How We Can Build A More Inclusive Society
We are all part of one big human family, with diverse backgrounds, beliefs and experiences. Unfortunately, just being human is not enough to bond us together to build a more inclusive society. To do this, we need to celebrate our differences, embrace what makes us unique and be more accepting of each other. By doing this, we can forge a better standard of life and create a more fair and inclusive society for everyone.
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Here are a few ways you can do your part to make this happen.
Assess your own biases
At some point in our lives, we have all demonstrated prejudice or unconscious bias about an individual or group based on their age, race, sex, class, faith or background. Like cancer, if left to fester, these prejudices grow to become "isms" which have very negative consequences on our society and creates isolated communities where everyone is the same and indifferent to others. To fully overcome prejudice, you must work toward lessening your bias as well as fighting to end discrimination on a societal level.
Look at your circle of friends.
Diversity may also be a factor that contributes to an ability to cope well with prejudice. If you do not expose yourself to different races, cultures, sexual orientations, faith and ideology, you cannot fully accept the diversity that exists in the world.
Embrace and Celebrate Difference
Embracing individuals that are different from you will help change implicit negative attitudes you may have toward members from other cultures. You only really get to know who someone is when we stop judging and start listening and learning. Step out of your comfort zone and expose yourself to different groups of people experience their culture, foods, traditions, and activities.; this can help reduce any bias you have toward that community or group.
Review your beliefs
A prejudice is a kind of handicap to your perspective as it forbids you to think beyond your assumptions and builds a virtual wall around your objective thinking. Your own implicit and explicit attitudes toward individuals of a different race, for example, strongly predicts how friendly you will be toward them (both verbally and nonverbally). Acknowledge your own biases and prejudices, and actively replace them with more reasonable alternatives. For example, if you think something stereotypical about a specific gender, religion, culture or race, remind yourself that this is a bias against that group and that you are over-generalising.
Share your thoughts and experience.
Being active in reducing prejudice may help give you a sense that you are making a difference. One option is to become an advocate or volunteer at an organisation which aims to reduce prejudice and discrimination. Celebrate difference and encourage others to do the same.
