Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice That Shapes What We See, Think, and Do

Chapter 7 focuses on issues related to race and housing, highlighting the history of segregation in the United States. The chapter moves through the history of zoning, migration, and legislation, including Eberhardt’s own family history. She shows how these decisions still influence how Black neighborhoods and homes owned by Black families are perceived in the 21st century. African Americans are more likely to live in segregated neighborhoods, and “more than half of whites say they would not move to an area that is more than 30 percent black” (159).

In one study, individuals were presented with identical house listings that had only one minor difference: the color of the family that appeared in one of the photographs. Study participants were more likely to see the house in the negative light and assign it a lower value when a Black family appeared in the listing. Eberhardt also explores how even the association of the colors white with purity and Black with evil has a neurological effect. The chapter ends by detailing how bias affects a new frontier: the tech industry. She cites examples of how bias has infiltrated surveillance cameras, Airbnb users, and “crime and safety” sightings on the Nextdoor app.