Implicit Bias how it affects us and how we push through Melanie Funchess TEDxFlourCity HD 108
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Not SyncedImplicit Bias -- how it affects us and how we push through | Melanie Funchess | TEDxFlourCity
https://youtu.be/T5-5HT3kEDo -
Not Syncedhttps://youtu.be/rBKHxCyn7eY
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Not Synced♪ [music] ♪
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Not Synced[applause from audience]
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Not Synced>[MELANIE FUNCHESS]
I would like to begin my talk -
Not Syncedwith an important message.
-
Not SyncedYou know, like the ones for
the pharmaceutical companies -
Not Syncedwhen they see people walking
lazily along the beach -
Not Syncedor running in slow motion
through fields of flowers, -
Not Syncedwhere they tell you the side effects of their product?
-
Not Synced[audience laughs]
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Not Synced“Nausea, vomiting, heart arrhythmia, constipation,
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Not SyncedUgh! impotence.
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Not Synced[intensely]
Erections lasting more than 4 hours.” -
Not Synced[audience laughs]
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Not SyncedBut seriously, I'm going to say
some things during my talk -
Not Syncedthat may make you uncomfortable, [with emphasis] and they should.
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Not SyncedBut what I ask of you in this time
is to stay present with me through this -
Not Syncedand ask yourself some critical questions, to really listen closer
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Not Syncedand really question your own thoughts and behaviors
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Not Syncedand be open to a new view of yourself.
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Not SyncedYou may ask, as I start to present this,
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Not Syncedyou may say, “Oh, Melanie,
I got that. I know this. -
Not SyncedI read the book!
This doesn't apply to me.” -
Not SyncedI would like to challenge that belief.
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Not SyncedYou may say, “What is this concept that is so controversial
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Not Syncedthat she feels she needs
a prefaced statement?” -
Not SyncedThe concept is implicit bias.
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Not SyncedLet me tell you a story.
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Not SyncedA young couple, college sweethearts,
they graduate school, -
Not Syncedbegin their careers, get married,
and start a family. -
Not SyncedAs they start to approach their 30s,
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Not Syncedthey begin to say that they're closing in on the American dream.
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Not SyncedThey purchase their first home.
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Not SyncedThree weeks after they close on this home,
the husband becomes violently ill. -
Not SyncedThis family — husband, wife,
three children ages 5, 3 and 1, -
Not Syncedand a baby on the way —
go searching for the diagnosis -
Not Syncedthat has stricken this otherwise healthy and vital 32-year-old man.
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Not SyncedTurn to your neighbor,
and say, “Four weeks later.” -
Not Synced>[AUDIENCE] Four weeks later.
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Not Synced>[FUNCHESS] As this man lays critically ill and dying in the hospital,
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Not Synceddoctors are circling
around a cluster of diseases -
Not Syncedthat they know must be
the thing that is killing this man. -
Not SyncedDespite the fact that all the tests for these
diseases have come back negative, -
Not Syncedthey begin to harass the husband and ask him to tell the truth
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Not Syncedand to really open up and let them know
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Not Syncedabout his IV drug use and his
secret unprotected sex with men. -
Not SyncedYou see, they were trying to make
the case to continue looking for HIV -
Not Synceddespite multiple negative tests.
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Not SyncedFinally, the wife comes and says, “Why— What are you looking for?”
-
Not Syncedto which the doctors reply,
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Not Synced“We're looking for HIV
and sarcoidosis.” -
Not SyncedSo the wife, kind of perplexed
-
Not Syncedbecause [she] thought
they'd
already ruled those out, -
Not Syncedsays, “Well, why are you
looking at only those diseases?” -
Not Syncedto which the doctors say,
“Well, as a young African-American male—” -
Not SyncedShe becomes irate
and says, “Stop right there! -
Not SyncedI want you to check my husband
for things that white people get.” -
Not Synced>[AUDIENCE] Ooh.
-
Not Synced>[FUNCHESS] And magically,
within days, they have a diagnosis. -
Not SyncedStage IV B,
non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma; -
Not Syncedand a prognosis: two weeks to live.
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Not SyncedYou know, the implicit bias
that existed within these doctors -
Not SyncedResulted in the behavior
that showed what diseases -
Not Syncedthey chose to — and not to — look for.
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Not SyncedThe implicit bias of these doctors
said how much they value -
Not Syncedthey placed — or did not place —
upon the information -
Not Syncedthat they received
from the patient and his wife. -
Not SyncedYou may say,
“Melanie, how does this happen? -
Not SyncedHow do we, as good activists
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Not Syncedand hardworking, progressive, open-minded American citizens,
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Not Syncedhow do we continue to fall into
the story of these stereotypes?” -
Not SyncedImplicit bias, those unconscious things that have been flowing through us since childhood.
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Not Syncedyou may say to me,
“Well, what is implicit bias?’ -
Not SyncedWell, I'm going to give you
an academic definition. -
Not SyncedImplicit bias, otherwise known
as implicit social cognition, -
Not Syncedare those attitudes and stereotypes
that affect our behaviors, our decisions, -
Not Syncedand our attitudes unconsciously.
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Not SyncedI relate it to, like, ”The Matrix.”
Anyone here seen “The Matrix”? -
Not SyncedWhen you're in the matrix,
you don't know you're in there. -
Not SyncedYou're just happily walking along
thinking everything is okay. -
Not SyncedWell, I'm here today to yank out the plug
and disconnect you from the mainframe. -
Not Synced[audience laughter]
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Not SyncedLet me share with you another story.
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Not SyncedThere's a… “Picture it….”
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Not Synced(I feel like Sophia Petrillo
[from the TV show “Golden Girls”]). -
Not Synced[as Sophia] “Picture it.”
-
Not Synced[audience laughter]
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Not Synced>[FUNCHESS] Fourth grade math class,
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Not Synceda teacher asks for volunteers
to go up to the board -
Not Syncedto work on long division.
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Not SyncedOne young girl and two
of her friends go up -
Not Syncedand they start working on the board.
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Not SyncedThe little girl is the first one done.
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Not SyncedSince she's the first one done,
she starts checking her answer, -
Not Syncedlooking it over, and now
that she's very convinced -
Not Syncedthat she's got the right answer,
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Not Syncedshe waves to the teacher
to check her work, -
Not SyncedShe hears a sound from the back of the room.
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Not Synced>[in a low voice as the teacher]
The answer is wrong. -
Not SyncedCheck it again.
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Not SyncedThe girl, quite perplexed
because she checked it twice -
Not Syncedand she knew it was right,
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Not Syncedshe goes back to the board
and she checks her computations again, -
Not Syncedgetting the same answer,
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Not Syncedso she goes back to the teacher and says, “Teacher! Teacher!
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Not SyncedI know it's right.
I checked it three times.” -
Not SyncedNow at this point, the teacher
being very stern, sharply says, -
Not Synced[in a stern voice]
“I said it's wrong. Check it again.” -
Not SyncedNow, the girl is thoroughly perplexed.
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Not SyncedIt's math. It's either it's right or it's wrong,
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Not Syncedso she goes to her desk
where she has a calculator. -
Not SyncedShe starts working on her computation
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Not Syncedand it's the same one as is on the board.
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Not SyncedNow she's thoroughly convinced.
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Not SyncedShe says [to herself]
“The teacher cannot say anything.” -
Not SyncedSo she holds up her calculator
and says, “Teacher, Teacher! Look! -
Not SyncedI got it right, all the way
to the thousandth place.” -
Not SyncedNow, this teacher, thoroughly upset
-
Not Syncedat this student continuing
to challenge her -
Not Syncedsays, “I said the answer is wrong.
You niggers can't do anything right.” -
Not Synced>[AUDIENCE] Ooh.
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Not Synced>[FUNCHESS]
The student is struck dumb -
Not Syncedby the words that just hit her like a cannon.
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Not SyncedShe didn't understand.
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Not SyncedWhy is the teacher saying
this to her? -
Not Synced>[STUDENT, to herself]
I don't understand. Why is this happening? -
Not Synced>[FUNCHESS] Her father
was a mathematician with a PhD -
Not Syncedfrom a prestigious university.
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Not SyncedShe had learned long division in first grade
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Not Syncedand a different method for doing it.
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Not SyncedShe didn't understand.
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Not SyncedWhy was her teacher saying this to her?
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Not SyncedThis little girl learned the first
of many valuable lessons that day. -
Not SyncedFirst, she learned that her teacher did not see her as a gifted student.
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Not SyncedTwo, her teacher didn't see her
as the child of educated parents. -
Not SyncedThe teacher did not even see
a correct math problem on the board. -
Not SyncedSome people may say
this woman was a raging racist -
Not Syncedand only saw the child
as an uppity nigger -
Not Syncedwho could not conform and do right.
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Not SyncedBut what I'd like to offer to you today is another frame.
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Not SyncedCould it be that this teacher,
her implicit bias had so ingrained to her -
Not Syncedthat Blacks were so intellectually
inferior and unintelligent, -
Not Syncedthat it was impossible for
a child in an urban school -
Not Syncedto not only get the problem correct,
but do it in a different method? -
Not SyncedThen when faced with something
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Not Syncedthat all her life, that her biases
had told her was impossible, -
Not Syncedthat could not possibly be,
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Not Syncedreacted from such a primal place
to protect that worldview -
Not Syncedthat she had held sacred
up until that time? -
Not SyncedThere's another quote.
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Not SyncedSome people are just
not ready to be unplugged. -
Not SyncedThey are so [ignorant],
so dependent on the system as it stands -
Not Syncedthat they will fight to protect it.
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Not SyncedAgain, in “The Matrix,” that's Morpheus.
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Not SyncedImplicit biases are pervasive.
We all have them. -
Not SyncedEven people with avowed commitment to impartiality,
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Not Syncedlike let's say judges.
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Not SyncedNow, you may say to me,
“Melanie, these are wild stories. -
Not SyncedThese are extreme examples.
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Not SyncedWe are good people.
Good people don't do these things. -
Not SyncedThat can't be real.”
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Not SyncedLet me tell you today:
This is very real. -
Not SyncedI'm going to share a piece
of information with you -
Not Syncedabout these stories that's going
to tell you how real they are. -
Not SyncedThese are both stories out of my life.
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Not SyncedIn the first story, I was the wife,
Who, big and pregnant — -
Not Syncedas my mother said, “big with child”
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Not Syncedhad to fight to get people to check my husband for things that white people got.
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Not SyncedAnd the implicit biases,
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Not Syncedthose doctors could have
left a woman without a husband, -
Not Syncedchildren without a father,
and a mother without a son. -
Not SyncedI was the grifted fourth grade student in the second story.
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Not SyncedIn that story, in the end,
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Not Syncedit led to my first act of
nonviolent social protest. -
Not SyncedI staged a sit-in for 100 days
in my living room. -
Not Synced[audience applauds]
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Not SyncedNow, I'm going to share
one more story with you -
Not Syncedjust so you can understand that—
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Not Syncedyou may say, “Well, Melanie,
you're kind of old -
Not Syncedand these things may have happened long, long ago
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Not Syncedin a land far, far away like Tatooine
[from “Star Wars”], you know? -
Not SyncedBut I just want to let you know
that this happens [quoting from “The Music Man”] -
Not Synced“right here in River City.”
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Not Synced[audience laughter]
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Not SyncedSo, this September, a beautiful, gifted
African-American
ninth grade girl enters school. -
Not SyncedBecause she's been in an honors program,
-
Not Syncedshe entered ninth grade
with enough credits -
Not Syncedto technically be a tenth grader.
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Not SyncedNow, this young lady has a goal.
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Not SyncedHer goal is to go to Cornell
and study neuroscience. -
Not SyncedShe has had this goal for many years,
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Not Syncedand all the people in her circles,
you know, nurture her in this goal -
Not Syncedand make opportunities for her
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Not Syncedto start to build the building blocks
to make her goal a reality. -
Not SyncedSo, she enters ninth grade,
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Not Syncedshe goes to meet the guidance counselor, as ninth graders do.
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Not SyncedAnd as guidance counselors do,
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Not Syncedshe sits down with the student
and says, “Well, what is your goal?” -
Not SyncedAnd this young lady,
she's very confident, -
Not Syncedas 14-year-old girls can be.
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Not SyncedYou know how that is.
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Not Synced[audience laughs lightly]
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Not SyncedShe goes and says, “I want to go
to Cornell and be a neuroscientist,” -
Not Syncedto which her guidance counselor reacts,
“Well, that's a, that’s a big dream, -
Not Syncedbut let's look at something
more uhhhhhh realistic, like MCC.” -
Not SyncedIn that moment,
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Not Syncedthe student stood stunned
as she watched her goal crumble. -
Not SyncedAnd people may say,
“Well, Melanie, he's just one person,” -
Not Syncedbut he's so much more than that.
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Not SyncedHe was the guidance counselor.
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Not SyncedIn the schools, just so you know, the guidance counselor
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Not Syncedis the person who was charged
with setting the academic plan -
Not Syncedto help students get
from point A to point B -
Not Syncedto get to their goals.
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Not SyncedSo, if he didn't believe in her,
how was he going to help her? -
Not SyncedAnd if he didn't help her,
how was she going to attain her goal? -
Not SyncedThis was the match
that ignited a forest fire -
Not Syncedof self-doubt, negative self-talk,
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Not Syncedthat resulted in depression
that manifested itself -
Not Syncedin school avoidance,
of decrease in grades, -
Not Syncedand eventual lack of ability to engage
in the everyday life of this child. -
Not SyncedYou know what the ironic thing
is about this story? -
Not SyncedThis is my daughter's story.
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Not SyncedForty years later,
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Not Syncedthe words may have changed,
but the bias, the power, -
Not Syncedand the potential impact remain the same.
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Not SyncedBut you know,
what's even worse about that -
Not Syncedis that my daughter's story is not unique.
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Not SyncedThis story repeats itself
hundreds of times every year -
Not Syncedin the Rochester City School District
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Not Syncedfor hundreds of students going in
with dreams and goals. -
Not SyncedThe thing is, the counselor
did not look at my child -
Not Syncedand did not look at her academic record, did not look at it,
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Not Syncedbut just because of the way,
what he saw when she walked in, -
Not Syncedcrushed her dream.
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Not SyncedBut I don't want to leave you on a downer,
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Not Syncedand I'm going to tell you,
there is hope, -
Not Syncedbecause what has been done
can be undone. -
Not SyncedOur brains are malleable.
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Not SyncedThere are these incredible, incredible—
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Not Synced[chuckling] even though
my brain is farting right now… -
Not Synced[audience laughs]
…they are incredible. -
Not SyncedThere are these incredible
capacity for growth and change. -
Not SyncedAnd so, you might say to me,
“Melanie, how do I do this?” -
Not SyncedFirst, what I want you to do
is to call yourself on your own stuff. -
Not SyncedWhen you're walking down the street
and you see that person coming -
Not Syncedand you cross over
to the other side of the street, -
Not Syncedcall yourself on it.
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Not SyncedAsk yourself, “Why did I do that?
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Not SyncedWhat did that person do
to facilitate that response from me?” -
Not SyncedAnd then once you've done that,
and you start looking at yourself — -
Not Syncedand I don't want you to think
I don't understand it — -
Not SyncedThis takes you being extremely self-aware,
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Not SyncedBut once you do that,
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Not Syncedyou start having these conversations
with your family and friends. -
Not SyncedIt's very easy to have these conversations
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Not Syncedin the nice, warm, fuzzy
places of a TED Talk, -
Not Syncedbut it's much different to have it
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Not Syncedat your Sunday dinner
with your mother-in-law, okay? -
Not Synced[audience laughs lightly]
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Not SyncedWhat we're looking for,
we say we want to be better, -
Not Syncedbut in order to have this
better world we're talking about, -
Not Syncedwe must be better ourselves
and be better to each other. -
Not SyncedWe have to move into what I call “transformational activism.”
-
Not SyncedIn order to create a world with equity,
we must do some things. -
Not SyncedFirst, do your own personal work.
-
Not SyncedTwo, make some connections
with people that don't look like you. -
Not SyncedThree, when you have privilege,
use your privilege to create equity, -
Not SyncedAnd guess what:
many of you in this room have it. Use it. -
Not SyncedFour, intentionally and deliberately
engage in non-biasing activities. -
Not SyncedThat means, get out of homogeneous groups,
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Not Syncedget into some heterogeneous groups
where not everybody's the same -
Not Syncedand start learning some stuff.
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Not SyncedTake that stuff and share it with others.
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Not SyncedI want to leave you with some
new language: “Ubuntu.” -
Not SyncedIt's a [unclear] Bantu word
that translates into the idea of, -
Not Synced“I am who I am
because of who we all are, -
Not Syncedand we are who we are
because of who I am.” -
Not SyncedIt talks about the interconnectedness of us all.
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Not SyncedIt is one step beyond “I am my brother and sister's keeper.”
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Not SyncedIt is, “I am my brother and sister, and they are me.
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Not SyncedI see you, I see myself.
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Not SyncedWhen you look at yourself
next time, see me. -
Not Synced[audience applauds]
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Not Synced♪ [music] ♪
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Not Synced
- Title:
- Implicit Bias how it affects us and how we push through Melanie Funchess TEDxFlourCity HD 108
- Video Language:
- English
- Duration:
- 16:13
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