With the holidays approaching, we have the opportunity — and the responsibility — to challenge those in our lives who may make offhanded racist and bigoted comments instead of just letting their comments slide. When you hear things like "Jews control the media" or "she got that job because she's black," call it out.
When people say these things, even in jest, they reinforce the stereotypes in our head that make someone else "other" than we are. It's hurtful to your Jewish and black friends to hear these things, sure, (in fact, it's increasing their cortisol levels and lowering their working memory) but it's also changing your brain chemistry. As you allow someone to become an "other," you lessen our brain's capacity for empathy toward that person or group. Your unconscious mind makes them, literally, less human.
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