April Hathcock
This etherpad is for the ALAAC2018 Sunday 2:30pm–3:30pm session: Breaking Below the Surface of Racism, Whiteness, and Implicit Bias

Session Starts #

  • Starting off with a handout with a scenario from the perspective of “Todd and “Jamilah” about implicit bias, microaggressions, etc
  • Discussing scenario in small groups and sharing out what could be done in this situation
  • Since the audience microphone isn’t wireless, April is doing a fantastic job of rephrasing / repeating audience statements into her microphone for the group

  • Can’t talk about race & racism without talking about whiteness and implicit bias more broadly

  • Implicit bias: assumptions, both conscious and unconscious

  • Whiteness is a form of implicit bias based on race that’s also an ideology with whiteness, white values, white perspectives valued above those of people of color

  • whiteness can pop up anywhere, everywhere, since it’s rooted in centuries of our society’s development

  • Whiteness goes beyond overt hostile act; can be nice, polite, friendly while still being just as harmful

  • “Whiteness-berg”:
    • niceness, politeness vs overt racist acts, racial slurs above the waterline
    • microaggressions, implicit bias below the waterline; need to be pulled up to be addressed

  • Another water analogy: whiteness is a fast-moving current; if you stand still, you’ll nevertheless be swept away. You have to resist, grab on to something, actively fight against the current. There is no way to be ‘neutral’ in the current of whiteness.

  • How do we fight against this? By constantly bringing it to the surface.
  • to resist bias, need to name, question, challenge the bias
  • “I put this in the form of ‘you’ because we do that.” We make assumptions, we mess up.

  • Anti-racist Practice 1: You have trouble remembering how to pronounce your coworkers name. You ask them if they have a ‘more American’ name you can use instead.

  • Ways to challenge bias (scenario 1): having a name you’re not familiar with doesn’t make a person ‘less American’, just because a name is unfamiliar doesn’t mean you can’t learn how to say it (you probably already know how to say other names but ones that are more familiar to you)

  • Anti-racist Practice 2: You approach a Black woman behind the desk and ask her to get someone ‘more qualified’ to answer your reference question.

  • Ways to challenge bias (scenario 2): The supervisor or other person can do a micro affirmation and assure the patron that the Black woman is the most qualified person to answer that question.

  • Anti-racist Practice 3: You and your Latinx colleague are standing outside the restrooms. A student notifies you that the restrooms are out of toilet paper, and your colleague responds that they will let facilities know. The student replies, “Oh, I thought YOU worked for facilities.”

  • Ways to challenge bias (scenario 3):
    • ask the offending person why they made the assumption, which allows them to work through the assumption themselves
    • nonjudgment tone is helpful
    • “help me understand” etc
    • microaffirmations
  • Asked to define microaggression - usually unintentional, based on assumptions

  • microaffirmation: stepping in to rebut(?) the aggression taking place. Affirming humanity and dignity of the person

  • Audience member expresses concerns about swooping in and pushing aside and ‘saving’ the person experiencing the microaggressions.

  • April says you can step in without stepping over or stepping in front of - that’s why it’s a micro affirmation.

  • Always good to check in with the person later as to what their preference is and how they’d like you as an ally to handle it

  • Audience member says to think of a micro affirmation as a subtle indicator that this person belongs in this space.

  • The more you practice the more ready you are. Hard, uncomfortable work but important to do.

Questions & Answers #

Audience Q: A boss-type asked a librarian what she thought about ‘those patrons’ referring to a specific patron who is a woman of color with possible potential mental health issues and is experiencing homelessness.

April (modeling a happy voice with a smile): “What? Rose? I love Rose, she has great stories. I’m so glad she has a wonderful opportunity to come to the library. People think that libraries are irrelevant but isn’t it great that she can come here? I can’t imagine being without a home and not having access to resources, so I’m so glad that we are here for her!” And gives a shout out to her mom (who is in the audience) who taught her how to do this.

Audience Q: What if you’re trying to compliment someone and engaging in a microaggressions (ie: complimenting someone’s hair but one that exoticizes the hair)

April: Ask yourself why you want to engage in that specific conversation with that specific person. She uses the example of people complimenting her for being ‘so articulate’ when they would never give that compliment to a white dude.

Audience Answer: We need to be in charge of hiring and hire diverse people. If a student assumes that a Latinx person is a facility worker, is that because our library ONLY hires Latinx people for facilities and ONLY hires white people for professional positions? “The conversation is the demonstration of what the customer sees”

List of recommended readings:

(I missed these)