Life’s lessons

A very nice piece about racial bias. It isn’t about firing the one who is guilty of the bias. The bigger situation to be handled is the unconscious bias. It happens because we categorise colours into stereotypes. Like the writer rightly says, “What a world when a black guy is not only never assumed to be the boss, but not even assumed to be the one serving the boss coffee...” (“None of us is immune to conscious bias,” July 18, Gulf Today).

Sure. Because that’s how America has been treating blacks for centuries. Just because there has been a Black Lives Matter protest one can’t expect an overnight change in mentality, especially mentality that has been perpetuated throughout our growing up years. Sure, attitudes can change overnight with more awareness of our actions. But to change a mentality we need to change collective thinking of the nation.

That’s as difficult as telling Indian men that women aren’t objects. Or that they need to respect women as having an equal right to be human. Or just essentially that you can’t molest another’s dignity with rape.

Get the point? Right. Maybe mentalities will never change or if they do, they will take a couple of more centuries.

Joyce D — By email