I was on a long road trip this summer, and I was having a wonderful time listening to the amazing Isabel Wilkerson's "The Warmth of Other Suns." It documents six million black folks fleeing the South from 1915 to 1970 looking for a respite from all the brutality and trying to get to a better opportunity up North, and it was filled with stories of the resilience and the brilliance of African-Americans, and it was also really hard to hear all the stories of the horrors and the humility, and all the humiliations. It was especially hard to hear about the beatings and the burnings and the lynchings of black men. And I said, "You know, this is a little deep. I need a break. I'm going to turn on the radio." I turned it on, and there it was: Ferguson, Missouri, Michael Brown, 18-year-old black man, unarmed, shot by a white police officer, laid on the ground dead, blood running for four hours while his grandmother and little children and his neighbors watched in horror, and I thought, here it is again. This violence, this brutality against black men has been going on for centuries. I mean, it's the same story. It's just different names. It could have been Amadou Diallo. It could have been Sean Bell. It could have been Oscar Grant. It could have been Trayvon Martin.
Bila sam na dugom putovanju ovog leta i divno sam se provela slušajući "Toplotu drugih sunaca" neverovatne Izabel Vilkerson. Ona dokumentuje 6 miliona crnih ljudi koji su pobegli sa juga od 1915. do 1970. u potrazi za predahom od sve te butalnosti i u pokušaju da dobiju bolju priliku na severu. Ispunjena je pričama o žilavosti i briljantnosti Afroamerikanaca, i bilo je zaista teško čuti sve te priče o užasima, poniznosti i poniženjima. Naročito je bilo teško čuti o prebijanjima, spaljivanjima i linčovanjima crnaca. Rekla sam: "Ovo je malo teško. Treba mi pauza. Uključiću radio." Uključila sam ga i čula: Ferguson, Misuri, Majkl Braun, osamnaestogodišnji crnac, nenaoružan, ubijen od strane belog policajca, ležao je mrtav, krv je curila četiri sata dok su njegova baka, mala deca i komšije posmatrali sa užasom, i pomislila sam, opet to. To nasilje, ta brutalnost prema crncima se dešava već vekovima. Ista priča. Samo su drugačija imena. To je mogao da bude Amadu Dialo. Mogao je da bude Šon Bel. Mogao je da bude Oskar Grent. Mogao je da bude Trejvon Martin.
This violence, this brutality, is really something that's part of our national psyche. It's part of our collective history. What are we going to do about it? You know that part of us that still crosses the street, locks the doors, clutches the purses, when we see young black men? That part.
To nasilje, ta brutalnost je nešto što je deo naše nacionalne psihe. Deo je naše zajedničke istorije. Šta ćemo uraditi povodom toga? Znate onaj deo nas koji još uvek prelazi ulicu, zaključava vrata, pridržava tašne kad vidi mlade crnce? Taj deo.
I mean, I know we're not shooting people down in the street, but I'm saying that the same stereotypes and prejudices that fuel those kinds of tragic incidents are in us. We've been schooled in them as well. I believe that we can stop these types of incidents, these Fergusons from happening, by looking within and being willing to change ourselves.
Mislim, znam da ne pucamo u ljude na ulici, ali kažem da se isti stereotipi i predrasude koji pokreću ove tragične incidente nalaze u nama. Učili smo ih i u školi. Verujem da možemo da sprečimo takve incidente, te Fergusone, da se više ne dešavaju pomoću gledanja u sebe i voljom da se menjamo.
So I have a call to action for you. There are three things that I want to offer us today to think about as ways to stop Ferguson from happening again; three things that I think will help us reform our images of young black men; three things that I'm hoping will not only protect them but will open the world so that they can thrive. Can you imagine that? Can you imagine our country embracing young black men, seeing them as part of our future, giving them that kind of openness, that kind of grace we give to people we love? How much better would our lives be? How much better would our country be?
Zato, imam za vas poziv na akciju. Želim da ponudim tri stvari za razmišljanje danas kao načine da sprečimo neke nove Fergusone da se dese ponovo; tri stvari koje će nam, ja mislim, pomoći da promenimo našu sliku o mladim crncima; tri stvari koje će ih, nadam se, ne samo zaštititi već i otvoriti im svet da bi mogli da napreduju. Možete li to da zamislite? Možete li zamisliti našu zemlju koja prihvata mlade crnce, koja ih vidi kao deo naše budućnosti, daje im tu vrstu otvorenosti, tu vrstu milosti koju dajemo ljudima koje volimo? Koliko bi bolji bili naši životi? Koliko bi bila bolja naša zemlja?
Let me just start with number one. We gotta get out of denial. Stop trying to be good people. We need real people. You know, I do a lot of diversity work, and people will come up to me at the beginning of the workshop. They're like, "Oh, Ms. Diversity Lady, we're so glad you're here" -- (Laughter) -- "but we don't have a biased bone in our body." And I'm like, "Really? Because I do this work every day, and I see all my biases."
Da počnem od prvog. Moramo da prestanemo da poričemo. Prestanite da budete dobri ljudi. Trebaju nam stvarni ljudi. Ja radim mnogo poslova u vezi raznolikosti i ljudi mi prilaze pre početka seminara i kažu: "Gospođo Raznolika, drago nam je što ste ovde" - (Smeh) - "ali mi nemamo predrasude ni prema kome." A ja kažem: "Stvarno? Ja radim ovo svaki dan i primećujem sve svoje predrasude."
I mean, not too long ago, I was on a plane and I heard the voice of a woman pilot coming over the P.A. system, and I was just so excited, so thrilled. I was like, "Yes, women, we are rocking it. We are now in the stratosphere." It was all good, and then it started getting turbulent and bumpy, and I was like, "I hope she can drive." (Laughter) I know. Right. But it's not even like I knew that was a bias until I was coming back on the other leg and there's always a guy driving and it's often turbulent and bumpy, and I've never questioned the confidence of the male driver. The pilot is good. Now, here's the problem. If you ask me explicitly, I would say, "Female pilot: awesome." But it appears that when things get funky and a little troublesome, a little risky, I lean on a bias that I didn't even know that I had. You know, fast-moving planes in the sky, I want a guy. That's my default. Men are my default. Who is your default? Who do you trust? Who are you afraid of? Who do you implicitly feel connected to? Who do you run away from?
Skoro, dok sam letela avionom, čula sam glas žene pilota iz zvučnika, i bila sam toliko uzbuđena. Pomislila sam: "Mi, žene, razbijamo! Sad smo i na nebu." Sve je bilo u redu i onda su počele turbulencije i truckanje, i pomislila sam: "Nadam se da ume da vozi." (Smeh) Znam. Da. Ali nisam čak ni znala da je u pitanju predrasuda dok se nisam setila da uvek muškarac vozi i često ima turbulencija i truckanja, ali nikad nisam dovodila u pitanje poverenje u muškog pilota. Pilot je dobar. E sad, u ovome je problem. Ako me pitate eksplicitno, rekla bih: "Žena pilot - odlično." Ali, izgleda, kad postane malo rizično, oslanjam se na predrasudu koju nisam ni znala da imam. Znate, brzi avioni na nebu, hoću muškarca. To je moj prvi izbor. Muškarci su moj prvi izbor. Ko je vaš prvi izbor? Kome vi verujete? Koga se plašite? S kim osećate povezanost? Od koga bežite?
I'm going to tell you what we have learned. The implicit association test, which measures unconscious bias, you can go online and take it. Five million people have taken it. Turns out, our default is white. We like white people. We prefer white. What do I mean by that? When people are shown images of black men and white men, we are more quickly able to associate that picture with a positive word, that white person with a positive word, than we are when we are trying to associate positive with a black face, and vice versa. When we see a black face, it is easier for us to connect black with negative than it is white with negative. Seventy percent of white people taking that test prefer white. Fifty percent of black people taking that test prefer white. You see, we were all outside when the contamination came down.
Reći ću vam šta smo saznali. Test implicitnih asocijacija, koji meri podsvesne predrasude, možete ga naći na internetu. Pet miliona ljudi ga je uradilo. Ispostavilo se da je naš prvi izbor belac. Volimo bele ljude. Više volimo belce. Šta pod time podrazumevam? Kada ljudima pokažu slike belaca i crnaca, brže možemo da povežemo tu sliku, tu belu osobu, sa pozitivnom pričom, nego što to možemo kad pokušamo da povežemo pozitivno sa crnim licem. I obrnuto. Kad vidimo crno lice, lakše nam je da povežemo crno sa negativnim, nego belo. Sedamdeset posto belaca koji rade test bira belce. Pedeset posto crnaca koji rade test bira belce. Nismo bili tu kad je došlo do kontaminacije.
What do we do about the fact that our brain automatically associates? You know, one of the things that you probably are thinking about, and you're probably like, you know what, I'm just going to double down on my color blindness. Yes, I'm going to recommit to that. I'm going to suggest to you, no. We've gone about as far as we can go trying to make a difference trying to not see color. The problem was never that we saw color. It was what we did when we saw the color. It's a false ideal. And while we're busy pretending not to see, we are not being aware of the ways in which racial difference is changing people's possibilities, that's keeping them from thriving, and sometimes it's causing them an early death.
Šta da radimo s činjenicom da naš mozak asocira automatski? Jedna od stvari koju verovatno pomislite je: znate šta, još više ću biti slep za boju. Da, to ću da uradim. Predložiću vam da ne radite to. Otišli smo do kraja u pokušaju da promenimo stvari i da ne primećujemo boju. Problem nikada nije bio u tome što primećujemo boju, već u tome šta činimo kad primetimo boju. To je pogrešan ideal. I dok smo se trudili da ne primećujemo, nismo bili svesni na koji način rasne razlike menjaju mogućnosti ljudi i sprečavaju ih da napreduju,
So in fact, what the scientists are telling us is, no way. Don't even think about color blindness. In fact, what they're suggesting is, stare at awesome black people. (Laughter) Look at them directly in their faces and memorize them, because when we look at awesome folks who are black, it helps to dissociate the association that happens automatically in our brain. Why do you think I'm showing you these beautiful black men behind me? There were so many, I had to cut them. Okay, so here's the thing: I'm trying to reset your automatic associations about who black men are. I'm trying to remind you that young black men grow up to be amazing human beings who have changed our lives and made them better.
a ponekad prouzrokuju i ranu smrt. U stvari, naučnici nam kažu: ni slučajno! Ni slučajno ne budite slepi za boju. Ono što nam govore je da buljimo u fenomenalne crne ljude. (Smeh) Gledajte ih pravo u lice i zapamtite ih, jer kad gledamo u fenomenalne ljude koji su crni, to nam pomaže da razbijemo asocijaciju koja se dešava automatski u našem mozgu. Šta mislite zašto vam pokazujem ove lepe crne muškarce? Bilo ih je mnogo, pa sam morala da izbacim neke. Stvar je u tome da pokušavam da promenim vaše automatske asocijacije o crncima. Pokušavam da vas podsetim da mladi crnci izrastaju u fenomenalne ljude
So here's the thing. The other possibility in science, and it's only temporarily changing our automatic assumptions, but one thing we know is that if you take a white person who is odious that you know, and stick it up next to a person of color, a black person, who is fabulous, then that sometimes actually causes us to disassociate too. So think Jeffrey Dahmer and Colin Powell. Just stare at them, right? (Laughter) But these are the things. So go looking for your bias. Please, please, just get out of denial and go looking for disconfirming data that will prove that in fact your old stereotypes are wrong.
koji su promenili naše živote i učinili ih boljim. Stvar je u sledećem. Druga naučna mogućnost samo privremeno menja naše automatske pretpostavke, ali ono što znamo je da ako uzmete belu osobu koja je odvratna i stavite je uz obojenu osobu, crnu osobu, koja je divna, onda i to ponekad čini da razbijemo asocijacije. Pomislite na Džefrija Damera i Kolina Pauela. Samo ih pogledajte. (Smeh) Ali tako stoje stvari. Zato potražite svoje predrasude. Molim vas, samo ih ne poričite i potražite podatke
Okay, so that's number one: number two, what I'm going to say is move toward young black men instead of away from them. It's not the hardest thing to do, but it's also one of these things where you have to be conscious and intentional about it. You know, I was in a Wall Street area one time several years ago when I was with a colleague of mine, and she's really wonderful and she does diversity work with me and she's a woman of color, she's Korean. And we were outside, it was late at night, and we were sort of wondering where we were going, we were lost. And I saw this person across the street, and I was thinking, "Oh great, black guy." I was going toward him without even thinking about it. And she was like, "Oh, that's interesting." The guy across the street, he was a black guy. I think black guys generally know where they're going. I don't know why exactly I think that, but that's what I think. So she was saying, "Oh, you were going, 'Yay, a black guy'?" She said, "I was going, 'Ooh, a black guy.'" Other direction. Same need, same guy, same clothes, same time, same street, different reaction. And she said, "I feel so bad. I'm a diversity consultant. I did the black guy thing. I'm a woman of color. Oh my God!" And I said, "You know what? Please. We really need to relax about this." I mean, you've got to realize I go way back with black guys. (Laughter) My dad is a black guy. You see what I'm saying? I've got a 6'5" black guy son. I was married to a black guy. My black guy thing is so wide and so deep that I can pretty much sort and figure out who that black guy is, and he was my black guy. He said, "Yes, ladies, I know where you're going. I'll take you there."
koji će pokazati da su vaši stari stereotipi, u stvari, pogrešni. To je bilo prvo, a drugo: idite ka mladim crncima, umesto od njih. To nije teško uraditi, ali je, takođe, jedna od onih stvari koje treba da budete svesni i da je radite s namerom. Pre nekoliko godina, bila sam na Vol stritu sa svojom koleginicom. Ona je stvarno divna. Radila je sa mnom na raznolikosti, i ona je obojena, Korejanka. Izašle smo, bilo je kasno u noć, i zapitale smo se kuda idemo, izgubile smo se. Videla sam neku osobu preko puta i pomislila: "Super, crnac." Pošla sam ka njemu bez razmišljanja. A ona je rekla: "Zanimljivo." Tip preko puta je bio crnac. Ja mislim da crnci uglavnom znaju kuda idu. Ne znam baš zašto to mislim, ali tako mislim. Ona je rekla: "Ti si pomislila: super, crnac! a ja: jao, crnac." Različit smer. Ista potreba, isti lik, ista odeća, isto vreme, ista ulica, različita reakcija. Rekla je: "Osećam se loše. Ja sam savetnik za raznolikost. Imala sam predrasudu prema crncu, a ja sam obojena. O, bože!" Rekla sam: "Znaš šta? Opusti se." Ja se dugo znam sa crnim muškarcima. (Smeh) Moj tata je crnac. Razumete šta hoću da kažem? Imam sina koji je crnac od 2 metra. Udata sam za crnca. Moja veza sa crncima je tako duboka da prilično dobro mogu da ocenim ko je taj crnac, i bio je moj crnac.
You know, biases are the stories we make up about people before we know who they actually are. But how are we going to know who they are when we've been told to avoid and be afraid of them? So I'm going to tell you to walk toward your discomfort. And I'm not asking you to take any crazy risks. I'm saying, just do an inventory, expand your social and professional circles. Who's in your circle? Who's missing? How many authentic relationships do you have with young black people, folks, men, women? Or any other major difference from who you are and how you roll, so to speak? Because, you know what? Just look around your periphery. There may be somebody at work, in your classroom, in your house of worship, somewhere, there's some black young guy there. And you're nice. You say hi. I'm saying go deeper, closer, further, and build the kinds of relationships, the kinds of friendships that actually cause you to see the holistic person and to really go against the stereotypes. I know some of you are out there,
Rekao je: "Da, devojke, znam kuda idete. Odvešću vas tamo." Predrasude su priče koje izmišljamo o ljudima pre nego što ih stvarno upoznamo. Ali kako ćemo da ih upoznamo, kad su nam rekli da ih izbegavamo i da ih se plašimo? Tražim od vas da idete ka neprijatnostima. I ne tražim od vas da preduzimate sulude rizike. Samo kažem da napravite popis, proširite svoje društvene i profesionalne krugove. Ko je u vašem krugu? Ko nedostaje? Koliko autentičnih odnosa imate sa mladim crnim ljudima, muškarcima, ženama, ili na neki drugi način mnogo različitim osobama od vas, od onoga što je "vaš stil", da tako kažem? Jer, znate šta? Samo pogledajte oko vas. Možda postoji neko na poslu, u vašoj učionici, u vašoj crkvi. Postoji neki mladi crnac tamo. I fini ste. Kažete: "Ćao!" Ja kažem da idete dublje, bliže, dalje, i napravite takve odnose, prijateljstva, koja će učiniti da vidite osobu u celosti i da idete protiv stereotipa. Znam da vas ima tamo,
I know because I have some white friends in particular that will say, "You have no idea how awkward I am. Like, I don't think this is going to work for me. I'm sure I'm going to blow this." Okay, maybe, but this thing is not about perfection. It's about connection. And you're not going to get comfortable before you get uncomfortable. I mean, you just have to do it. And young black men, what I'm saying is if someone comes your way, genuinely and authentically, take the invitation. Not everyone is out to get you. Go looking for those people who can see your humanity. You know, it's the empathy and the compassion that comes out of having relationships with people who are different from you. Something really powerful and beautiful happens: you start to realize that they are you, that they are part of you, that they are you in your family, and then we cease to be bystanders and we become actors, we become advocates, and we become allies. So go away from your comfort into a bigger, brighter thing, because that is how we will stop another Ferguson from happening. That's how we create a community where everybody, especially young black men, can thrive.
znam, jer imam neke bele prijatelje koji će reći: "Nemaš pojma koliko sam ja čudan. Mislim da to meni neće da funkcioniše. Sigurno ću to uprskati." Okej, možda. Ali nije cilj da budete savršeni. Cilj je povezivanje. I neće vam biti prijatno, ako vam prethodno ne bude bilo neprijatno. Samo treba to da uradite. A mladi crnci, vama kažem da ako vam neko prilazi iskreno, prihvatite poziv. Neće svako da vam pravi probleme. Potražite one ljude koji mogu da vide vašu humanost. Empatija i saosećanje dolaze od odnosa koje imate s ljudima različitim od vas. Nešto zaista moćno i lepo se dešava: počinjete da shvatate da su oni vi, da su oni deo vas, da su oni u vašoj porodici i onda prestajemo da budemo posmatrači i postajemo činioci, postajemo pristalice, i postajemo saveznici. Zato pobegnite od komfornosti u nešto veće, svetlije, jer tako ćemo sprečiti da se desi neki novi Ferguson. Tako stvaramo zajednicu gde svi, a naročito mladi crnci, mogu da napreduju.
So this last thing is going to be harder, and I know it, but I'm just going to put it out there anyway. When we see something, we have to have the courage to say something, even to the people we love. You know, it's holidays and it's going to be a time when we're sitting around the table and having a good time. Many of us, anyways, will be in holidays, and you've got to listen to the conversations around the table. You start to say things like, "Grandma's a bigot." (Laughter) "Uncle Joe is racist." And you know, we love Grandma and we love Uncle Joe. We do. We know they're good people, but what they're saying is wrong. And we need to be able to say something, because you know who else is at the table? The children are at the table. And we wonder why these biases don't die, and move from generation to generation? Because we're not saying anything. We've got to be willing to say, "Grandma, we don't call people that anymore." "Uncle Joe, it isn't true that he deserved that. No one deserves that." And we've got to be willing to not shelter our children from the ugliness of racism when black parents don't have the luxury to do so, especially those who have young black sons. We've got to take our lovely darlings, our future, and we've got to tell them we have an amazing country with incredible ideals, we have worked incredibly hard, and we have made some progress, but we are not done. We still have in us this old stuff about superiority and it is causing us to embed those further into our institutions and our society and generations, and it is making for despair and disparities and a devastating devaluing of young black men. We still struggle, you have to tell them, with seeing both the color and the character of young black men, but that you, and you expect them, to be part of the forces of change in this society that will stand against injustice and is willing, above all other things, to make a society where young black men can be seen for all of who they are.
Zato će ova poslednja stvar biti teža, znam to, ali ću je ipak reći. Kad vidimo nešto, moramo da imamo hrabrosti da kažemo nešto, čak i ljudima koje volimo. Praznici su, i to je vreme kad sedimo za stolom i dobro smo raspoloženi. Mnogi od nas će biti na odmoru i morate da slušate razgovore za stolom. Krenete da govorite stvari kao što su: "Baba je ekstremista." (Smeh) "Ujka Džo je rasista." Ali mi volimo baku i ujka Džoa. Znamo da su oni dobri ljudi, ali ono što govore je pogrešno. I treba da smo spremni da kažemo nešto, jer znate ko je još za stolom? Deca su za stolom. I pitamo se zašto ove predrasude ne umiru i prenose se s generacije na generaciju? Jer ne govorimo ništa. Moramo biti spremni da kažemo: "Bako, ne nazivamo ljude više tako." "Ujka Džo, nije istina da je on to zaslužio. Niko to ne zaslužuje." I treba da budemo spremni da ne sklanjamo decu od ružnoće rasizma jer crni roditelji nemaju luksuz da to urade, naročito oni koji imaju mlade crne sinove. Moramo našim mezimcima, našoj budućnosti da kažemo da imamo sjajnu zemlju sa neverovatnim idealima, radili smo naporno i napravili neki napredak, ali nismo gotovi. Još uvek imamo u sebi one stare ideje o superiornosti, što prouzrokuje da to ugrađujemo u naše institucije, u naše društvo i generacije, i to prouzrokuje očajanje i nejednakosti i obezvređivanje mladih crnaca. Još uvek se borimo, morate da im kažete, tako što primećujemo i boju i ličnost mladih crnaca, i da očekujete od njih da budu deo snaga promene u ovom društvu koje će ustati protiv nepravde i koje su, iznad svega, voljne da naprave društvo gde će mladi crnci biti vrednovani u celini.
So many amazing black men, those who are the most amazing statesmen that have ever lived, brave soldiers, awesome, hardworking laborers. These are people who are powerful preachers. They are incredible scientists and artists and writers. They are dynamic comedians. They are doting grandpas, caring sons. They are strong fathers, and they are young men with dreams of their own.
Toliko je neverovatnih crnih ljudi, najneverovatnijih državnika koji su ikada živeli, hrabrih vojnika, sjajnih, vrednih radnika. To su ljudi koji su moćni propovednici. Oni su neverovatni naučnici, i umetnici, i pisci. Oni su harizmatični komičari. To su pažljive deke, brižni sinovi. Oni su jaki očevi, i oni su mladi ljudi sa sopstvenim snovima.
Thank you.
Hvala vam.
(Applause)
(Aplauz)