This week we are discussing organizational and institutional communication and dispositional communication ethics. One article that drew my attention as we had the opportunity to "choose our own adventure" was the text titled "Dear fellow white people: Here's what to do when you're called racist" written by Rebecca Hains. In her article, Hains highlights the troubling irony of angry white people being called racist while speaking with racial bias and performing racist acts. While her radical example of Trump supporters saying they're not racist while simultaneously asserting Islamophobia, she also makes note of the issue of internalized racism and allyship. "Even white people who consider themselves good allies of people of color can be unaware of their racial biases." (Hains, "Dear fellow white people"). Racism is a spectrum. Regardless of one's intellectual standing, it is nearly impossible to exist in a culture such as ours without being influenced one way or another. Whether it be from what you are influenced and taught from a young, impressionable age or your personal, lived experiences as a fully developed adult. This spectrum and implicit biases that Hains talks about in her article are pinnacles to understanding, especially as a white person, how to be better allies and combat racism.
This article stood out to me as I am a more left-minded individual who grew up surrounded by more right-minded family members and authority figures. As a result of this and as I spoke about in a previous blog post, my sheltered upbringing led to many close-minded beliefs that impeded my ability to decide for myself what was right and wrong. As I began breaking out of those beliefs, I realized my racially-biased perceptions of the world around me and quickly understood how my past actions and words were rightfully corrected by my progressive peers. As I stand on the other side of that bridge, I am now faced with the same responsibility as those peers that taught me the basic necessity of human rights over a decade ago. This article drew me in because my first thought was "How many family members can I send this to?". While a somewhat sinister thought, it encouraged me to dive deeper as consistent awareness for implicit bias and belief is an essential part of my education and growth as an ally. It also poses simple and digestible questions and ideas that even the most radical thinker could ruminate on in their spare time. Articles like "Dear fellow white people" offer insight into the experiences of marginalized communities and propose nonaggressive yet assertive talking points that if utilized correctly, could implement a solution to the problem on a personal human level.
Hains, Rebecca. “Perspective | Dear Fellow White People: Here's What to Do When You're Called Racist.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 23 Aug. 2019, https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/dear-fellow-white-people-heres-what-to-do-when-youre-called-racist/2019/08/20/6e31941a-beda-11e9-b873-63ace636af08_story.html.
Hi Kendall! Thank you for sharing and being honest about how your past may have allowed for your sense of what is right and wrong to be altered. I too come from a more right-minded family and when I came to college away from home I was able to step back and realize that some of my thoughts and ideas about racism and discrimination were wrong. I have had to really work to relearn things and try to understand the places that I can be a better ally and friend to my peers of color. Since then, I feel that I have developed a lot in that sense, but I am aware that there can still be future instances in which I realize that a way of thinking that I have may need to be reevaluated. I also read the article by Hains and I think that it was a really necessary thing for me to see and think about.
ReplyDeleteI relate with both of you my family is more right leaning and there were a lot of things I didn't know about or racial biases. I also went to a private catholic school so they glossed over a lot of important historical topics and concepts. Luckily I had a good friend groups in both highschool and college who helped me start working on my biases and ill-informed thoughts. Working on recognizing assumption and stereotypes I would have in my head and trying to deconstruct them. I am thankful for a lot of the classes I have been in and the teacher and peers who have helped me develop a better sense and awareness around topics and even asking for clarification when I poorly relay thoughts to clear up misunderstandings. I have such an urge to send this article to my family but I know that won't get me too far with them. However things are slowly changing in my family, this summer the topic of pronouns came up and that they were confused by it. I got a great chance to just have a dialogue and teach about pronouns. It was really great to just see them interact with this topic and just explore and lore about it and not be defensive. Additionally I think Hains does a very good job pointing out being mindful and aware that what you say and do can still effect people. Think it really important to foster relationship where people can come up to you and tell you something you said or did hurt. I appreciate so much when my friends tell me that so I can help fix what I did and apologize for hurting them. I am hopefully we are moving in the right direction in general but it for sure is slow progress.
ReplyDelete"Dear fellow white people: Here's what to do when you're called racist" Even if you know in your heart that you're not racist, remember: there may be implicit (or unconscious) racial bias. While research shows that we are aware of our explicit, stated biases, some biases arise in the context of unthinking, rash judgments, making them more difficult to detect. This is why our implicit biases are not necessarily "consistent with our professed beliefs or even reflect positions we explicitly support," as the Kirwan Institute for Race and Ethnicity at Ohio State University puts it. America was founded on the subjugation of black people, and some forms of structural racism still exist in our laws and culture. If you grew up in America, you socialized in the system. Take a deep breath and pause after being called a racist. You may feel attacked and defensive. Examine these emotions and avoid arguments. Instead, apologize and consider asking someone - the person who called you a racist, or a trusted friend who understands racism and can discuss the situation with you - to help understand what went wrong. Microaggressions may be intentional, unintentional, or sometimes even well-intentioned. But they convey hostile, derogatory or negative racial messages or assumptions to the recipient. The ability to even notice these situations requires making yourself aware of the Black American experience and the meaning behind these statements.
ReplyDeleteIf your biggest fear as a white person is being called racist, then chances are you're in fact racist. You have some sort of guilt because clearly in your lifetime you have felt some racism before whether it was subtle or not. Personally, I don't have a fear of someone calling me racist because as a Jewish person I've truly never felt any type of hate in my heart towards someone for the skin or clothes they have, but more for the character of that individual. It's weird walking down campus and seeing Neo-Nazi stickers but I can guarantee you that racism, sexism, anti-semitism it has never been new and if someone calls you racist, maybe in that moment you said something ignorant, not something racist, but something ignorant. Calling someone racist for a comment they made is ignorant in itself, people should be able to make mistakes yet learn from those mistakes. If you get called racist, maybe you actually offended someone, it's weird to think about but stop thinking of yourself for one moment and do your time to research and think about why that person said that to you because chances are they didn't just say it out of spite they clearly saw something. If we learned that people make mistakes there would be less hostility.
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