Some years ago, a friend and I were watching a middleweight boxing match with the combatants being a black boxer versus a white one. I didn’t know either of them but began rooting for the white fighter. I asked myself, why the white boxer? I hope it wasn’t subliminal racism because after living in Toronto for some years I took pride in accepting everyone regardless of colour, ethnicity or religion. I felt somewhat of a paragon in this regard. I asked my friend what he thought of my penchant for the white boxer?
He said, “It was only bias and everyone has a preference for or against something. It can be positive, negative, or neutral. For instance, your mother probably thinks you’re terrific but she’s biased.”
I looked into this topic a little further and learned there are increasing levels more serious and hurtful than simple bias. For instance, prejudice is a strong bias, usually negative. Then actions, if taken based on prejudice, is discrimination where you put your feelings about a specific person or group of people into action. Bigotry is a strong prejudice based on hatred of a certain group of people. A bigot tends to not only hold these views, but speak them and act on them. Reactionary Discrimination is the same as regular discrimination, but it is instigated by something the person perceives as a threat. For instance, if a new mosque is being built in your neighborhood and you start turning Muslim people away from your restaurant, then that is reactionary discrimination. All the categories are similar but vary in level of intensity and action.
Gender bias in the workplace has recently become a hot issue. It can generate tension, even lawsuits. There are many kinds of bias there like unequal pay, many men with stereotypes of women and women employees being overlooked for advancement are just a few examples.
Gender or sex bias is a preference towards a particular sex. Some people prefer one sex over the other when it comes to social settings and work environments. You can either be biased towards a particular gender or biased against that gender. The trend is shifting: men are becoming more androgynous while women are less likely to let a personal misconduct be hidden.
Then there is the media. Once CNN was pretty much down the middle in their news coverage. Back then the network covered real news, not fake news, and worked hard to be on site wherever news was happening. But those days are long gone. Watch any 10 minutes of CNN now, and you’ll see nothing more than a nonstop, often vicious, diatribe against President Trump. Harvard University released a study last month saying,“The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and the major broadcast networks during Trump’s first 100 days were 80 percent negative.” In fact, under the leadership of Jeff Zucker, CNN has become a far-left network that harangues the right and praises the left, almost unendingly.
The irony of ironies is that Donald J. Trump is far more biased, to say it mildly, against anyone and everyone who doesn’t fully agree with him. His prejudice is inflamed largely by his inflated ego.
It is unlikely that anyone or any group doesn’t have a bias or biases. Even many of the aged have biases against teenagers, locals biased against newcomers, a firm opinion of the death penalty or only eating chocolate ice cream are a few examples.
With millions at stake at the box office, new research published in the ‘Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization’, predicts films with African-American leading actors do less well than films with white stars. This has nothing to do with how good the acting is, the charisma of the leads or the excitement generated by the plot. But do the movie-goers realize the racial composition of movies is a secret psychological force at work, decisively determining the impact of any film?
What is required is to take a look at biases that are not fair and lead to bad results. Instead create a culture of inclusiveness (what a dream!) that we all look at and acknowledge our unconscious biases — so we can do something about the ones that are unfair or cause harm to others. The next boxing match I will choose my favourite with my eyes closed.
