Are We Born Racist?: New Insights from Neuroscience and Positive Psychology

Description

Where do our prejudices come from? Why are some people more biased than others? Is it possible for individuals, and society as a whole, to truly defeat prejudice? In these pages, leading scientists, psychologists, educators, activists, and many others offer answers, drawing from new scientific discoveries that shed light on why and how our brains form prejudices, how racism hurts our health, steps we can take to mitigate prejudiced instincts, and what a post-prejudice society might actually look like. Bringing a diverse range of disciplines into conversation for the first time, Are We Born Racist? offers a straightforward overview of the new science of prejudice, and showcases the abundant practical, research-based steps that can be taken in all areas of our lives to overcome prejudice.

Jason Marsh is editor-in-chief of Greater Good magazine and coeditor, with Jeremy Adam Smith and Dacher Keltner, of The Compassionate Instinct- The Science of Human Goodness. Smith is also the author of The Daddy Shift and the editor of Sharable.net. Rodolfo Mendoza-Denton holds a PhD from Columbia University and is associate professor of psychology at the University of California-Berkeley.

"Revolutionary insight follows revolutionary insight in this broadly accessible book, accumulating to nothing less than a paradigm shift that will change how we think about everything from how prejudice affects our own lives to how laws and institutional practice can be used to reduce its ill effects. And it does it all with a brevity that I hope will insure what it deserves most: to be broadly read." -Claude M. Steele, author of Whistling Vivaldi: And Other Clues to How Stereotypes Affect Us "Are We Born Racist? presents the latest science in the most accessible format and faces typically skirted issues head-on, all while serving up practical advice and abundant hope. The evidence and perspectives offered by this valuable book will pave the way to more frank and frequent talk about race." -Barbara Fredrickson, author of Positivity "In this slender multidisciplinary analysis, scientists, novelists, and religious leaders examine the roots of racial prejudice and possible antidotes. . . . A snapshot of contemporary research into and activism around ending racism." -Publishers Weekly