what we see,

偏见不仅能控制我们所看见的，

but where we look.

也会控制我们看待事情的角度。

We found that prompting people to think of violent crime

我们发现让人们想象暴力犯罪时，

can lead them to direct their eyes onto a black face

他们的视线会不自觉地从白人面孔

and away from a white face.

转向黑人面孔。

Prompting police officers to think of capturing and shooting

让警方想象俘获、射击

and arresting

和逮捕的场景时，

leads their eyes to settle on black faces, too.

他们的眼光也会落在黑人身上。

Bias can infect every aspect of our criminal justice system.

偏见足以影响 司法体系的方方面面。

In a large data set of death-eligible defendants,

在一组符合死刑条件判决 的大型数据库之中，

we found that looking more black more than doubled their chances

我们发现皮肤较黑的被告

被判死刑的几率 要高出两倍以上——

of receiving a death sentence --

at least when their victims were white.

尤其当被害者是白人的时候。

This effect is significant,

这个差异非常显著，

even though we controlled for the severity of the crime

尽管我们确保犯罪的严重程度

and the defendant's attractiveness.

和被告的吸引力是一样的。

And no matter what we controlled for,

无论我们如何控制变量，

we found that black people were punished

我们都发现黑人受到的惩罚

in proportion to the blackness of their physical features:

与他们的肤色黑度成比例：

the more black,

他们的肤色越黑，

the more death-worthy.

就越有可能被判死刑。

Bias can also influence how teachers discipline students.

偏见也能影响老师 惩戒学生的方式。

My colleagues and I have found that teachers express a desire

我和同事经过研究发现，

老师给黑人学生的惩罚

往往都比白人学生更加严厉，

to discipline a black middle school student more harshly

than a white student

for the same repeated infractions.

即使他们犯的是相同的错误。

In a recent study,

在近期的一项研究中，我们发现

we're finding that teachers treat black students as a group

老师会把黑人学生视为一个群体，

but white students as individuals.

但把白人学生视作个体来对待。

If, for example, one black student misbehaves

譬如，如果一个黑人学生调皮捣蛋，

and then a different black student misbehaves a few days later,

几天后，又有一个黑人学生 做出调皮捣蛋的行为，

the teacher responds to that second black student

老师对待第二个黑人学生的态度

as if he had misbehaved twice.

就好像他犯了两次错。

It's as though the sins of one child

这就像一个孩子的罪过

get piled onto the other.

被叠加在了另一个孩子的身上。

We create categories to make sense of the world,

为了更好地理解这个世界， 我们会对周遭的一切分门别类，

to assert some control and coherence

以控制和协调

to the stimuli that we're constantly being bombarded with.

我们所接收的 外部事物的刺激。

Categorization and the bias that it seeds

分类及其所产生的偏见

allow our brains to make judgments more quickly and efficiently,

让我们的大脑能够更快、 更有效地做出判断，

and we do this by instinctively relying on patterns

我们本能地依赖似乎带有

that seem predictable.

预测能力的模式。

Yet, just as the categories we create allow us to make quick decisions,

这套分类思考模式 让我们能迅速地做决策，

they also reinforce bias.

但同时也在强化我们的偏见。

So the very things that help us to see the world

所以，这套看似在帮助我们 理解世界的模式，

also can blind us to it.

也能够蒙蔽我们。

They render our choices effortless,

它们让我们的选择毫不费力，

friction-free.

没有摩擦。

Yet they exact a heavy toll.

然而也带来了沉重的代价。

So what can we do?

那么我们能够做什么？

We are all vulnerable to bias,

我们都容易受到偏见的影响，

but we don't act on bias all the time.

但我们不见得时刻 都要被偏见左右。

There are certain conditions that can bring bias alive

有些特定情况会导致偏见，

and other conditions that can muffle it.

而在其他情况下， 偏见则会受到抑制。

Let me give you an example.

让我举个例子。

Many people are familiar with the tech company Nextdoor.

相信大家都熟悉 Nextdoor 这家科技公司，

So, their whole purpose is to create stronger, healthier, safer neighborhoods.

他们的主要目的是打造一个 更稳固、健康、安全的社区。

And so they offer this online space

因此，他们提供了凝聚社区

where neighbors can gather and share information.

和分享信息的线上空间。

Yet, Nextdoor soon found that they had a problem

然而，Nextdoor 很快就发现

平台存在种族定性的问题。

with racial profiling.

In the typical case,

一个典型的情况就是，

people would look outside their window

当居民望向窗外，

and see a black man in their otherwise white neighborhood

看到黑人出现在白人的住宅区时，

and make the snap judgment that he was up to no good,

他们就快速评判出 这个黑人不怀好意，

even when there was no evidence of criminal wrongdoing.

即使没有任何犯罪 和不法行为的证据。

In many ways, how we behave online

很多时候，我们的线上行为

is a reflection of how we behave in the world.

就是真实世界行为的反映。

But what we don't want to do is create an easy-to-use system

但我们并不想去创造一个放大偏见、

that can amplify bias and deepen racial disparities,

加深种族差异的简单系统，

rather than dismantling them.

而是要去消除它们。

So the cofounder of Nextdoor reached out to me and to others

于是 Nextdoor 的联合创办人 向我及他人救助，

to try to figure out what to do.

寻找解决问题的方法。

And they realized that to curb racial profiling on the platform,

他们知道，若想在平台上 制止种族定性，

they were going to have to add friction;

他们就得主动干预，

that is, they were going to have to slow people down.

也就是，他们得让居民们的 偏见情绪缓和下来。

So Nextdoor had a choice to make,

于是 Nextdoor 最终做出决定，

and against every impulse,

反对冲动，

they decided to add friction.

并且决定进行干预。

And they did this by adding a simple checklist.

他们为平台添加了 一个简单的清单，

There were three items on it.

其中包含有三个选项。

First, they asked users to pause

首先，他们请用户稍加思索：

and think, "What was this person doing that made him suspicious?"

“这个人做了什么可疑的行为？”

The category "black man" is not grounds for suspicion.

“黑人”这个分类并不是 怀疑的基础。

Second, they asked users to describe the person's physical features,

其次，他们要求用户描述 这个人的外在特征，

not simply their race and gender.

而不是简单的种族和性别。

Third, they realized that a lot of people

第三，他们发现很多人

didn't seem to know what racial profiling was,

似乎不了解种族定性是什么，

nor that they were engaging in it.

也不知道自己正参与其中。

So Nextdoor provided them with a definition

所以, Nextdoor 向他们解释了该定义，

and told them that it was strictly prohibited.

并告诉他们这是严格禁止的。

Most of you have seen those signs in airports

你们很多人在机场和地铁站

and in metro stations, "If you see something, say something."

都看过类似标语：“如果你看到了 什么（可疑的情况），就说出来！”

Nextdoor tried modifying this.

Nextdoor 把这个标语改成了，

"If you see something suspicious,

“如果你看见可疑行为，

say something specific."

就明确地说出来。”

And using this strategy, by simply slowing people down,

该策略的确让用户们的 偏见情绪缓和下来，

Nextdoor was able to curb racial profiling by 75 percent.

Nextdoor 也成功地 让种族定性问题减少了 75%。

Now, people often will say to me,

很多人常对我说，

"You can't add friction in every situation, in every context,

“你不可能在每种情况下都进行干预，

and especially for people who make split-second decisions all the time."

尤其是那些要在瞬息之间 做出决定的人。“

But it turns out we can add friction

但结果表明， 我们能够进行干预的场景

to more situations than we think.

比我们想象的多得多。

Working with the Oakland Police Department

在和加州的奥克兰警方

合作之后，

in California,

I and a number of my colleagues were able to help the department

我和几位同事发现， 我们能协助警方

to reduce the number of stops they made

减少对没犯下任何严重罪行的人

of people who were not committing any serious crimes.

进行拦检的次数。

And we did this by pushing officers

我们的做法是推动警员

在执行拦检任务之前 都要先问自己一个问题：

to ask themselves a question before each and every stop they made:

"Is this stop intelligence-led,

“这次的拦检任务是 治安情报主导的吗，

yes or no?"

是或否？”

In other words,

换句话说，

do I have prior information to tie this particular person

我早先的情报是否能够将这个人

跟特定罪行联系在一起？

to a specific crime?

By adding that question

把这个问题纳入到

to the form officers complete during a stop,

警员执行拦检任务时 填写的表格里，

they slow down, they pause,

会让警员暂停行动，

they think, "Why am I considering pulling this person over?"

并及时思考，“我为什么会想要 把这个人拦下来？“

In 2017, before we added that intelligence-led question to the form,

2017 年，在我们把这个问题 纳入表格之前，

officers made about 32,000 stops across the city.

全市的警员已经执行了 大约 32000 次的拦检。

In that next year, with the addition of this question,

第二年，加上了这个问题后，

that fell to 19,000 stops.

拦检的次数减少至 19000 次。

African-American stops alone fell by 43 percent.

光是对非裔美国人的拦检 就减少了 43%。

And stopping fewer black people did not make the city any more dangerous.

并且减少对黑人拦检的次数 并没有让城市变得危险。

In fact, the crime rate continued to fall,

事实上，犯罪率持续下降，

and the city became safer for everybody.

并让城市变得更加安全。

So one solution can come from reducing the number of unnecessary stops.

所以一个解决方案就是 减少不必要的拦检次数。

Another can come from improving the quality of the stops

另外一个方涉及提升警员

执行拦检任务的质量。

officers do make.

And technology can help us here.

此时科技就派上用场了。

We all know about George Floyd's death,

我们大家都知道 乔治·弗洛伊德的死亡，

because those who tried to come to his aid held cell phone cameras

因为当时试图帮助他的人 用手机摄影机拍下了

to record that horrific, fatal encounter with the police.

这段他与警方骇人的遭遇。

But we have all sorts of technology that we're not putting to good use.

但是还有很多科技手段 从未被我们善用。

Police departments across the country

全国各地的警方现在

are now required to wear body-worn cameras

都被要求戴上体佩摄影头。

so we have recordings of not only the most extreme and horrific encounters

这样我们不仅可以记录 那些骇人的遭遇，

but of everyday interactions.

还可以记录他们的日常互动。

With an interdisciplinary team at Stanford,

通过和斯坦福大学的 跨学科团队合作，

we've begun to use machine learning techniques

我们开始使用机器学习技术

to analyze large numbers of encounters.

去分析大量的情景。

This is to better understand what happens in routine traffic stops.

这是为了更好地了解 例行交通拦检时会发生什么事情。

What we found was that

我们发现，

even when police officers are behaving professionally,

即使警员的行为非常专业，

they speak to black drivers less respectfully than white drivers.

他们对黑人司机的说话方式 却远不如对白人司机礼貌。

In fact, from the words officers use alone,

事实上，单单从警员的用词，

we could predict whether they were talking to a black driver or a white driver.

我们就能预测他们是在与黑人司机 还是白人司机对话。

The problem is that the vast majority of the footage from these cameras

问题就在于，这些摄影机 所拍摄的大部分画面

is not used by police departments

一直没有被警方用来

to understand what's going on on the street

了解大街上的情况

or to train officers.

或者训练警员。

And that's a shame.

这让人难以接受。

How does a routine stop turn into a deadly encounter?

例行的拦检任务怎么会 变成一次致命的碰面？

How did this happen in George Floyd's case?

为什么会发生乔治·弗洛伊德事件？

How did it happen in others?

又为什么会发生其他类似的案例？

When my eldest son was 16 years old,

当我的长子 16 岁时，

he discovered that when white people look at him,

他意识到白人看着他时，

they feel fear.

眼神会流露出恐惧。

Elevators are the worst, he said.

他说，最糟糕的是在电梯里。

When those doors close,

当电梯门关上，

people are trapped in this tiny space

大家都和他们认为高度危险的人

with someone they have been taught to associate with danger.

被困在同一个狭小的空间。

My son senses their discomfort,

我的儿子察觉到了他们的不适，

and he smiles to put them at ease,

他便朝着他们微笑， 让他们感到自在，

to calm their fears.

缓和他们恐惧。

When he speaks,

当他开口说话时，

their bodies relax.

他们的身体就开始放松了，

They breathe easier.

呼吸也开始顺畅了。

They take pleasure in his cadence,

他们喜欢他高低起伏的声音，

his diction, his word choice.

他的发音，他的用词。

He sounds like one of them.

他听起来就是他们的一份子。

I used to think that my son was a natural extrovert like his father.

我一直以来都认为我的儿子 和他爸爸一样天生性格外向。

But I realized at that moment, in that conversation,

但那一刻，在那个谈话中，我意识到，

that his smile was not a sign that he wanted to connect

他的微笑并不表示他想与

那群陌生人社交。

with would-be strangers.

It was a talisman he used to protect himself,

这是他用来保护自己的护身符，

a survival skill he had honed over thousands of elevator rides.

是他乘搭了数千万次电梯后 磨练出来的生存技能。

He was learning to accommodate the tension that his skin color generated

他在学着缓和因他的肤色 给身边人带来的紧张感，

and that put his own life at risk.

消除他的肤色 为自己带来的潜在危险。

We know that the brain is wired for bias,

我们知道我们的大脑 带有与生俱来的偏见，

and one way to interrupt that bias is to pause and to reflect

而打破偏见的唯一方式 就是停下来，

on the evidence of our assumptions.

反思自身提出的假设 是否有理有据。

So we need to ask ourselves:

因此我们需要反问自己：

What assumptions do we bring when we step onto an elevator?

我们是带着什么假设踏进电梯，

Or an airplane?

又或者是搭乘飞机的？

How do we make ourselves aware of our own unconscious bias?

我们该如何察觉到自己 潜意识中的偏见？

Who do those assumptions keep safe?

那些假设能保障谁的安全，

Who do they put at risk?

又将谁置于危险之中？

Until we ask these questions

若我们不去反思这些问题，

and insist that our schools and our courts and our police departments

不坚持让我们的学校、法庭、警局，

and every institution do the same,

以及其他机构去反思这些问题，

we will continue to allow bias

那么我们就会让偏见继续

to blind us.

蒙蔽我们。

And if we do,

如此下去，

none of us are truly safe.

没有谁能够真正安全。

Thank you.

谢谢。