As a scientist who studies bias and strategies to reduce it and promote inclusivity, I watched the following recent film with interest. Matt Walsh: “Am I a Racist?” it is $8 billion annually It makes a mockery of the DEI training industry and its usefulness. His core message is that the best way to eliminate prejudice is to be colorblind, treat each other as individuals, not cling to each other's racial or ethnic identities, and that “white people” Don't assume someone is a racist.
On the liberal side, the “work” proponents of DEI training in the film emphasize the importance of self-education to learn about American history and the policies that have created generational racial inequality. . That policy continues to be maintained in some cases. Inequality today. Proponents of this position want people to sit down with this knowledge and reflect on how they benefit from this system and feel guilty if they are white. Masu.
Decades of social psychology research shows that neither this conservative nor liberal approach solves the problem of prejudice reduction and greater inclusion. While Mr. Walsh's position ignores the weight of history in shaping individual outcomes today, standard anti-bias training requires more than just “doing the work” in the form of self-development and goodwill. We forget that enough is enough. The norms and traditions of the places we live and work, the roles we occupy, and the opinions and actions of those around us powerfully influence our own beliefs and actions.
Standard anti-bias training and conservative pushback against it forms a bitter self-perpetuating cycle. There are interesting similarities between these two approaches. Both focus solely on the individual and underestimate the power of circumstances to shape human behavior. The liberal “do your job” position focuses on individual self-education. And the conservative position asks us to see each other as individuals, apart from the legacies of the past.
You need a different way to break out of the cycle you're stuck in.
The answer begins with breaking out of your shell of individualism and finding new physical spaces to interact with people who are different from you. According to research most americans Have friends of the same race: 90 percent of white Americans say all their friends are white, and 78 percent of black Americans have friends who are all black. Hispanics and Asian Americans are less likely to seek friendship and remain fully within their group at 63% and 65%, respectively.
Having real conversations with people who are different from me, being interested in each other, and learning by listening to little personal stories that reveal the material circumstances of each other's lives that may not be visible from the outside, helps me learn. The stories we hear begin to grow. It questions the cultural myths of entitlement, meritocracy, and the American Dream that swirl around us like self-evident truths that we learned from an early age. Authentic conversations create empathy, “aha” moments, and interracial friendships. Behind each individual story, structural barriers that were previously invisible become visible.
Now we can see that wallpaper. The unspoken norms and customs, the stories that tell us who is valued and who is not, and the physical design of the places that separate us. What goes largely unnoticed is what's in the background. Yet it sways our thoughts and actions, silently creating and reinforcing inequalities.
Authentic conversations, active listening, empathy, and friendship across group lines open doors for people who want to act together on common issues of concern and create more just communities wherever they live and work. Build.
Niranjana Dasgupta is a professor of psychology and founding director of the Diversity Science Institute at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She is a recipient of the Hidden Bias Research Award from the Caper Foundation and multiple U.S. government research grants. She is the author of an upcoming book, “Changing the wallpaper: Transforming cultural patterns to build more just communities.” Published by Yale University Press.
