Alabama Possible—Keynote Address
September 18, 2015
Presented by Jennifer A. Stollman
Good Morning and thank you so very much for inviting me to speak with you this morning. I would first like to thank Kristina R. Scott from the Alabama Possible organization and the UAB Honor’s College 57 Miles program. Over the past two years, I have had the privilege of working a great deal in your state and as an educator/activist dedicated to social justice issues, I am so very pleased to see and report that your state is conducting a great deal of equity and justice work. Working with and against our historical legacy of inequality and inequity, is crucial to changing current contexts of inequity. I am Jennifer A. Stollman and I am an historian by trade. Principally, I study issues of identity and in particular, the individual and collective development, transformation, deployment of identities. About 2.5 years ago, I left my 20 years in the undergraduate and graduate classrooms to concentrate on equity activist work with the William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation housed at the University of Mississippi. There, we focus on building communities across difference, youth development and leadership, policy and work on campuses across the Deep South and beyond.
We are in a particularly important moment. As historians we see that current days bear the markings of a civil rights moment. We see tragic and violent events against our citizens, we see responding group and ally responses, we see personal reflection and then we see change in our thought, perspective, and behavior and then of course, we see resistance. In fact, we are in all of these moments. It is the last aspect that I want to briefly speak about-resistance. While many understand resistance reductively, I believe that if we understand resistance beyond the fear of change, we can more quickly, more effectively change. I understand resistance and the belligerent and challenging behavior that comes with it emerges out of fear—fear of loss and fear of being disempowered. But these are powerful feelings for these reach to the heart of us—they run so deep that we might believe these to be life or death situations. I believe this is why people respond in the way that they do—without reason, with violence, without compassion. Such individuals are literally in a wormhole of fear—meaning there is no ground, no horizon, no oxygen and complete darkness. It becomes confusing and disorienting, it is frightening. While such displays of fear and threat might remind us of our own fears and insecurities and encourage us to step back, look away, we must resist these counter productive behaviors. Instead we must open our hears, sharpen our minds, lean in, and embrace these discomforts until they dissolve and transform into compassion, empathy, and a pull towards social justice and equity. I understand that this is much to ask for, perhaps for some impossible, but for most it requires a simple pivot, that is a commitment to creating public and private, communal, civic, and professional spaces that value everyone. To do so, empowers all of us, for we must remember that power is not finite, it is infinite. We must extend power to those who have previously been denied that power, we must recognize where we have assumed and gained from power that is not rightfully ours and we must understand that to do so empowers all of us, calms our anxieties, and advances ourselves as communities and individuals.
So, in doing this, most folks that I run across insist that they cannot do anything until “change happens.” They argue that institutions, structures, and “others” must change, that is, everyone must change before “I” can do anything. I am here this morning to challenge such thinking. This thinking also emerges from fear of action and fear of failure. In fact, I would argue that such an approach hinders absolutely any possibility of fulfilling our hopes and responsibilities for social justice and equity. Without the actions of “I” and then collectively “us,” we will forever be on the cusp of change, with success so near yet so far we can see it but cannot grasp it. Mostly, I have discovered that most have an urge toward equity, toward calm, toward empathy, that is, rarely do I run into individuals who prefer to stew in hatred and anxiety. In fact, most are simply looking for the tools, for the language to use to understand inequity and to create or restore equity and equality. With this in mind, I will spend the rest of my time briefly and alternately describing the penetrating actions and rhetoric which both sustain and tumble inequity and equity. What I humbly offer are the clear articulations of those devices which I believe hamper our ability to live in peace and to value others. What I also offer and emphatically believe is the awareness, knowledge, and skills that each of us can utilize, if we have not already, to join in this historical civil rights moment to make change, to erase fear, to live in harmony and peace.
As educator/activists, we can begin with ourselves and the spaces we find ourselves in. We can create equitable and compassionate learning spaces that are attentive not only to present dynamics but to the experiences, ideologies, traumas, and truth that our community members bring to those spaces. So, I will frame the rest of my remarks in terms of what inhibits and what builds and sustains communities of learning. With such knowledge, we can create better, less anxious and more cohesive spaces where more learning and more community building and solidifying may take place. It is not hard, it is our job, and as humans it is our calling.
First and foremost we must understand what racism is and is not. It is not an emotion; it is not merely moral. It is in fact, a behavior. Critical race studies scholars have called race and racism performances and while I do believe this to be true, I think that for this particular historical moment, we would do well to heed historian Barbara Fields and sociologist Karen Fields’ argument defined as “racecraft.” Deliberately and etiologically developing the phrase from its ancestor “witchcraft,” “racecraft” understands racism as a behavior mixed in with a little superstition. Racism is repeated acts of stylized behaviors designed to create and sustain superiority and inferiority based on skin tones. Oftentimes we understand racism “to be inherited” or “to be carried.” This suggests that we are not responsible for these behaviors. The superstition part is the belief that somehow these beliefs are essential and to fail to perform these ritualistic behavior is to risk stability and safety. So, if we understand racism as something that we craft and behaviors that we do, then we have immediately at our disposal several ways in which we can understand crucial behaviors that create spaces of inequity, fear, and isolation.
The first behavior cannot be easily detected. It is our implicit bias and it rests in the unconscious. Implicit bias occurs when someone consciously rejects stereotypes and supports anti-discrimination efforts but also holds negative associations in his/her mind. Implicit bias can come from brain stimuli and schema. Based upon visual and aural cues, individuals make automatic judgments about what category a particular person fits within and we often act on those judgments. Implicit bias responses often begin with the limbic system (describe) and our need to unconsciously categorize along simple lines of safety/danger. Our limbic systems are crucial regarding primal survival needs and humans need to understand the complicated and complex world. Things become less constructive and more violent when the brain, which automatically generalizes starts to categorize and conclude in ways that are unproductive and discriminatory. Thus, implicit bias does not mean that people are hiding their racial prejudices. People literally do not know they have them. According to brain science, implicit biases are often positively or negatively triggered by past experiences, memories and conditioning and, thus, unintentionally different things get linked together. Implicit bias creates embedded stereotypes that heavily and arguably always influence our decision-making without our conscious knowledge. And as if this is not enough, the process becomes further entrenched. Once a group or category has been defined through brain processes and cultural conditioning, humans tend to exaggerate the differences between different groups and to presume homogeneity. We possess logical fallacies and we learn that we are not as rational as we think. “Trusting the gut” becomes really problematic. Repeated brain science and cultural conditioning reinforces implicit biases in an unwieldy cycle that unless addressed head on, sustains and reinforces discriminatory action and thinking. While it seems inaccessible and impossible to fix, there are at least four behaviors to intercept of interrupt implicit bias. First and foremost, one must have awareness about the existence of implicit bias and your relationship to it. Secondly, constant education about the way implicit bias operates and where it appears and its impact. Detecting and eliminating implicit bias requires constant self-reflection and self-patrol. Finally, when our implicit bias appears we need to enact counter behaviors. We need to privately and publicly acknowledge, apologize when necessary, and allow ourselves and others to recover. We must understand that implicit bias wells run deep. We must understand that our society relies on our limbic systems, our fears and safeties, to control us, to create divisions, to control access to opportunities, rights, and resources.
The second behavior is created by implicit bias and is in fact an externalization of implicit bias. Micro-aggressions are actually macro-aggressions and come from the social conditioning of whites. Micro-aggressions are commonplace daily verbal, behavioral, or environmental indignities, whether intentional or unintentional, which communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative slights and insults toward people. The chief vehicles for anti-equity behaviors are micro-aggressions. These are pervasive, conscious, unconscious, subtle, stunning, often automatic, and non verbal exchanges which are ‘put-downs’ of individuals by offenders.” They are perceived as innocuous, harmless and are perceived as free speech. Can be verbal or non-verbal (failure to make eye contact/closed body). Micro aggressions involve: overt charged intentional discriminatory attacks or avoidance behaviors. They convey rudeness and insensitivity and demean a person’s identity and can negate or nullify the psychological thoughts, feelings, or experiential reality of minority persons. Some examples include: alien in one’s own land, ascription of intelligence, blindness and privilege, criminality & assumption of criminal status, denial of individual oppression, myth of meritocracy, pathologizing cultural values & communication styles, second-class status and environmental micro-aggressions.
Wow, right and still, and still people think that micro-aggressions are much ado about nothing, that they are political correctness run amok, that acceptance and attention to this creates a fragile and fractures society but I would humbly submit that this is not the case. Micro-aggressions create tremendous stress (conscious and unconscious). If left to fester, micro-aggressions can cause serious psychological and physical damage, including depression, frustration, anger, rage, loss of self-esteem, and anxiety. Micro aggressions justifies inequality, reinforces stereotypes, sends societal cues that signal devaluation of social group identities, firms up and legitimizes hidden or unintentional biases, and creates disparities in law, health care, education, legislation and other spaces in society. Because of their often stunning and lightning speed, micro-aggressions are insidious. People who experience them often wonder: did the person engage in micro aggressive behavior or did the “victim” misinterpret the action? These behaviors and their “invisibility” mask unintentional expressions of bias. They come in so fast that when it happens, the individual is not sure if it happened, whether it was deliberate, how to respond, and what are the ramifications for responding. Adding to the destabilization, the perpetrator is usually sincere in the belief that they acted without bias. Confrontations often lead to accusing the victim of having overreacted and responses are almost always negative. Additionally, people perceive that micro-aggressions cause minimal harm. Thus, perpetrator and victim are most likely to “let it go” thereby allowing the behavior to persist. Finally, victims of repeated micr0-aggressions fall into the “it won’t change anything anyway” trap.
So what are we to do when we commit a micro-aggression or are micro-aggressed? First, we simply stop what we are doing and quiet the space and our egos and nerves. Then we say, “I am sorry.” I often marvel at the healing that is accomplished by those words and equally gob smacked when we are afraid to conduct the healing because we have misguided egos, understand apologies to mean weakness instead of empowerment. Next, we find out what happened? We ask, not about intent, but about impact. We listen to the story. We acknowledge the other’s story, we trust when they say they have been aggressed and impacted even when we ourselves cannot see it. Finally, we ask what steps must we take to bring the relationship back to a good space. AND then we take those stops. We adopt neutral or if we can, compassionate body language and tone. We must allow people to recover from micro-aggressions. Humiliation or gossip serves to reinforce embarrassment and thus exacerbates aggression. We address micro-aggressions because we want to stop the injuries and chasms that come through micro aggressions. We do not want to cause our friends or community members pain.
So now I would like to address another behavior that is interfering with the complete success of communities—stereotype threat. Stereotype threat is a situational predicament in which people are or feel themselves to be at risk of confirming negative stereotypes about their social group. Stereotype threat has been shown to reduce the performance of individuals who belong to negatively stereotyped groups. If negative stereotypes are present regarding a specific group, group members are likely to become anxious about their performance, which may hinder their ability to perform at their maximum level. Importantly, the individual does not need to subscribe to the stereotype for it to be activated. Moreover, the specific mechanism through which anxiety (induced by the activation of the stereotype) decreases performance is by depleting working memory. It may occur whenever an individual’s performance might confirm a negative stereotype because stereotype threat is thought to arise from a particular situation, rather than from an individual’s personality traits or characteristics. Since most people have at least one social identity, which is negatively stereotyped, most people are vulnerable to stereotype threat if they encounter a situation in which the stereotype is relevant. Situational factors that increase stereotype threat can include: the difficulty of the task, the belief that the task measures their abilities, the relevance of the stereotype to the task. Individuals show higher degrees of stereotype threat on tasks they wish to perform well and when they identify strongly with the stereotyped group. These effects are also increased when they expect discrimination due to their identification with negatively stereotyped group. Repeated experiences of stereotype threat can lead to a vicious circle of diminished confidence, poor performance, and loss of interest in the relevant area of achievement. The consequences of stereotype threat include: decreased performance, internal attributions for failure, self-handicapping, task discounting, distancing the self from the stereotyped group, disengagement and dis-identification and altered professional identities and aspirations. Behind the stereotype threat rests anxiety, negative cognition, lowered performance expectations, reduced effort, reduced self-control, reduced creativity, flexibility and speed and excess effort or attention.
So with this tremendous device and the fact that all of us can be subject to stereotype threat, how do we reduce stereotype threat? First, we can deemphasize threatened social identities. We can utilize a method that increases the sense of self-complexity. We can also encourage self-affirmation. This can be done by encouraging people to think about their characteristics, skills, values, or roles that they value or view as important. The nature of the feedback provided regarding performance has been shown to affect perceived bias, individual motivation, and domain identification. The effectiveness of critical feedback, particularly on tasks that involve potential confirmation of group stereotypes varies as a function of the signals that are sent in the framing of the feedback. Constructive feedback appears most effective when it communicates high standards for performance but also assurances that the student is capable of meeting those high standards. Several studies have shown that stereotype threat can be diminished by providing individuals with explanations regarding why anxiety and distraction are occurring that do not implicate the self or validate the stereotype. Some individuals tend to believe that intelligence is fixed, not changing over time or across contexts. Others tend to view intelligence as a quality that can be developed and that it changes across contexts or over time (an “incremental theory”).
Finally, the issue of privilege exists as the final peg that creates and maintains inequity in a learning community. Privilege exists when one group has something of value that is denied to others simply because of the groups they belong to, rather than because of anything they’ve done or failed to do. Access to privilege does not determine one’s outcomes, but it is definitely an asset that makes it more likely that whatever talent, ability, and aspirations a person with privilege has will result in something positive for them. This can come in the form of citizenship, class, gender, ability, sexuality, and religion. In many ways people who have privilege may universalize their values, perceptions, thoughts and behaviors and you want to watch out for this. We are not to blame for the class, race, gender, or sexuality that you are born into but we must consider the ways in which you can use the benefits that you have acquired because of it. Privilege operates interpersonally through assumptions about what is normal/problematic and through assumptions that everyone operates on your paradigm. Privilege is so damaging because it provides individuals with a false sense of power. It causes unnecessary division. Privilege discourses have hurt justice and equity as silencing mechanisms, through shutting down others’ conversations and contributions, by emphasizing pain, humiliation and embarrassment, by alienating or marginalizing, when expressing past trauma and project it unknowingly onto another. One can use their access to power to promote and ensure equity.
So how do we access our understanding of our own privilege? First, we must willingly ask questions, honestly and productively face answers, understood how privilege has impacted my success, understood how privilege has impacted my failures, be willing to be uncomfortable but staying focused, avoid finding reasons to move away from the ideas or thoughts, understanding the anger and suspiciousness that might come your way, not being paralyzed by others’ mistrust, and by accepting that you may experience guilt, shame, humiliation and confusion. So we recognize these issues and we can, yes we can easily navigate through privilege. We must create genuine and authentic relationships with people of color. We must not demand that certain conditions be met before you will act. We must check assumptions and expectations about what can be accomplished when people of color lead. We must leverage our privilege for good. We must avoid blaming the victim. We must avoid But What About Me? Syndrome and we must avoid overcompensating. Also, we must understand the anger of people who have not had privileged.
And so my dear friends, I have arrived at the end of my remarks. I hope that through this lightning fast address you understand a few things. First, you have the power to build a community of equity. You need not wait on some big shift to happen, you are the shift. Second, this work begins within, that is, this work is dependent on your self-reflection. I say that we have gone awry when we so easily patrol others’ behavior without a glance toward our own or when we weaponize our knowledge and instead of building community, we embarrass, marginalize and alienate. Third, its not that hard. Think about it like exercise, the first few times or weeks that we do something it causes fatigue and pain and sometimes even despair. But that quickly changes and we are empowered by our abilities to make change immediately and not waiting for others. We must have the bravery of a warrior, the intelligence of a sage, and the compassion of a mother. Thank you so much for your time.