Sixth Week of Class 02/14/12

Apparently I was having phlog/computer issues last week, because I just realized that my post for last week is not showing.  I will repost it and hopefully it will work this time.  :0(

Now for this week.  Biases - What a word.  It evokes a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach.  I have spent a lot time thinking about this assignment.  I was one that would vehemently say that because I work hard at welcoming diversity I have risen above having biases.  Well, we all know that is simply not true.  No matter how much we educate ourselves, biases exist.  Some are below the surface and some are rather overt and color the way we see things in our world.  The important thing, in my opinion, is to know one's self and be aware of those bias.  Have the courage to admit them and confront the feelings.  Evaluate the feelings.  Figure out where the biases come from and how they were developed and engrained.  It is only then that one can move past them.

After much soul searching, one of my biases comes to the forefront of my mind, though I'm embarrassed to admit it and blog about it for the world to read.  I'll start by giving you a little bit of background.  One particular job I had was conducting background investigations
for government security clearances for the Bureau of Indian Affairs.  Working with the native american population became a source of extreme frustration for me.  Daily, I was faced with people that were resentful of questions I was required to ask of them in order for me to conduct the background investigation.  One, I found that many native americans oppose government interference  by way of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.  And two, perhaps even more importantly, they resented the fact that I am not native american and was prying into their lives.  This made my job extremely difficult.

Additionally, I am by nature, very punctual.  I live by the clock and my schedules.  Time and time again, I found that the native population that I was working with generally did not live by the same schedule that I did.  I would set my appointments and found that people were often extremely late or extremely early.  I felt they were showing a complete disregard for the importance of my time.  One of my native american co-workers referred to it as "Navajo Time" and told me I should learn to live with it.  She explained to me that to many, especially the older population, clocks mean nothing.  The sun rises and the sun sets and time is measured as such.

Another source of frustration was the fact that the people I was interviewing would not look at me when I was talking to them or they were talking to me.  In my mind, it was a sign that they were being dishonest or evasive.  I then learned that generally speaking, it is the native american culture to look downwards when speaking as a sign of respect.

I learned about how little I knew about the native american culture as a result of my work.  Much of my frustrations were born out of my naïvety.  But even after I gained insight into some of the issues, it still remained a source of frustration for me because the culture was so extremely different from my own.

I have come to believe that education is the foundation to understanding differences.  But even with education, the differences still exist.  I believe it is unreasonable to think of our country as a "melting pot."  We cannot expect our differences to melt together to create one combination.  Those differences will always exist.  Rather we should view our country more as a "tossed salad."  All of the different ingredients each have their own flavor but come together in a way that can enhance one another.

I believe it is impossible to wipe out biases.  Biases are a part of human nature.  The key is to know yourself well enough to know what your biases are, educate yourself about your biases, and learn to have a respect for cultures other than your own.  No culture is better or worse than another, they are simply different.