Hi Bob,

Thanks for your response. I’m sorry I didn’t hit the center of your interests. I focused on the fact that the questioner’s employee is a woman and the questioner’s boss is a man. The questioner never stated what their ethnicity. As I’m sure you know, the literature on implicit bias tends to focus on two groups: women and minorities. In this case, I focused on the fact that the employee was a woman, and–when I had to make up details related to her demeanor–I borrowed from common stereotypes about women.
My goal in the conversation is to have the boss examine and question his story–his stereotypes, possible biases–the basis of his mistrust. Of course, the basis of mistrust might be very genuine. The employee might be untrustworthy. However, since the questioner trusts the employee, there is a good chance that the boss’s concerns are his problem–rather than the employee’s.
At the end of the day, your final question is a tough one. Often it is the boss, the owner, the customer, or the officer who has the power to demand the other person to change. And, in the short term, changing is probably the safest course of action. However, we need strong human resource departments, police oversight, and anti-discrimination laws because we know that “might doesn’t make right.”

OK, so I have had time to process my thoughts and biases. I think David Maxfield is guilty of “link baiting” – or good marketing – depending on what your own bias is towards Headline Writing.

I think Mr. Maxfield raises some terms with emotional trigger connotations, and then “Pussy Foots” around them.

The title mentioned Stereotypes and Bias, and Mr. Maxfield later mentions the term “Implicit Bias” – and those terms are most frequently heard in discussions of Racial issues, particularly with regards to African Americans, or folks who would refer to themselves as Black.

So, I felt there was a bit of a Bait and Switch tactic when Mr. Maxfield’s examples of demeanor involved ” her demeanor is weak, hesitant, and unsure. She pauses, questions her own conclusions, and allows others to push her around”

Stereotypes and Implicit Bias regarding Demeanor arise do not typically involve African Americans coming across as “weak, hesitant, unsure, questioning their own conclusions, and allowing themselves to be pushed around.”

Further, I’ll cut to the chase and suggest that the Stereotypes and Biases *most* likely to be operative involve behaviors that would most likely be displayed by folks who would refer to themselves as Black, as opposed to African American.

Black folks are not typically discriminated against for being perceived as weak, wishy-washy and allowing themselves to be pushed around.
It is just the opposite.

Blacks are not typically shot down or treated with violence during interactions with Police or other authority figures for being overly compliant, questioning their own behavior and being non-aggressive.

Blacks can be perceived as being overly loud, obnoxious, not imposing any filters on what they say or do, and for being threatening, aggressive and combative.

Many Black folks perceived that way would mock Daniel Goleman’s principles of Emotional Intelligence, particularly with regards to Self-awareness and Self-control.

Many Black folks are raised in environments where one does not survive long or well if one cannot assert oneself and fight back with aggression, either verbal or physical.

There are attitudes that if you cannot protect your property then you really don’t deserve to keep it – and this applies to both material goods and Women – who often are treated as commodities.

Behaviors and attitudes which serve Black folks well in the streets and in their own neighborhoods often clash with ideals regarding Propriety in Business Settings located within the Dominant Culture (Dominant from a Sociological perspective).

Sometimes, Black folks moving into the Business World are not aware of certain attitudes towards Etiquette in the Dominant Culture, and sometimes, they simply “don’t give a damn.”

Certainly, the majority of Black folks and white folks have much in common, but there are certain subgroups which simply do not share the same cultural values…and it is at that intersection where many conflicts arise.

Now, to the people chomping at the bit to excoriate me for being Racist or insensitive, you have probably not been present in conversations where Black folks make fun of “tight-assed white people” and make statements such as “You can kiss my Black ass…”

And, in many situations, I do not disagree with their assessment.

But, isn’t this article also about the issue of whether Black folks should be expected to modify their perceptions, values and behaviors to match those of certain white folks with the power and resources to define and impose “standards”?

Do the people who sign the checks get to determine which demeanors are to be cultivated, and which ones need to be “managed”?

Still waiting…