Was That Racist?

The first winner of the Robinson/Little, Brown Spark sponsored New Voices Award is a book on detecting racial bias by researcher and DEI consultant Dr Evelyn Carter.

This book is a research-based approach to racial bias training that focuses on detecting the subtler forms of bias and acts as a call-to-action to push back against resistance to DEI training and even the very reality of racial bias by an author with a credible platform in this area.

For years, she has researched how people from different racial groups notice bias, talk about what they see, and, most importantly, what happens if (when) they disagree. The research is clear: on average, White people typically only detect overt forms of racial bias, like the use of racial slurs, whereas people of colour detect those overt forms of bias and the subtler examples as well.

The research is also clear: people of colour are the group with the more accurate perspective. White people are largely unaware of, or unwilling to acknowledge, racism, and it's hurting all of us. It makes conversations about race and racism - the exact ones we need to be having to realise a more just and equitable world - incredibly challenging.

As a diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practitioner who has consulted for some of the world's leading companies, Dr Carter sees these theoretical gaps in bias detection play out in practical scenarios every day, and wants to help. People of colour are tired and are sick of being asked to educate White colleagues or to yield 'grace and space' as they fumble and do harm in the process. Indeed, many White people want to change their behaviour, to have more nuanced conversations about racism, to reduce their own biases, but that work is hard, it's emotionally taxing and it's scary.

Detecting Bias will use peer-reviewed research, personal stories and client examples to drive these points home.