Unconscious bias training a 'nonsense' response to racism - civil rights leader

The outgoing chair of the Institute of Race Relations has decried the widespread use of “nonsense” unconscious bias training, claiming it is an obvious sidestepping of tackling racial injustice.

- Aamna Mohdin

Civil rights stalwart Colin Prescod, who is stepping down after 43 years, likened the modish phrase to the 1970s term “racial awareness”.

In a wide-ranging interview, the sociologist and cultural activist said he was proud of the role his research institute played in putting institutional racism on the national agenda several decades ago, but was dismayed at the rise of terms such as unconscious bias.

“We made arguments to the state, even when we’re on platforms alongside them, saying this was nonsense. It’s racism we want to talk about, it’s systemic behaviour we want to talk about, institutionalised racism we want to talk about, not unconscious bias or racial awareness,” Prescod said. “It’s the stuff that kills that we want to talk about, the stuff that stunts lives that we want to talk about, the stuff that deforms lives that we want to talk about.”