CourageousConversations

Dylan
5/102016
CoachClark

Howmanytimeshaveyouseenpeopleopenlytalkaboutrace?Haveyoutalked
aboutracewithpeople?Howmanypeopledoyouthinkwillopenlytalkaboutrace?I
feelthatIhavecomeclosetothereasonwhymanypeopledontliketotalkaboutrace.
IfyoulookbackatwhatwehavedonehereintheUSyouwouldseesomeprettybad
stuff.SlaveryforwhenwetookAfricansfromtheircountryandsoldthemasproperty.At
thestarttheyhadthesamerightsaslowerclasswhitessotheylikedeachotherbut
thenthehigherclassgavemorerightstothelowerclasstogetthemtoseetheslaves
aslessofahuman.Wealsohadsomethingcalled
InstitutionalizedRacismwhere
we
passedactsthatwereintendedtodiscriminateagainstotherracessuchasthe1921
and1924ImmigrationAct,1935WagnerAct,andThe1935SocialSecurityAct.Ithink
thatraceisatopicthatsomepeoplewouldliketokeeptothemselveswhenhavingthe
choicetodoso.TheyhavemanyreasonstofeelthiswayandIcantarguethatthey
dontbutIcansharesomethatIdidntknowabout.

Ilearnedsomuchinthisprojectandthesefactsaretheonesthatstoodoutto
me.OnefactIlearnedaboutrace,isthatmanywhiteprivilegesinthetimewhenPeggy
McIntoshwroteaboutwhiteprivilegewerebasedonlocation.Ifindmanyofthose

privilegestobesmallandinsignificantcomparedtootherprivileges.Howeverthereare
someprivilegesthathaveabigimpactonjobs,education,andmore.Ilearnedfromthe
IATtestthatIhave
amoderateautomaticpreferenceforEuropeanAmericancompared
toAfricanAmerican.IthinkitismostlybecauseImessedupandkeptsayingthe
AfricanAmericanwere

EuropeanAmericanandi'mnotsureifthereissomethingelse
ornot.

AnotherfactIlearnedwasthatcertainraceshaveahigherchanceofcertainlife
challengeshappeningtothem,likelatinoandafricanamericanchildrenhavehigher
dropoutrateandahigherchanceatpoverty,whilewhitechildrenhavealowerchance
ofdroppingoutandalowerchanceofgoingintopoverty.Thiscanbeduetomany
reasons.LatinoandAfricanAmericanchildrenusuallydropoutofhighschoolbecause
ofwork,familycare,interest,anddrugaddictions.Lastly,Ilearnedthatsomepeople
areopentotalkaboutthissubjectlikethepeoplemypartnerandIinterviewedtwogirls
aboutraceandwewerehappyandlaughing.Onereasonwasthattheyfeltopentotalk
andiftheydidfeeluncomfortablethenwewouldaskquestionslikehowdoyoulikethis
school?andthatcanleadtomoretopics.However,somepeoplegotpeoplewhowere
quietanddidn'tgivelongerthana4wordresponsetoquestionslike,Whendidyoufirst
learnaboutrace?

Ihavegrowninunderstandingmoreaboutraces.Beforethisproject,allIknew
aboutracewaswhatwelearnedinthecultureproject,immigrationproject,andwhatI
learnedwhenbeingtaughtaboutslavery.Ihavealsogrowninlosingmydiscomfortwith
otherpeople.Idontlikeattentiondrawntomeunlesstheyaremyfriendsandthis

projecthashelpedmewiththatabit.IfeelthatsomepeoplecouldfeellikeIdidwhen
peopletalkaboutrace.Ihavegrowntounderstandwhysomepeople,notall,dontlike
totalkaboutrace.Whenlearningabouthowpeopleofcolorweretreatedsometime
agotheymostlikelywouldnotliketoshowhowmuchtheyagreewiththemandifthey
saysomethingwrongtheymightlookbadtoothers.However,Iknowthatthatisnotthe
caseforallpeoplebutitmightbeforsome.

Ithinkthatintoday'sworldwehavefixedmanyproblemswiththewaywetalkto
otherraces.Ithinkthatsomechangeswouldneedtobeputintoeffectsoonerthan
others.Thefirstchangewouldbetostereotypes.Iseestereotypesassomethingthat
wepulledfromtheflightorfightportionsofourbrains.Itisawaytotellbylookingat
someoneifyouareindangerortogetafirstimpressionthatcouldchangebasedona
person'spersonality.SointhebasicformIthinkthatstereotypeswouldbeanunspoken
thoughtthatgivestheprobabilityofwhatthispersonmightbe.Thereasonforthisis
becauseastereotypemostlikelywasn'tformedbyonepersonwhodidntlikethemlike
highschoolgossip.Itwouldhavebeenformedonpercentagesanddatathatwouldtell
thatstereotype.Thinkofthestereotypethatwhitegirlslikestarbucks.Notallwhitegirls
likestarbucksbutthepercentagewouldshowthatmostwhitegirlsgotostarbucks.So
stereotypingformewouldbeaplatformthatthepersonyouseecouldbeonthat
platformbutdontjustassumethattheyareontheplatform.Learnmoreaboutthem
andseeiftheywouldlandonthatplatform.But,don'tjustrunuptoaAfricanAmerican
andsaydoyoulikechicken?because,thatisrudeandinsensitive.AnotherproblemI

thinkshouldchangeistonotbebluntwhentryingtolearnaboutotherculturesortotalk
aboutrace.Fromtheinterviewtipsvideoandhowitsaidtotrytobringtheminslowly
andtalkaboutthelighterquestionsbeforejumpingintoquestionslikeAreyoubeing
discriminatedinyourclassroom?Thelastproblemwouldbetobealittleforgivingif
someonesayssomethingpoliticallyincorrectwhentryingtounderstandsomething
aboutyou.Unless,theyarejustbeingmeanandteasingyouaboutitorsomething.

Fromallofthisyoucannowseewhysomepeoplewouldntliketotalkabout
raceandwhytheymayfeellikeiftheysaytheiropinionaboutittheywouldbeseenas
ahorribleperson
.
Thisneedstobeaddressedbecauseracismhasbecomehugeandis
everywhere.Ifyoudontlearnaboutthisthenyoucouldbeaccidentlyrudeand
insensitivewhentalkingtopeople.ThatiswhywhenIlearnedstufflikewhiteprivilege,
racialgapsandstereotypesithelpsbettertheworldandhelpusallworktogetherto
maketheworldbetter.

MomandDadsReflection:
AfterourconversationbetweenDylan,Larry(DylansDad),andmyself(Dylans
Mom)IfeellikeDylanhaslearnedalotaboutraceanddiscrimination.Asachild,we
didntfeelliketherewasalotofdiscriminationwherewegrewup.Wedidntlearn
aboutitinschool,andwedidntreallytalkaboutiteither.Atmyhighschool,wehad

somediversity,butnotalot.IthinkwhatdiscriminationInoticedthemostwas
economicdiscrimination.Studentswhocamefromthebottomofthehill,andstudents
whocamefromthetopofthehill.IwasfromthebottomandIjustwantedtofitin.Our
diversitywasfromthetopofthehillandthebottom,soitwasnotsomethingIlookedat.
Larrywasfromaverysmalltowninthemidwestandtheydidnothavealotofdiversity
there.Ididntlearnaboutdiscriminationtillcollege.Mymajorwaschildandfamily
developmentandwestudiedmulticulturaleverythingtobeinclusivetoeverychild.That
iswhenIlearnedhowimportantitwastoincludeallcultures.Dylanleadour
conversationlikehewasincollege.Ilovethediscussionwehad,andhowmuch
informationheprovidedus.Ifeellikehetrulyunderstandshowimportantthissubject
isandhowdiscriminationcomesinmanydifferentforms.