What I found most interesting about the reading for this week is the unconscious, and almost instinctual, labels and discrimination put on people that are different from us. If you were to ask almost any person if they were racist or discriminatory to any group of people for any reason, that person would more often than not, say no. It is surprising to see how untrue that is in reality. They are not being dishonest; they just are unaware of their actions. The fact is that it is still an issue in today’s world, prominent or not. The section talks about subtle discrimination, such as the opinions that we form about people before we even say a word to them. The problem is that people are unaware of their actions because the opinions are so deeply rooted from repeated exposure in society. Desmond Tutu is an example of this concept when he says, “I found I was saying to myself, ‘I really am bothered that there’s no white man in the cockpit. Can these blacks manage to navigate us out of this horrible experience?’” He continues, “It was all involuntary and spontaneous. I would never have believed that I had in fact been so radically brainwashed. I would have denied it vigorously…but in a crisis something deeper had emerged.” This is exactly what I am referring to; discrimination in all forms has been in society for so long, that it starts to root itself, deep in the unconscious mind. Not many people would consider themselves a racist in any way, shape, or form. But unfortunately, unless these perceptions in society can be resolved, teams, companies, and all other groups containing diverse people will be held back from their true potential.
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