Fighting prejudice by admitting it
“Every single person in this room is prejudiced,” said Gail Price-Wise to the more than 100 people assembled in the Student Organization Center at Hilles. With that provocative opening salvo, Price-Wise spent the next 2½ hours explaining why everyone makes prejudicial judgments, and what to do about it. “Prejudice is an uncomfortable word because it is so painful,” said Price-Wise, founder and president of the Florida Center for Cultural Competence. Her presentation, “Managing Your Biases as a Step Toward Cultural Competence,” was the first of three Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) diversity dialogues planned for the academic year. “This presentation was one of the most interactive that we have had. The audience was clearly engaged in the discussion,” said Andrea Kelton-Harris, senior human resources consultant in FAS. Price-Wise said no one wants to admit that he or she has prejudice, and no one wants to be the target of it, but “we...