Racism by Proxy

<p><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>Are you biased? </span></p><p><br></p><p><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>Am I?</span></p><p><br></p><p><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>The short answer is yes. We </span><em style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>all</em><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)> are.</span></p><p><br></p><p><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>Having bias isn't a choice. We can't avoid it. We prefer members of our religion our country our political party and speakers of our native language. We're taught bias by people who aren't conscious of their biases and we in turn unintentionally pass them on to others.</span></p><p><br></p><p><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>So it's not a sin to be biased. It's inevitable.</span></p><p><br></p><p><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>What matters is not allowing our unchosen biases to exert absolute control over our decisions and behavior.</span></p><p><br></p><p><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>To do that however we must recognize and accept them as real.</span></p><p><br></p><p><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>In </span><em style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>Racism by Proxy</em><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)> essayist Johnny Townsend pushes past shame guilt insults and other useless approaches to show how all of us even white people of varying privilege benefit from increasing equity and social justice throughout our communities.</span></p>