Matea Manuleleua

Mrs. Oberg

English 11

20 September 2016

So many people do things they do not know the reason behind. Or they may do

something out of habit, but not know why or how they came about that habit. Most

people are not intentionally racist, but tend to do things that pose them as racist without

even giving it much thought. In Understanding Unconscious Bias and Unintentional

Racism, Jean Moule argues that “blink of the eye” racism is a serious problem that

needs not to be addressed lightly.

In the opening of the article Moule gives examples of unintentional racism

towards an African American,” In the airport, a man signals to his wife to move her

purse so it is not over the back of her chair, which is adjacent to the one I am moving

toward”(Moule 1). This example that Moule gives in the perspective of an African

American is important because it shows and compares to real life that “blink of the eye”

racism is real. It is not only happening in more remote places like the work environment,

but this is happening anywhere and everywhere, including in public.

After reading Moule’s ideas that she posed in the article, it really made me think

about the things I do and so I stepped back and tried to observe more closely the things

that I do, that I don’t understand. Being a person of color, I don’t really change my

behavior when it comes to other colored people, but I kept asking myself “Do I do things

differently when I am around people with lighter skin color? The argues that Moule
presents has effected me on a positive view. I think that for many it may be hard to even

consider that you may be that person that unconsciously treats people differently

because of their race, but for me it is a self check.