We all know that unconscious bias training does not in any way lead to anti-racist organizational change, but we need to stop talking about it as if it is benign... it is not.
Unconscious bias training is not just simply a 'tick- box exercise', it is a deliberate organizational decision and it is dangerous.
[1] The origin of 'unconscious bias training' was a response to a growing social movement- it was not designed to create equality, but to limit corporate risk.
[2] It focuses on the individual and diverts attention away from the structures and systems individuals work within... The employees are made to feel guilty, while the systemic constraints remains in place.
[3] You cannot measure unconscious bias and so you cannot develop an intervention that can demonstrate any reduction in bias- there is no output, action or accountability attached to the process...
[4] EDI remains peripheral to and disconnected from day-to-day operations. EDI needs to be seen as just as important as health and safety, because it is essentially the health and safety of all staff.
[5] It allows those who are unwilling to change, to develop the skills to disguise their prejudice... not all biases are unconscious.
Unconscious bias training was not designed for equity