Stereotyping in Anti-Bias Training
June 20, 2006. How often have you gone to affirmative action or anti-bias training only to be told: the Japanese do this, Indians do that, Caribbean people do the other. Isn't this, too, a form of stereotyping and bias, possibly even the worst kind because it emanates from "authorities" who supposedly are there to correct past injustices? We could call it "training-ism," the prejudice inculcated in the name of eliminating bias. I doubt that too many of these trainers deliberately set out to spread stereotypes, and certainly it is valuable for travelers to know not to show the soles of their feet or blow their noses at the table in certain countries. On the other hand, doesn't this kind of pre-judging do more harm than good?
How can we hope to encourage religious tolerance and understanding when even our expert educators and trainers are still calling each other names? --Linda Brown Holt
Linda Brown Holt
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