It is easy to believe that the biggest challenges from any form of prejudice are those most overt, vocal issues. But in all likelihood it is those “silent pillars of prejudice” that create a deeper rooted challenge to change. It is a topic that is discussed in depth in John Barnes, the ex-England footballers, excellent book The Uncomfortable Truth about Racism. But as John also touches on in his book its not just true of racism but with respect to any form of discrimination.
The reality is that someone who is being openly prejudiced is to some degree easier to deal with because there is no hiding their opinion of a specific situation. There is no place for offensive or illegal behaviour but it also likely does not reflect the general population opinion. More likely a bigger challenge is these unconscious bias’s, that given we all will have some, can really impact large groups of people.
A manager may for example have an unconscious bias with respect to women and senior leadership positions. The result is the women end up having to achieve more than male colleagues before they get promoted. Add in any other unconscious bias’s the manager may have with respect to race, gender or illness or disability and you can see for some groups life can suddenly become very hard indeed. We all like to think we don’t have these unconscious bias’s but we do. As John says in his book, it is good to sometimes stop and ask yourself why am I thinking/doing that. Am I making an assumption because of an unconscious bias. If someone says this is a problem then we need to listen and not just dismiss them because that’s not how we see the situation. It might not be the situation for us but it very likely is the situation for them.
It is also a better way to explain the glass ceiling and the lack of diversity in senior leadership positions. Potential candidates are dismissed before they even had a chance because of unconscious assumptions that are being made. How many quiet souls end up in these leadership positions, not many, because many people think quiet means weak, when actually these quiet folk might not say a lot but when they do boy do they make a point and probably because they have spent some time thinking about it a more rounded and valid point. The reality is every manager will have an unconscious view of every employee. Looking back I did. We need to recognise that and make sure we ask the person how they see themselves and they may surprise us but remember it doesn’t mean they are the ones who are wrong.
But this unconscious bias can affect all aspects of life. Oh she’s a bit eccentric. Oh he never comes out, no point inviting him. They don’t mix etc. We all do it and if we can recognise we do it we can potentially make a huge difference to other peoples lives. But also we need to be aware the others may be doing this to us and not being afraid to call people out about it. By each of us making this small change, recognising we can have unconscious biases we really could effect significant and positive change.
Looking onto the Marshes 