A lot of times you wouldn’t notice but the fact that prejudice is residing and blooming inside you is the reason for your everyday behavior and choices. Perhaps you unknowingly pass judgments on the people around you. Sooner or later, this ends in a not so good relation with even your dear and loved ones. You might wonder later but since you are so used to it, you barely notice the biased judgments you have made. But once you do realize so, and intend to change your ways, here are some points that could help you fight prejudice and bias in your everyday life.
⦁ Use inclusive language
They say “Think before you speak” and there hasn’t been any other quote as simple yet inspiring and worth pondering or shall I say thinking upon.
This is one of the biggest ways to overcome your prejudice in any type of field you are in.
If you compare your words of both times when you think before and after speaking, you’ll realize what a great difference it makes when you think before speaking. Almost 90% of the time, you would regret speaking without thinking before. But there will be very less chance of regret when you speak after thinking.
- Join groups that help you mentally grow
If you are a gym-freak, you will find this group to be totally bizarre. Because you have already joined a certain field of physical growth which occupies most of your mind too. But if you think about it, joining groups that help you mentally grow are found to be more effective in both physical and mental ways. As your mental health can prevent you from physically wronging yourself such as eating disorders etc.
To overcome biases in your life, you need to contemplate on joining groups that help mentally help you grow.
- Brainstorm how to prevent biased opinions
Whether you are in a workplace, school, and college or in a family. You need to brainstorm your ideas of how to prevent yourself from utter disappointment when you talk to people. As surprising as it may seem to you, people actually do notice every single word you say if you are even in a step higher than your colleagues or family members.
Tis the year of women rising, feminism is at its peak and if you are a leader or a boss, you might want to prevent the words that may offend women. For example, you may not even notice the fact how often you say ‘Hey guys’ even if you’re in a room full of girls. Instead of using this word, try using other exclamations such as ‘Hey fellas’ or ‘Hey y’all’ since it’s becoming very common to use clean slang everywhere now.
- Take a short course on prejudice
This point, of course, should be taken into consideration if you have felt almost even 40% of the people around you telling you that your behavior somehow shows prejudice. Taking interest in Psychology and a short course on prejudice will help you fight your inner demons as well as religious teachings. As any and every religion of the world teaches us not to judge people and not to have biased opinions of others, taking different religions and their main concepts will allow you to broaden your thinking and regrowth of your mind will occur.
A course in prejudice will also reveal the fact to you that unconscious biasedness does actually happen and is very common. As you go on your way to learn the concept of unconscious bias, you will become self-aware and this process only helps in betterment for yourself and your sake as well as for others.
A study in 2001, has shown that students who enrolled in prejudice and conflict seminars showed the substantial reduction in their jaundiced comportment.
- Don’t forget; people are really bad mind readers
When you say something that later you regret and try explaining people that you didn’t mean what you said, remember, people, are only assuming you’re a bad liar. Since one little part of you known as the tongue, represents your whole self, one little mistake of saying one little weird word may cause you lifetime regret.
- Break the stereotypes
Although stereotyping of positive aspects is excellent for understanding certain phases of life, such as a how does a fireman’s job work as well as learning behavior at a funeral, categorizing humans and labeling them is considered brusquely erroneous.
To break out of an ingrained stereotype is not easy. You have to involve past, present and future to see what people used to do, what they do now and how they will act and behave in future. We will have to do it systematically. Because of precise audience important to us such as business community, a female colleague, college students.