Hello Hello,
And just like that, it’s mid-February! Sending early Valentine’s vibes to everyone. I overheard the best exchange yesterday – during Zoom kindergarten, my 6 year old told his class, “Yesterday, I watched the new Star Wars movie, and at the end, Darth Vader kissed the white lady!” His classmate responded, “Ugh, that’s like the Hallmark movies that my mom watches…” LOL A few thoughts crossed my mind as I heard this A) we should all assume our kids are sharing everything with their classmates and B) I’m so glad my son identified the lady as white! I’m probably reading WAY too much into this, but I’ve been intentional about identifying white people as white when talking to my kids the way we identify brown or black people by their race. My intention is to try and combat the cultural norm that if someone’s race isn’t called out, it’s assumed to be a white person. So, I’ll take my son’s descriptor of the lady as a win (confirmation bias may be in play here…)
A best friend of mine recently shared an excellent episode of the podcast Hidden Brain called How They See Us. Check it out here: How They See Us | Hidden Brain Media
It’s a thought provoking conversation with psychologist Claude Steele whose work has uncovered the impact of “Stereotype Threat”. Put simply, stereotype threat occurs when an individual’s performance/ability is impacted because of common stereotypes. A few examples include female performance on advanced math exams as compared to males (stereotype: males are better at math), white basketball players in the NBA (stereotype: white people can’t jump), and black students performance on standardized tests (stereotype: black people are intellectually inferior). The phenomenon transcends race and gender. Steele’s book Whistling Vivaldi includes an in depth review of the studies he has conducted on these examples and how the research teams can turn off the impact of stereotype threat.
I can’t stop thinking about the impact stereotype threat has on the population and all the lost potential. How many people have avoided or quit something because of perceived inadequacies. Just being aware that of this concept is a good first step to combat it.
#blacklivesmatter #courageousconversations #powertoprivilege
-Jessica
P.S. Did you see our girl Amanda Gorman at the Super Bowl?? ICYMI: Amanda Gorman Recites ‘Chorus of the Captains’ at Super Bowl LV – YouTube