I feel like a lot of people, even very smart ones misunderstand prejudice.

They see it as a particular group getting targeted, rather than as the mental (faulty) process that targets groups of people.

I've heard these gems all of my life

"I can't be prejudiced. I'm black!"

"I can't be sexist. I'm a woman!"


Sadly, academics are not immune from this cognitive cog skipping.

The set of people who truly understand prejudice is small. Even smaller is the set of people who have that understanding and who have the courage to change their behavior on that understanding before societal support catches up with them.


People who will take a look outside of prescribed boundaries are rare. People who can see between the lines are rarer still. People who have the courage to live by what they see are even rarer.

How sad for her advisor being an academic and failing to be in any of those sets.

Her thinking only walks on paved, well lit paths.