MARGINALIZED GROUPS DO NOT GET THE LUXURY OF MEDIOCRITY
October 24 marked a momentous event for the fight against discrimination in Quebec, or it was what we all hoped for. The Quebec court ruling to stop police from proceeding to vehicle interception without a valid reason, aimed to send a clear and loud message that racial profiling will no longer be tolerated. For many of us, this brought hope for a more inclusive society. But, unfortunately, this spark of hope failed short as we witnessed Quebec Prime Minister's reaction to this decision.
As Francois Legault was stating that he fully trusted police officers and that this decision is preventing law enforcement officers from doing their job, I could not hold a huge sigh for another missed opportunity to bring people together instead of serving as a catalyst to division in an already very polarized public opinion.
But I wouldn't be writing this piece if Prime minister Francois Legault's comment regarding the ruling against racial profiling was just disappointing. I am writing because it is a responsibility to address such behaviour because it could be dangerous for people's lives.
There are so many things to say about this, but let's begin with understanding how responses like these are formed in someone’s mind.
LET'S TALK ABOUT BIAS
Broadly speaking, bias is a tendency to lean in favour of or against a person, group, idea, or thing, usually in a way that is unfair.
In psychology, there are two main branches of biases: conscious and unconscious. Conscious bias, or explicit bias, is intentional — you are aware of your attitudes and the behaviours that result from them (Lang, 2019).
Most people have a hard time acknowledging that they have unconscious biases because they equate them to flawed morals, values or integrity. But biases are part of human nature. We all have biases. They are also not always harmful to others. Nevertheless, biases affect how we make decisions in our daily lives, interact with our environment, and protect our safety.
As Clara Wilkins, an assistant professor and researcher of psychological and brain sciences, said: "Good people also exhibit bias. So, suppose we have this image of a racist person as a member of the KKK who does something really, really violent. In that case, that is going to exclude a lot of acts that actually reinforce social inequality.
Therefore, it is important to understand that when talking about biases, it is less about who is good and bad and more about who is self-aware and who is willing to act out of integrity. Understanding that everyone, including "good" people, has biases is essential. Having that clear understanding opens us to exploring our own biases, taking actions so that we do not act on them, taking full responsibility when that happens and using it as an opportunity for growth.
RACIAL PROFILING
Because bias affects our actions and the way we make decisions. They become problematic and rather harmful when a) people in positions of relative power develop negative feelings toward a person based on their group (prejudice), b) generalize a whole community (stereotype), c) proceed to act on their prejudice and stereotype against a person based on their group membership (discrimination)
Racial profiling is a form of bias acted on by law enforcement. It refers to the discriminatory practice by law enforcement officials of targeting individuals for suspicion of crime based on the individual's race,
ethnicity, religion or national origin. Criminal profiling, generally, as practiced by police, is the reliance on a group of characteristics they believe to be associated with crime. (ACLU, 2022)
Racial profiling reinforces harmful bias toward many communities already experiencing tremendous discrimination. It can also have profound impacts on individuals; this includes a detrimental effect on their sense of dignity, the loss of sense of safety and security, loss of freedom, and loss of lives in its most tragic form.
A report commissioned by the City of Montreal conducted in 2019 by three independent researchers through data collected between 2014 and 2017 during police "street checks" revealed that Indigenous people and Black people were four to five times more likely than white people to be stopped by police. Indigenous women were particularly overrepresented: they were 11 times more likely to be stopped by police than white women. In addition, young Arab people between the ages of 15 and 24 were four times more likely than white people of the same age to be targeted for a street check.
When presented with this data, you will often hear comments such as:
"The statistics missing are those showing the percentages of the same groups that commit offences."
"It could be that the percentages of those checked are entirely appropriate."
"Street checks are proactive policing against known criminals. To stop corner street dealing, pending shootings and directly positively impact public safety and mitigate shootings."
"Perhaps we need stats on just who commits the crimes made public."
Unfortunately, these are predictable responses. Assistant professor Clara Wilkins who conducts studies on bias and its impacts, explains these reactions very well. She says that when studying how bias manifests in groups with power differentials, she has found that groups that believe in the current hierarchy of fairness tend to double down on these beliefs and behave in a more discriminatory way when they feel that this hierarchy is being threatened. She also explains the concept of status-legitimizing beliefs and how someone's idea about fairness could lead to behaving in an unfair way.
"Society is structured where some groups have better access to resources than others, so they have more income, wealth, power, etc., than other groups. Status-legitimizing ideologies are ideologies that make inequality seem fair and legitimate." Clara Wilkins
Quebec Prime minister's response is a perfect example of status-legitimizing beliefs and reflects his perception of fairness. Such a response from an authority figure becomes dangerous because it reinforces prejudice and stereotypes and legitimizes people and institutions performing discriminatory acts. We wish we could expect more from our government representatives.
DISPROPORTIONALITY
The comments presented above also exemplify how disproportionality is used against a specific group to justify discrimination. There is a case to make for why racial disproportionality is prevalent in the justice system and policing.
Flaws and crime are not inherent to specific communities. Without wanting to go too deep into the nature Vs nurture debate, it is important to be reminded that even if an individual has criminal
dispositions (which happens to be across races), researchers have shown that the only activating factor will be his environment.
Indeed, the environment in which marginalized communities evolve makes a difference as to why, for example, black, indigenous representation in crime and prison differs substantially from the representation of others in that same category.
As tempting as it is, we cannot discuss disproportionality without addressing its root causes. And when we do that, it is easy to realize why applying identity-based policies is part of the problem.
Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and the Transformation of Schools
HOW DISCRIMINATION IS INTERNALIZED
The sad truth about bias is that, at this point, there is no longer a need for it to be performed to be proven harmful. Most marginalized groups are aware of the stereotypes placed upon their community. And for the VAST MAJORITY trying to live a "normal life," this takes great effort to avoid reinforcing these stereotypes.
"Perfectionism is internalized oppression.” — Gloria Steinem
Marginalized groups do not get the luxury of being mediocre. This is the prerogative of the privileged, the norm. But to hold a whole community to an impossible standard of perfection rub them off their humanity. It reinforces the view that only the most perfect members of these communities deserve to be treated with dignity.
"Perfectionism protects us from being judged. It helps us avoid criticism and blame. And it's rooted in shame. Shame is the idea that we are bad people (as opposed to guilt, which is that we did a bad thing)." — Brenee Brown
Expecting perfection from marginalized groups is another form of oppression and a constant reminder that their humanity is not valid as it is, regardless of their accomplishments. Most marginalized people carry shame as they have now internalized that they are bad people. As a result, they also fall into the trap of constantly having to prove their worth, ability, skills or intelligence.
IT IS TIME TO FOCUS ON HEALING
Most social workers, DEI consultants, and psychologists would rather fast forward to a place where there is no more discrimination to actually spend our time focusing on the healing and striving of marginalized groups.
Instead, we spend a great amount of time dealing with direct blocks, challenging the oppressive norms, and people holding power, which has the effect of centering them in the conversation when we are trying to do the exact opposite.
It is time to hold people in power accountable for the harm to do what is required to address their bias, to stop marginalized groups from relieving traumatic experiences so they can finally focus on their healing and ultimately strive.
“Be you and the world will adjust.”
— Rachel-Diane EPOUPA
