How To Change Our Racial Biases Through Inclusive Storytelling
What if history never happened as we learned it? What if the versions we’ve been told are biased? How can we learn from the past if what we know of it is incomplete or deficient? From youth, Americans are taught history through a lens of white experience. This limited narrative has fed into misperceptions of our culture and alienated us from our collective American truth. We, however, can change the narrative by sharing and hearing real stories of black experiences that show not only the struggles and resilience of black indigent people of color (BIPOC) in America, but also the beauty, talents and contributions of this community, that has been oppressed for far too long.
This month I began listening to the audiobook Four Hundred Souls. The book is a collection of stories and poems written by 90 black authors about African-America over the last 400 years. Each author provides insight into a specific period in history. Upon listening to just the first part of the audiobook, I walked away with a different perspective about what I thought I knew about American history. As a child, I had learned about the pilgrimage of the Mayflower, bringing people from Europe to a new land to find freedom. From the book Four Hundred Souls, I learned that even before the Mayflower landed on the shores of now Massachusetts, there was another ship called the White Lion that arrived in America. The White Lion carried 30 black slaves who were taken from their homeland in Africa and forced into slave labor. This was the start of slavery in America.
What Are The Effects Of Biased Storytelling?
As I listened to the stories in this book of how black America began, it suddenly hit me that the telling of our history in America has not only been biased, but that this biased storytelling has contributed to the ongoing discrimination and oppression of black people in America. As a white person, I have been privileged by a history told largely by and about white people. As I think about Black History Month, I question, “How is a month really sufficient after we’ve had ‘White History’ century after century?”
In 2008, I had the honor of attending a workshop with Dr. Mahzarin Banaji of Harvard’s Project Implicit. Dr. Banaji is one of the leading experts in unconscious bias. Through her work, she teaches us that one powerful way to mitigate bias is to surround ourselves with positive images, stories and messages about groups of people with whom we are not familiar. She says that when we do so, we train our brains to associate those groups of people with positive feelings.
After I attended Dr. Banaji’s workshop, I took several Implicit Association Tests (IAT) to find out whether I had implicit biases toward those different from me. What I found when I took the IAT about race is that I have a favorable bias toward black people. It made perfect sense! See, the story of my own history is one that is filled with many positive images of black people. As a kid, I loved listening to music and watching music videos of black musicians like Donna Summer, Whitney Houston, Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson. At the age of 10, I began watching The Oprah Winfrey Show religiously at 4 p.m. every day after school. Oprah became my greatest role model and inspiration. In high school, I loved reading the poems of Langston Hughes and the inspirational speeches of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I decided to go to law school after learning about the Civil Rights Movement in my junior year of high school. In law school, I was mentored by the first African-American female partner of a major New Jersey law firm. After law school, I clerked for the first African-American Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court. Later, I took a job where I spent almost 10 years working for and with an African-American woman who has had the greatest influence on who I am as a leader. I have been blessed to be surrounded by black people who are positive role models.
Our Bias Limits Us
I recognize this is only my story and not the story for many others. I have learned through conversations with my black friends and colleagues that even black Americans have formed biases about themselves and other black Americans based on limiting narratives throughout history. When one person’s belief in themselves and their potential are limited by societal stereotypes and negative biases, it limits all of us. We have the power to rewrite history, and must take accountability for doing so. It sounds like Maya Angelou once said, “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” So, what can we do to create a new narrative that eliminates systemic racism?
Be aware of our biases. Taking the IAT is a great starting point for understanding implicit bias. The debrief after taking each assessment explains how data is gathered based on our responses. It is truly eye-opening.
Be intentional about surrounding ourselves with positive images and messages, but also be an ally in sharing those positive messages, images and stories. We can use our voices and positions of privilege to create a meaningful impact in reducing our collective bias.
Listen to the stories of Black people, and challenge the stories we’ve been told. Are they truly inclusive of diverse perspectives? Do they represent the full truth? We can break down barriers and correct misperceptions written in our history books.
Expand our circles of trust to include people who are different from us. We can join networks with people who are different from us and reach out to individuals to spend 1:1 time together to get to know each other on a deeper level. This can give us a greater understanding and appreciation of others, gradually breaking down biases.
Admittedly, these changes will not happen overnight but if we take small steps toward doing the right thing together, it will lead to big impacts.
Learn more about how you and your leaders can overcome biases and harness the power of Courageous Civility for a better future.
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