In Nita Mosby Tyler’s Ted talk “Want a more just world? Be an unlikely ally”, she sheds light on how important the presence of unlikely allies is in fighting for a cause. At around 5:12 of Tyler’s Ted talk, she says a particularly striking statement about how the same people who speak up all the time will only get the same results over and over again. Simply put, if there are new faces of unlikely allies pushing for a cause, then—and only then—will there be change. Not only does Tyler tell people to stand up for other people’s fights, but she also tells people to be receptive to the help that unlikely allies give. No matter the injustice, whether it’s the discrimination against the LGBTQ community or outright racism, every person needs to stand up to every injustice for there to be equality.
In Listen’s podcast “The Air We Breathe: Implicit Bias And Police Shootings”, the narrator and his interviewees try to examine the reason why prejudice is so embedded in society. Compared to Tyler’s Ted talk, this podcast dives deep into one major injustice which is the racism and prejudice that black people face. Mahzarin Banaji, a psychology professor at Harvard University, describes how the IAT works by explaining it through the sorting of cards. Banaji demonstrates how implicit bias is drilled into our culture by explaining how culture tells people white is good and black is bad. Other people on the podcast take this idea and relate it to how implicit bias affects people in workforces such as police officers and doctors. The Listen podcast and their interviewees offer an actual answer to this problem and discredit efforts to just tell everybody that implicit bias is bad. They encourage people to hone in on working on the ability to control how implicit biases affect them by offering more time to think the situation out. Like Tyler, the podcast encourages everybody to do their part of limiting the effects of implicit bias and work together to uproot and dismantle it.
Both of these recordings emphasize how important it is to fight for battles that don’t really involve me personally. They made me realize how harmful it is to not fight for others’ injustices just because it doesn’t relate to me. This is the same mindset of the people who don’t vote because they believe that their one vote doesn’t hold any power. Alongside this, it is also extremely harmful to blindly accept implicit bias in our society. Even though implicit bias has become so normalized in our culture, we can all try to not be affected by the biases through conscious control. These two works definitely shaped my way of thinking. With Tyler’s Ted talk, she made me realize that there would be no real change unless the entire community stands together. Also, with Listen’s podcast, it just made unlikely allyship feel even more necessary because implicit biases lead to the deaths of many. As much as we all have our own battles to face, we must extend past this way of thinking and ally with others. In today’s torn society, change is certainly needed in every single aspect of our lives. However, this change only begins when we help with the battles of others.
I liked the way you referenced a certain time during the Ted Talk. It shows you had a good understanding of what you wanted to say. I thought it was a powerful point how it is harmful to accept implicit biases even though they have become normalized. We have to realize that the first step in creating a true equal society is to irradiate all the implicit bias and to teach love and equality. Eliminating implicit bias is one of the many steps we need to take in order to help African Americans and other minority groups gain the same rights as white Americans.
I agree that Nita sheds light on the importance of unlikely allies. It was interesting when she brought up the point that the same voices will not bring about change, but instead the voices of those who are not expected to speak up will. Great writing!
I like your addition of adding the part of the ted talk that talks about the additional allies it proves to be true in so many ways. Furthermore, your analysis on the other reading is spot on. Great post.
I like how you added the idea of how the same people standing up for inequality will get the same results, emphasizing the importance of having new faces in the fight for justice. I also liked that you included the podcast’s answer to this problem, that they were not just addressing it, but there should be a solution to respond to the implicit bias that is in our culture. I agree with your statement that not standing up to inequality and fighting these battles is harmful to society.