Let’s learn from each other
The best way to move on from the Lynnmall attack is to address our unconscious bias
The Auckland supermarket incident labelled as another terrorist attack made me feel emotionally drained. When the news first broke I did not actually want to read the details in the papers — these incidents are a slur on human dignity and in the first instance lead to a sense of hopelessness when there is so much work being done to repair discord in societies.
The emotions I felt were first of sadness that people going about their everyday lives in an already difficult situation with the silent terror of a pandemic should have to face the very real terror of a senseless attack. These days, with the threat of the pandemic, we have to face the fact that no situation is under our control.
The only constant in our lives is change, with constant disruption and subsequent adaptation to our routines, mindsets and lives. In the midst of these adaptations, to be faced with another threat of being attacked for no reason is terrifying.
As a Muslim woman going about her everyday life and who strongly believes love and peace are the greatest healers, I feel frustrated because this depraved human carried these acts out under the banner of Islam. ISIS is definitely not under the banner of Islam — its ideology appeals to people who have volatile temperaments, people who are perhaps angry due to their own personal lives being sad and being around groups of individuals who channel their anger towards hatred of communities.
Extremism stems from people cherry-picking ideologies that suit them, taking words out of context and justifying these by kidding themselves that their actions are benefiting others. These ideologies attract people who are damaged and traumatised in some way, either due to difficult childhoods or negative experiences in life.
Organisations like ISIS recruit people they know they can brainwash. The leaders convince these recruits they are doing this in the name of religion — in reality this has nothing to do with religion. It only satisfies the devils within the human souls, which if watered and fed grow and take over their good sides.
The other strong emotion I felt was of feeling pressurised to explain that the whole Muslim community is not reflective of the acts of a few unstable individuals. Radicalisation can affect people from all backgrounds. It is highly unfortunate that the actions of these individuals should undermine the efforts of all those honest individuals who work hard and are trying to live as good, honest Kiwis.
Who knows what the terrorist hoped to achieve by this attack — did he feel that he needed to gain notoriety? In his warped mind did he feel he was setting things right or did his unstable mindset make him feel this hatred and anger would benefit people? The human mind, when we fill it with hatred, can cause great disruption which affects the individuals themselves, their families and friends, and in cases such as these, society at large.
After the Christchurch mosque attack, the reason why it felt New Zealand was a country of hope was that it took the path less travelled. Having lived through terror attacks in other parts of the world, to me it felt like New Zealand’s success lay in the fact that instead of marginalising communities it recognised that the problem came from certain unstable individuals who lie to themselves and to the world that they are committing these vile acts to save humanity. It recognised that the strength lay in us being united, not divided.
The question now is how do we remain united and how do we stop these vile acts from dividing us? In the aftermath of the Christchurch attack, I came across the concept of addressing our unconscious biases, which made me question my own thinking.
‘Unconscious bias’ and ‘diversity of thought’ are among the catchphrases we hear bandied about in the media and in the corporate world, as we in New Zealand try to move to a more cohesive society.
What are unconscious biases? They are defined as stereotypes we form about groups of people, outside our conscious awareness. We all hold unconscious beliefs about various identities, and biases stem from the human tendency to organise social worlds by categorising.
We all carry biases about groups of people based on our upbringing, the cultures we live in, and the avenues that we gain knowledge from. It is also coloured by the people we meet and bad or good experiences that we have.
It is human nature to have these biases. The question is more: So what? What do we do about it? How do we question our own self-beliefs and how do we gauge our moral compass?
If we have had a negative experience, it’s understandable that the fear of being hurt again may make us want to generalise to protect ourselves. However, at such critical junctures, “so what?” can come in handy. Some reflection and selfdialogue about why I think this way, and whether it is actually the truth or just my personal belief, can be transformative. We need to ask ourselves how we look inside ourselves to check our conscious and unconscious biases.
If we find differences among us, do we have the courage to learn from each other and understand these differences, not from a position of fear and bias but to concentrate on the values that make human? Are there some actions that we might be able to take as individuals in our daily efforts to get to know each other?
Who do we invite to birthday parties? Can we get to know a neighbour we wouldn’t typically socialise with? How mono-colour is my inner circle? What can I do every week to sincerely try to diversify?
New Zealand has given me a lot.
It is where I have discovered myself.
The way we as a nation chose a different path in treating a global crisis helped me appreciate that we all have the power to make a difference within ourselves and to use our voice to make a difference. We are not meant to be clones and changing mindsets is not ground-breaking — it is just about questioning ourselves, communicating and being open with each other.
When the world we live in gets smaller due to globalisation, seeds of discord and division can easily be spread due to the separatist ideologies of violent political groups. The strength for us as humans with dignity lies in understanding the richness that diversity of thought brings to the table and how we can use this richness in striving to understand each other better and to mitigate the efforts of these violent and extremist ideologists.
Slowing down your thinking and questioning your beliefs requires hard work, self-reflection and questioning yourself. It is easier to let our thoughts be influenced by others and to take the easier route of just agreeing with them. However, the true merit of a human lies in going deep within ourselves and thinking for ourselves, not just agreeing with others.
The truth of what we find within us can be hard to face at times, but it leads to a deeper understanding of the vagaries of societies. So I leave an important question: How ready are we to address our unconscious biases?