I have a vivid memory of the day I
learned Trayvon Martin was killed my
facebook newsfeed was filled with some
of my friends who were pregnant with
black boys at the time complaining about
not being able to sleep feeling anxious
frustrated angry hopeless they were
lamenting bringing their children into
this world juxtaposed to that anguish
were some posts from some of my white
friends who were giggling about adorable
kitten memes posting cupcake recipes
some of them were talking about the
death of Trayvon but it was clear that
none of them were holding in their
bodies or felt personally threatened by
the death of this stranger I have since
become the mother of a delightfully
precocious and sweet little boy I
curious about his personality and who
he’ll become and I admire the cook in a
smile but I also wonder when the oohs
and the ahhs the gushing of strangers
will turn into clutched purses fear or
perceptions of threat for me Trayvon is
not a stranger he’s my son and the
threat that killed him is not easily
exchanged for kitten needs or cupcake
recipes the threat to kill Trayvon is
something that I consider every day as a
mother and as a scientist as a scientist
my work focuses on how our lived
experiences contribute to racial
inequalities and health I’m haunted by
this pattern in the data that indicates
that blacks fare worse than whites when
it comes to health for the 15 leading
causes of disease heart disease started
15 leading causes of death heart disease
stroke hypertension blacks have an
earlier onset faster progression in
earlier death than whites what’s
particularly striking about this pattern
is that it persists at every level of
socioeconomic status even when we
account for education income health
insurance we still see this difference
between blacks and whites what do we do
with that if it’s not education it’s not
income why is race explaining health how
do we account how do we understand the
probability of my dying sooner than my
white counterparts in spite of my
education and income this collision of
this deeply personal part of my life in
my professional life has led me to a
question of what would it take what
would it take for you to understand that
racism is more complex than being called
a name or even violence at the hands of
police what would it take for you to
accept that we still live in a world
where the color of someone’s skin can
get them killed Passover for a job
denied a loan denied housing a fair shot
what would it take for the videos and
reports of black bodies being gunned
down by police to register as a pattern
of racism and not merely as a
consequence of insubordination or
criminality what would it take for the
out cries of racial injustice to
register not as a sensitivity or as a
card to be played but as an unacceptable
social reality what would it take for
the data you see and that you say you
get what would it take for that to for
you to connect in fear
the reality behind that data what would
it take for you to not just feel bad or
to empathize but to act and think
differently to refuse to live in the
world where the color of one’s skin can
dictate their health or well-being I
talk a lot about racism and I’m used to
there being a point in the conversation
for the audience to turn inward they
start focusing on their emotions of
guilt shame anger indifference I’m going
to ask you to not do that stay in the
room with me stay present there’s a
quote I like by dr. Georgie an see in
the letter that he published in the New
York Times that he addressed to white
America and in this letter he says I’m
asking you to look deep to look into
your soul with silence to quiet that
voice that will speak to you of your
white innocence take a deep breath make
room for my voice in the deepest part of
your psyche try to be silent practice
listening so what I’m asking you to do
is to not focus on how it feels for you
to hear me describe oppression but focus
on the oppression when I talk to my
students I often give an example of me
describing someone on the ground with
the boot on their neck and they’re
focused on what it feels like to look at
someone on the ground with the boot on
their neck as opposed to focusing on the
person on the ground with boot on their
neck focus on the oppression I am a
professor at Columbia University in New
York City and in a school of social work
at that I am grateful to be surrounded
by people who share my values of racial
justice and racial equity but I also
find that even people who believe
espouses beliefs
of racial justice and racial equity
don’t always understand racial injustice
or racial inequity they don’t always get
how that really shows up in people’s
lives and in society I find that it’s
easier to build consensus on what should
be and much more difficult to build
consensus on what is it’s much easier to
agree that the world should be a fair
place and that my kid deserves the same
shot as your kid and it’s much more
difficult to get on the same page about
barriers that show up that prevent us
from living in that reality in our
change project we’re exploring the ways
to use virtual reality to bridge this
gap in understanding we’re asking the
question can we immerse people in a
virtual experience of racism that helps
them to better understand the
complexities of the realities of racism
we are using quantitative and
qualitative data that demonstrates that
there are racial differences in how kids
are disciplined in their classroom
hiring practices policing demonstrated
in empirical data the ways in which
racism shows up in people’s lives in
multiple spaces across the life course
in collaboration with Jeremy bailenson
of the virtual human interaction lab at
Stanford University in my team the
Cogburn research group and the Brown
Institute of media innovation it’s a lot
of people it could be a university we
are asking you to step into the life or
the virtual shoes of Michael sterling
we’re asking you to think about the ways
that you can embody an experience that’s
not your own we know that we can help
you through a virtual avatar feel and
experience what your virtual avatar is
feeling and experiencing we have
complex uses of quantitative and
qualitative data to construct narratives
of race and racism through the life of
Michael sterling we’re asking you to
think about what it feels like to be
Michael at age seven age 15 30 and 50 at
age seven you’re in a classroom playing
with your friends tossing blocks as
airplanes and flying robots and suddenly
you’re white female teacher appears
hovering over you scolding you for being
aggressive and dangerous you need to
calm down Michael you’re gonna hurt
someone go sit in timeout you’re not
acting any differently than your white
peers and as you sit in timeout
as an avatar looking at your face in the
mirror we’re asking you to reflect on
how it felt to be treated that way as
you watch your white peers continue to
play at age 15 you’re preparing to go to
a basketball game with your friend Jacob
who’s white and he’s waiting at you if
they don’t waiting for you at the door
before you leave your mother asked you
to stop she’s watching the local news
and she realizes that the police are
looking for someone who’s wearing
something very similar to you she asks
you to change you resist you’re running
late for the game she stops and says
don’t forget what happened to your
brother you change your shirt assure
your mother that you’ll be okay and head
out of the house as you head to the game
you’re waving to neighbors on the
streets Jacob decides to run and catch
the bus so that you’re not late as soon
as you make the same choice to jaywalk
you’re accosted by police officers who
instruct you the user in the headset to
get on your knees and put your hands up
again this might seem extreme but it’s
based on real data on stop-and-frisk
practices in New York City as you hear
the sounds of police yelling at you
neighbors intervening on your behalf the
sound shuts off and quiet and we fade
back to your mother sitting in the house
watching the local news hearing the same
sounds and sirens
not realizing that this incident
involves her son at age 30 you’re
getting ready for an interview the
opportunity of a lifetime you’re well
educated you have great experiences
you’re prepared
but you enter this very white space the
old white founders are hanging on the
walls the magazine’s in front of you are
covered with white faces when the
interviewer comes in he goes immediately
to the white candidate who’s waiting
with you and says you must be our
candidate from Yale he’s not
you are the receptionist corrects the
interviewer who then acknowledges your
presence and says oh I’m sorry I didn’t
see you there we’ll be right with you
as he takes the white candidate back for
the interview you don’t get the job at
age 50 we ask you to look into a mirror
at your aged base reflecting on the
experiences that have happened to you
but also seeing video overlays of other
black boys girls men and women who are
also sharing their experiences at
various points in their lives in various
spaces across their life course it’s not
just Michael it’s not just at age 7 its
many people who carry these experiences
across their lives we’re not only
leveraging the power of Technology we’re
leveraging the power of science if you
will we are as I said using quantitative
and qualitative data to construct these
complex narratives in a virtual
experience but we’re also employing
experimental design to think about how
we can assess changes at the individual
and group level are we moving the needle
are people different as a result of
going through this experience I believe
that achieving racial justice requires
that we understand racism not an
understanding that emerges from
intellectual exercise or in the
production or consumption of science but
one that is based in your body in your
spirit as much as reason
so I ask you again what would it take
for you to not just feel bad or
empathize but to act and think
differently what would it take
learned Trayvon Martin was killed my
facebook newsfeed was filled with some
of my friends who were pregnant with
black boys at the time complaining about
not being able to sleep feeling anxious
frustrated angry hopeless they were
lamenting bringing their children into
this world juxtaposed to that anguish
were some posts from some of my white
friends who were giggling about adorable
kitten memes posting cupcake recipes
some of them were talking about the
death of Trayvon but it was clear that
none of them were holding in their
bodies or felt personally threatened by
the death of this stranger I have since
become the mother of a delightfully
precocious and sweet little boy I
curious about his personality and who
he’ll become and I admire the cook in a
smile but I also wonder when the oohs
and the ahhs the gushing of strangers
will turn into clutched purses fear or
perceptions of threat for me Trayvon is
not a stranger he’s my son and the
threat that killed him is not easily
exchanged for kitten needs or cupcake
recipes the threat to kill Trayvon is
something that I consider every day as a
mother and as a scientist as a scientist
my work focuses on how our lived
experiences contribute to racial
inequalities and health I’m haunted by
this pattern in the data that indicates
that blacks fare worse than whites when
it comes to health for the 15 leading
causes of disease heart disease started
15 leading causes of death heart disease
stroke hypertension blacks have an
earlier onset faster progression in
earlier death than whites what’s
particularly striking about this pattern
is that it persists at every level of
socioeconomic status even when we
account for education income health
insurance we still see this difference
between blacks and whites what do we do
with that if it’s not education it’s not
income why is race explaining health how
do we account how do we understand the
probability of my dying sooner than my
white counterparts in spite of my
education and income this collision of
this deeply personal part of my life in
my professional life has led me to a
question of what would it take what
would it take for you to understand that
racism is more complex than being called
a name or even violence at the hands of
police what would it take for you to
accept that we still live in a world
where the color of someone’s skin can
get them killed Passover for a job
denied a loan denied housing a fair shot
what would it take for the videos and
reports of black bodies being gunned
down by police to register as a pattern
of racism and not merely as a
consequence of insubordination or
criminality what would it take for the
out cries of racial injustice to
register not as a sensitivity or as a
card to be played but as an unacceptable
social reality what would it take for
the data you see and that you say you
get what would it take for that to for
you to connect in fear
the reality behind that data what would
it take for you to not just feel bad or
to empathize but to act and think
differently to refuse to live in the
world where the color of one’s skin can
dictate their health or well-being I
talk a lot about racism and I’m used to
there being a point in the conversation
for the audience to turn inward they
start focusing on their emotions of
guilt shame anger indifference I’m going
to ask you to not do that stay in the
room with me stay present there’s a
quote I like by dr. Georgie an see in
the letter that he published in the New
York Times that he addressed to white
America and in this letter he says I’m
asking you to look deep to look into
your soul with silence to quiet that
voice that will speak to you of your
white innocence take a deep breath make
room for my voice in the deepest part of
your psyche try to be silent practice
listening so what I’m asking you to do
is to not focus on how it feels for you
to hear me describe oppression but focus
on the oppression when I talk to my
students I often give an example of me
describing someone on the ground with
the boot on their neck and they’re
focused on what it feels like to look at
someone on the ground with the boot on
their neck as opposed to focusing on the
person on the ground with boot on their
neck focus on the oppression I am a
professor at Columbia University in New
York City and in a school of social work
at that I am grateful to be surrounded
by people who share my values of racial
justice and racial equity but I also
find that even people who believe
espouses beliefs
of racial justice and racial equity
don’t always understand racial injustice
or racial inequity they don’t always get
how that really shows up in people’s
lives and in society I find that it’s
easier to build consensus on what should
be and much more difficult to build
consensus on what is it’s much easier to
agree that the world should be a fair
place and that my kid deserves the same
shot as your kid and it’s much more
difficult to get on the same page about
barriers that show up that prevent us
from living in that reality in our
change project we’re exploring the ways
to use virtual reality to bridge this
gap in understanding we’re asking the
question can we immerse people in a
virtual experience of racism that helps
them to better understand the
complexities of the realities of racism
we are using quantitative and
qualitative data that demonstrates that
there are racial differences in how kids
are disciplined in their classroom
hiring practices policing demonstrated
in empirical data the ways in which
racism shows up in people’s lives in
multiple spaces across the life course
in collaboration with Jeremy bailenson
of the virtual human interaction lab at
Stanford University in my team the
Cogburn research group and the Brown
Institute of media innovation it’s a lot
of people it could be a university we
are asking you to step into the life or
the virtual shoes of Michael sterling
we’re asking you to think about the ways
that you can embody an experience that’s
not your own we know that we can help
you through a virtual avatar feel and
experience what your virtual avatar is
feeling and experiencing we have
complex uses of quantitative and
qualitative data to construct narratives
of race and racism through the life of
Michael sterling we’re asking you to
think about what it feels like to be
Michael at age seven age 15 30 and 50 at
age seven you’re in a classroom playing
with your friends tossing blocks as
airplanes and flying robots and suddenly
you’re white female teacher appears
hovering over you scolding you for being
aggressive and dangerous you need to
calm down Michael you’re gonna hurt
someone go sit in timeout you’re not
acting any differently than your white
peers and as you sit in timeout
as an avatar looking at your face in the
mirror we’re asking you to reflect on
how it felt to be treated that way as
you watch your white peers continue to
play at age 15 you’re preparing to go to
a basketball game with your friend Jacob
who’s white and he’s waiting at you if
they don’t waiting for you at the door
before you leave your mother asked you
to stop she’s watching the local news
and she realizes that the police are
looking for someone who’s wearing
something very similar to you she asks
you to change you resist you’re running
late for the game she stops and says
don’t forget what happened to your
brother you change your shirt assure
your mother that you’ll be okay and head
out of the house as you head to the game
you’re waving to neighbors on the
streets Jacob decides to run and catch
the bus so that you’re not late as soon
as you make the same choice to jaywalk
you’re accosted by police officers who
instruct you the user in the headset to
get on your knees and put your hands up
again this might seem extreme but it’s
based on real data on stop-and-frisk
practices in New York City as you hear
the sounds of police yelling at you
neighbors intervening on your behalf the
sound shuts off and quiet and we fade
back to your mother sitting in the house
watching the local news hearing the same
sounds and sirens
not realizing that this incident
involves her son at age 30 you’re
getting ready for an interview the
opportunity of a lifetime you’re well
educated you have great experiences
you’re prepared
but you enter this very white space the
old white founders are hanging on the
walls the magazine’s in front of you are
covered with white faces when the
interviewer comes in he goes immediately
to the white candidate who’s waiting
with you and says you must be our
candidate from Yale he’s not
you are the receptionist corrects the
interviewer who then acknowledges your
presence and says oh I’m sorry I didn’t
see you there we’ll be right with you
as he takes the white candidate back for
the interview you don’t get the job at
age 50 we ask you to look into a mirror
at your aged base reflecting on the
experiences that have happened to you
but also seeing video overlays of other
black boys girls men and women who are
also sharing their experiences at
various points in their lives in various
spaces across their life course it’s not
just Michael it’s not just at age 7 its
many people who carry these experiences
across their lives we’re not only
leveraging the power of Technology we’re
leveraging the power of science if you
will we are as I said using quantitative
and qualitative data to construct these
complex narratives in a virtual
experience but we’re also employing
experimental design to think about how
we can assess changes at the individual
and group level are we moving the needle
are people different as a result of
going through this experience I believe
that achieving racial justice requires
that we understand racism not an
understanding that emerges from
intellectual exercise or in the
production or consumption of science but
one that is based in your body in your
spirit as much as reason
so I ask you again what would it take
for you to not just feel bad or
empathize but to act and think
differently what would it take
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