In this episode of the DEI Podcast, Max talks with Jemar Tisby, New York Times bestselling author and Notre Dame alum, about his latest book, The Spirit of Justice: True Stories of Faith, Race, and Resistance. Jemar’s book illuminates the often-overlooked heroes of the racial justice movement and explores how faith has deeply influenced the struggle for racial equality across both historical and contemporary contexts.

Max and Jemar delve into the crucial role of faith in civil rights and racial justice, the emergence of the Black church as a powerful space of resistance, and the evolving nature of racial injustice. They also discuss the contributions of White allies, the vital role of Black women during the civil rights era, and common misinterpretations of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy. Throughout their conversation, Jemar highlights the enduring power of resilience, the importance of Black representation, and how these elements continue to inspire and shape contemporary movements for justice.

In this episode of the DEI Podcast, Max Gaston sits down with Diahann Billings, attorney, and CEO of the Ross Initiative in Sports for Equality (RISE), to explore the transformative power of sports in driving social change. They dive into how sports can influence individual behavior, unite diverse communities, and challenge social inequities. Diahann shares insights on key RISE programs, including their work with athletes to bridge racial and economic divides and their initiatives to promote diversity in sports leadership.

The conversation also touches on the current political climate, the push for fair pay in women's sports, and the challenges of addressing racism within fanbases. Listen in to learn how RISE is leveraging the unifying nature of sports to create more inclusive environments and how you can support their mission to advance equality and justice both on and off the field.

According to research, bias is a habit that begins to take shape at an early age. As we form our own social identities surrounding things like ethnicity, race, sexual orientation, religion, and gender, we start to identify as members of a specific group of people. These identities in many ways can shape how we see and treat others — and how others see and treat us.

At the University of Wisconsin–Madison, Dr. William Cox, Dr. Patricia Devine, and their colleagues developed the bias habit-breaking intervention, an evidence-based approach which builds on more than 30 years of scientific research on prejudice, stereotyping, and bias, and has been proven to reduce bias in people’s attitudes and behavior long-term. Dr. Cox is the Principal Investigator of the Stereotyping and Bias Research (SABR) Lab in the Department of Psychology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and the founder of Inequity Agents of Change, a 501(c)(3) dedicated to reducing bias, creating inclusion, and promoting equity. In this conversation,

Dr. Cox explains how bias impacts the mind. He then provides proven strategies for reducing bias, and identifies common approaches such as color-blindness that people often take to address bias that often create more bias rather than less.

Topics covered with timestamps:

2:44 – Why a scientific, evidence-based approach is the best method for reducing bias.

7:29 – The origins of “bias as a habit” and a summary of the bias habit-breaking intervention model.

13:30 – How stereotypes can create and guide our expectations about others.

17:13 – People in society are often penalized if they violate the stereotypes we hold for them.

20:04 – Once a stereotype is a habit of mind, even if we experience that it’s wrong 75% of the time, confirmation bias causes us to give more credit to our stereotype than to the contrary evidence.

28:44 – Perspective taking as a strategy for reducing bias.

36:18 – How untested assumptions can reinforce stereotypes and cause them to self-perpetuate.

38:57 – Stereotype replacement as a strategy for reducing bias.

42:20 – Considering situational explanations as a strategy for reducing bias.

46:14 – Broadening your media input as a strategy for reducing bias.

51:23 – Colorblindness, ignoring group status, believing in personal objectivity, and stereotype suppression fail as approaches to reduce bias and create more bias rather than less.

57:03 – The importance of speaking up when you see bias occurring.