Nirav Tolia is a tech entrepreneur that uses his company to combat racism.
Here’s what happened: When a grassroots group from Oakland, CA, called Neighbors for Racial Justice, approached Tolia about the prevalence of racial profiling in his neighborhood social network site called Nextdoor, he know changes needed to be made.
From personal experience, Tolia understood what bias could do. As a first generation Indian, he struggled with identity. At home he was American, outside he was Indian. Neither role seemed to fit. So he decided to change a few things at Nextdoor. The secret sauce? Empathy.
“As embedded and nasty as racism can be, it can be overcome.”
Tapping into the research and expertise of some colleagues, he created ‘decision points’ on the site. When a user complains, for example, the site asks a question like, “Is what I saw actually suspicious, especially if I take race or ethnicity out of the equation?”
These gentle nudges offer a moment of reflection and, apparently, that’s all most folks need to tap into their deep thinking, strong feeling, empathetic selves. Test results show a 75% reduction in racial profiling and that over half of complaints were abandoned after the question appeared. Go figure.
Ready for more? Here’s another piece about Heather McGhee, who vies for the Contact Theory as a way to overcome bias and prejudice.
