Conscious prejudice

Prejudice and judgment in humans is inevitable; what we do about it isn't. Instead of hiding from it, we need to learn to recognize it.

Prejudice is the process of making premature judgments about a person, group or thing without first doing due diligence to understand the facts or the truth. We see it happen across cultures, politics, religions, gender, age, and race.

Prejudice and judgment in humans is inevitable; what we do about it isn't. Instead of hiding from it, we need to learn to recognize it.

As a biased species, our brain is designed to make assumptions and create shortcuts and links to speed up decision-making and ensure survival. This internal mechanism puts us at a disadvantage now that we're no longer fighting for our physical survival.

Here's an excerpt from Robin DiAngelo in White Fragility.

We can't teach humans to have no prejudice at all. The human brain just does not work that way as we process information about others. Most of us only teach our children not to admit to prejudice. A parent training a child not to say certain things that are overtly racist is teaching the child self-censorship rather than how to examine the deeply embedded racial messages we all absorb. Ideally, we would teach our children how to recognize and challenge prejudice, rather than deny it.

As Robin DiAngelo mentions, teaching ourselves and our children not to say certain things only teaches us censorship. When we censor part of ourselves, we deny its existence and lose our ability to make a change for good. Growth becomes possible when we're willing to see what is hidden from us.

Whether we're parents supporting a child, teachers teaching a class, leaders guiding a team, our interaction with people from all walks of life is prone to prejudice. We are not immune to it.

Instead, as Robin DiAngelo points out, what if we taught people kindly to recognize prejudice in themselves, reflect upon it and challenge it? What might be different? We might have a better chance of not discriminating against others based on prejudice.

Let start by recognizing it, not denying its existence.

Miguel,
Sparknotion – Think Differently.