Mental models are "filters" that condition our expectations, discernment and beliefs. Stereotypes of race, religion, national origin or gender may become the mental models for our concepts, attitudes, and even action.
The acquisition of mental model may develop from the stories we tell each other. Racially biased stories are passed on through generations and shared by homogenous groups.
The Black Lives Matter movement has focused attention on systemic racism. Getting more specific, the supervisors Contra Costa County in California on October 10, 2020 declared that racism is itself a health crisis.
Intersectionalism describes the interaction and interrelation of the various elements of a systems. Contrary to a simplistic single or dualistic view, intersectionalism recognizes the multiple features of identity or behavior. A system is an intersectional, organic entity. Systemic racism acknowledges the pervasive role of racial bias.
There is no known remedy for the centuries-long pandemic of racism. No vaccination is available to protect current and future citizens.
Our mental models, while powerful, do not need to be "set in stone". An alternate story can let emerge a new and liberating consciousness. Such personal transformation can occur in the process of therapy, where persons tell their stories in the context of striving for a more favorable, or less painful, outcome to their situation. The power of group therapy is manifest in drug treatment groups, as stories of addiction, relapse, and eventual sobriety provide mutual empowerment to participants.
Attacking systemic racism is a process with immense personal and social challenges.
What is the ultimate outcome of the process is institutional transformation. Institutional transformation is based societal transformation. And, in a democratic society, societal transformation follows personal transformation. In such a society, without personal change of heart, the house is built on sand.
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