At a recent meeting Ron St. Pierre used the following statement in introducing himself: “I’m Ron St. Pierre, a life long recovering racist!”
The room went quiet and I inwardly smiled. I have never been that brutally honest about myself even though I have spent the last ten or fifteen years examining my preference/prejudices as they arise in the midst of my interactions with others.
I have all kinds of preferences. I have preferences regarding weight, height and width of people. I have preferences about hair styles. I have opinions about clothes. I have prejudices about cars. I have difficulty with some accents and dialects. You name it and I have preferences.
During my time of self reflection I have virtually eliminated my preferences about race and religion. And I’m proud of this. However, Ron’s introduction reminded me that my recovery and reconciliation work has a long way to go.
It is my prayer that you will join the journey towards a kinder more inclusive world by acknowledging your preferences, especially your prejudices and use your power of discernment to create a more inclusive society.
To help lets look at a common phrase in our world today – Algorithm. I first encountered this concept in the early 1960’s when friends were working as trainees in the Canadian banking system. As loans officers they filled in forms prescribed by their bosses and made recommendations. These piles of paper then made their way up the chain and most often came back with a notice that the recommendation had been rejected.
In questioning these rejections my friends learned that the “brass” had a formula (an algorithm) so that they could quickly scan the reports and determine if it fit within their policy. This formula was to allow them to more efficiently handle the volume of material they needed to deal with. One of my friends said, “Their formula (algorithm) is used so they don’t have to think!”
Our preferences and prejudices are also our tools so we don’t have to think. So we can quickly respond to the situations in the world around us. Our algorithms have been programmed into us by family and society from our birth. And they affect everyone. I do not know of a race, a church, a family that does not have an inbred set of prejudices that they utilize to avoid thinking.
To determine if your preferences are helpful or harmful the key is to think!. Examine how and why you jump to an instant opinion. Question that snap decision. Investigate the feelings and attitudes that are part of it. And then gently and joyously think again.
Canadian society is filled with “dry drunks” people who say they have no prejudice yet their thoughts, words, actions, and governmental policies betray them. Sobriety in prejudice is consciously looking at how you interact in each and every situation in life and how you honour and respect those you interact with through words and actions that affirm and support.
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