Can you teach people to not be racist (in coffee shops)?

Recently, in the US, Starbucks fell into a cup of scalding hot coffee when, in an era of double-quick social media backlash, it got two African-American customers arrested; the two men — who subsequently made their story public on Good Morning America — had, reportedly, not “purchased” anything from the counter, and were having a “business meeting” in a store in Philadelphia. The staff, apparently, sensed “trouble” and called the cops, who, in turn, lost no time in slapping on handcuffs (they were released later). The rest, as they say, is viral history. Of course, this is not an isolated incident. Google “racial discrimination” + “brands,” and you’ll be shocked to note the number of cases when customers have reported prejudiced treatment meted out on the basis of racial/ sexist/communal/classist cues.

Starbucks has announced an “implicit racial training” workshop for its 1,75,000 employees in the US. One day, sometime in May-end, the chain will down its collective shutters for an afternoon — across its 8,000 coffee shops in the country — so all staff members can undergo aforementioned training.

I was intrigued by the term “implicit racial training” — it’s a new corporate fad that’s employed frequently by organisations these days, to get their staff to overcome “implicit biases”. I was even more intrigued by “implicit biases”. The New York

Times has defined it as “the mind’s way of making uncontrolled and automatic associations between two concepts very quickly”. Like dodgy-looking man being equated with potential troublemaker even though the man may mean no harm whatsoever and cannot help the way he looks — or comes across. And so, I wondered: can you be “trained” to

not be biased? Surely it has to be more heartfelt, more inbuilt — more genuine? If I’m trained and expected to follow through, I’d probably do it as a call of duty, as a key performance indicator (that dreaded KPI), because I have been pushed to be more ‘aware’ of any political incorrectitude.

More importantly, I may be tempted to pretend I am devoid of biases because my job depends on it.

But does that mean I will — at a subliminal, intensely personal level — suddenly become bias-free just because a corporate trainer is making me go through certain modules? I fear not. If I’m racist or classist or communal or sexist or whatever, I’ll remain so because it’s ingrained in me — mostly because of the way I was brought up, schooled and then conditioned by my peer group (of course there are exceptions, but in this case exceptions don’t prove the rule).

When I lived in Delhi (and I mention Delhi specifically because conventional wisdom lays down it’s supposed to have a narrower, more patriarchal outlook compared to, say, Bombay which is deemed ‘cosmopolitan,’ less intrusive and, by extension, far less judgemental), I remember how some of my single female friends would have a problem renting a place (I have to say here I never faced a similar problem, but I was told my case was an “aberration”). Landlords (and landladies) were not “comfortable” having an unmarried woman living on the premises, and they’d make their “bias” palpable. “The judgement is largely drawn on ‘character’,” one former colleague had explained. “Like, how does an unmarried woman live alone, and not with family? Not only would they refuse to give us tenancy, they’d have no qualms in speaking their [prejudiced] minds: ‘How come your parents/family members are okay with you living on your own?’”

In Dubai, I know someone, an Indian, who, while looking for an apartment a while ago, told me he will only consider a building that doesn’t house too many of his compatriots. “I don’t like being around desis,” he said. “But you’re Indian yourself,” I pointed out. “That’s not a thought I’d like to get reinforced then,” he replied bluntly.

My inference, after having partaken in the above exchange, was that in a private space, where work rules do not apply, people will continue to have biases. A Delhi landlord will not change his mindset vis-à-vis renting out his second floor to a single woman because he can afford to do so: it’s his own house rules, and his job is not on the line. Someone may choose

not to reach out to a stranded pedestrian (who looks like he needs help) because he belongs to a different socio-economic category. Someone else may “disown” a son or a daughter because he/she married outside the “community”.

For humanity to be “bias-free” seems to be a rather tall order. Surprising that, because all we need to do is be nicer, and more tolerant — but it has to be on reflex, not tutored.