But it is not just police officers who fall victim to this kind of projection. We all do it. In fact, much of racism these days is perpetrated not by self-proclaimed racists but by well-meaning Americans who, unaware of their racial bias, perceive an ambiguous, high-stress event in a way that is consistent with their bias, even if their conscious mind actively rejects the same bias.
Psychological studies show that we can teach ourselves to override implicit bias, but that's a topic for another article.
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(Article changed on December 9, 2014 at 13:59)
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