Well another thoughtful session, challenging personal biases with factual videos and clear data. I was a little girl in the 50s & 60s. When I saw the Popeye clip, it was like a slap in the face. As far as I am aware there were no black families in our city at the time, identify with people living this life would have been visceral at best. Trying to go back in time to figure out what was the child in me thinking while that was happening? Popeye was one of my favourite cartoons. How many other images did I experience as a child that subconsciously created my biases. As a child do we have the ability to discern the messages, question the messages? Aunt Jemima, Uncle Ben - they were products in our kitchen. There were no discussions about the portrayal on the packages. Finally, in 2020 thanks to the recent protests after all these years, changes are happening. I concur - the changes in the law are necessary to move forward, otherwise we will remain stuck.
I was wondering about those same things...all the images I experienced as a child, and how they are "in me" in ways I don't fully comprehend. I lived near San Diego for a couple of years and there was a chain restaurant with such an offensive name. As a lesbian, I've experienced sexism and homophobia...but I also see how I'm privileged by my whiteness, and more femme appearance.
Interesting how we can see where oppression has impacted on our lives and still be open to comprehend that our physical appearance can also help us to be safer than others. This doesn't mean to dismiss the oppression experiences for whatever group you are member of, rather grow from the hurt experienced to build our empathy skill set. People's biases create the human hierarchy whether we are aware of the personal bias yet or not. The more we learn the more we can see how we may be perceived to sit in the hierarchy. This is not about comparing who has the most to fear or who has experienced the most hurt. It is about being realistic about what we have going for us and how to utilize our privilege to be strong educators to help others to see the systemic injustices. Hope this makes sense.
I don't doubt that unconscious biases were created when we (as children) were taken to eat at a Sambo's (my Mexican American father took us there often), or bought Aunt Jemima's syrup to pour on our pancakes. And, because these are images/products that we grew up with, we may not have seen the racism inherent in them at the time. They simply were part of our daily life. I grew up after the civil rights movement. Yet, these images were still part of the fabric of my childhood.
Thanks for sharing. Today is Juneteenth Day, a day I didn't know existed until this year. Other historical events have come to light and the learning is uncomfortable. We weren't alive when this began, my family hadn't immigrated when this happened, yet the history of racism has been a part of shaping our lives. The system created policies, laws, etc. that supported racist behaviour. So now we know....we cannot unlearn.