I grew up surrounded by white people and learned without every discussing it that race was a dangerous topic. I saw that it was taboo and could get you into trouble.
So I just lumped it in with religion and politics, and I decided early on that discussions of race were better left alone. Unaddressed and unacknowledged.
Fast forward a few decades and I found myself living in New York City. The experience taught me that my thinking was a defense mechanism and a cop out. The only way to root around and discover my biases was to talk about them. I was ill-equipped for the discussions I would have because I'd never learned to have them. But at 30, I decided it was time.
I learned a lot that year. Acknowledging my own racial biases was actually pretty painful. There were moments when people would call me out publicly and my face would flush. But most of my learning came slowly. Friends would bring up observations in conversation or recommend I read articles or certain books.
Most of those conversations were helpful, but they were anecdotal. Living and working with Prospero allowed me to walk around and experience the world as a black man in America does. He was my best friend that year and we were hardly ever apart. What I learned is that being a black in our country is exhausting. The racism is subtle, but sometimes not. People would follow us around stores and one time a security guy asked to see his receipt just seconds after he bought something. Even with a master's degree it was difficult for him to get job interviews, while our white friends got jobs seemingly instantly. It made me mad and it made me sad and made me realize that these conversations are crucial. Our country is at a breaking point, which is exactly how I would characterize the Ferguson response.
But the reason for this is that talking about race is multi-level tough. The first layer involves acknowledging your own racism. Then you have to build up the vocabulary and a contextual understanding. Then while you're talking about it you have to be able to handle feedback, which probably brings up even more issues you didn't notice. And then there's the anger people have about it when you bring it up. You have to address that, too. I think the response wouldn't be so pronounced if we had a more socially acceptable way to talk about race, rather than just avoiding it out of fear.
So I guess this is my really long way of saying I'm glad we read "Race and Media Coverage of Hurricane Katrina: Analysis, Implications, and Future Research Questions." It's an important piece of research and I'm curious what kind of response it got.
My hunch is that before the media can talk about racial biases in reporting on a structural and professional level, we need to begin by looking inward. It takes years, and it can be really humbling. But starting the conversation is the only way to make it better.
The heuristics discussion was most fascinating to me. People are not (sometimes) consciously racist in their language, but the most recognizable construct could be. So they reach for it instinctively. In order to overcome this inbuilt racism, we have to change our default frames. That's why it's hard. It takes both recognition and a change in the way we think. So this research is really helpful because it helps raise awareness and begins the first step of the recognition process.
So I just lumped it in with religion and politics, and I decided early on that discussions of race were better left alone. Unaddressed and unacknowledged.
Fast forward a few decades and I found myself living in New York City. The experience taught me that my thinking was a defense mechanism and a cop out. The only way to root around and discover my biases was to talk about them. I was ill-equipped for the discussions I would have because I'd never learned to have them. But at 30, I decided it was time.
I learned a lot that year. Acknowledging my own racial biases was actually pretty painful. There were moments when people would call me out publicly and my face would flush. But most of my learning came slowly. Friends would bring up observations in conversation or recommend I read articles or certain books.
Most of those conversations were helpful, but they were anecdotal. Living and working with Prospero allowed me to walk around and experience the world as a black man in America does. He was my best friend that year and we were hardly ever apart. What I learned is that being a black in our country is exhausting. The racism is subtle, but sometimes not. People would follow us around stores and one time a security guy asked to see his receipt just seconds after he bought something. Even with a master's degree it was difficult for him to get job interviews, while our white friends got jobs seemingly instantly. It made me mad and it made me sad and made me realize that these conversations are crucial. Our country is at a breaking point, which is exactly how I would characterize the Ferguson response.
But the reason for this is that talking about race is multi-level tough. The first layer involves acknowledging your own racism. Then you have to build up the vocabulary and a contextual understanding. Then while you're talking about it you have to be able to handle feedback, which probably brings up even more issues you didn't notice. And then there's the anger people have about it when you bring it up. You have to address that, too. I think the response wouldn't be so pronounced if we had a more socially acceptable way to talk about race, rather than just avoiding it out of fear.
So I guess this is my really long way of saying I'm glad we read "Race and Media Coverage of Hurricane Katrina: Analysis, Implications, and Future Research Questions." It's an important piece of research and I'm curious what kind of response it got.
My hunch is that before the media can talk about racial biases in reporting on a structural and professional level, we need to begin by looking inward. It takes years, and it can be really humbling. But starting the conversation is the only way to make it better.
The heuristics discussion was most fascinating to me. People are not (sometimes) consciously racist in their language, but the most recognizable construct could be. So they reach for it instinctively. In order to overcome this inbuilt racism, we have to change our default frames. That's why it's hard. It takes both recognition and a change in the way we think. So this research is really helpful because it helps raise awareness and begins the first step of the recognition process.
No comments:
Post a Comment