The United States (and, by extension, the world) is today confronting a tenacious legacy of abhorrent racism.

A spate of recent atrocities committed against African-Americans – including George Floyd, whose neck was pinned under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer as three others looked on; Breonna Taylor, shot eight times by Louisville police officers in a misdirected drug raid; Ahmaud Arbery, shot while jogging by two white men near Brunswick, Georgia; and Eric Garner, killed in a police chokehold on New York's Staten Island – spurred protest rallies and marches in cities and towns across all 50 states, as well as in England, Ireland, The Netherlands, Germany, and South Africa.

Officially, at least, the U.S. Civil War ended in 1865. Jim Crow-era racial segregation was supposed to have ended with the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Yet here we are in 2020, still struggling – mostly peacefully, but at times violently – with toxic, institutionalized racism. Racism that blights our democracy, poisons our schools, corrupts business, and undermines our growth and advancement as humans.

Dr. Teri points out that this racist tendency is just one part of a deeper human flaw called Otherism. Otherism is the process virtually all of us employ to feel better about ourselves by zeroing in on differences we perceive in others.

"We have this systemic shaping in the way we oppress," Dr. Teri explains. "It's systematic objectification."

But while systematic, otherism can be imperceptible, insidious, in many contexts and situations. It can show up in hiring and firing decisions, in feedback offered by teachers to individual students, and even in the decisions we make as consumers.

"When you have a group that considers itself exclusive, they systematically have to find somebody to exclude," she continues. "If you can't run somebody out of town once in a while, how do you know who you are?"

Where can we start to overcome our othering tendencies? For starters, we can try to see the world through a different lens.

"Think about it. Have courageous conversations. Look at it as a humanity issue. Have some accountability for what happens in your heart and mind in full honesty," prescribes Dr. Teri, "and what you're willing to do in your immediate environment to make it better."

Is otherism holding you back?

Reflect. Decide. Make the change.

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[Graphic credit: "BoogeyMan," by Anne Worner. Used under Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.

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