Out of Mind
The Transformative Social Change that weakens racism
Across a broad spectrum of American society, we find studies proving the existence of racial and ethnic prejudice. In banking, insurance, employment, the legal system, housing, policing, the military, education, and even in medicine, we find clear evidence of racial and ethnic prejudice.
Even from the most trusted people in America, doctors, we find prejudicial treatment of Americans (racial and ethnic minorities receive fewer medical treatments and at later stages of their disease). This evidence is not just an anomaly. It is real and pervasive throughout our society.
We have attempted to correct this with almost 150 years of Acts of Congress, laws and regulations, court cases, social movements, and Supreme Court decisions … It has all failed.
It has all failed; therefore, we must try something new.
Humans are inherently connected to their language. When we describe someone by race or ethnicity, we have categorized them; this almost automatically happens and is an implicit bias. Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard (1813 -1835) said “When you label me, you negate me.”
This implicit bias creates an automatic sequence of behaviors, from categorizing to generalizations, then stereotyping and then automatically to prejudicial assumption and then to prejudicial action.
The Chinese philosopher and founder of Taoism, Lao Tzu (4th century B.C.) said “Watch your thoughts, they become your words. Watch your words, they become your actions.” When we stop describing people by their race and ethnicity, we will be removing these ideas from our minds.
Dr. Martin Luther King wanted his children to live in a land where they were “not judged by skin color.” And yet, this is what we do when we make a judgement and call someone “black.”
Just as we say, “out of sight, out of mind” it is also true to say, “out of language, out of mind.”
This is a precise, distinct, and specific action we can all choose to weaken racism.
There will always be evil and prejudice in this world, however with this simple and specific action, all of us together could create a transformative change in society. Imagine. Instead of referring to people by their race or ethnicity we should instead think of them based only on the “content of their character.”
_________________________________________________________________