FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: MONDAY, APRIL 13, 2009 CONTACT: NEW PROJECT TO STUDY AND COMBAT UNCONSCIOUS RACISM Initiative to Identify What Triggers Racial Bias and Political Consequences The new project, called “Americans for American Values,” will research the effects of unconscious racial bias on decision making and will develop strategies to support decision-making based on consciously held American values rather than on racial anxiety and stereotypes. The project commences this week with the release of a series of educational videos and a set of research studies. john powell, the project’s founder and executive director of the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity, said racial equality and fairness are values widely supported by Americans, but hidden biases often undermine these values. *NOTE: john powell’s name is all lowercase.* “As society tries to move beyond racial discrimination, a better understanding of implicit bias is needed,” said powell. “Our two-fold goal with this study is to help the American public better understand implicit bias and to give them ways to avoid triggering these biases.” Institute for “The election of the first African American president has helped us see one another with new eyes,” said Borosage. “Yet, we still struggle both as a society stratified in large part by race, and marked by attitudes that congeal in a society still marked by racial divisions.” The “Americans for American Values” project will begin with research over the next two years designed to identify all the forms of implicit bias and what triggers them. The studies findings will help make recommendations on how to avoid these biases. The project was made possible by a grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. The W.K. Kellogg Foundation was established in 1930. The organization supports children, families and communities as they strengthen and create conditions that propel vulnerable children to achieve success as individuals and as contributors to the larger community and society. Grants are concentrated in the # # # **NOTE: To obtain an electronic copy of the “Americans for American Values” videos or for more information about the project, please visit http://americansforamericanvalues.org.** Communications Director Campaign for 202-587-1653 978-884-8626