Unconscious Bias to Conscious Un-Bias

I’m heartsick about so many things right now in my adopted country.   I’ve also been thinking a lot about unconscious bias, and what to tell my kids.  I tell them that God created us all equal, that no one should ever be restrained by a knee to the neck, and that they need to be kind to everyone.  I also had to tell them that not everyone believes that, and that words and actions don’t always match.

Then I told them about how current affairs have made me think about my own words and actions.  Last week we were out of a walk and passed a young man heading into the post office – I asked if they remembered anything about him (they didn’t).  He was black, had long dreadlocks and was not dressed like a typical resident of my town.   I admitted to them that my first thought was “he doesn’t look like he belongs here”.  But I also told them that my immediate second thought, as a result of current affairs, was to check myself – why didn’t he belong here?  The guy was just mailing a letter!  I made it a point to greet him in the same way I would anyone else, with a smile and a kind word. (I am Canadian at heart, after all)

Am I proud of my initial reaction?  No, not at all.   Can I use it to demonstrate what’s meant by unconscious bias, and to model conscious un-bias?  Indeed I can.