Overcoming Bias & Prejudice
Overcoming Bias & Prejudice:
A Key to Transforming the World
By Larry Walker
Definitions:
Bias: in favor of or against one thing, person, or group compared with another, usually in a way considered to be unfair.
Prejudice: preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience.
We all have biases and prejudices; likely more than we would ever believe. We are all different, and a major part of navigating life is managing our differences and the differences of others.
I grew up in International Falls, Minnesota, a place far removed from the ‘bigger world’. One of my early memories is not being allowed to go with my parents to Milwaukee (a world away from my home) because I would get car sick. I do remember going to Nebraska once, appalled by the 103-degree temperature. My high school teacher supported me in going to college in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, Lehigh University. Whenever I got back home, I would be teased about my ‘Pennsylvania accent’ – made me different.
I got married in college, and my wife and I both dreamed of seeing the world. We did get to New York City – once, and we did a few drives through the Pennsylvania countryside. A lasting memory was that while Minnesota only had about 150 years of history, the East Coast had 400 years. Yet when it came time to start my first job, we ended up back in Minnesota. Four years later we were in Chicago, and four years after that we moved to England.
England – where I experienced real differences. Not obvious ones: we were all white people, and we spoke the same English language. We found a place to live in delightful Henley on Thames 40 miles outside of London. What made me aware of differences? One of the first things we did was to find three other American families who lived nearby. We associated often with these three families. What did we talk about? Often it was to make fun of the English. Why? Because they were different.
Our children became bilingual, speaking American English to us and British English to their friends. We did not even know they were bilingual for two years; not until we attended their school Christmas play and heard our children speaking perfect British English!
I reflect often on this experience because it still amazes me how ‘hungry’ we were to find fellow Americans, so we could relax and be comfortable. This leads me to define ‘bias’ as being comfortable with things we view in a positive way and uncomfortable with things we view as negative. Things that are different are often viewed as negative, and we have default prejudice against things that are new to us.
Now imagine immigrant families coming to America from truly foreign places. Minnesota has attracted large numbers of Latinos, Hmong, Somalis, and Karen people from Myanmar. English is not their first language (and they may not even know it). Minnesota snow and cold are unheard of in their warm climates, and Minnesota is mostly white while they come in multiple shades of color. How uncomfortable they must feel! In spite of these challenges, they continue to thrive here. To do so they must acknowledge these differences and must come to some degree of comfort with them.
This capacity of immigrants to adjust reflects the beauty of America. Few other places have achieved this level of inclusion of peoples from around the world. This experience gives us the opportunity to lead by example with regard to inclusion. First, however, we must heal our divisions which still exist. We still must be much better at overcoming bias and prejudice. The following ideas and concepts will contribute.
Dealing with Differences
Since we are all different, dealing with differences is the skill we must continue to grow and grow. Marriage merges two cultures. Successful marriages overcome the differences that have been brought together. Unsuccessful marriages never get there.
One key to dealing with differences is to recognize how valuable differences are.
Forty some years ago I read an intriguing book by Teilhard de Chardin. In this book, he stressed that the emphasis of evolution was the evolution of socialization. Humans represent the highest form of this evolution, and the process was continuing. He predicted that the outcome of this evolution would be the ‘unity’ of mankind. As a thirty-year veteran in the computer industry, imagine my surprise when the Internet appeared, promising the potential to give all of mankind access to all of knowledge! And – all our differences would be in view.
The field of complex adaptive systems stresses that differences create tensions. Negative tensions must be mitigated. Positive tensions are the major source of creativity. Glenda Eoyang has written a book, “Adaptive Action”, that provides insights on taking action to put positive tensions to work and to put negative tensions behind us.
Hector Garcia stresses in his book, “Clash or Complement of Cultures? Peace and Productivity in the New Global Reality”, that merging cultures jumpstarts creativity. America benefits from immigrant energy, entrepreneurs, food varieties, new art forms, and a broadening of culture.
In his book, “Platinum Communication”, Warren Hoffman creates a communication framework that identifies ten components of communication that combine to help readers ‘treat others as they want to be treated’. Few people have mastered these ten components, yet they define the skills needed to process the differences found in others.
Tor Dahl, a world leader in helping over 400 organizations and countries improve productivity has refined the list of issues that hamper productivity down to 23 explicit items. Primary among this list is communication which is the key issue most the time. The resources identified above would be strategic in improving the needed skills.
Americans for Humanity is gathering the related resources to support systemic transformation. Collectively, we know what work needs to happen for transformation to take place. We just need to be willing to undertake the hard work to get us there.
Overcoming bias and prejudice by viewing differences as positive resources creates a solid foundation capable of supporting systemic transformation.
Let’s do it!