IAT Tests
What was your experience like completing the Implicit Association Tests? Did you feel stressed? Anxious? What were your thoughts while reading your results? Were you surprised? Upset? Or, were your results what you expected?
The tests were a little hard because sometimes the details of the picture were hard to make out (i.e. in the Asian IAT). My strongest result was in the Native IAT (moderate toward white). The Asian and Race IAT were slightly leaning toward the minority group and my Skin Tone IAT was neutral. I was expecting more to be leaning towards white, so that was a little surprising.
Racism Experiment
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? My fifth grade teacher in 2000-2001 did an abbreviated version (just brown-eyed students were "inferior") of this to teach about discrimination. It was hard being a brown-eyed student, but we were a little rebellious in keeping the letter of the law, while technically following instructions, but it was one morning. If I had faced that day-in and day-out, I could see how that would break me eventually.
Conversations about Race Videos
Reflect on your own racial identity. Are there any experiences that you related to in the videos above? Think about some of the discussion in the videos centered around colorism and privilege. In the racial group that you identify with, has the societal favoring of light colored skin ever impacted you? Were there any experiences from racial groups you don't belong to that surprised you, or that you had never considered before?
I didn't realize that there were cards that track how much Native America blood they have. I had friends who told me they weren't taught their parents' native language so they could better fit in the wider American culture. I grew up in a small town that lacked diversity. I was the palest lifeguard, even after working all summer, thanks to my Irish heritage. I had learned about different values in different cultures, but I didn't make the connection between business practices/promotions differences between American and Asian cultures.
Identity and Privilege Videos
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 can choose if I want to dig into my roots to celebrate my heritage, but other than that, I am part of the dominant culture and enjoy the privileges that affords. I am not seen as a threat by the police and I am not afraid of them. Entitlement can run deep and it is hard to root out.
