Prince Harry recently admitted to GQ that his upbringing and education made him totally unaware of unconscious racial bias. "I had no idea what it was. I had no idea it existed," he said, adding that everything changed after he met his wife Meghan and experienced the receiving end of racial bias. He emphasized that everyone needs to examine their unconscious attitude towards race, especially those in positions of power. So, what is racial bias?
Bias is an insidious siren that makes its way into our minds without our knowledge. Psychologists today understand that forming biases is part of our brain's natural survival mechanism. If we were never suspicious of danger then we'd make the same mistakes multiple times and possibly end up dead! We all look for patterns and avoid people and places we determine are dangerous, but we have to be conscious about why.
It's easy to build unconscious biases when you see certain people often portrayed as dangerous criminals in movies and on the news. That doesn't mean it's true. Many of us live in fear and hurt others because we've been bombarded with negative messages and harmful assumptions. It can be hard to go against your instincts, but with a little understanding and compassion we can all make the world a better place to live.
Click through the gallery to learn more about disrupting our biases.