Background/Rationale
The social construction of race is a hotly contested topic in the United States. From the inception of this country to the recent “racial awakening” in 2020, the national understanding of what is race and does race matter are subject to much debate.
In this course thus far, we have explored the origins of race, how racial categories have changed, racialized myths and stereotypes related to teaching and learning, and even explored our own racial identity. Throughout this work, it is likely that you’ve come to understand those topics related to race and identity while holding social significance, are also deeply personal, shaped by our own subject-position, and influenced by our lived experiences.
This assignment is designed to provide an opportunity for you to 1) take the Harvard Implicit Association Test as a tool to reflect on your subject-position in relation to others 2) reflect on this experience and 3) consider how this experience connects to course themes and potential relevance to your own understandings about race and identity.
Below I outline the steps you will need to take in completing this assignment. While the final product is a three-page paper, there are other critical steps that precede this final product.
Step 1: Go to the Harvard Implicit Association Test (https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html) and take up to two of the tests below:
Asian American (‘Asian – European American’ IAT). This IAT requires the ability to recognize White and Asian-American faces, and images of places that are either American or Foreign in origin.
Skin-tone (‘Light Skin – Dark Skin’ IAT). This IAT requires the ability to recognize light and dark-skinned faces. It often reveals an automatic preference for light-skin relative to dark-skin.
Arab-Muslim (‘Arab Muslim – Other People’ IAT). This IAT requires the ability to distinguish names that are likely to belong to Arab-Muslims versus people of other nationalities or religions.
Race (‘Black – White’ IAT). This IAT requires the ability to distinguish faces of European and African origin. It indicates that most Americans have an automatic preference for white over black.
Step 2: Reflect
Upon taking the Implicit Association Test, many feel disbelief or disregard. The prospect of bias that contradicts one’s explicit beliefs may even feel demoralizing. Others may feel justified or vindicated. Use this guide (Links to an external site.) and the questions from the Kirwin Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity below to reflect on your results.
What feelings or reactions did you have upon learning your IAT results?
Reflect on your life experiences that may have influenced your results. Consider your childhood and family upbringing; the neighborhoods in which you’ve lived; elements of your career path; media messages; your family and peer networks; etc. How might these experiences have shaped your biases, with or without your conscious awareness?
How might knowing your IAT results affect your future actions and decisions, both in your role at your workplace and in other aspects of your life?
Step 3: Write
Write a 3-page (minimum) response discussing your results and your thoughts/feelings about your results. What thoughts and feelings do the results reveal? Based on course themes and texts, explain your understanding of where you stand with your own identity development and how this is showing up in your life.
Also, review the course texts/media and modules from the first unit: race and identity. What resonated with you and what have you learned? What ideas do you find compelling? What questions and thoughts still linger? To what extent do course themes around race and identity relate to your own experiences, your future career aspirations, and your role as a citizen in this democracy?
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