Taming the Racist Within

According to psychologists, we are all prejudiced. So what can we do about it?

SUSAN LUCAS WAS SURPRISED TO REALISE she had so many racial biases. Two years ago, the registered psychotherapist was listening to an interview on the radio with an author and activist who posited that everybody is racist – even if they don’t realise it. “When I started to think about it, I recognised that, deep down, I do have some fears of, and aversions to, people of colour,” says the 63-year-old.

Using the skills of her trade, Lucas got to work examining why she felt that way and finding ways to address it.

Society is facing something like a reckoning recently, as the news cycle is dominated by harrowing accounts of racism, sexism and homophobia across the arts, politics and many other fields. The Challenging Racism Project 2015-16 National Survey conducted by Western Sydney University, found that 61.1 per cent of people from a LOTE (language other than English) background experienced everyday racisms, compared with 33.7 per cent of non-LOTE people. The most common setting for these experiences was on public transport, with 75.5 per cent of Asian respondents experiencing race-based discrimination on buses or trains as well as on the street.

Every individual has an obligation to address the prejudices that live within them. Here are some tips for unravelling yours.

RECOGNISE AND REDIRECT

Is everyone really racist, as the activist on the radio claims? According to myriad psychologists, the answer is yes. Thanks to something known as implicit bias, research has shown that it’s possible for you to dislike the idea of prejudice and still act in prejudiced ways. Consider the neighbourhoods you choose to live or socialise in, where you send your kids to school or whom you befriend. You may dismiss these as simple preferences, but beneath those decisions are often conscious, or subconscious, negative associations about other groups – prejudices that, in the bigger picture, reinforce inequalities.

One way to counteract implicit bias is to increase your exposure to positive media focused on the group that you’re making less-than-kind judgments about. A 2013 study run by UCLA’s Social and Identity Lab revealed that watching a clip of The Joy Luck Club, a movie about Chinese immigrants to the US, induced empa-

“IT’S HUMAN NATURE TO SAY, ‘OH, THAT’S JUST HOW I WORK,’” SAYS SOCIAL WORKER AND FAMILY THERAPIST JOE RICH

thy in its viewers and made them less biased towards Asian-Americans.

And while some people may want to claim that they don’t see stereotypes at all, a more realistic strategy is to accept that they exist but challenge them by coming up with examples of people within a specific group who defy these labels. Ultimately, implicit bias functions like a habit - once you become aware of it, you can take steps to break it.

ACCEPT, THEN PUSH AGAINST, YOUR LIMITATIONS

Confronting one’s own prejudice at home is often more fraught than doing so anywhere else. Social worker and family therapist Joe Rich says that neutralising your feelings is more productive than beating yourself up about them. He poses the hypothetical, but common, scenario of a teenage son coming out to a mother who, due to ingrained stereotypes, is made uncomfortable by the admission. No matter how much she would like to, she can’t overcome those negative feelings in order to genuinely celebrate his self-discovery. Rich suggests it’s not a parent’s job to fully grasp their teen’s choices. “In relationships, we think that understanding leads to change, but it’s acceptance that leads to change,” he says, adding that the attempt to live and let live is enough to begin the process of being more open-minded.

Changing any behavioural pattern is a gradual, difficult process. “It’s human nature to say, ‘Oh, that’s just how I work,’” Rich says. “Don’t do that. Challenge it. Ask where it came from and how it affects your life.”

Seeking support online, in chat rooms where others are grappling with, or are closer to overcoming, similar feelings can help. Many organisations offer online courses on bias. And Harvard University’s implicit association test (implicit. harvard.edu) can act as an assessment of what kinds of prejudice – including those related to race, sexual orientat ion, gender and mental illness – you need to confront.

SET UP SYSTEMS FOR CHANGE

Most of us know that limiting prejudice of fers moral benef its, but research also shows that there’s a business case to be made for it. Three years ago, a report from consulting firm McKinsey and Co. found ethnically diverse companies financially outperform more homogenous ones by 35 per cent. A study conducted last year by Forbes suggests diverse teams make better business decisions up to 87 per cent of the time. As a result of surveys like these, many companies have expressed a desire to create such groups but aren’t quite sure where, or how, to start.

Organisations can limit the influence of prejudice by tweaking hiring practices, says Elizabeth Hirsh, an

“IN RELATIONSHIPS, WE THINK UNDERSTANDING LEADS TO CHANGE, BUT IT’S ACCEPTANCE THAT LEADS TO CHANGE,” RICH SAYS

associate professor of sociology at the University of British Columbia. Reviewing resumes with names omitted limits gender and racial bias, she suggests. And conducting interviews as a team – the most balanced group possible – is crucial. “One committee

“PEOPLE IN WORKPLACES ARE NOW RECOGNISING THAT BIAS IS A SYSTEMIC, EMBEDDED PROBLEM,” HIRSH SAYS

member could be tasked with watching for diversity and inclusion,” Hirsh suggests. She says this makes bringing up the topic less awkward.

Applying simi lar strategies to other institutions – schools, private clubs and neighbourhood associations – can go a long way to developing a more equal society. One youth-focused programme in the US, called Anytown, demonstrates the impact of discrimination by letting teenage students see what it’s like to have a physical disability for a day – navigating the world with a blindfold or wearing mittens to limit the use of their hands. More broadly, school boards can incorporate a variety of cultural activities into their curriculum and ensure the parents’ committee has an ethnic makeup that reflects the students it serves.

“People in workplaces are now recognising that bias is a systemic, embedded problem,” Hirsh says. “That’s where there’s some hope for the future.” Although she’s right that the problem of prejudice isn’t necessarily the struggle of an individual alone, each of us can nonetheless play a part by addressing it in ourselves.