Unconscious Biases

The other day I was reading an article on Implicit Bias posted on the blog of Minority Professional Network dated 06 October 2018. This article, like most, refers to the impact to companies and how understanding and training for unconscious bias can help the bottom line. The article has good points that can help a company succeed. As I read the article, I thought, why can’t these same points be used by an individual in their personal life as well as their work life.

For example – Beauty Bias – When one associates a person’s physical appearance with a specific personality type or stereotype. Imagine if people understood this as one of their biases and learned to identify it and then take corrective action. What impact would this have on prejudice due to skin color or clothes someone wears.

Let me tell you a story of where I was guilty of unconscious bias. Some years back I was sitting at a bar in London’s Heathrow airport waiting on a flight back to the U.S. I was having a nice pint of lager and watching darts on the tv. I looked up into the bar mirror which was facing the open area of the airport and spotted a young black male. He was dressed to the tee in matching sweats, Air Jordan sneaks, gold chains dangling and a baseball cap with NY on the front. I could tell he was headed towards me at the bar as there was no else at the bar except me. My mind was prepping. I automatically assumed a young brother from New York. I was prepped for the New York accent and the greeting as he got closer. When the young man reached me, he asked me if I had the time. I had to pause about 15 seconds while my brain readjusted. The gentleman had the heaviest British accent I had ever heard. The accent threw me way off because I had assumed, based on skin color and the clothes he was wearing that he was from New York and a New York accent of some type. I was actually a little ashamed and embarrassed because I had made an assumption like that. At this time, I had been in the U.S. Navy for about 7 years and should have known better. Nothing like a little unconscious bias…Beauty Bias. I recognized the unconscious bias within me and identified it as something that needed to be dealt with. Every since this happening I have made every effort to ensure I don’t judge people by just looking at them. I still have Unconscious Biases I know, but I try and recognize them quickly and correct myself. I hope everyone gets to take a class on unconscious bias and not only use it at work but in your own personal life as well.

27 Kids !!!

As I venture forward to understand the Diversity in Me, I have come across a lot of information. The federal and state census is proving interesting. Seeing where relatives lived at various times in their lives is pretty cool. Misspelled names and noticing peoples race changing from time to time is pretty wild. Old newspaper articles on relatives - some good and some no-so good. I was forewarned that there will be surprises that will pop up and to be ready for the good and the bad.

Obituaries have been interesting. The way things were spoken and written in the 1800s and early 1900s would get people fired in today's society. Here is one example concerning the death of my great-grandfather, James Stewart. Article was in the Hutchinson News, Kansas, 14 March 1901. My great-grandfather lived in Stering, Kansas.

He was an "old colored man." He could count 14 pickannies without leaving his own house. I hadn't heard the term "pickannies" in years. I don't believe a lot of people even know what the term refers to. His "race" is superstitious about odd numbers, especially the number 13? Really, and when have you ever hear of someone so getting on their knee and singing Down on the Suawnee River in order to have more kids? I think this was a little journalistic license here.

Anyway, one of many interesting articles to come. Let me know what you think.

The Journey Starts

Let me start this blog with a little about me and how I got started. So, I started on the Diversity path while living in Parker, Colorado and working for Lockheed Martin in the Aurora, Colorado area. I was on the Systems Engineering Management staff and had a number of jobs working on programmatic and personnel issues. HR, recruiting, staffing, training, etc. In about 2003 or 2004 Lockheed decided to get involved in Diversity. I wanted to get involved at first for the travel and conferences. However, it did not take long for me to get the passion for true diversity. My then boss, Ron Butts (thank you Ron), allowed me to take the reins on the diversity effort which gave me a budget and free rein to do as I saw fit and back then there were no set guidelines. After a lot of reading it did not take me long to understanding that diversity meant everyone. At the time most organizations saw diversity as a new chapter to promote women and minorities and it took the whole Diversity community a long time to convince people that diversity was way more than that. Not only did I hold special events for all the under-represented people’s months but I knew back then we needed to include everyone so I also had events for Scottish-American Days and German-American Days and lunch time socials to discuss diversity with everyone.

I soon started my own diversity consulting business with the help of a great mentor, Diane Sinard. Diane provided outstanding contacts and support however, with my lack of business knowledge and not having a clue what I was doing I floundered to the point that I had to go back to work in the defense contractor world (Sorry Diane). I moved to a number of companies and ended up to where I am now, the Northern Virginia area. With all the moves and companies, I was always deeply immersed in whatever diversity efforts where available. I continue working diversity today with the company I am currently with as Co-President of the STEM Employee Resource Group and supporting the veterans and women’s groups.

Recently I started working on my genealogy just out of curiosity. WOW, what a trip. To understand what really makes you who you are from your past DNA is truly amazing and enlightening. The stories you read and hear from family members is truly fun. As I continue this blog I will share some of this with you, as well as talk about my thoughts on diversity. I am always looking for comments so please do not hesitate to leave them but keep them clean and respectful. The journey has started – sharing that journey with you is my next adventure.