It's nice to be White

I've written before about implicit bias, the unconscious attitudes that lead to discriminatory behavior. 

An on-going Harvard University study revealed a pattern of discrimination against darker-skinned people among Whites and also among Blacks and Hispanics. But it doesn't take a statistical study to realize that it's nice to be White.

Worldwide, skin lightening products outsell self-tanning products 20 to 1.  Preference for lighter skin colors are deeply embedded in our unconscious, resulting in bias in everyday transactions from shopping to hiring. Not to mention arrests and convictions.

To that list, thanks to an investigation by ProPublica, we can add presidential pardons. The investigation's title says it all: "Presidential pardons favor Whites."  

Indeed, the ProPublica study shows that "White criminals seeking presidential pardons over the past decade have been nearly four times as likely to succeed as minorities."  

For example, all of the drug offenders forgiven during the Bush administration at the pardon attorney's recommendation - 34 of them - were White. A Black, first-time drug offender -- a Vietnam veteran who got probation in South Carolina for possessing 1.1 grams of crack - was turned down. A White, four-time drug offender who did prison time for selling 1,050 grams of methamphetamine was pardoned.

Overall, although Blacks account for 38% of federal inmates, only 2 to 4% of those who applied for a pardon received one. That compares to 12% of Whites and 10% of Hispanics.

Apparently, when President Bush turned the pardon process over to career Justice Department lawyers in reaction to the controversy surrounding his predecessor's pardon of a big campaign contributor, it didn't remove implicit bias from the equation.

According to ProPublica, by the end of his term, the pardon process had moved President Bush himself from "frustrated" to "disgusted." A sentiment we can all share.