I would be remiss to let February go by and not talk about the importance of Black History Month. While I am sure you heard we have a Black president therefore we are a “post-racial” society I could talk your ear off on why that is obviously silly. But I am not going to. I am going to let you prove it to yourself. I am a fan of Malcolm Gladwell, in his book Blink there is a section on implicit associates (I know this is starting to sound too braniac and you just want sledding photos but hang with me for a moment) It is the idea that certain associations play into our beliefs and behaviors. The basic premise is you have what you believe on a conscious level and then you have what you believe at a subconscious level. Harvard has a series of IAT tests. There is a test on race here, that I encourage you to try. (it takes only a few minutes) You will be surprised at how your mind makes a white preference (often even if you are not white) just because of what you are exposed to everyday, but here is where it gets interesting- Read a book about Nelson Mandela, or an article on the Buffalo Soldiers right before you take the test and your score will change. In Blink there is a story of a guy who takes the test everyday to track the data and then all the sudden one day he gets a strong positive association with Blacks, and try as you might this is a tough test to trick, so he starts to think about why and he realizes he has watched Black track and field Olympians all day do what they do best for their country, giving him a strong subconscious association. So there you go, that’s my argument. We have plenty of white history and positive white association (your test score will show that) we need to consciously make an effort to expose ourselves and our families to positive Black and other diverse role models to mold our subconscious mind to match our external drive for equality, not just in February but every day.
Oh the other tests are fun too.
Great post – really thought provoking. I’ve often been embarrassed about my scores on these tests. Guess I fall squarely into your recommendation. So for all of the readers of the blog – what are your favorite sources of positive black influences?