Since its inception, ERASE Racism has talked about the significant impacts from so-called race-neutral policies that produce racial inequities. Relatedly, there is implicit bias, the unconscious and automatically activated mental processes that affect attitudes and behaviors and significantly impact racial disparities. Recently I read "State Of The Science: Implicit Bias Review 2013", a report by The Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity that compiled a large body of recent research on this subject. The report clearly substantiated the existence of racial bias and challenged the self-perception of being colorblind or unable to recognize race that I hear all-too-often. In particular, the research highlighted the devastating consequences of racial bias in education, the penal system, and in health and healthcare. Have a look at these striking examples:

• Teachers' perceptions of stereotyped behaviors can contribute to implicit bias. For example, one study found that students who displayed a black walking style (i.e., "deliberately swaggered or bent posture, etc.") were perceived by teachers as lower in academic achievement, highly aggressive, and more likely to be in need of special education services.
• In a video game that simulates what police officers experience, research subjects were instructed to "shoot" when an armed individual appeared on the screen and refrain from doing so when the target was instead holding an innocuous object such as a camera or wallet. When participants refrained from "shooting" an armed target, these characters in the simulation tended to be white rather than African American.
• One study sought to determine whether physicians held implicit racial biases, and if so, did the amount of implicit bias predict whether the doctors would prescribe thrombolysis (a treatment to dissolve dangerous clots in blood vessels) for black and White patients displaying acute coronary symptoms. The physicians reported not having any explicit preferences for black or white patients; however, implicit measures recorded a preference for white patients and a belief that black patients were less likely to cooperate with medical procedures.

This important body of research reminds us that much work is needed to create a truly equitable society. Studies have shown that exposure to people of other races greatly reduces racial preferences (Dasgupta and Greenwald, 2001). Here on Long Island, intense levels of residential segregation not only produce inequities in resources between majority white neighborhoods and majority African American and Latino neighborhoods, but it creates a dangerous environment for the perpetuation of implicit racial biases. That is why for the past twelve years we have advocated for policies and practices that can help create a racially diverse and racially integrated region. We hope you will join us in these efforts. There are many ways to get involved, which you will see further below in this newsletter. From making a sponsorship to our 2013 Annual Benefit to participating in our Education Equity Working Group, your support can make a difference.

V. Elaine Gross
President
ERASE Racism

In the last newsletter we announced the formation of four new task groups that will help to advance the ERASE Racism's Education Equity Initiative from identifying problems to taking action. The task groups are part of the organization's Education Equity Work Group and they are charged with advancing specific strategies that will help to ensure that all children on Long Island have equal access to a quality education. The four task groups will work in the following areas:

• Structural Strategies: exploring re-districting, magnet schools, inter-district transfers, and other mechanisms that would move beyond the current rigid school district boundaries.
• Pedagogy: exploring the impact of the International Baccalaureate Program (IB) as a tool for academic rigor and racial integration, combating implicit bias in the classroom, strategies to reduce the achievement gap, and incentives for cultural competency training for public school teachers and administrators.
• Funding: exploring new ways to use funding to decrease the academic gap, such as providing universal pre-K, altering state and commercial and residential tax funding formulae to increase resources where needed.
• Current Affairs: Exploring state-wide education policies and local school district policies and practices for potentially harmful effects on education equity, educating others and formulating appropriate responses.

Since we sent out the last newsletter over 20 people have joined at least one of the four task groups. It's not too late to participate! If you are interested in joining or learning more, please email Olivia@eraseracismny.org or call (516) 921-4863.

On April 9, 2013 at 6:00pm, Elaine Gross will deliver the 4th annual Howard A. Glickstein Civil Rights and Public Policy Lecture at Touro Law Center, which Dean Patricia Salkin describes as "a critical component of this Country's ongoing dialogue about race relation, civil rights and public policy."

The annual lecture was created in honor of Dean Emeritus of Touro Law Center, Howard A. Glickstein who helped shape the remarkable growth of the Law Center. Mr. Glickstein's dedication and vision established Touro Law as a well-respected institution of higher education and a school with a commitment to the public interest.

Elaine will also be honored with the Howard A. Glickstein Civil Rights and Public Policy award. When asked about the significance of receiving this award, she said, "I am honored to accept this award from Touro Law Center, recognized for its Public Advocacy Center and pro bono public service requirement. It is especially humbling that the award's name honors Howard Glickstein, a great man who has dedicated his career and private life to advancing civil rights. While I can't fill Howard's shoes, I willingly accept this award as inspiration to keep our shared dreams alive."

In her speech Elaine will expound on what is needed today to create racial equity. "Bayard Ruskin was one civil rights leader who talked about transition from protests to political power. He cautioned that by destroying Jim Crow we would not in fact gain equality. He suggested that the post-Jim Crow era would be even more challenging than the legal battles under Jim Crow," Elaine explained, adding, "I believe that was a profound analysis, especially given that even today, structural racism is not seen by many otherwise intelligent individuals."

To RSVP for the event, please email Jaclyn Curtin, events@tourolaw.edu or call (631) 761-7064. For more information please visit www.tourolaw.edu/civilrightslecture.

On Thursday, February 21, 2013 Elaine Gross was honored with a Trailblazer Award by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District. The ceremony was part of a celebration for Black History Month.

In her acceptance speech, Elaine spoke about her personal recollection of civil rights in 1963 and the connections to the civil rights struggle today. She also described ERASE Racism's work fighting racial discrimination and segregation on Long Island, particularly related to housing and education. "[W]here one lives determines the school you will attend and where one goes to school is central to any effort to equalize access to opportunity," she explained, adding, "Without this foundation it will be impossible to achieve the vision of a society where race doesn't matter and affirmative action is no longer necessary." Elaine provided several statistics that demonstrated the intense level of segregation on Long Island, including that in 2010, the average black resident lived in a neighborhood that was three and a half times as black as the region and the average Hispanic lived in a neighborhood that was twice as Hispanic as the region.

In response to news of the Trailblazer Award, Elaine was honored by the Town of Huntington the following week with a proclamation for having "spent more than a decade trying to right race-based wrongs here on Long Island" and for "opening young people's eyes to the fact that their actions, words and how they interact with people really matters..." Also mentioned were her efforts to end educational inequities related to school district boundaries.