The Person You Mean To Be: How Good People Fight Bias

A guide to social change through personal transformation, this first book by New York University social psychologist Chugh aims to provide the knowledge and tools needed to confront both individual and systemic biases that create and perpetuate inequity. Mixing social science research, stories of acquaintances' experiences and breakthroughs, and explicit advice, Chugh discusses developing a growth mind-set, recognizing and leveraging "ordinary privilege" (identities such as whiteness, straightness, physical ability, and financial stability that are normative in the dominant culture), becoming aware of power imbalances and their roots, and moving from "believer" to "builder" through active engagement with people and systems. Chugh's warm tone, foregrounded humility, and encouraging style facilitate but don't minimize the work. Her frequent use of binaries clarifies complicated concepts: strategies of heat (confrontation) and light (dialog); societal factors that serve as headwinds (disadvantages) and tailwinds (advantages); and centrally, the transformation from believer (passive and perhaps unwoke) to builder (active and self-aware), which is a journey rather than an event.