‘Othering’ is one of the more ridiculous and divisive (there’s that word again) of the left’s panoply of terms. It suggests, in essence, that discrimination is wrong but fails to address the fact that from the youngest age that we discriminate to be able to understand and categorise the world. We believe in right and wrong, we see black and white. The flaw in making our natural inclinations criminal should be immediately apparent. The same criticism could equally be levelled at the concept of ‘unconscious bias’ a horribly twisted idea that suggests an inescapable prejudice that we are forced to act out over and over again merely by existing. The problem in both cases, I would opine, is that we are all biased, all the time. It is not our minds that are at fault but the weighting that is currently been given to the importance of bias.
Lets take criminality as an example. Much ado has been made recently of police ‘brutality’ in the United States. We will ignore the fact that the police force is the only legitimately entitled body that may use violence in applying the law within civil society. Much of the current furor suggests that the police force and by default individual officers are racist or at the very least consistently biased towards black or other ethnic minority communities. Certainly United States prisons are filled disproportionately with members of those communities in relation to population. But the opposite is true. Police Officers are less likely to arrest, stop or caution criminal members of black or ethnic minority communities or take more care when they do for fear of being labelled racists. The same has been true in the United Kingdom for example with attacks on underage girls in Rotheram. A situation, it is now clear that was allowed to fester as those in a position of seniority dilly- dallied concerned about their public appearance. It is clear therefore that there is a very real fear of what in essence is nothing more than name-calling and that it effects people’s actions in the real world. I would suggest that the job of law enforcement (within a democratically elected government) is to enforce the law particularly when the situation is perceived as challenging and even if, on occasion, a mistake is made. People learn through experience which builds competence and confidence and police men and women are no different.
On a more personal note, if I walk through a run down neighbourhood in Detroit for example I would be alert and very likely anxious. My bias is telling me that I am in a dangerous area from the abandoned and or run down buildings. If a group of black men walk towards me my immediate thoughts may be: ‘What are their intentions?’ or “Are they armed?’ My thoughts or my bias influenced by years of movies, documentaries, rap music and the immediate influence of my environment may even lead to me hiding until they pass. All of these feelings are very real and my biases are not wrong. They are the way in which I discriminate in the world, in this occasion to keep me safe. It may well be that the gentlemen approaching me are friendly and I breath a sigh of relief when they stop and ask if I need directions or if I’ve broken down but it doesn’t make my initial reaction, thoughts or feelings wrong provided no physical harm is caused.