Check for web archive captures
Finding Our Common Humanity: Antidotes to Ethnic
Profiling
By lynmiller-lachmann on 2009-12-20 21:59:35
My post last week, “Tales of Ethnic Profiling” generated a large number of comments, and I thank everyone who dropped
in. Whether or not we all agree, it’s a thrill to know that people read the blog, thought about it, and took the time to respond.
One thing we all have in common as human beings is a need to have our work acknowledged and respected. Last week I
mentioned that ethnic profiling is a form of stereotyping—attributing the characteristics of a group to every person who
appears to belong to the group. In identifying people solely as members of a group to which they belong, we deny both a
person’s individuality, what makes him or her unique, and the myriad and complex needs, desires, experiences, and reactions
that we share because we are all human. Belonging to a group (or multiple groups) is part of who we are—but it’s only one
part. We are unique individuals, and we are part of a common humanity. Coming to terms with our identities and the
identities of those around us can serve as an antidote to ethnic profiling and other forms of stereotyping, and the book and
film that I recommend offer positive steps to attaining these goals. The book is Kaolin’s Talking About Race: A Workbook
About White People Fostering Racial Equality in Their Lives (Crandall, Dostie & Douglass, 2010), and the film is the
inspiring documentary Playing for Change: Peace Through Music, which became a sleeper hit in 2009. Shortly after I
moved to the Capital District in 1990, I became a volunteer for CAPTAIN Youth & Family Services in Clifton Park. Among
my other work with CAPTAIN, I attended and then organized diversity workshops for adults and teenagers. At that time,
Clifton Park was not known for its diversity— a local columnist called the town “Velveetaland’”—but I was pleased to see a
strong and enthusiastic attendance for the workshops. There, participants identified the elements that made up their own
culture and the attitudes and stereotypes that they may have developed over the years. Around this time (the mid-1990s),
Kaolin, born Patricia Anne Graham, enrolled as an undergraduate at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst at the age of
43. There, she was stunned and dismayed by the hostility of white students toward the African-American professor of their
cultural anthropology class whenever the professor raised the issue of racism. A white woman married to an African-
American man, Kaolin wanted to help her fellow students, most of them a generation younger and from suburbs like Clifton
Park, to examine their attitudes and assumptions. Motivated by a desire to protect her two biracial children, she petitioned
the university to offer a for-credit course on racism that she, while still an undergraduate, would teach. Talking About Race
grew out of this course, which she taught for two semesters before receiving her Bachelor’s degree in 2000. Suitable for
high school students as well as college students and adults, the book is in the form of a workbook, with individual and small-
group activities similar to the ones we used in the diversity workshops in Clifton Park. Talking About Race asks students to
delve into their own beliefs and assumptions that may be considered racist, to examine their upbringing, how they may have
benefited from white privilege, and the moments in their past when they remained silent in the face of injustice. Kaolin uses
case studies of people who may have had the same experiences as readers (such as a girl witnessing her father threatening to
disown her brother for having an African-American girlfriend) and asks readers to write about what they would have done—
and what they should have done. Throughout, readers are encouraged to write as a means of identifying thoughts and
feelings, and as a basis for dialogue and discussion. The activities are thought provoking and fun, using stories—readers’
own and those of others—to spark reflection. A useful glossary of terms concludes this resource, which is refreshingly
jargon-free. Three months ago, I reviewed for this blog the memoir Rock ‘n’ Roll Soldier by Dean Ellis Kohler and Susan
VanHecke. In the discussion that followed, gunga dan shared links to some of his favorite Metallica videos, which I very
much appreciate. And in my next novel, two young people of different backgrounds come together in part over their love of
Metallica. Music is one of those things that connect us as human beings, as Kohler discovered during his tour of duty in
ple
Vietnam in the late 1960s. EBThe unifying capacity of music lies at the heart of the film Playing
for Change, directed by Mark Johnson and Jonathan Walls. The idea for this remarkable documentary was born in Santa
Monica, California, with a street musician named Roger Ridley and his haunting version of “Stand By Me.” For the next
two years, Johnson and Walls would record dozens of other musicians around the world singing the same song (mixed in
with Ridley’s version), as well as performing other covers and their own music. This musical journey takes us to the Zuni
reservation and to New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina; to Barcelona, Spain; to various locations in South
Africa; to Dharamsala and Chennai, India; to Kathmandu, Nepal; and finally back to Santa Monica, where the filmmakers
learned of Ridley’s death from kidney failure. The film is a testament to the universal appeal of music. Music brings people
of disparate cultures together; it provides solace to immigrants far from home; it offers hope and a voice to those struggling
against oppression. A group of diverse Latin American exiles living in Spain offer a spirited rendition of the Cuban classic
“Chan Chan.” The acclaimed world music superstar Manu Chao shows up on a Barcelona beach to jam with street
performers. The Exile Brothers, Tibetan refugees living in Dharamsala, use their music to keep alive the hope that one day
the Dalai Lama and his followers will be able to return to their beloved land. But the longest segment—and perhaps the most
compelling one—consists of a tour through post-apartheid South Africa and visits with the underground performers who
helped to spark the movement for democracy and racial justice. Today, these musicians remain active, calling for peace and
reconciliation, providing alternatives to the violence and poverty that young people face, and raising awareness of
HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment. The film’s audio and visual qualities are outstanding. Johnson and Walls do a superb
job of capturing the amount of great music that exists in unexpected places throughout the world. I was fortunate to see
Playing for Change at its premiere at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival in New York City. Both directors were there, along with
crew members and several of the musicians, flown in from Europe. At that time, Johnson and Walls were trying to find a
distributor for the film. I am pleased to report that both the film and the soundtrack CD have become quite popular—and
would make a great gift choice for those who’ve left their holiday shopping for the last minute. Disclosure statement
(required by the FTC of book bloggers): I received an advance review copy of Talking About Race from the publisher.
