Examine your Bias or get out of the Way
BIAS: prejudice in favor of or against one thing, person, or group compared with another, usually in a way considered to be unfair.
We were disgusted by a story that just came out of Louisiana- where a local white female judge was caught on video using racial slurs:
“Odinet said she “was given a sedative at the time” and had “zero recollection of the video and the disturbing language used during it.”
PSA: If you are not racist, if you do not carry racist bias, you will not say racial slurs. No matter what. Period. If you are not racist, this language is not part of you. Whether drunk, high, medicated, sleeping.
“Odinet’s vague apology has done nothing to stop the mounting calls for her resignation. Community organizers and criminal defense lawyers have questioned how she can be trusted to make unbiased decisions regarding Black defendants in future trials.”
If you are involved in service in our society, from cashier at the story to the highest political office, and you are not actively examining your bias- you are part of the problem.
Actually, you are the problem.
The more we allow those in the position of service to hold on to and operate from harmful bias, we contribute to the oppression and violence in our communities.
“Systems do not maintain themselves; even our lack of intervention is an act of maintenance. Every structure in every society is upheld by the active and passive assistance of other human beings.”
― Sonya Renee Taylor
So if you want to be of service- especially if you carry white privilege- if you want to work with the public, have a voice in the community, then you better take the time to examine, unpack and transform any bias that could consciously or unconsciously add to the harm of BIPOC, LGBTQ or any other communities that are subject to the oppression and corruption of this culture.
If Michelle Odinet has any decency, she will resign, examine her bias and even re-open any judgments that potentially were impacted by her racism.
“Whether bad or good, whether justified or unjustified, our beliefs and attitudes can become so strongly associated with the category that they are automatically triggered, affecting our behavior and decision making. So, for example, simply seeing a black person can automatically bring to mind a host of associations that we have picked up from our society: this person is a good athlete, this person doesn’t do well in school, this person is poor, this person dances well, this person lives in a black neighborhood, this person should be feared. The process of making these connections is called bias. It can happen unintentionally. It can happen unconsciously. It can happen effortlessly. And it can happen in a matter of milliseconds. These associations can take hold of us no matter our values, no matter our conscious beliefs, no matter what kind of person we wish to be in the world.”
― Janet L. Eberhardt
