Reflections on "The Person You Mean to Be: How Good People Fight Bias" by Dolly Chugh

In this month's edition of the Diversity Be Like Book Club, we will be discussing Dolly Chugh's book How Good People Fight Bias: The Person You Mean to Be. In this book, the author notes how we need to quit worrying so much about labeling ourselves as "good" or "bad" people and focus more on using whatever societal privileges we have to effectuate change. Here are my top takeaways from the book.

No One is All "Good" or "Bad"

Many believe that the world is as simple as most of the movies and television shows portray, where there are some people that are "good" and some that are "bad." In reality, the world is full of people, who do "good" and "bad" things. It's one of the reasons I particularly enjoy the villains from the Marvel universe, because they tend to be multi-layered characters, who have reasons behind the "bad" things that they do, as opposed to the typical villains who usually commit heinous acts just because it's what they were written to do.

One of the biggest things noted by the author is how most of us see ourselves as "good" people, but sometimes we avoid addressing many controversial situations because we don't want to come off as a "bad" person if we address it improperly. The author notes that this lack of action because one does not want to come off as a "bad" person, tends to lead to many instances of injustice persisting. She also notes that it is usually more emotionally draining to try to maintain one's status as a "good" person because it makes people have to walk on eggshells many times, to try to avoid offending people. As such, the author notes that it is better to quit worrying so much about using what she terms as "fixed mindset" labels as "good" and "bad," but instead use a "growth mindset" that allows you to both notice and more importantly address injustices, when (not if) they arise in our lives.

Society Causes Us All to Have Some Forms of Bias That We Need to Address

Another major point made by the author is that we all have some form of biases in areas like race, gender, etc. Even though most will make claims like they "don't have a racist bone in their body" or that they "don't see" things like race and gender, according to the research we all have biases in some areas. These biases are also not limited to ones outside the characteristics of the person that harbors them, as was best noted when the author pointed out how she has to check her biases against stereotypical roles for women at times. As most of us don't realize what our biases are, the author notes how it is important to figure out where those biases are and address them directly. To determine some of the biases you might have, visit Harvard's Project Implicit, to see how you score in areas like race, gender, religion, sexuality, and a variety of others.

Using Our Societal Privileges

The last major point that the author touched on repeatedly was the idea that many of us have some form of privilege in our society in the form of race, gender, sexual orientation, etc. She likens these privileges to a tailwind while running a race, and those without those privileges as running into a headwind. She notes that like the wind, privilege is most obvious to those who have to go against them in the form of a headwind, as opposed to those who are able to run with them in the form of a tailwind who might not notice them at all.

The author notes that contrary to what many believe, speaking out on an area you have a privilege is one of the best things. She notes that many feel that they shouldn't speak out on injustices of racism, sexism, or any of the other "isms" if it doesn't directly affect them because they might appear to be speaking on behalf of those affected. The author encourages those who do have such privileges to use them because it is not as taxing on them as someone who has to deal with it daily. Like the headwind analogy, people who live without privileges in their lives are more likely to be mentally fatigued in those areas. Having others who do not have such fatigue in the area speak up lends them the support that many welcome. She also notes that research shows that their speaking out on a topic is more effective at changing the behaviors of others, than if it is done by those without such privilege.

Conclusion

Overall, a great book, which addresses many relevant issues today. It also contains lots of personal examples from the author that can be used immediately by the reader. I suggest it for those who are interested in doing more in their lives but are not sure what they can do on a daily basis.