A migrant’s stories on bias
I am a first generation migrant. I have an accent that I do not try to hide. I am at the wrong end of prejudices.
I am prejudiced too. Yes, I am. Judge me. But we all are. It is just the way the brain works.
Today, I was in the train. I got in from the first station. It was post rush hour. The people who got in all took the window seats, including me. I could see four rows in front of me. Next station, more passengers. All the window seats found an aisle partner, except mine. One person even chose to stand than sit next to me. A child came to sit, only to be yanked away by a browbeating mother. He looked back at me curiously as he walked away. I smiled.
Why? Perhaps I look different from the rest? No, I do not. But I have a menacing beard. Beards have connotations, however classically shaped and well groomed . The child who was yanked probably learnt a sub-conscious lesson about beards, even if the mother did not utter a word. His brain just adjusted its neural network with a new piece of information.
Being a subject of bias, you approach the world with eyes open a bit wider and in the process you identify the biases in your own mind. There have been biases in my intimate circle of friends, my acquaintances and the choice of suburb to live in.
Why is bias-awareness important?
- At work
The professional world is all about relationships, influencing, team work and getting things done through people. People are sensitive, especially in multi-cultural societies.
Biases can manifest along the vectors of gender, ethnicity, appearance, work history, the suburb one lives in, the college one went to, a previous association or even the car one drives.
2. At home
There is nothing more dangerous than passing on our unconscious biases to our children. Girls can be engineers. Boys can manage a kitchen.
Kids are sponges. They are taking in our actions, our responses and our reactions and are storing them as gospel.
What can one do about it?
It takes a bit of practice, but the conscious awareness of a bias seeping in helps you catch it and nip it in the bud before it influences the complete thought thread. The inherent awareness that every being is equal and interconnected helps guide and ground that thought.
