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Coping
with Prejudice
Bias-free...
What is "Bias"?
What is "Discrimination"?
What Can I Do?
Tips on Speaking Out
If You Fear Reprisal
Bias-free...
That word describes an ideal, rather than a real university
environment, but it is an ideal that the
University of Southern Mississippi has decided is worthy
of our best efforts. To an academic community founded by the
state of Mississippi to provide affordable education and enhanced
understanding of our world, the ideas of freedom and knowledge
are very important. Bias in a university environment can poison
those ideas and rob people of educational and economic opportunities.
Not only is a bias-free environment important to our happiness
and health as human beings; it enhances learning, furthers scientific
understanding and allows for the possibility of new ideas.
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What is "bias"?
There are many definitions for the word "bias". In
human relationships, the most important of these connects bias
with prejudice. Prejudice is a feeling we have about one another
and our human characteristics: age, facial features, hair texture,
body size and shape, gender, skin color, nationality, language,
religious values, cultural values, sexual orientation ... the
list is endless! Bias implies unfair judgment based on these
arbitrary human characteristics. It's also something we all
do, whether through a systematic like or dislike of certain
characteristics, or simply through lack of familiarity with
the world of human difference.
We feel bias every day, in many ways: Do you ever angrily attribute
someone's driving errors to gender or age? When you listen to
international students speak, do you find yourself growing impatient
or assuming that they are more studious than you are? Do you
assume that gay men or lesbian women are focused on their sexual
feelings 100% of the time? Are there times when you feel dislike
for your own characteristics (like hair texture or body size)
and make judgments about yourself based on that prejudice?
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What is "discrimination"?
When people act on their biased feelings -- whether intentionally
or unintentionally -- then they are acting out "isms",
such as racism, sexism, ageism, heterosexism ... the list is
endless and devastating to human potential. This is what is
meant by terms such as "harassment" and "discrimination."
We see examples of how this bias is acted upon every day. A
deserving international student is passed over for a graduate
assistantship because of a professor's discomfort with cultural
differences. He struggles financially, and the professor remains
unaware of her bias. Women in a residence hall persistently
leave hateful notes on a lesbian woman's door or giggle with
embarrassment when she is near. She leaves the dorm, despite
the increased financial burden. An older, returning student
is overlooked by his peers. He feels alienated and continues
to commute over an hour from his hometown, despite the stress
of the long drive. A single parent is told sympathetically by
her advisor that because she is a mother, her chances of achieving
in the program of her choice are slim. Although she is bright
and capable, she changes to a less challenging major, lowering
her future earning potential.
Each of these stories of acted-upon prejudice includes any number
of behaviors based on the beliefs of the people involved. The
professor in the first story clearly discriminated against the
international student but did it unintentionally. She simply
acted on her discomfort without awareness of what that feeling
meant. The student also acted on his mistaken belief that as
a student he had no voice in determining the quality of the
university environment. He remained silent and fearful of negative
evaluation. More importantly, there were probably other people
who knew about, and disagreed with, the professor's decision
but didn't feel able to express their views. Because nobody
spoke out, the professor remained unaware of her bias.
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What can I do?
Behavior can be changed, thoughtfully and with knowledge, awareness,
and caring. The Student Counseling Services is committed to
fighting bias in the university environment, and we need everybody's
help to achieve this goal. There are a few simple steps you
can take to get involved, to make a difference -- to feel the
power of positive change!
1. Examine your own biases.
Spend some time thinking about your cultural background: your
family's values, the community you grew up in, the things you
learned from television ads and newspapers.
What personal experiences -- joyful or painful -- have shaped
your beliefs?
How have these beliefs created bias? Most people can examine
their own past and find instances where they felt oppressed
-- treated unfairly for possessing certain human characteristics.
Most people can also find times when they oppressed others --
combining their influence with biased beliefs in a way that
caused others to be treated unfairly. Your own self-awareness
will be your most important weapon in the war against bias.
2. Educate yourself.
Where are your weakest areas of knowledge about differences
between people?
What can you do to learn about them? Read books about race,
ethnicity, gender issues, or aging.
Ask yourself how the books made you feel, and why. Enroll in
a class or attend a lecture on human diversity. Listen to music,
see a movie, or eat a meal that's from an unfamiliar culture.
Attend a religious ceremony that you know nothing about. Expect
initial discomfort as you encounter new things, and keep going.
Focus your efforts at self-education on the goal of human understanding.
3. Develop a plan.
What kind of a person are you?
Do you like to dance? Participate in sports? Go to community
meetings?
What organizations do you belong to?
Try to figure out how you can change your own behaviors and
influence people around you in positive ways while doing the
things you like to do.
Maybe you can make an extra effort to integrate your basketball
team, to educate people in your church with your newly found
knowledge, to include excluded people in your plans for dinner.
Maybe you are a quiet person with some writing talent who can
express some bias-free ideas in your poetry or essays.
If you are a person with a hectic schedule, you can design the
class projects you are already doing with an emphasis on your
growing awareness of bias and discrimination.
Ask for support and ideas from people who have experience fighting
bias. The important parts about a plan are that it is workable
for YOU, and fits your lifestyle.
4. Take action!
Start implementing your plan.
Keep talking to other people who are interested in a bias-free
university -- who value freedom and human rights.
Speak up if you notice "isms" taking place around
you.
There are several organizations on campus that are directly
involved in educating students, faculty, and staff about bias
and its harmful effects.
Call the Counseling Center (266-4829) or the Assistant Vice
President of Student Affairs (266-4025) ,and see how you can
get involved.
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Tips on speaking out
1. Try to be aware of your own biases and examine your feelings
before you speak. Do you have an ax to grind, or is this something
you feel needs to be talked about?
2. Be respectful of other people's learning processes. Confronting
bias often means causing conflict and change -- and change makes
people uncomfortable, afraid, and sometimes angry.
3. It's always a good rule of thumb to start with mild statements.
Often simply naming what you see happening is a good tactic,
for example: "It appears to me that the women in class
haven't said much about this topic," or "I notice
that people laughed when he mentioned gay rights."
4. Use humor and caring when expressing your message to others
-- most often people need education, not punishment.
5. Use knowledge you have gained in your own process -- either
objective facts or understanding you have gained through your
own self-awareness.
6. If necessary, get support. A group of students can make more
of an impact in a situation where an individual may be dismissed.
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If you fear reprisal
If you do not feel that you can speak up to a person of authority,
then mention it to another student or trusted person. Ask them
what they think and try to get support. Staff
members at the Student Counseling Services are available
for consultation and have specialized training to help you through
these kinds of difficult situations.
If you feel that you or someone you know is being harassed for
any characteristic -- age, race, gender, body size, religious
belief, sexual orientation, country of origin, etc., we would
be glad to be a source of support in a confidential setting.
Respect is both the right and the responsibility of every member
of this university community. Do not let fear of oppression
interfere with your plans for an education and a secure economic
future.
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CONTACT INFORMATION
AND HOURS OF OPERATION
118 College Drive #5075 Hattiesburg, MS 39406-0001
Telephone: (601) 266-4829
FAX: (601) 266-5146
Email: counseling@usm.edu
EMERGENCY: 911. Ask for University Police. Counselors are also available after-hours in emergency situations call: 601.818.6352.
Hours of Operation and Location:
M-F 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Kennard-Washington Hall Room 200
Walk-In Services for Students:
M-F 9:45 a.m. - 11:15 a.m. and 1:45 p.m. - 3:15 p.m.
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