NAPD 2023 Rise, Resist, Represent Conference

Combatting unconscious racial bias is something that is routinely discussed in public defender offices, but that conversation tends to center on the disruption of unconscious racial bias toward clients of color. There is very little discussion, however, around how unconscious racial biases impact interactions between colleagues in public defense spaces. Of particular concern is how an unconscious perception of people of color solely as criminal defendants, can lead to negative and/or microaggressive interactions between white public defenders and their colleagues of color. This workshop aims to have the uncomfortable but necessary conversation around how unconscious racial bias impacts workplace dynamics, and to provide a space to consider ways to disrupt these biases.