This article in Stanford Magazine describes the hidden racism we all harbor.
The first few sentences:
The first time Jennifer Eberhardt presented her research at a law enforcement conference, she braced for a cold shoulder. How much would streetwise cops care what a social psychology professor had to say about the hidden reaches of racial bias?
Instead, she heard gasps, the loudest after she described an experiment that showed how quickly people link black faces with crime or danger at a subconscious level.
Later:
Not everyone buys the idea of racial bias being an unconscious problem, Magnus says; some believe it should be viewed as a more deliberate form of discrimination. And some community members have questioned whether implicit bias isn't just convenient cover for racist behavior.
Scientists like Goff say that's not the case. "You will never hear me say, 'It's implicit so it's not your fault,'" he says. "You are still in control of your behavior."
Still, Eberhardt says focusing only on individual instances of racism, on getting rid of the "bad people," won't solve the problem. There needs to be an emphasis on reforming cultural and institutional environments that promote bias—for example, by fixing policies that create racial discrepancies in hiring or incarceration. "Bias can grow organically out of that," she says.
Please go read the entire article. It jives with something I have felt within me for a long time, but was embarrassed to admit.