Police shootings of unarmed black men, redlining, achievement gap, higher mortality rates, higher unemployment rates, lower income, less education, over-represented in prison, underrepresented in college! What is going on? Is everyone racist? Are black people the target of some grand conspiracy?
Every black parent has the story of when they had to sit their child down for "The talk." No, not the birds and the bees, but the explanation to them that while it is true that they like to play the same games as other children, they have to be careful. Careful not to be too loud, too rough, to expressive or too anything. What does it mean to be too...whatever? Well, they would have to navigate that for themselves. They would have to live in a world dominated by a positive white image and a negative black image. They would have to garner the strength to endure microaggressions and slights, questioning of their abilities and knowledge, credibility and opinions. Then, when they've made it to the top of whatever career, interest or activity, they would have to prove their worth and value on the daily basis. Why do we all have to have that talk with our children? What can we do to change our world for the better for our children who are growing up in a time when we are more linked than ever through technology but less connected, unsegregated but more separated, more educated but less informed?
If we are to make real changes in this society, we must be well informed. We must have a clear understanding of the problem before we can successfully work through a solution. It is of course true that there are racist in our society who purposely push back against any form of minority progress. But here at Unmasking the Biasphere we believe the real threat to progress is not the vocal few racist who professes a hate for minorities, it is the person who harbors no conscious ill will towards minorities. They profess to believe in equality but don't know that deep down there is a category they have for blacks, Hispanics, Asians etc. They have no idea they say and do things that cause minorities to be frustrated, infuriated, stressed and sometimes even depressed. They don't know that in this society it's death by a thousand cuts and they are holding a bloody blade. They don't realize that bias occurs at a deep level because of the images, sounds, education etc that we've been given and the bombardment of propaganda we are all fed. They don't realize that good, non-racist people can still behave in racist ways. We call this the Biasphere. In the Biasphere, well meaning people operate un-knowingly to continue a system of oppression and control. They stifle conversation about race and are unwilling to step outside their racial comfort zone. They live behind a mask which says "I'm not racist" when behind the mask is a person with biases through no fault of their own.
Every black parent has the story of when they had to sit their child down for "The talk." No, not the birds and the bees, but the explanation to them that while it is true that they like to play the same games as other children, they have to be careful. Careful not to be too loud, too rough, to expressive or too anything. What does it mean to be too...whatever? Well, they would have to navigate that for themselves. They would have to live in a world dominated by a positive white image and a negative black image. They would have to garner the strength to endure microaggressions and slights, questioning of their abilities and knowledge, credibility and opinions. Then, when they've made it to the top of whatever career, interest or activity, they would have to prove their worth and value on the daily basis. Why do we all have to have that talk with our children? What can we do to change our world for the better for our children who are growing up in a time when we are more linked than ever through technology but less connected, unsegregated but more separated, more educated but less informed?
If we are to make real changes in this society, we must be well informed. We must have a clear understanding of the problem before we can successfully work through a solution. It is of course true that there are racist in our society who purposely push back against any form of minority progress. But here at Unmasking the Biasphere we believe the real threat to progress is not the vocal few racist who professes a hate for minorities, it is the person who harbors no conscious ill will towards minorities. They profess to believe in equality but don't know that deep down there is a category they have for blacks, Hispanics, Asians etc. They have no idea they say and do things that cause minorities to be frustrated, infuriated, stressed and sometimes even depressed. They don't know that in this society it's death by a thousand cuts and they are holding a bloody blade. They don't realize that bias occurs at a deep level because of the images, sounds, education etc that we've been given and the bombardment of propaganda we are all fed. They don't realize that good, non-racist people can still behave in racist ways. We call this the Biasphere. In the Biasphere, well meaning people operate un-knowingly to continue a system of oppression and control. They stifle conversation about race and are unwilling to step outside their racial comfort zone. They live behind a mask which says "I'm not racist" when behind the mask is a person with biases through no fault of their own.