A powerful moment happened today.
Heather McGee, president of the public policy group Demos, received a call from a viewer during her appearance on C-SPAN. The question asked was not about the progressive stances her group holds on a variety of issues but about the caller’s own racism and how he can rid himself of any prejudice. The caller said:
“I’m a white male, and I am prejudiced. And the reason it is is something I wasn’t taught, but it’s kind of something that I learned. When I open up the papers, I get very discouraged at what young black males are doing to each other and the crime rate. I understand that they live in an environment with a lot of drugs — you have to get money for drugs — and it is a deep issue that goes beyond that. But when, I have these different fears, and I don’t want my fears to come true. You know, so I try to avoid that, and I come off as being prejudiced, but I just have fears. I don’t like to be forced to like people. I like to be led to like people through example. What can I do to change? You know, to be a better American?”
This caller put forth a surprisingly honest admission about his prejudiced racial views. Even more powerful was his willingness to try and change his own behavior to make himself a better human being.
McGee, being the smart woman that she is, recognized that this was a seminal moment that would not only change this man’s life but could potentially impact the lives of millions of people who share the same views. The tension in the room was palpable. She took a moment to compose herself and thanked the gentleman for his truthful admission. She then said:
“So what can you do? Get to know black families, who are not all and not even any majority are involved in crime and gangs. Turn off the news at night, because we know … that, actually, nightly news and many media markets that have been studied actually over-represents African-American crime and under-represents crimes that happen by white people. Join a church if you are a religious person that is a black church or a church that is interracial. Start to read about the history of the African-American community in this country. Foster conversation in your family and in your neighborhood where you’re asking exactly those kinds of questions.”
“This fear of communities that we do not live near … We are still a very, very segregated country. Millions of white Americans live in places where they rarely see anyone of a different race. This fear and set of ideas that we only get from the worst possible news, it’s tearing us apart. And we know that in order to be — our name means the people of a nation, “Demos” — in order to be a Demos, that is united across lines of race and class and gender and age, we have to foster relationships. We have to get to know who one another actually is. And we’re always, I think, as Americans, surprised when we build relationships across race.”
McGee’s response to this man’s question was accurately measured. She presented the man with two steps that most experts believe to be the best way to combat prejudiced behavior. The first one is incredibly simple. It is to simply acknowledge your own bias. If you can’t acknowledge that you have a problem with black or minority racial groups then you can’t try and find a solution either.
The second step is perhaps the scariest, but it is the most important. You have to expose yourself to the people that you stereotype. This is called the “contact theory” by social scientists. Positive interactions with stereotyped groups can help diminish explicit and implicit bias. This may be hard for those who live in highly segregated areas, but it is necessary in order to combat the forces that give us our racial blind spots.
Here is the video of Heather McGee addressing this man’s concerns about race and helping him become a better American in the process:
