1. The experience of completing the IATs wasn't stressful or anxiety provoking. The results seemed to be fair based on the responses that I provided. Interesting exercise. It would be interesting to take such an inventory immediately after a racist encounter, however. Chances are things might be different. Like most such tests results have some basis in peoples current state of arousal/awareness.
2. The Blue Eye, Brown Eye experiment demonstrates a few things. First is that children (these were 3rd grades), are aware of discrimination. Second is that practices of discrimination of often internalized that can then result in the third point, which is that feeling discriminated against may result in acting out violently. The biases that were evident are along the lines of competence and intelligence. How deeply unfortunate it is that BIPOC in today's America continue to have their competence and intelligence questioned solely because of the color of their skin.
3. I identify as Afro-Caribbean because I was born in the Caribbean (Jamaica to be exact) and migrated to the United States as an adult. As I reflect on my racial identity, I see how it has, in the past, ‘protected’ me from viewing racism as racism. I grew up on an island where colorism is very present, yet racial issues didn’t seem to be abundant, though we are a tourist destination. Color me naïve, but it wasn’t until I was in my doctoral program that my eyes were opened to how my racial identity as an Afro-Caribbean woman acted as a protective factor. It was then that I become more aware of the microaggressions from white professors and peers that were directed toward me. The color of my skin has never been a source of privilege, but the fact that I am articulate (not to toot my own horn) certainly has been. I was often (and still am) told that I don’t “sound Jamaican” and I saw how that provided me with opportunities that were not made available to Black peers who had thicker Southern or Caribbean accents.
** I should mention that I am taking this training because I desire to educate myself about issues that were not present for me as a young person and feel that this would make me more competent in my professional life.
4. White culture. This is an interesting one. I have never thought of white people as having an actual “culture”, and if the thought ever entered my mind it was ‘basic’ – bland, lacking opulence, boring, regular, not exciting, blah, not worth ‘writing home about’, not special, not spectacular. When I think of culture I think in part of festivals/occurrences that are filled with dialects, and various dishes with flavors that have a rich history. I think of traditions that are embedded in celebrations and stories/(non-monetary) artifacts that are passed from generation to generation. On the other hand, white identity and entitlement are concepts that, as discussed in the video, are very apparent. Both seems to be more self-ascribed than ‘earned’, particularly white entitlement. I continue to wonder if deep insecurities hide behind white entitlement and racism in general.
