“All Y’all” Means ALL
“Mrs. Elliott?” the assistant handed me a memo.
“Yes,” I replied.
“Mr. Hamlin would like to see you in his office after school today,”
“Do you know what this is about?” I asked.
“No, except I did hear him say something about how you were teaching the kids to say “Brothers and sisters” rather than just “brothers” when memorizing scripture verses, the assistant answered.
“Oh. That,” I muttered while rolling my eyes.
That assistant was correct. I had been called to the principal’s office because according to him, I was “changing” scripture and this “HAD TO STOP!” But *was* I really changing scripture? I argued that in fact, I was not, because when Paul wrote to the churches and he used the word, “brothers” he usually meant “Hey everyone! Women and Men, Boys and Girls, Siblings, All y’all.” I wanted my fifth-grade students, developmentally concrete thinkers, to understand that Paul was writing to the entire congregation of a specific church and his words were for them and for all of my students – ALL of them, not just the male students.
Language Matters
I did this because as Pragya Agarwal says in her book, Sway, Unraveling Unconscious Bias, “Language matters.”[1] “Words and images are powerful forces that shape our reality and create implicit bias.”[2] This is true, especially in adolescent years when brains are developing, and social attitudes and expectations such as stereotypes are being formed.[3] Because we often fall back on System 1 thinking, quick instinctual decision making, which is formed through our past experiences, interactions, situations, and contexts,[4] it is all the more important we do not steep our young learners in biased, sexist, racist or any kind of othering language.
Role Models Also Matter
Role models also matter.[5] I was asked recently why I became a pastor. I responded, “Because I had strong female pastors when I was a teenager.” Growing up in a church that welcomed female pastoral leadership, I never developed a bias about women being pastors, preachers, or leaders in the church. Or, if I did develop a bias, it was that women should be in ordained church leadership! It wasn’t until I dipped my toe into another denomination and was told I could never be ordained because I am a woman, that I realized (to my shock) that some denominations do not recognize the ordination and/or leadership of women in the church, and in fact, prohibit it.
There are SO MANY different kinds of bias!
I wasn’t going to focus on gender as an unconscious bias. I thought I would focus on race as I know I have implicit biases around race. However, reading through Agarwal’s book opened my eyes to how many different kinds of unconscious biases we form throughout our lives. From gender to race to weight to age, to any other “othering” we create, Agarwal uses many academic studies to show how we form bias and stereotypes. She also touches on the many ways unconscious bias affects everything in our culture, from education to policing to Artificial Intelligence. Learning I had unconscious biases and how easily I fall back on them via system one thinking is proving to be a threshold concept for me.[6] To unravel unconscious bias from our lives and our culture is a wicked problem[7] and though we are getting better at naming the problem and owning some of our part in it, it is difficult to see how we will completely untangle it from our subconscious as a society.
How to unravel unconscious bias
I was kind of surprised that there was only a short chapter at the end of the book about how to work against bias. To be fair, she did address how to work against bias in other chapters but the real, “how to” was in the last chapter. Simply being aware of our unconscious biases and how they are shaped by our own upbringing and life experiences can help us minimize their use.[8] Then, there is the admonition to not simply use what Kahneman calls, System one thinking,[9] where we make quick decisions based on a heuristic (often a bias) but to take time with important decisions so that we are able to activate our logical and rational thinking, actively busting any biases that can affect our decisions.[10] Calling out microaggressions and creating safe spaces in work places (and in churches) to have difficult conversations about microaggressions, and, like Petrusek argued in his book, Evangelization and Ideology, focusing the action, argument, or statement rather than apportioning blame[11] is crucial to making people aware of their words, actions, and how they affect others.
[1] Pragya Agarwal, Sway: Unraveling unconscious Bias )London, UK: Bloomsbury Sigma, 2020), 221, (Kindle Edition)
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid, 250.
[4] Ibid, 41.
[5] Ibid, 439.
[6] Jan F.H. Meyer and Ray Land, eds., Overcoming Barriers to Student Understanding: Threshold concepts and troublesome knowledge. (New York, Routledge, 2003).
[7] Joseph Bently and Michael Toth, Exploring Wicked Problems, What they Are and Why They Are Important, Archway Publishing, Bloomington, IN, 2020.
[8] Pragya Agarwal, Sway: Unraveling unconscious Bias )London, UK: Bloomsbury Sigma, 2020), 436.
[9] Daniel Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow. 1st edition. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2011.
[10] Pragya Agarwal, Sway: Unraveling unconscious Bias )London, UK: Bloomsbury Sigma, 2020), 436.
[11] Matthew Petrusek, Evangelization and Ideology: How to Understand and Respond to the Political Culture.
About the Author
Kally Elliott
Mom of four. Wanna-be Broadway star. PC(USA) pastor. Wife. Friend. Sometimes a hot mess. Sometimes somewhat together. Is this supposed to be a professional bio?5 responses to ““All Y’all” Means ALL”
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Hi Kally,
You wrote, “Or, if I did develop a bias, it was that women should be in ordained church leadership! It wasn’t until I dipped my toe into another denomination and was told I could never be ordained because I am a woman, that I realized (to my shock) that some denominations do not recognize the ordination and/or leadership of women in the church, and in fact, prohibit it.”
I have always wondered if the prohibition on women would disappear. Hawaii saw its fair share of divorces, when immigrant women of all shades of color began to flower under U.S. education standards. They (like my mom) became more savy and educated than the previous generation.
Social immigrant norms went awry and divorces sky rocketed (my family included). With the loss of first thinking biased men, women took the center stage in my upbringing. “I am women, I am strong.” are still words to the song that shaped a generation.
Then we have the hierarchies found in religion and reinforced by scripture.
Words matter and biblical words even more so.
Sigh….”but what Paul really meant was….” is something I hear when it comes to gender inequality.
I suppose if we are to expose biases to the daylight we need to start with Christians!
I like, “brothers and sisters” by the way. Words matter and so do teachers who see the impact.
Shalom…
Once I changed denominations from North American Baptist to American Baptist (which was the college I attended) to the Covenant church I slowly found my way into full inclusion of women in all aspects of ministry. I was looking for a church in Chicago and every time I went to a covenant church I’d run into students (I was a Resident Director and lived with students) so if felt like work so I found a diverse church that was Baptist. This North Dakota girl loved the diversity and then was about to volunteer to help lead the college group and was told I’d only be able to help and not teach…Um…excuse me? They needed teachers and I was in Seminary, don’t you think they’d want me? That was the last time I attended. I intentionally find translations of the Bible that are inclusive of ALL PEOPLE! As you said language is crucial to create a space that is inclusive…Thank you for your story. How do you think you can teach implicit bias when you are doing your sermon on racism?
Thank you for your post! Language does matter, and this book caused a light bulb to go off for me in that arena. Language, even subtle language, is a large part of what is shaping our implicit biases. I do struggle with microaggressions and how they can be pushed to the point that it creates a lens for some to interpret everything as an assault, I am trying to find the balance in area. Thanks for you post, LOVED your beginning story!
Kally,
Thank you for your post. I too grew up in a denomination where women serve in all capacities. . . ordained minister, teacher, prophet, apostle, evangelist (APEST). I am thankful for that heritage. How does the denomination, in which you serve, support women in ministry?
Hey my Pastor. Sooo sorry you had to go through this with the principal. It’s great you didn’t tell him he’s a horses ass!
Kally, how did you deal with his rejection and misinterpretation of God’s Word? What did it do to you inwardly?