"His father is from Africa, which is close to the Middle East, which means he's really Arab." Huh?

I live in Cleveland, which is right across the lake from Canada. Would that make me "really Canadian?"

Sorry, but that comment distracted me from the point of the post. I personally tend to exercise my right to remain silent about certain issues in the workplace. I don't want to know that any of my co-workers are closet racists, because as an African-American woman, I wouldn't be able to keep that knowledge from clouding my judgement on them as overall people. But, that's just me.

I think Beth was referring to the Implicit Bias research done at Harvard, which is really fascinating stuff. https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/

---

This is a hard topic for everyone. I have to disagree strongly though. Beth says "And community will be easier to foster if these biases go unsaid." Absolutely not. A superficial peace can be generated by glossing over the aspects about each other that we may not like, but a strong community is the result of cultivated trust, honesty, and integrity on the part of all participants. Being dishonest about our bias, or refusing to notice the bias of those around us does not make a community.

I respect the Friend in this post for asking about their coworkers opinions, and respect the choice to not press any further. How much we challenge ourselves and each other in any situation is a very personal matter. It depends on our own certainty, our tact, office politics, self-assuredness, relationships with coworkers, and many other variables. By asking why a coworker supports John McCain, this person revealed a distinct ignorance, and probable bias that lets us know more about them and how they think. When the Friend realized that this ignorance existed, he or she made the choice not to pursue the topic further because he sensed disastrous results could occur.

It's a valid and smart choice to make. Not always being practical, I probably would have responded with something along the lines of: "Well that doesn't makes any sense at all" and made myself appear confused at the statement. This would have put the other person at ease by shifting the burden of the conversation to them. At this point they could choose to discontinue the conversation or attempt to explain it to me.

I agree that talking politics at work can lead to some very strained instances. Especially if the person you're talking finds themself to be a minority in the office, they can feel attacked or picked-on. No one should have to feel like that at the office.

Beth,

You make a good point. One of the most important things we notice in people with heavy bias, is that their bias is entirely impersonal. When confronted with actual people their bias doesn't hold true to their experience. In my experience these people are a lot easier to deal with than people who refuse to accept you because you are in one of their biased boxes.

I would propose that your desire not to know about the bias of your coworkers is part of your own bias. You readily recognize that you will have trouble trusting the judgment of people who (in one manner or another) inform you of their bias. It's a natural and perfectly understandable reaction, but it's not one that I'm hampered with. I don't think a bias or ignorance in one area makes them incompetent in others. As you note, it may cause me to dislike them, and certainly idealogical differences can create challenges in the workplace. But I strive to be as non-judgmental of people as I can, and challenging myself and those around me by being honest about who I am, and honestly recognizing them for who they are, is part of how I work to do that.

I'm not suggesting your bias is inappropriate or wrong either, just looking at it from a different angle.

I almost prefer a co-worker like this. She's really less than a closet-racist and more of so an ignorant (as in lack of knowledge)person. And there isn't much "closet" in her game, she pretty much put everything out there.

Now for "closet racist", look at the mid-level managers in corporate who hold the fate of the 2 or 3 minorities in their respective office in their hands.

Man I got stories to tell! :-)

Nicely written and thanks for sharing. I'm a fan.