{"id":36700,"date":"2024-03-14T21:28:33","date_gmt":"2024-03-15T04:28:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=36700"},"modified":"2024-03-14T21:28:33","modified_gmt":"2024-03-15T04:28:33","slug":"what-was-i-doing-there","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/what-was-i-doing-there\/","title":{"rendered":"What Was I Doing There?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cDuring Hurricane Katrina in the US, two photographs in particular made news amid the wide-spread havoc and destruction. In one photo, a dark-skinned young man is shown in New Orleans flood-waters, a 12-pack of Pepsi under his right arm, holding a garbage bag with his left hand. A caption read: \u2018A young man walks through chest-deep flood water after looting a grocery store in New Orleans\u2019. In the second photo, a light skinned woman, packages floating in tow, also navigates through New Orleans waters, a man trailing her. The caption: \u2018Two residents wade through chest deep water after finding bread and soda at the local grocery store.\u2019<\/em>[1]<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Unconscious Bias<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the Spring of 2022, I was traveling with a group to Greece and Turkey for fifteen days. We visited Athens, Phillipi, Corinth, Ephesus, Patmos, Mykonos, Santorini, Crete, Thessaloniki, Meteora (three Monasteries- Saint Stephen, Holy Trinity and Varlaam), and Delphi. It was the trip of a lifetime for me and the other twenty-five women with which I was traveling. On our return, we had an extended layover in Istanbul which afforded us an opportunity to do some additional shopping- the airport is incredible. We met an American couple from the great State of Alabama as we waited to board our flight. The seating area was cozy and lots of chattering about our trip and this couple’s trip filled the small space. The \u201cgood\u201d Southern, mature \u201cgentleman\u201d from the great State of Alabama could not quite make peace with me being with this group of women that looked more like him than me. He was visibly unsettled. He asked a series of probing questions to a few of the ladies trying to make sense of my presence in this group. He was fascinated by our adventure but absolutely confused by me being on this trip with these good Christian Woman. He finally tired of beating around the bush and addressed me directly, he said in the thickest southern accent imaginable, \u201cI\u2019m trying to figure out what are you doing here.\u201d I responded, without hesitation, \u201cI\u2019m trying to figure out the same about you.\u201d The chattered quickly quieted and there were very few words spoken after that. It was a little tense. He had made up his mind about me the moment he saw me sitting with my group. He decided that I did not belong in any place outside of where he thought I belonged. In his mind, I was either someone\u2019s paid assistant or a teacher on a school sponsored trip (he asked my travel companions all of these questions within ear shot of me). He thought that a Black woman with these women had to be a mistake or on a free trip. I had many stories about unconscious bias that I could have chosen to share, unfortunately I have been on the receiving end more times than I can count. Sway Unravelling Unconscious Bias <\/em>helped me see that I have been guilty of it more times than I have admitted. I will admit that the moment I heard the \u201cgood\u201d Southern, mature \u201cgentleman\u201d from the great State of Alabama’s voice, my guard immediately went up. Remnants remain from growing up in a divided South, and my unconscious biases rose to the top.<\/p>\n

Sway Unravelling Unconscious Bias<\/em> is the most important book for my research that I have read this year. I quickly added it to my Working Bibliography. It is well written, well researched, insightful, challenging and appropriately anecdotal. I was so interested in Dr. Pragya Agarwal work that I researched her other published works, spent some time on her website, and listened to her podcast. Dr. Agarwal\u2019s podcast, Outside the Boxes How to Talk to Children about Race<\/em>[2]<\/strong><\/a>-Episode 5 <\/em>offers the opportunity to hear her explain, in her own words with personal examples, the importance of talking to children about race early and teaching them appreciate differences while also discussing some of the topics that she introduces in the book. If you are interested in hearing a different perspective on race from someone that is not American, I recommend you listen to Outside the Boxes podcast. As it is not possible to highlight all of topics discussed, here are some of the important topics that standout from both the podcast and the book:<\/p>\n