"How to be Less Stupid About Race"

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Introduction

         Crystal Fleming is a researcher and professor who studies sociology and Africana studies at Stony Brook University. She has written two books, Resurrecting Slavery and How to Be Less Stupid About Race. She came to campus on March 4, 2019 to discuss her “How to Be Less Stupid About Race” book. She shared insight with the audience about the inherent system of racism in the United States. After listening to Fleming and having her come in to talk with my class, I wanted actively change my thinking and behavior for the better, which you can read about below. This demonstrates the ability to apply key concepts to act ethically and affect social change, learning objective eight. It has also driven me to demonstrate drive/motivation to learn and interact with different cultures and world views, learning objective three. 

Reflection

         I had the privilege of attending the “How to Be Less Stupid About Race” lecture by Crystal Fleming held at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Fleming is an intellectual, a professor, and researcher. Her research examines how people of African descent conceptualize and respond to racial oppression in multiple national settings. In her recent book of “How to Be Less Stupid About Race,” she extends her work on racism and anti-racism by further exploring the dynamics of global white supremacy and anti-blackness. Fleming describes race as a deeply held and believed system of power that is a socially constructed issue in the United States. 

         Fleming started her presentation with a powerful quote, “Living in a racist society exposes us all to racial ignorance.” Racial ignorance can be defined by the idea that growing up in a racist society, being socialized in a racist society, exposes all of us to racial ignorance and racial stupidity. Moreover, making us numb or blind to the problems we have with racism in the United States. She wanted to emphasize that we can all be at fault for racial ignorances, no matter what race you are. Fleming followed this up by stating the fact that racial ignorance is held by whites for the majority, for obvious reasons, but that just because you are black it does not guarantee that you are knowledgeable about race and racism. She gives the example that Kanye West, a famous African-American music artist, said that slaves had a choice. This just goes to further prove her point that the lack of knowledge on racial issues, or racial ignorance is very prevalent in today’s society. This stems from a system that has oppressed races, and has tried to wipe history of some gruesome facts by leaving out certain things when teaching history in schools. It is common to not want to talk about the elephant in the room, this elephant being race, but unless it is talked about it will not change. At the end of her talk, Fleming encouraged us to have the hard talks, especially the ones that make us uncomfortable so that we can become more knowledgeable and aware.

         Flemings quote, along with her declaration that no one is exempt from racial ignorance, really resonated with me. I have never thought of myself as racist, but I have also never thought of myself as not racist, if that seems to make sense. This made me individually check my biases. Such that, I walked around with the notion that I was better than those who are blatantly biased and/or racist but I’m not. I still have those prejudices and stereotypes because I grew up as a white female who grew up in a predominately white, primarily conservative, small town in rural Wisconsin. However, I never would have known that I hold these biases, and that they are in fact a form of racial ignorance and brought on by hyper segregation, if I never had the opportunity to learn about these topics from Ms. Fleming. For her presentation, she discussed hyper segregation by white Americans and how this segregation has led to the systematic racist social norms that we have as a society today. Hyper segregation is so ingrained in our society and subconscious that even when we had our first black president the wealth gap between races continued to grow, and still continues to grow today. Segregation is not a thing of the past. However, she urged the audience to notice that we are all on a journey with our stance when it comes to knowledge about race and experiences with race. 

         After attending Flemings lecture and having her come speak to my class, I felt guilty for having privilege. Such that, I have never had to worry about racial slurs, or if I’m going to get racially profiled, or worry if I am not going to make it home after getting pulled over by the police, and many more privileges that I may not even realize. Once I took time to reflect I came to the realization that I am more guilty that I haven’t done anything of importance towards fighting the systematic oppression that minorities face, rather than being guilty about what I cannot change. Since I felt this pit in my stomach and guilt that I could not explain at first, I really had to reflect on my own privilege and the lack of having learned experiences about race. I had to check my racial ignorance. 

         From now on, I am going to be more conscientious about my surroundings, other people, how I act, and how I react to certain situations based on my race and biases. To start, I will individually check my biases by slowly recognizing what biases are in place. Such as profiling someone versus people profiling me. Why do I do that and who do I do it to? Do other people do it to me? What are other people experiencing versus what I am experiencing? Then, how can I change this? What am I able to do to make an impact on social change? I plan to continually ask myself these questions so as to keep my mind open when interacting with others and help me learn more about how others interact based on different characteristics such as race.

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