Bias vs Prejudice, 6

Enter something called implicit prejudice. It can be defined as prejudice that arises far below one’s level of consciousness; although not expressed it is capable of being understood from something else. According to an article by Chris de Morsella entitled “Implicit Prejudice Unconsciously Colors Our World, Implicit prejudice is a real and still poorly addressed problem in the workplace and society. He writes, “While the incidence of overt explicit prejudice and racism has plummeted in American society over the last decades, implicit prejudice, which is prejudice that is harbored subconsciously and is expressed inadvertently, is still widespread. Unconsciously arrived at attitudes towards race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, disability etc. have a profound impact on the conscious opinions we form and attitudes we adopt towards other individuals we encounter within our work and social lives.” Studies have shown that human beings can only deal effectively with what they can bring to conscious awareness, label, and describe. Therefore, it might be beneficial if every human being spent some time trying to bring implicit prejudices to conscious awareness. It reminds me of the words from the old song: “When will we ever learn? When will we ever learn?”  

http://www.multiculturaladvantage.com/recruit/diversity/bias/Implicit-Prejudice-Unconsciously-Colors-Our-World.asp