PBO press conference:"everyone has a bias"

[darkangel218]

When talking about police brutality/ the death of Mr Garner. Maybe I misunderstood what he said, but if indeed he said that everyone has a bias, I think that's messed up. Police should not be allowed to hold biasses. Period.
I loved most of everything else he said, but that bit in the end really saddened me.

Can somebody clarify the "bias" comment for me please?Thanks.

[grasswire]

1. extrapolated, this is an affront to the whole civil rights movement in America.

I honestly hope he doesn't think that racial bias is tolerable. I didn't see the presser, and haven't read the whole comments.

[darkangel218]

3. He said it right in the end.

I just hope I misunderstood.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

10. Are you assuming that he's condoning cops' biases by that statement?

What do you think you've misunderstood?

It sounds as if he's just acknowledging that we all have biases, which we do. I'll have to listen to the entire press conference, however, to be sure.

[sabrina 1]

16. Well if that is what he said, he is wrong. Unless he means 'against inequality'.

But I didn't hear it, so will wait until I do.

[darkangel218]

9. Listen from 1:14

Well, you should listen to the whole thing, some pretty awesome comments on Keystone and Korea.

[Bjorn Against]

2. I did not hear the speech, but the statement that everyone is biased is the truth

There is not a single person in this world who is unbiased, we all have our opinions on what the world should look like. People who tell you they are unbiased are people that you should never trust, an honest person admits their bias and attempts to work around that bias when necessary.

When it comes to cops that is why it is so important that we have ways to review officer conduct and allow that review to be performed by people whose biases are different than those of the police.

[darkangel218]

4. Cops should not be allowed to be biased.

Or encouraged with these type of comments. He really shouldn't have said that, especially when talking about Mr Garner who was literally choked to death by a cop.

I just dont see how that was an appropriate comment.

[Bjorn Against]

5. Again I did not hear the remarks, but the cops that killed Garner were indeed biased

I think the way the police have rallied around Garner's killers shows that bias.

Bias should certainly not be encouraged, but it should be acknowledged. Literally every person in the world with a functioning brain is biased in one way or another, sometimes these biases can be justified and other times they are unjustified and very destructive. We can't stop anyone from being biased as bias is a part of human nature, but we can hold people to certain standards and hold them accountable if their bias results in unfair treatment.

[darkangel218]

38. Then he shouldve said that. not end it that "we all carry biases"

That's a big insult, because many , many of us , would never hurt anyone because of our bias.

[Bjorn Against]

40. But we do all carry biases

And he never said everyone hurts people because of their biases, you are trying to put words into his mouth that he never said and in doing so you show your own bias.

[darkangel218]

44. Its the third post in which you keep saying the same thing.

For the third time, I'm not putting words in Potus's mouth. The video is out there for everyone to see. If it doesn't bother you how he worded that part of his speech, good for you. It bothers me , and I have the right to express my opinion. Stop alerting trying to silence people's opinions by claiming they're "putting words" in someone's mouth.

[Bjorn Against]

46. I never alerted on you, but you are putting words in his mouth

You have continually stretched Obama's words in this thread, people have pointed out numerous times that you are misrepresenting his words yet you keep doubling down. Yes, you are extremely biased yourself.

[arcane1]

47. Don't you see? It's a discussion board, and by discussing the OP you 'silence' it

Or something

[darkangel218]

50. Accusing me of putting words in someone else's mouth is not civilized discussion.

[Bjorn Against]

51. So were you uncivilized when you accused me of putting words in your mouth in post 41?

Or is it ok for you to accuse me of putting words in your mouth, but uncivilized for me to point out that you are misrepresenting Obama's words?

[darkangel218]

54. You started it, you said i put words in Obama's mouth, when i was quotting pwmom.

Did you not?

[Bjorn Against]

61. I'm gonna tell mommy you started it!!!!

If you really think that it is uncivilized to point out when words are being misrepresented then it would be uncivilized for you to do it as well. If you are going to accuse me of being uncivilized then you can not pretend you are being civilized when you say the exact same thing. Saying "you started it" is the type of argument a child would make, especially when you were you were the one who started the thread.

[darkangel218]

62. You accused me of being uncivil, when isYOU who STARTED THIS NONSENSE.

And I'm glad your mom is alive, mine is dead.

Bye bye.

[Bjorn Against]

67. I never accused you of being uncivil, but your all caps subject line may not look civil to others

And no I did not start anything, anyone can look at whose name is on the OP if they want to know who started this debate.

[KittyWampus]

76. it's a simple psychological truth about every human on the planet. WE ALL HOLD BIASES.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

82. Exactly

What is shocking about this?

We all hold biases, every single one of us. The difference comes when those of us who recognize our biases actively work to not act upon them.

[stevenleser]

6. It's in line with what organizations like the holocaust museum say. Everyone has biases.

In order to stop the biases from impacting ones dealings with other people, you have to acknowledge them and work on them.

[darkangel218]

7. Im sorry, but i dont get this. Understand what, that some people are racist??

I understand that part, but those racist pos should not be allowed to be cops!! And sure as hell we shoulnt encourage them by saying " we all carry biases".

Listen from 1:14

[Bjorn Against]

11. Bias does not necessarily mean racial bias

There are lots of different types of biases, was Obama specifically talking about racial bias or was he talking about bias in general terms?

[1StrongBlackMan]

59. And even if President Obama were speaking specifically of racial bias ...

he (as you stated earlier) would be correct. Anyone claiming they have no biases are not very self-aware.

[pnwmom]

13. You're distorting what he said and taking it out of context. Please comment

on what he actually said.

[darkangel218]

17. He was talking about POLICE VIOLENCE, THAN SAID WE ALL CARRY BIASSES.

You don't see not even a bit wrong?? Holy cow..

[pnwmom]

21. He was talking about how to END police violence, and he said

that we have to work on the hidden biases. And, just in case someone might argue that the police aren't biased, Obama's arguing that EVERYONE has biases -- which includes the police. Not that everyone SHOULD have biases -- but that it's human nature. And when someone is in a position of responsibility, like the police, they have a duty to unearth those biases and eliminate them.

[darkangel218]

29. Its an excuse for police discrimination.

If you were that cop in NY would you have acted that way?? Nope, because you aren't a racist.
So maybe you are biased against black cats, or raspberry donuts ( random examples) but you are not a racist, and you wouldn't hurt someone because of your biases.
So NO, WE DONT "ALL CARRY BIASES" which hurt people. It was an inappropriate comment, to say the least.

[darkangel218]

30. Its not "human nature" to kill people because of a bias.

His comment was completely out of place.

[arcane1]

32. Fortunately, nobody is claiming that it is.

You are putting a lot of effort into being offended over nothing. Are you sure you're not biased against Obama?

[darkangel218]

34. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

You can disagree with me all you want, but you can't tell me not to be offended over this.

[arcane1]

35. Fortunately, I'm not telling you anything of the sort n/t

[Bjorn Against]

37. But not everyone is entitled to their own facts

When you claim that Obama said that it is human nature to kill someone based on bias you are claiming something that is false. Obama did not say what you are trying to claim he said.

[darkangel218]

39. Copy and paste where did i say that.

I was explaining the difference between a simple bias ( which many here say that eveyonr has one ) and the subject which potus was talking about, which is Eric Garner.

Perheps you should stop making false accusations.

[Bjorn Against]

42. Here are the words you used to describe Obama's comment

30. Its not "human nature" to kill people because of a bias.

His comment was completely out of place.

Your words do not reflect his comment at all, I am not making false accusations against you. You misrepresented his words, he never said it is human nature to kill because of bias.

[lamp_shade]

79. Bingo!!

[Bjorn Against]

33. Did Obama say it was human nature to kill because of bias?

I think you are really stretching his words on this one. I can criticize Obama when he is wrong and have done so many times, but I am not going to criticize him over something he never said. He never said it was human nature to kill because of bias and when you twist his words you show your own bias.

[darkangel218]

41. Stop putting words in my mouth.

Potus shouldn't have made the comment that we all carry biases, right after talking about Eric Garner. He misspoke, and that's what I'm criticizing. What the cops did to Eric Garner was disgustiong, and I dont see the conection with random silly biases people have.

[Bjorn Against]

45. Don't put words into Obama's mouth

This entire thread you have been spinning his words to make it sound like he said something he did not say.

Yes Garner's death was disgusting, so focus on the real issue instead of distorting someone's words.

[darkangel218]

48. I posted the video for everyone to see what potus said and pwnmom posted the exact words downthread.

You're the one doing what yours accusing me of.

[Bjorn Against]

49. Oh really? Where exactly did I twist Obama's words?

[darkangel218]

52. You twisted my words, not Obama's.

The "human nature" comment was addressed to pnwmom, and I was quotting HER not potus.
You don't even bother reading the thread, just throw blind accusations.

[Bjorn Against]

55. So you are putting words into pnwmom's mouth then

Pnwmom never said that human nature led people to kill because of bias either.

I apologize for saying you twisted Obama's words, I should have said you dishonestly twisted pnwmom's words.

[darkangel218]

60. I didnt say she did, i quotted what she said.

You're blocked, I don't have time for silly "you put words in x and y mouth". This is a discussion board and people express their opinions, outrages, thinks they like and dislike. I'm sorry you can't deal with that.

Happy Holidays.

[Bjorn Against]

63. I can deal with it, but apparently you can't

It is ironic that you accuse me of not being able to deal with people expressing their opinion in the same post in which you announce you are blocking me for expressing my opinion.

[darkangel218]

65. Doing what youre doing is not "expressing your opinion".

[Bjorn Against]

69. Yes, it is expressing my opinion

You may not like my opinion but you don't get to tell me that it is not my opinion.

[SidDithers]

14. Yes, you don't get it...

Acknowledging a bias is not the same as excusing a bias.



Sid

[stevenleser]

20. No, have biases. Not racist.

Cultural bias is a tendency for people to continue the social norms, values, customs and preferences into which they were born and raised. It can be altered by the individual, and is susceptible to personal volition.

Racism, well, you know what that is.

Everyone has cultural biases. Everyone. But it is susceptible to personal volition. If you work on it you can zero out its influence on how you deal with other people.

[el_bryanto]

23. I'm not sure you understand how the word bias is being used

It is an inclination, a tendency. Everybody has inclinations or tendencies - to pretend that they don't is just contrary to what we know about pyschology.

Racism is a bias - the belief that one race or another is superior or being able to empathize with people in your own race while seeing people in another race as other or as alien is a natural tendency most people have to one level or another. Rather than pretending that you don't see race, it's better to acknowledge your racial tendencies and correct for them.

Bryant

[1StrongBlackMan]

57. +1 ...

Anyone that believes they do not harbor any biases is not very self-aware.

[pnwmom]

24. Cops should not be allowed to ACT out of bias.

That's what you should be saying.

The issue isn't "being" biased. The issue is ACTING out of bias. The police can't be allowed to ACT out of bias. To make sure of that, it will help if police can unearth their hidden, unconscious biases -- the ones we know they have, because all humans have them.

[el_bryanto]

56. Well said. nt

[SickOfTheOnePct]

85. Exactly!

I personally don't care how a racist a cop or anyone else is, so long as they don't act upon those biases.

[loyalsister]

88. It's one thing to have a bias

another to allow it to influence important decisions. I have a pretty strong bias against conservatives. I have friends and family members who are conservative. I don't enjoy spending time with them, but I hope life generally goes well for them. I definitely wouldn't do anything to hurt them.

[sabrina 1]

19. It depends on what he meant and he certainly cannot speak for 'everyone'. There

are good biases and bad biases. But if he's claiming everyone is biased in a bad way, I hope he doesn't have the audacity to think he is speaking for anyone but himself.

[darkangel218]

31. He surely doesnt speak for me there either.

[elleng]

84. Absolutely!

[pnwmom]

8. He wasn't excusing them for having a bias. But he did acknowledge that we all have them.

Yes, he is giving the average cop the benefit of the doubt -- attributing good intentions. And that is a hard thing to do, especially lately.

But it's always been Obama's style to be a conciliator, and he's not going to change that now.

http://kfor.com/2014/12/19/president-obamas-year-end-message-north-korea-cuba-and-congress/

“What I don’t think is always captured in our political debates is, the vast majority of people are just trying to do the right thing. And people are basically good and have good intentions,” Obama said Friday. “Sometimes our institutions and our systems don’t work as well as they should. Sometimes you’ve got a police department that has gotten into bad habits over a period of time and hasn’t maybe surfaced some hidden biases that we all carry around.”

“But if you offer practical solutions, I think people want to fix these problems,” he said. “This isn’t a situation where people feel good seeing somebody choked and dying. I think that troubles everybody. So there’s an opportunity of all of us to come together and take a practical approach to these problems.”

[darkangel218]

12. I dont feel comfortable with that.

Cops should act professional and never be/act/think bias. It's messed up that he said that, right after he talked of police violence and the death of Eric Garner.

[pnwmom]

18. Policeman are HUMAN and humans are flawed. They can act unconsciously,

including on unconscious biases. And some of them, like all humans, are capable of conscious evil.

What Obama said, if you would actually read it, is that we need to expose the biases so we can get rid of them -- not that they're okay.

[darkangel218]

15. Thats a lame excuse, what he did there.

Disgusting.

[SidDithers]

22. ...

Sid

[darkangel218]

25. So typical of you.

[SidDithers]

26. Could say the same about you and this entire thread...

You're not looking for "clarification".

You're looking for someone to confirm your own bias.

Sid

[lamp_shade]

83. Bingo!!

[Kali]

86. disagree

she isn't looking for confirmation of anything. she is just looking for a flamewar. it has been several weeks since her last one at the other website.




edit to add:

[BeyondGeography]

27. Sounds like you have a bias toward Sid

[WorseBeforeBetter]

28. Bias towards disruption...

it's been done to death.

[loyalsister]

89. Our local police chief talked about it that way, too

He said made changes in the traditional sensitivity training to encourage people to admit their biases and learn that they are not based on valid evidence.

[pnwmom]

36. Everyone is biased. The question is not whether we are biased,

but whether we act out of that bias.

Here's some research:

http://www.boston.com/news/science/blogs/science-in-mind/2013/02/05/everyone-biased-harvard-professor-work-reveals-barely-know-our-own-minds/7x5K4gvrvaT5d3vpDaXC1K/blog.html

[La Lioness Priyanka]

43. anyone who tells you they have no biases are lying to themselves and to you. we however can train

people to behave in ways that are unbiased. however dividing into ingroups and outgroups are automatic and can be done with minimal group differences

[1StrongBlackMan]

53. Everyone has biases, the key is recognizing and not acting on those biases. n/t

[darkangel218]

58. Perheps, but if someone has racial biases, they shouldnt be cops.

Do you think anyone can teach a racist how to "recognize and not act on their bias"? Its not going to happened
IMO, the key is 0 tolerance for racial bias in Law Enforcement.

[1StrongBlackMan]

64. There is a difference between having a racial bias and being a racist ...

the difference being recognizing the bias, then choosing to act or not act based on that bias.

I, as a Black man don't care how racist a cop is ... so long as he/she does not act on that racial bias.

[darkangel218]

70. I would prefer that no one in law enforcement had an ounce of racism in them.

In situations where seconds matter, I don't think there is time to process those negative feelings, if one has them.

[1StrongBlackMan]

74. Okay ...

what is the racial bias screening mechanism?

[darkangel218]

75. How about mpnitoring their ( the officer's) behaviour. language, choices they make, etc

And if deemed racially biased, let them go? Not warnings, not having them "disciplined". 0 tolerance.

Because I don't think they would ever change.

[malaise]

66. Sure they should not be allowed to be biased

but the fact is that they are - he merely stated a fact.

[panader0]

71. Cops, judges, health providers, churches--all should not be allowed to be biased.

But you are right. Bias is a fact. He stated an ugly truth, not an excuse.

[darkangel218]

72. He said we all carry biases.

We may all carry biases, but not the kind he was just talking about a second earlier.
I did get offended by that.

[applegrove]

73. He's talking about this too. by Nicholas Kristof

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/editorials/2014/09/01/even-people-who-support-racial-equality-show-bias.html

[gollygee]

77. That's pretty common knowledge if you read anything in the way of anti-racism info

or anything about racism from a sociologist or other professional.

[darkangel218]

78. Im not disputing that, its the context he said it in.

[gollygee]

80. Well the message is that it's natural for people to carry biases

but people, particularly in a position like that, have to work on and overcome their biases. However, he acknowledged that people do usually start off with biases, and it's important to state the explicitly, because even here we have people assuming that all racism is caused by people with huge biases. That isn't the case. People do have biases. That doesn't excuse anyone from being a police officer and ignoring or feeding those biases. It's a call to take responsibility for them and to get educated and fight them.

[darkangel218]

90. I see. Thank you for your reply.

I just don't think that people who have those feelings seeded so deeply within them, could let go and act fairly , especially in high stress situations.

[gollygee]

91. Again, everyone has biases to some extent or another

There are no superhumans available who have no biases. Now, I do think they need to do better evaluations before they hire police officers to make sure there are not the kind of biases we're seeing, and the kind of violent tendencies we're seeing.

[Brigid]

81. Strictly speaking, President Obama is correct.

Just so long as he doesn't think I should change my mind that cops who murder unarmed citizens should be fired and prosecuted.

[lamp_shade]

87. "...really saddened me"