The most ravaging aspect of racism and bigotry is that they allow the racist or the bigot to strip away all nuance of humanity from entire groups of people. And when we don’t see the “other” as human, we can choose to do horrible things to them without much self-reflection.

I fall prey to the impulse of easy generalizations too, of course. I watch world events and start to feel that all of the brutal African dictators look alike, all of the radical Israeli West bank settlers look alike, all the cheering white folks at the Palin rallies look alike, all the gang banging black thugs in Compton look alike, all the Mexican mafia related gang members look alike, all of the rich white swindling banker types look alike. I could go on and on, but you get my point.

When I start to feel like that I take a step back, breathe and pray for access to my better nature. I pray for renewed connection to the understanding that each and every person is an individual. They may or may not have my best interests in mind, but it is my job to assess our connection on a case-by-case basis. I know in the end that that is the only way for us to find a way to live together in widespread spiritual and material prosperity.

Wired Magazine features a study claiming that if we can distinguish each new person we see as an individual, then bias toward their racial group as a whole diminishes:

As the first African-American president in United States history takes office, researchers have shown that it may be possible to scientifically reduce racial bias.

After being trained to distinguish between similar black male faces, Caucasian test subjects showed greater racial tolerance on a test designed to to measure unconscious bias.

The results are still preliminary, have yet to be replicated, and the real-world effects of reducing bias in a controlled laboratory setting are not clear. But for all those caveats, the findings add to a growing body of research suggesting that science can battle racism.

“Any time you can get people to treat people as individuals, you reduce the effect of stereotypes,” said Brown University cognitive scientist Michael Tarr. “It won’t solve racism, but it could have profound real-world effects.” Researchers Try to Cure Racism, Wired

I recommend you read the entire article for yourself. And maybe you will join me in thinking about the ways we fail to see others as individuals.