Social justice: a comparative cross-cultural perspective

Using print and electronic sources, this paper explored the pervasiveness of issues of implicit bias and social justice with supporting examples from health care, and education (K-12 to higher education). The scope of social justice was broadened by exploring other salient issues from the African continent to complement examples from the United States. The following themes: health care, education, religion, colorism and xenophobia, emerged from analyses of print and electronic documents, and were further explored to understand the pervasiveness of implicit bias and social justice issues. The paper also analyzed perceived defensiveness to social justice issues using the concept of defense mechanisms as postulated by Sigmund Freud and the privileged identity exploration model indicated by Watt (Coll Stud Aff J 26(2):114–126, 2007). Lastly, tentative solutions to identified problems were proposed. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023.