I'm not racist...... am I?

Over the past month in Australia we have had debates about racism and sexism. 

Following a taunt from a footy fan during an AFL (Australian Football League) game, an indigenous player Adam Goodes, identified the abuser.  A 13-year-old girl at the front of the crowd was asked to leave by security, removed from the game in line with AFL’s strict anti-racism rules.  Adam, who plays for the Sydney Swans challenged the racism, from the Collingwood supporter, as he heard it from the field, and the AFL system kicked in and managed the situation.

Adam’s response and comments the next day were inspiring;

“Hopefully any person out there who’s been name called … verbally abused can stand up for themselves after what happened last night”

It’s not a Collingwood issue, it’s not an AFL issue, it’s a society issue… what are our parents teaching our kids? We’ve gotta educate society better so it doesn’t happen again” 

“Racism has no place in our industry, racism has no place in our society”  Adam Goodes 

But that was just the beginning. Later in the week Eddie McGuire, a local media presenter and the President of the Collingwood football club, who had been outspoken in his opposition to the racist comments and in his support of Adam, made a similarly racist reference in a throwaway comment on his radio show. 

Supporters and other media identities leapt to his defense declaring; “Eddie isn’t racist.” His track record in working with indigenous football players and many of his comments would suggest that his beliefs do support reconciliation, equality and providing opportunities to redress the damage which has been done in Australian history and society.  And yet in a tired moment he made what he now concedes was a stupid, deeply hurtful and racist comment.

We all have the capacity to act in a way that’s racist or sexist.  A great deal of psychological research has investigated what turns that capacity into action. Most of us have unconscious biases that influence us below the surface of our awareness.   With some groups of people, or in some circumstances those biases may come to the surface and seem relevant or appropriate. 

Many expats have had those moments working in another culture when negotiations haven’t gone the way that was hoped, infrastructure, legal or people frustrations have led to a tipping point and comments or judgments have been made that destroyed relationships.

The critical skill area in these situations is the metacognitive component of cultural intelligence (CQ Strategy).  From the research; “Metacognitive cultural intelligence involves higher- level cognitive strategies – strategies that allow individuals to develop new heuristics and rules for social interaction in novel cultural environments by promoting information processing at a deeper level.  People with high metacognitive CQ consciously question their own cultural assumptions, reflect during interactions, and adjust their cultural knowledge when they interact with those from other cultures.”[1]

The researchers refer to people being aware, vigilant and mindful and that’s what is needed to make us aware of our own potential for racist bias and stop ourselves before taking action.

I am constantly working to make conscious the things that whisper below the surface of my awareness.  Only then can I check their basis in reality or their appropriateness in this situation with this person.  So hopefully, when I am tired or frustrated these things that might once have seemed relevant or appropriate or may have once made an impression will not be influencing me in any way.

Don’t despair, Adam is right.  It can be changed. It can be trained.  Cultural intelligence can increase.

If you want to talk about how contact me.

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[1] Ang, S., Van Dyne, L., & Tan, M. L. (2011). Cultural intelligence. In R. J. Sternberg & S. B. Kaufman (Eds.), The Cambridge Handbook on Intelligence (pp. 582–602). New York: Cambridge University Press.