Watching Diffusing Bias by organizational psychologist Binna Kandola was really interesting, especially when he opened with a personal story about a college principal accidentally introducing him as (Mr. Tandoori), a well-known Indian dish. At first, I was shocked and even paused to double-check the speaker’s name; I initially wondered if the principal was making a racist joke, though it seemed unlikely someone would do that intentionally in a formal academic setting. However, that slip of the tongue perfectly showed Kandola’s core argument, which is that the world is not divided into biased and unbiased people, but rather into those who recognize their unconscious associations and those who believe they have none. This is important because to solve a problem, we first have to admit it instead of going around. Watching the rest of his presentation forced me to examine how quickly my own brain relies on automatic shortcuts, particularly what Kandola describes as making a snap judgment within the first two minutes and then “stopping scanning” for any new information that contradicts that initial impression, which reminded me of the activity we did in class, and it showed that I took the same time to identify both arabs and Americans; who knows, maybe I am not a biased person. However, reflecting on my own experiences collaborating with my colleagues on team projects, I realized there have been times when I immediately judged a classmate’s work ethic or capability based on superficial cues such as a quiet demeanor, a different communication style, or an unfamiliar background and subsequently filtered all of their behavior through that initial assumption. Furthermore, I recognized how naturally I gravitate toward familiar peers, giving friends the benefit of the doubt when they make a mistake while holding acquaintances to a much stricter standard. Ultimately, Kandola’s reminder that our actions are “unconscious, but not random” has shown me that fairness requires a high level of conscious effort moving forward. I aim to turn the mirror on myself by pausing to question my first impressions and actively looking for the individual strengths of people outside my immediate circle before judgong someone.

Facing History & Ourselves, “Day of Learning 2013 - Binna Kandola: Diffusing Bias”, video, last updated February 11, 2014. https://www.facinghistory.org/resource-library/day-learning-2013-binna-kandola-diffusing-bias