In the Ted Talk, “Want a more just world? Be an unlikely ally,” Nita Mosby Tyler talks about how unlikely allies, or people who aren’t affected by major issues, can be the biggest help in movements for these issues. One example from the video was President Kennedy’s support of the Cicil Rights Movements; even though it didn’t affect him, if he just wasn’t interested in it, as Tyler says, it probably would’ve taken decades longer to occur. She also says that if white people lead the charge to end racism, even though it doesn’t affect them as much, racism could be ended far faster than without them. The takeaway from this video is that allies that come from different walks of life can truly be a help, and that we should work together to solve social justice and rights issues.
The podcast talks about the internalized racism/prejudice that has been put into people for a very long time. It’s so deeply ingrained in people that they don’t even realize it’s there. One of the tests conducted here was associating the color black with bad things/adjectives, and the color white with good ones. It was found that most people had a pretty easy time with this. Then, the experiment was flipped, and they were told to match the color black with good things, and the color white with bad things. It was found that it took the average person twice as long to do this.
I think I should definitely implement these ideas in my life. i need to be more mindful about the internalized prejudices I have, whether how large or small they are, they must exist. I also need to speak out more against issues that may not directly affect me, such as racism and LGBTQ+ rights. These two pieces have shifted my thinking, and it shows that we must be more outspoken about things that are wrong, even if they don’t affect us at all.
I think another huge takeaway for me from the podcast was the videogame test you mentioned. It was interesting that the test participants were regular people who most likely had little to no biases against black people. I wonder if there will be a point down the road where people will work together in combating these subtle biases against skin color.
Hi Seth,
I was also intrigued by the experiments mentioned in the podcast too, and I think they helped explain why some oppressors are members of the oppressed groups themselves(such as the balck police officers who use violence on black civilians). We need to collectively change our culture to shake these deep-rooted prejudices and biases.