Oh, you’ve never heard about the Grand Valley Task Force? Well, please allow me to give you a couple of biased opinions about it. I’ll start with its own from Facebook:  

“Our mission: Finding just and equitable solutions for all by shining a light on implicit, explicit and systemic bias in our community.” 

Now to many, this pablum will sound like some folks getting together to do good in our community. Then again, many would also be the same folks who believe everyone who’s white is a systemic racist. So let’s begin with that word. 

Systemic is possibly the most devastating word to come out of what should be a movement to eliminate racism to the greatest degree possible. I say greatest degree possible for one reason: There will always be racism. Especially if we label everyone a racist using the word systemic. 

But what systemic also does is give this task force the ability to do the most dangerous thing: find bias anywhere and everywhere it chooses based on its biased definitions of what bias is. Because bias, like it or not, is a naturally existing human condition. I would argue the know-it-alls on this task force rely on that. After all, what good is a task force to rid the world of its self-determined, biased, perceived evils if it turned out the world just isn’t all that evil?  

How about implicit and explicit bias that’s drawn the attention of the select do-gooders you ask? They’re just two more gadgets in the all-seeing, biased, toolbox of the task force. So even though you don’t explicitly show your “task force-determined, unfair bias” the group can claim you’re implicitly hiding your bias — which is only apparent to them. Joseph McCarthy is embarrassed in his grave. 

Worse, even though bias is naturally occurring in every human on the planet, the task force — and only the task force — can call out your business or you as a person
(I wonder if it will have the same marketing campaign with the local “daily” like the 5-star program to promote just which businesses and people care about others and which don’t), tell you what’s wrong based in the group’s biased opinions of how you’re living and then tell you how you must fix it to be accepted by the enlightened few in our society. Because only the select few have the ability to know how everyone should think and act. And as bad as this is, it’s not the worst part of the task force. 

No, the worst part is this is basically a government-sanctioned program. And if any entity on the planet has proven it can’t help any human condition while making said condition exponentially worse than before it got involved, it’s the government. The Grand Valley Task Force comes with the implied consent — which actually brings “force” into the name task force — of the City of Grand Junction. Don’t believe me? Here’s the answer from the email I sent asking how they came to be (and who they are — let’s just say I’m not impressed, but rather alarmed, with the names I saw): 

“The group was spearheaded initially by a group of people, which included representatives from the City of Grand Junction (City Council, Grand Junction Police Department, and high-level city staff), Black citizens and friends, MC2 4Justice, churches and community members, among others.  Those members met informally to discuss a vision for the group and bring in a diverse group of people from institutions and groups throughout the community to then establish the structure, mission and focus of the task force, which took place over a matter of months.” 

Sound like a gang with “just and equitable solutions” in spite of its “high-level” (bias much?) members?  

 They’ve been meeting for over a year creating this enemies list, er, mission. If I wasn’t on the list, I am now. Get curious and look for yourself into the groups and people associated with the task force. I’m not saying their biases are good or bad. I would gather most of their initial ideals are the same as yours and mine. But beyond the precursory look, do their biases match yours? Folks, today, there’s a group in Grand Junction that’s going to say, “Your thinking is wrong,” based on their biases — which should be scaring the hell out of every one of us. 

I don’t know what it’s like to wake up each day and see “bad” bias (or racism, sexism or insert your “ism” here) everywhere. Nor do I want to. But I see this clearly because the meaning of bias has gone from “an inclination of temperament or outlook” to “prejudice in favor or against one thing, person or group compared with another, usually considered to be unfair” to “bias is a disproportionate weight in favor of or against an idea or thing, usually in a way that is close-minded, prejudicial or unfair. Biases can be innate or learned.”  

Innate or learned, pick your poison. The Grand Valley Task Force can find “systemic, innate bias” in each one of us. And too many folks will be okey-dokey with that. Until the light shines on them. 

My bias says disband this group forthwith.

Craig Hall is owner and publisher of the Business Times. Reach him at 424-5133 or publisher@thebusinesstimes.com.