What was your experience like completing the Implicit Association Tests?
Well, they made my eyes go a bit fun but maybe that's just me... overall though, it was interesting. I came out with I think a slight preference for Native Americans and dark skin, and no preference for Asians and black/white people (had some time between the first two tests I did and the next, so this is from memory). I'm pleased with these results - I suppose no or slight preferences would suggest I'm not leaning strongly either way, which in my view is a good thing. Having said that, I am a little skeptical of the results; I'm concerned that I still have bias that affects my behaviour and responses to other people, and my face sometimes dobs me in without me realising it!
What were your initial reactions to this video? What feelings or thoughts did it bring up for you? What types of bias did you notice while watching?
I've got a strong academic bias here in terms of the ethics of such an experiment, but I'm going to ignore that for now as the take away message in this instance is not about ethics clearance!
I've heard of this experiment several times before but I've never seen the video until now. To see the kids in the playground sitting on their own and looking so dejected was awful - children can be the very best and the very worst of us, and they don't hold back! Most interesting, and something that would need more data, was the effect the collars/being 'inferior' had on the children's response times during the phonics test, especially with the brown-eyed kids pretty much halving their completion time. I think this goes to show just what a negative effect discrimination has on people, and how much we as a society/species is missing because of this effect on children's learning.
Reflect on your own racial identity. Are there any experiences that you related to in the videos above?
The Conversations about Race videos were all really insightful, and I think the Conversation with White People really made me consider the idea of belonging to a 'race'. The colour of my skin feels more like an unimportant fact than a feature of my identity, and I understood what the young girl said about white privilege meaning that racism doesn't affect you or that 'I have no race'... until now, I have never really stopped to consider how the colour of my skin influences my life.
I also really related to the interviewees in that video talking about how awkward and uncomfortable they feel talking about race. I can feel myself tensing up when the issue arises with my students (or anyone!), because I'm so hyper aware of the risk of causing upset or saying the wrong thing, or using the wrong terminology etc.
Watching the other videos, I was surprised to learn that Native American people have to take a blood test to prove how Native they are! That sounds very Orwellian. It was also upsetting to see just how many people, particularly in the Conversation with Latinos video, felt that they had lost part of themselves and their culture when attempting to assimilate into US culture. Nobody should have to delete themselves or part of their identity just to fit in.
Most gut-wrenching of all was the Conversation about Growing Up Black. To hear about the experiences these kids are having, to think that they feel the need to tell people that they mean them no harm, is heartbreaking. Their concern for their mothers, knowing that their mum must be terrified everytime their boy leaves the house... no child/teenager should have to be so aware of a parent's fears. There is something seriously wrong when children have to worry about the fact that their parents are worrying whether they'll make it home at the end of the day.
What are your thoughts about the concept of white culture, identity, and entitlement as they were discussed? What are your thoughts about the concept of white privilege?
I'm actually feeling really overwhelmed by this. I don't know where to begin. I've never considered myself as having a racial identity, and I've never considered myself as being part of a white culture, although I definitely recognise my interaction with my national culture. This is possibly because in Britain, the discourse in the media tends to be more around 'British vs Foreign'. I've lived in other countries and other cultures and I am so glad that I've done this - I definitely feel different to how I perceive the people around me, whether that is 'less British' or 'more than British', I don't know.
The fact that I have lived in other countries is partly because of the privilege my passport gives me. I can go pretty much anywhere in the world. I am assumed to be rich in some countries, and even when living in another EU country, responding to a conversation my students were having about the negative effects of immigrants, I was assured that they weren't talking about me - I was 'alright'. So I can see how I benefit from white privilege, and I suppose it's that sense of entitlement and privilege that makes up white culture.