The line at the grocery store was quite long, but it was moving quickly. The whole process of check-out seemed quite animated – the clerk scanning the items, the customers sliding the credit card through the card reader, signing the digital pad, collecting the items along with receipt, and leaving. The clerk, his name-tag confirming his ethnicity of India, seemed quite efficient at his job.
At my turn, I stepped forward and followed the sequence. After the scan, I started collecting my items. I slid my American-Express through the card-reader, getting ready to leave as soon as the clerk hands me the receipt.
Then, out of nowhere, the clerk announced politely, “Sir, can I see your card and an ID?” Read the rest of this entry »
Posts Tagged unconcious bias
Brown vs. Brown!
May 26
NRI Tips: The unconscious bias and the depth of racial issues abroad
There is no dispute that America is one of the richest countries where entrepreneurial spirit strives for excellence; freedom of speech is respected and encouraged. Every work place preaches and teaches diversity but the society as a whole continue to struggle with racial discriminations and racial biases.
Many have undertaken the noble task of investigating and researching racism and race relations in America. I outlined a few very basic aspects of it in a previous article ‘ABC of race relation in America’. Some of the interesting studies of modern days blame this human behavior of discrimination on ‘unconscious bias’. The studies point to the fact that the racial bias is linked to our subconscious behavior where we discriminate, unknowingly to a large extent, even when we don’t mean it.
So it is not your fault entirely, it is the brain of yours that is messing with you! 
Read the rest of this entry »
