Our brain automatically tells us that we are safe with people who look, think and act similar to us. Unconscious Bias, also known as Implicit Biases, are the underlying attitudes and stereotypes that people unconsciously attribute to another person or group of people that affect how they understand and engage with a person or group. The brain uses shortcuts to navigate an incredible amount of information, leading us to make snap decisions about who we prefer and who we avoid. Why is this important? In an era where different thinking and innovation power is vital to secure bottom-line results, our unconscious preferences for people of another race severely challenge intentions to create diversified and inclusive environments. Therefore, unintended understanding preferences enables us to take complete control of business decisions, harness the potential of diversity and create innovative alliances.
As this explanation inserts itself into everyday life, the specifics of this definition apply routinely amongst police and their dealings with people of color held within this article. The biases adopted over the years and notably handed down from one generation to the next become this cancer that destroys races of people. To determine whether police behavior is conscious or unconscious draws a thin line of similarity because once taught and exposed, the dated behavior of racism thrives. To have lived in a country that not only condones bias but also participates. The strict enforcement of equality will never happen because the level of comfort has reached a point of authority. Having been a policeman, the expectation and the demand to exercise restraint were mandatory. An officer sworn by law served and protected those of less authority. Police officers worked for the common good and carried pride onto the streets. Today, with Gestapo tactics, corrupt encounters, and deceit beyond imagination, it runs amuck with no letup. Unconscious or not, the moral fabric of other human beings doesn’t exist, and the routine treatment of difference will prevail.