The Moment a Little Boy is Concerned With Which is a Jay and Which is a Sparrow, He Can No Longer See the Birds or Hear Them Sing

“The moment a little boy is concerned with which is a jay and which is a sparrow, he can no longer see the birds or hear them sing.” -Eric Berne

Discrimination is an unfortunate reality in today's world, and it truly blinds each and every one of us. Some may think that we treat each other equally, but others are painfully aware that the opposite is true.  I recently took a test though Harvard University's Project Implicit. This webiste provides Implicit Association Tests , free for anybody to take. The test proved to me that no matter how many times I say I don't discriminate, and no matter how much I believe in equal rights, I still have automatic associations. 

I chose to take the Weight Implicit Associations Test to see what would happen. I was instructed to do a number of tasks, as quickly as possible.

At the end of the test, I saw that it was harder for me to associate good with fat than good with thin... and I wasn't the only one. 70% of people naturally associated good with thin, 19% had no preference and only 12% associated good with fat. 






There are many more Implicit Association tests covering topics such as....

Gender-Career
Gender-Science
Age
Weapons
Race 
Sexuality
Skin Tone
Disability
and More


The point of these tests is not to shame the person, but rather to make that person self-aware of his or her natural or automatic associations. The more self-aware someone is, the more likely they are to change their behavior. This is the beginning to ending discrimination. Discrimination of all types exist all around the world. America is known as the land of the free, but are we free? Free to express ourselves and our beliefs without being judged? Not always. A common example of oppression in the United States is gay marriage. Homosexual men and women are often shamed and excluded from society because of their sexual orientation. In many states, they are not even allowed to get married. Another example of discrimination is the unwarranted fear instilled in American people of Middle Eastern men and/or women. Americans commonly associate Middle Easterners with terrorists. It has been a major problem that skyrocketed after 9/11 and one that America continues to struggle with today. I am by no means saying that every American is homophobic or prejudiced against Middle Easterners. I am however pointing out that as humans, we tend to lean towards either one group or another. Rarely do we show no preference to any group of people. There will always be associations that we have, but it is our duty to continue fighting for equality, because many will attest that we have not reached it yet.