Tag: bias

mind shift

Amy Clark1 Comment

So, it is Monday. And on top of that, lately I have been a little too permissive with myself and my ability to sink into the stereotypical expectation that Monday will be awful…endless…just the worst. Truly, before this particular Monday even arrived, I had already imagined the drama and distraction and defeat it would wield.

(of course it didn’t help that Monday’s first greeting was my smoke alarm blaring at 2 am…but that wasn’t Monday’s fault…not entirely anyway)

But, this morning (after recovering from the deafening rudeness that awakened me hours before), I rerouted my usual attitude. I was determined to breathe in positivity and joy and to exhale peace and grace and to bring that goodness into the day with me. And I have to say that served in superior fashion to subvert the self-induced misery that could have easily infiltrated my day. And honestly, it would have have been a self inflicted wound–because that is what bias does when we allow it to. It distracts us from the goodness the other might contain. And while my opinions about Mondays are a pretty menial example of the impact of bias, it is still worthy of notation that I willingly sacrifice this day every week because of what I assume will happen with no true knowledge of what might actually happen. I relinquish the possibility of a happy or productive or joyful Monday just because someone a long time ago decided to denounce the day. We do this all the time, in so many significant ways.

Which makes me wonder…

What am I missing out on?

This question draws me into deeper reflection on the implicit bias I carry in other areas of my life (that we all carry in other areas of our lives…it is just human nature):

What other goodness am I absent from? What possibilities am I preventing myself from participating in? Who am I withholding myself from knowing better? How much different would the world be if we quit assuming we know the things and started asking questions to find out more…to dig deeper…to understand and to uncover the truth rather than the baseless expectation?

Humans are complex creatures. To assume we know someone or something because the stereotype is the easy excuse, the popular story, incurs loss on so many levels for the person in control of the assumption and even moreso for those on the other side of it.

Monday has not truly earned its bad name with me. I never gave it a chance to be anything other than awful when I think about it. So as I move forward into Tuesday which has notoriously become known to me as “2nd Monday”, I do so with a different attitude. One of wondering what goodness the day might bring…one of owning my responsibility in actively making the day better (because let’s face it, the order in which the days arrive means something, but they are not in control of whether we enjoy them or not…that is really on us).

And as a good friend of mine told me this evening— “I don’t know, Mondays are full of hope for me. It’s the beginning of something new.” (that will make you shift your focus!) So, by this logic, if Tuesday is truly second Monday, amazing possibilities await. (thank you, Kristen for steering me in a new direction–just goes to prove, the words we say have impact we never anticipate!)

So, go out into this world tomorrow (or tonight) and shift someone’s perspective for the better. Break them free from their blinders and open their horizon to new understanding. And then be ready to receive the same grace in return. It is a whole new day after all…a gift of life…and we choose how to spend it.

(Day 4–positivity project)

100 word challenge

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My AP students are studying photo essays and the idea of bias has become a focus. Discussions shepherded them toward realizations that we cannot simply observe what is included in the photographs–we must also pause to consider what is excluded. They have come to recognize that in every story (including our history), the story teller shapes the telling–selecting or rejecting the details that reflect their experience, their understanding. The story teller owns the power. Since story is inextricably tied to human experience, investigating who we grant that power becomes a critical step in how we see the world and ourselves.

(Day 25–today I needed a challenge within the challenge. Since I like to use all the words and overword everything, getting this thought across only using 100 words forced me to weight each word chosen…which was a nice departure from the same format day after day. I feel as though some things were left unsaid and that the point could be punchier, but this was a fun exercise nonetheless.)

 

today

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Today is a day where I am ever more mindful that speaking out for justice is always necessary, even and especially when it is not easy. Today is a day where I am ever more aware that speaking out for justice is always going to be easier and safer for me than it has been and continues to be for so many others. Today is a day where I am reminded that speaking out for justice runs far deeper than simply posting a quote from a famous(ly assassinated) civil rights leader on social media. Today is a day where I refuse to believe that civil discourse is dead when I have the ability to teach young people just what it looks like and why it is important every day of the school year–the discussions will be difficult but they don’t have to be hateful–they can and should be an opportunity to ask, to listen, to grow. Today is a day where I understand the weight of the world that my privilege allows me to ignore so much of the time, that for others is the absolute heaviness of their constant reality. Today is a day where I call myself into question for nestling into that comfort instead of calling attention to the voices that deserve amplification, instead of fighting every single day. Today is a day where I refuse to be hopeless in a world that seems tilted past repair. Today is a day where I decide that while peace is part of the answer, I cannot wait for it to arrive; I have to live into it loudly and demand it for those who still await its presence (because, quite honestly, what is my peace worth if it is a singular entity, if it is not shared broadly and widely by all–because all deserve the freedom it brings). Today is a day where I am ever more certain that the freedom that allows us to feel triumphant in the world isn’t really freedom until every single one of us is allowed to stand under the protection of its umbrella. Today is a day where I turn my gaze inward with an honest eye to understand  my own bias, to understand my role in recognizing it and in pushing past it because even though that honesty will bring uncomfortable moments, my discomfort pales in the comparison. Today is a day where I recognize the truth of what it means to love my neighbor…to love others because they are a creation of God and because they are human (just like me)…that love is always deserved.

Today is a day where I remember (who I am called to be). Today is a call to action.

(I found this sonnet recently by James Weldon Johnson–I’ve spent some time with it today so I figured I would include it.)

(Day 16 of the king cake season blog a day challenge! This one is short but today was a lot about internal work. This blog speaks to the nature of it–more to write in response in the days to come)

ask

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So, I’ve spent the weekend with teachers from around the country talking about and considering the importance of inquiry and literacy for kids. Even though we have all come from different places, it just so happens that this institute is being held in my home town, New Orleans. However, despite being in my actual hometown, I have found myself confronted and surrounded by more thoughtless stereotypes about this city that I love and about what it could mean to be from here than at any other point in my life–which has also heightened my realization that the number of people who buy into these over generalizations and the number of people who label the residents of this city based on those assumptions is far larger than I might have originally thought.

I suppose I sort of insulate myself–wrap myself in the belief that surely people know there is something more to the fabric of this richly historic town, something more to its culture and to the people who cling to it fervently than just raucous drunkenness. More than just a Southern drawl (that actually doesn’t even exist here). More than the sort of grotesque caricature shown in film and on television that is fun to imagine but denies the complexity of reality.

I just assumed that people would know better. I felt like if nothing else, the resilience and spirit the people of this city displayed in the aftermath of Katrina should have helped to erase some of the broad brush strokes. People weren’t just clinging to a city in those days; they were clinging to their home. But time has passed and I suppose those images have become blurry, maybe a little forgotten.

So, as I attempt to absorb and understand the nature of these predispositions, as I attempt to inform without sounding too defensive, I recognize that as frustrating as this bias has been, I don’t have to face it everyday. On any given day, I am mostly surrounded by native Louisianians. But, there are far too many people in this world who have been walled in by stereotypical expectations and who live every single day of their lives trying to break free from that prison of sorts. I have come to realize that just as teachers at this institute  have been breaking away from their assumptions by working through an inquiry process, through a question asking process to uncover some truths about this city and its people, we need to be conducting inquiry every single day of the week in every week of every year to uncover the truth of those around us. We need to take the time to ask the questions that will scratch past the facade we have created with our simplistic assumptions.  We need to ask questions that show interest in actually understanding rather than gathering ammunition to further judgement. We need to ask questions so that we can listen and consider the information and then reconsider our original thoughts. We need to ask questions without fear of having to admit we were wrong–because that admission is where the change begins.

I’ve lived in or near this city my whole life and felt like I didn’t really need this inquiry group study. Except in asking questions on our topic, I realized there was still more to uncover. I was reminded that my story and understanding of this city is just one of many and that I haven’t paid nearly enough attention to some of the threads that make the fabric of this town so rich, so vibrant. In acting as though we know the truth of a person or community or faith or country without ever asking or seeking to know more, without ever hearing the narrative of the person or people living the reality, we will live our lives ignorant of the vibrance of the whole story. And that loss is profound. That loss is dangerous.

Ask.

(Day 15 of the king cake season writing challenge–this could have easily been about the Saints playoff game instead…figured I would channel that energy here instead…can’t win them all I suppose…)