Have you sometimes wished that someone could walk in your shoes for just one day so they could gain a better perspective of what you experience on a daily basis? Most people who are oppressed because of race, religion, gender, or disability have made this wish at least a dozen times in the last year. This cartoon puts in words the general consensus of what Black (or African American, if you want to be politically correct) people have been saying for decades:
Even so I found myself nodding in fervent agreement while reading this cartoon, I have a couple problems with it. For one thing, step 3 suggested to “…set them free, but subject them to horrific discrimination and oppression for another century or so.” Only a century’s worth of systemic discrimination? Try four centuries. Enslavement of black people did go on for over 400 years. 400 years of not being allowed to read. 400 years of having families broken up due to slave auctions. 400 years of feeling inferior. 400 years of black female slaves being raped and birthing children sired by their white masters, resulting in muddled bloodlines and mysterious paternity.
The other problem is the I.Q. tests themselves, as shown in step 4. What is the TRUE measure of intelligence? If you were to say tests and more tests, I would have to disagree with you. What about people who have great street smarts, but can’t put together a disseration to save their lives? One form of testing, S.A.T.s, is difficult for some people from different cultural backgrounds to take because the questions may be subjected to a certain cultural bias. Plus, some of these students of certain areas may attend schools where they have no assurances of having books and dependable, encouraging teachers. Does this mean that they are not hardworking, ambitious, capable, and–dare I say it–intelligent? No. It simply means that more likely than not, they won’t do too well on the SATs. The cartoon needs to add a “step 3a” to reflect this sobering reality.
Role reversal is a powerful way to gain insight and perhaps transformation. The oppressor gets to experience the oppressed people’s perspective. However, the grass is not always greener on the other side. Oppressed people who walk in the oppressor’s shoes may witness just how certain behaviors would be viewed from the other side, and that’s not always good news. The process can be a painful and enlightening revelation.
The two problems I had with this cartoon are just tips of an iceberg. So will the scientific method work on deconstructing and analyzing oppression? In my opinion, no, not as long as there’s cultural bias on the person performing the experiment. In the meantime, you may want to borrow my tattered and well-worn shoes for the day, which may help change your viewpoints on different matters.
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ROFL!! *hand wave* for comic strip!! :D I absolutely love it! Now if only we can alter that comic strip to fit the Deaf shoes (or any other minority currently in the trend). What an awesome way to do it…but is it ethical? Perhaps not, but at least the point comes across. Also, Vicki, I think this comic did a wonderful job with denouncing Black/Af-Am example, but you seem to take it further and assert more Black/Af-Am studies political and historical corrections. While I understand this and making a point to clear up misunderstandings, but the bottom line -for me personally-is there: just you wait til you walk in my shoes and then-only then-can one truly understand the significance of thinking.
Yet, at the same time, your final statement: grass isn’t greener on the other side proves a catch-22 scenario. Hmm…I’m gonna have to think on this one a bit and get back to you on how to reply. But again, thanks for comic strip! Definitely keeping that one.
also, what is the link that you found this at? I might want to explore more of this person’s work (if political correctness abounds). :)
Hi, Josh…
Thanks for your insight! If you click on the cartoon, it should take you directly to the website. But just in case, it’s http://www.tomthedancingbug.com.
Vikki,
This was poignant and profound. I appreciate you sharing your thoughts, er… your shoes. You continue to inspire me.
~ LaRonda
Actually, I think the author meant “a century or so”.. AFTER slavery. Which comes out about right. The Civil War was about 1850’s, and the slaves were “freed” after that. It wasn’t until the civil rights movement a century later that some of their “rights” were protected and enforced.
Anyway, I’m with you on this one~~~ \:)
Katie…
You know what? You’re right….I stand corrected. Thanks for pointing that out!
sorry to nitpick here - u.s. civil war in early 1860s. :-*
I know that jumping on the nitpickers’ bandwagon will not be an exercise in originality, but I agree with the need to correct some of the comic strip’s chronology. My understanding has been that slavery of Africans in the original thirteen colonies began in, of all places, Virginia in 1619.
Of course, in 1619, the whites only began to construct the juridical basis of slavery; this system was reinforced and “improved” upon by numerous laws, social institutions, and commercial practices that embedded slavery ever more deeply into the fabric of American life. By the time the Civil War rolled around, whites had had more than two centuries to refine and sharpen the infrastructure of slavery.
By 2008, we’ve only had about 140 or 145 years of undoing each legal, social, and cultural component to slavery. If we were to use the duration of slavery as a standard for how long it will take to undo the damage, piece by piece, we could be looking at an additional century of efforts.
Actually, Vikki, you were right… the comic strip did say “force them and their descendants into slave labor for about 100 years.” Then it goes on to say another 100 years of discrimination etc.
cultural bias is very difficult to ignore and the media isn’t helping one bit with crime news, or interpreting bill cosby’s comments about black society for examples.
it’s strange, until recently, I was a manager at a facility in NYC with almost diverse staff of whites, blacks, puerto ricans, domincans who were deaf, hard of hearing, and hearing - same for clientele and their families, such as superitious haitians and orthodox jews (there’s my WASPy bias!). my assistant was a hearing black woman from barbados. sometimes if I’m thinking about it at the moment - did i come across as too politically correct, patronizing, or trying too hard to be fair to everyone? it was mostly about communication, so that’s off the point here. I hated thinking that I’m trying to be considerate and I’d trip up once in a while and overcompensate. My staff would be like, dude, what’s up with you today??
I’m not responsible for the actions of my great-great-great-great grandparents. So why should I need to experience what it’s like?
What you people need to do is stop whining and get off your lazy butts and be more productive…in areas besides crime, basketball and that nefarious rap music.
Bold person! Commenting as “Anonyomous.” I think you ment “Anonymous” but, hey. Looks like I would score 15 points more on the IQ test that you but I do agree with you on one thing. You’re not responsible for the actions of my great-great-great-great grandparents but racist whites should be held reposible for their current actions. I would tell you to watch the news to see what’s been going on with in this country especially during the past year but I see you’re busy watching ESPN highlights and BET.
Blacks who do well in schools these days are called “whiteys”, “beatches”, and other names. I dont know how to disect this one, and where did their disdain for education derive from?
Brent, this is a theory I’ve heard that makes the most sense to me, but I don’t know if it’s accurate. I would say that the educational system in most areas is run by a white majority, especially at the administrative levels. Historically, education systems have been a mechanism of oppression for black people, in terms of distribution of resources, lower expectations, inferior teaching, etc. So when a black person disparage other black people for being successful in a white-dominated education system, it functions as a defense, to shield one from the emotional pain of being disenfranchised from education. It’s really not a positive coping mechanism, and that’s the part I have trouble understanding myself.
Vikki, would it be fair to say that when black person puts down another black people for “acting white” (i.e., being good in school), that’s an example of internalized racism? If so, what can he or she do to overcome it? Does the person have any incentive to change his/her beliefs, especially if they are supported by one’s community?
Yes, what you wrote about is an example of internalized racism, and I’ve been subjected to that more times than I care to count. I find it ironic that I’m accused of acting white for being reasonably smart and not hiding it, while on the other hand, I’m also subjected to another form of internalized racism: my skin not light enough to be considered white.
Go figure.
You know, one of the things that really impressed me (as I read about emancipation) was how blacks were able to achieve a remarkable level of literacy - even though they all spoke different languages (coming from different regions) and were subjected to all sorts of unimaginable hardships. It took them only a few decades while it took whites much longer to achieve similar percentage jumps. So, I think that’s quite telling.
Hi Vikki, great post. I can really relate to it from my perspective as a school psychologist, and one in California, where the use of IQ tests with black children and youth is banned. Readers not in California may appreciate knowing that in 1979, a judge in San Francisco ruled that these tests are biased and resulted in the over-representation of black children in special education programs, specifically classes for the mentally retarded. The ruling (known as Larry P. vs Wilson Riles) has been challenged in court a few times, but is still the prevailing law today. Some CA school districts still continue giving “alternate” assessments, though. They get around this by saying if the IQ test does not have “intelligence” in its title, but rather calls itself an ability test or cognitive test or whatever, it’s OK to use. But you know that it’s still an IQ test if you look in the technical chapters of the test manual and see if it compares itself to other IQ tests that do have “intelligence” in the title. The state of California, and state schools for the deaf in California, interpret the law strictly and do not give these tests to black deaf school children and youth.
hi again, hope I’m not hijacking your blog with endless rants on the topic. I’m on a roll here, since this is right up my alley, so to speak. Did you know that in the 70s, there was an IQ test designed by black psychologist from the cultural perspective of African-Americans? It’s called the B.I.T.C.H. No, I’m not making it up. It stands for Black Intelligence Test of Cultural Homogeneity. OK, it was entirely satirical in intent and never meant to be a bona fide IQ test by its creator, Robert L. Williams, Jr. You can see the items here:
http://susanohanian.org/show_commentary.php?id=170
here’s another one:
http://wilderdom.com/personali.....Short.html
Joking aside, there are thousands of ability tests on the market today, and one of the hot issues in psychological assessment nowadays is to design, administer, and interpret ability tests in a manner that is culturally appropriate, meaningful, and fair to diverse populations. To achieve this aim, the American Educational Research Association (AERA), the American Psychological Association (APA), and the National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME) have established standards of validity, fairness, and uses of tests, especially for testing individuals with disabilities and different language or cultural backgrounds.
Newer tests are required to draw normative information from a sample that is geographically and ethnically representative of the U.S. population, as well as stratified by age, gender, socio-economic status, and other factors. A well-designed test should demonstrate NO significant differences between groups. If it does, then you should not use that test with that population. All this information is published in the test manual, and consumers have a right to request it.
More to come… if y’all are thoroughly bored by now, just tell me to shut it! ;)
Hi, Curious Eyes!
Nope, I am not bored at all with your comments. Keep them comin’! As for the B.I.T.C.H. test, yep, I’ve heard of it. Made perfect sense anyway since testing was a bitch for most people!
At my high school, I scored fairly high on the S.A.T.s (considering that I didn’t really study), and some teachers were wondering why some of my black counterparts didn’t fare so well. I told them that’s partly because I had a couple toes in the “white” world, so I understood the subtle nuances of the test. That statement blew them out of the water, and they treaded water by denying the cold, wet reality of it all. A few years later, that’s when the uproar about these tests really reared its head above water.
Vikki, among black test takers, higher scores on the SAT (Scholastic Achievement Test) are associated with a combination of three factors: economic privilege (household income), high grades in AP/honors classes, and greater parent education levels.
Even if none of that applies, any high school student can prepare for the SAT by taking prep courses and purchasing books that contain test taking strategies and practice tests, and then taking the actual test multiple times. (You don’t have to report scores to the college of your choice the first time you take it, and can select which test results to send to the college.) If one is not naturally a good test taker, the practice alone should increase scores. I believe college admissions officers are required to consider other factors besides SAT scores, such as course grades, personal essay, and teacher recommendations.
The SAT is supposed to be simply a predictor of likely college success. It provides “some” information about that likelihood, but are not 100% perfectly correlated. The SAT or ACT is only one hurdle. Other obstacles would include the sheer quantity of red tape and bureaucracy involved in simply being a college student. A hundred and one daily decisions are involved in making the best choices as to courses, time management, and study habits, and that’s aside from navigating the muddy waters of cross-cultural competence in negotiating with predominantly white professors and university staff.