Changing from Within…

I was talking to my son, Mr. Window to the Wild, and father of our grand-daughters,

Sophie Sparrow and Avery Wren aged 5 & 3 respectively, who asked me,

“Mum, how do I raise my daughters in a racist and discriminating world?”

“Well…” I said in the longest Southern drawl I could muster to give me time to think,

“I can talk to the discriminating side because for as long as I can remember I’ve had to fight for my rights as a woman.  Whereas you’re tall, blonde, blue eyed & educated and will always score high in the popularity stakes and likely never feel the sting of discrimination except by proxy through the lives of your wife and daughters.”

He nodded his head in acknowledgement and gave me a quizzical and…?  look.

“Teach them that in the eyes of God we are all created equal since we were made in His image, therefore we should treat one another with respect.”

It was a great question and one to ponder for many moments but we didn’t have many…for him it was a quick question to which I gave him a quick biblical answer followed by a little Mum-ly advice,

“Since you’re not a politician, or the head of a prestigious university or the owner of a newspaper, you may feel that you can’t have much impact on the world. Your thoughts, ideas and attitudes may not get universal recognition but trust me, as a son, husband, father, brother, teacher and friend your influence has the potential to be far reaching.”

He was nodding having heard it all before.

I wrapped up my favourite train of thought with,

“Your example in your home and around your friends and neighbours, will make all lives in your circle matter; God’s love will shine through you.”

Then I went off to my desk to explore the long answer since I’d addressed the discrimination part of his question and neatly sidestepped the the racist portion.

Racism, discrimination and stereotyping, are old problems that run deep.

I picked up and read Ibran X .Kendi’s, Stamped from the Beginning,

Kendi

and took the Harvard Implicit Bias Test from Malcolm Gladwell’s, Blink, to begin answering the questions I had about my own unconscious attitudes towards anyone who didn’t fit my criteria for inclusion in my immediate circle.

I was nervous when I pulled up the test, I really didn’t want to find out what my answers to the questions would say reveal about me.  I found I was getting butterflies just looking at the questions on the screen.

According to Gladwell 80% of all those who have taken the test, and 50% of African Americans, end up having pro-white associations (p84).

He bases his rationale on living in N. America surrounded by cultural messages linking white with good and black with bad (p.85).

Think for a moment of the negative connotations associated with the word black:  blackmail, blackballed, blackout, blackguard, blacklist and black magic are just a few words that suggest something sinister is going on.

To begin the test I had to state my conscious value:  I checked non-racist.

Then I began the portion of the test designed to measure my unconscious values.

Not surprisingly I tested pro-white –

Surprisingly I was astonished because I thought I’d been objective with my answers.  .

Why?

Because I’d thought hard about my answers convinced I could skew them towards my conscious value…it didn’t work!

The Implicit test writers knew that the unconscious trumped every answer even when I tried to trick it.

“Implicit bias includes the subconscious feelings, attitudes, prejudices, and stereotypes an individual has developed due to prior influences and imprints throughout their lives. Individuals are unaware that subconscious perceptions, instead of facts and observations, affect their decision-making.” (National Library of Medicine.  Harini S. Shah.  Julie Bohlen)

I went off to ponder.

How was I to change my sub-conscious (and obviously dominant) behaviour towards others who didn’t fit into my pre-determined, unconscious criteria?

ChangingWeb

Ghandi said,

“If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change.  As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him.”

Are the stakes too high for the wealthy elite and historically powerful white man to lean towards impartiality?

I decided it was high time I took a closer look  at myself and be more conscious of the way I live in, respond to and view the world.

What is driving my unconscious biases?

Elitism, dis-comfort, ease, pride, arrogance?

Where is Christ in my unconscious?

What do I and my children need to do for the changes to be wrought to achieve a balance that will bring about a more Christ-like equality, if not in America perhaps in our neighbourhood?

Would we even be able to make a difference?  According to Ghandi, yes, according to Christ, definitely.

“Changes at home are the first step,” I taught my children.

What can we do to bring people who are not like us into our comfortable and safe family?

or expand our social circle to include people who look or act differently from us?

or even to emanate warmth with a wave across a room, or a smile in the grocery line or an offer to open a door?

The journey starts within.

The bible quite clearly instructs us in the art of equality:

“You shall not be partial to the poor nor defer to the great; you are to judge your neighbours fairly.” (James 2:9)

and,

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male or female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28)

 

There is no question that I discriminate in many ways, not all negatively though:

between skin colour and culture; I tend towards the unusual

character and appearance; first impressions are important to me

personal hygiene; mea culpa

bad grammar; I’m a writer

handwriting; I’m a snob (blessed be the printed and type-written word!)

The list, I’m afraid, goes on and on.

Working out how I can score more tolerantly on the Harvard IBT has shown me that the real issue is to become more Christ-like by remembering that we are all created in God’s image and in Christ Jesus we are all one…

Subconscious perceptions, instead of facts and observations, affect our decision making are difficult to ignore.

Being aware of my unconscious values towards others should help me to make a  conscious change.

“Thanks for asking the question Simon it took me down many rabbit holes.  Are you interested in taking the test?”

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