According to Andre Perry of the Brookings Institute, cultural bias in appraisals is described as what?

• A. Systemic
• B. Individual
• C. Personal
• D. Local

Answer: (A)

Systemic bias means bias that is built into the appraisal system itself—through standards, data, practices, and market signals that operate across many valuations rather than in a single instance. Andre Perry argues that cultural bias in appraisals isn’t just the result of one person’s prejudice or a quirk of one neighborhood; it’s embedded in how appraisal methods are applied, what data are relied on, how comparables are chosen, and how neighborhoods are described and valued. That structural pattern leads to repeated undervaluation in certain communities, contributing to persistent wealth gaps. The other options would describe bias as originating with one person or confined to a specific locale, which doesn’t capture the way Perry frames bias as a feature of the system as a whole.