Immigrants, VP Debate & Bias
The VP Debate yesterday demonstrates how exclusion consciousness spreads in our world...
Like many of you, I’ve been following how immigrants in Springfield—who are legal residents and happen to be black and brown—are being used as scapegoats for many problems in our nation. The world witnessed the repetition of this narrative by JD Vance in the VP Debate yesterday. What he did very effectively last night was bolster “social desirability bias.” You can read about it in my recent TIME article, but what I want to share today is its emotional toll.
As an immigrant, it was incredibly difficult to watch an intelligent man who is running for one of the highest offices in our nation scapegoating immigrants—and especially immigrants of color—for all the ills in our society.
Such dehumanizing narratives consciously and unconsciously strengthen our pre-existing training in bias. This training obviously has an impact on how we relate to others, particularly immigrants, but it also has a huge impact on our own mental health. When we’re trained to unconsciously hate others for any reason, we’re also being trained unconsciously to hate parts of ourselves—any parts of us that are anything like the stereotypes of “immigrants.”
With all of the news coming out of the Southeastern US and the Middle East, we are facing multiple intersecting crises—what I call a polycrisis in my book—but I believe it is also a polyopportunity: an opportunity to address the many challenges of our time at once by breaking bias. Breaking Bias isn’t something we can save for later once we’ve addressed the “real” crises many people are experiencing in our world due to natural disasters, organized violence, war, and climate change—Breaking Bias will address all of these challenges simultaneously!
Tools for Healing and Breaking Internalized Bias
In Breaking Bias, I don’t just talk about how internalized and interpersonal bias shows up or where it comes from. I also share exercises and practical tools that you can use right now to start recognizing and breaking your internalized bias. Here’s an example:
Let’s say you’re a female doctor, but many times when you go to see a patient, you’re asked by the patient, “Can I see the doctor?” when, in fact, you are the doctor. Or, in stressful situations, what happens in the minds and nervous systems of police officers when they see a black person and shoot upwards of 40 shots? Or every time you look at yourself in the mirror and say things like, “I wish I was straight. I wish I was thinner. I wish I was whiter.”
For me, when I started to believe such lies, it took me to the depths of self-loathing and depression that almost cost me my life.
All of these micro-examples cause anxiety, depression, weight gain, overeating, addictions to shopping, sex, alcohol, and drugs, because the human body is trying to cope—cope with bias. And the way we’ve learned to cope with bias is through negative habits that keep us stuck.
These are the consequences of such dehumanizing language and narratives being normalized in our culture. With Breaking Bias, my prayer is that you are able to dismantle these biases so we can end the cycles of dehumanization and hatred once and for you. And as you do one the dozens of exercises in my book…share with me which one was your favorite!
Attend an Event With Me
You can attend one of my upcoming virtual or in-person events. For those of you in DC, I’ll be at Busboys and Poets in Washington, DC on Monday, October 7. Please join me there.
Have other ideas about how to bring me—and Breaking Bias—to your communities? Please reach out! Word-of-mouth will be central to spreading the message of this book. Thank you again for your support and love. May we together build a world where belonging reigns!
I am also joining Thomas Hübl with 45+ experts to turn the tide on collective trauma, healing, and breaking bias. Over the course of this 8-day global event, we’ll look at different aspects of trauma healing including individual, ancestral, and collective trauma, and how they are interconnected. Do register for this powerful event!
Some housekeeping…
Did someone you know send you this post? If you appreciated what you read, please consider supporting me by signing up. Or, if you’re already subscribed, consider pledging to become a paid subscriber!
Please follow me on social media!
I’m @anuguptany on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok, and X/Twitter.