0:00:00.717,0:00:03.167
I was on a long road trip this summer,

0:00:03.167,0:00:06.245
and I was having[br]a wonderful time listening

0:00:06.245,0:00:10.992
to the amazing Isabel Wilkerson's[br]"The Warmth of Other Suns."

0:00:10.992,0:00:20.761
It documents six million black folks[br]fleeing the South from 1915 to 1970

0:00:20.761,0:00:24.238
looking for a respite[br]from all the brutality

0:00:24.238,0:00:27.999
and trying to get to a better[br]opportunity up North,

0:00:27.999,0:00:32.407
and it was filled with stories[br]of the resilience and the brilliance

0:00:32.407,0:00:34.362
of African-Americans,

0:00:34.362,0:00:38.731
and it was also really hard to hear[br]all the stories of the horrors

0:00:38.731,0:00:43.430
[br]and the humility,[br]and all the humiliations.

0:00:44.320,0:00:49.029
It was especially hard to hear[br]about the beatings and the burnings

0:00:49.029,0:00:51.366
and the lynchings of black men.

0:00:51.366,0:00:54.632
And I said, "You know,[br]this is a little deep.

0:00:54.632,0:00:58.915
I need a break. I'm going[br]to turn on the radio."

0:00:58.915,0:01:01.561
I turned it on, and there it was:

0:01:02.061,0:01:04.233
Ferguson, Missouri,

0:01:04.233,0:01:05.815
Michael Brown,

0:01:06.445,0:01:08.665
18-year-old black man,

0:01:08.665,0:01:14.564
unarmed, shot by a white police officer,[br]laid on the ground dead,

0:01:14.564,0:01:18.478
blood running for four hours

0:01:18.478,0:01:22.993
while his grandmother and little children[br]and his neighbors watched in horror,

0:01:22.993,0:01:24.989
and I thought,

0:01:26.019,0:01:29.240
here it is again.

0:01:29.240,0:01:32.962
This violence, this brutality[br]against black men

0:01:32.962,0:01:35.824
has been going on for centuries.

0:01:35.824,0:01:40.385
I mean, it's the same story.[br]It's just different names.

0:01:40.396,0:01:43.908
It could have been Amadou Diallo.

0:01:44.498,0:01:46.823
It could have been Sean Bell.

0:01:46.823,0:01:50.213
It could have been Oscar Grant.

0:01:50.213,0:01:53.065
It could have been Trayvon Martin.

0:01:54.205,0:01:57.044
This violence, this brutality,

0:01:57.044,0:01:59.863
is really something that's part[br]of our national psyche.

0:01:59.863,0:02:02.632
It's part of our collective history.

0:02:02.632,0:02:07.447
What are we going to do about it?

0:02:07.447,0:02:11.672
You know that part of us that still[br]crosses the street,

0:02:12.672,0:02:14.722
locks the doors,

0:02:14.722,0:02:17.076
clutches the purses,

0:02:17.076,0:02:19.962
when we see young black men?

0:02:19.962,0:02:22.023
That part.

0:02:22.023,0:02:25.971
I mean, I know we're not[br]shooting people down in the street,

0:02:25.971,0:02:30.058
but I'm saying that the same[br]stereotypes and prejudices

0:02:30.058,0:02:33.123
that fuel those kinds of tragic incidents[br]

0:02:33.123,0:02:35.328
are in us.

0:02:35.328,0:02:39.195
We've been schooled in them as well.

0:02:39.195,0:02:45.758
I believe that we can stop[br]these types of incidents,

0:02:45.758,0:02:48.729
these Fergusons from happening,

0:02:48.729,0:02:54.078
by looking within[br]and being willing to change ourselves.

0:02:54.078,0:02:57.369
So I have a call to action for you.

0:02:57.369,0:03:01.454
There are three things that I want[br]to offer us today to think about

0:03:01.454,0:03:06.562
as ways to stop Ferguson[br]from happening again;

0:03:06.562,0:03:08.861
three things that I think will help us

0:03:08.861,0:03:12.336
reform our images of young black men;

0:03:12.336,0:03:16.652
three things that I'm hoping[br]will not only protect them

0:03:16.652,0:03:20.848
but will open the world[br]so that they can thrive.

0:03:20.848,0:03:22.619
Can you imagine that?

0:03:23.149,0:03:27.700
Can you imagine our country[br]embracing young black men,

0:03:27.700,0:03:33.045
seeing them as part of our future,[br]giving them that kind of openness,

0:03:33.045,0:03:36.758
that kind of grace we give[br]to people we love?

0:03:36.758,0:03:41.054
How much better would our lives be?[br]How much better would our country be?

0:03:41.054,0:03:43.967
Let me just start with number one.

0:03:43.967,0:03:46.906
We gotta get out of denial.

0:03:48.956,0:03:51.359
Stop trying to be good people.

0:03:51.359,0:03:53.503
We need real people.

0:03:53.503,0:03:55.412
You know, I do a lot of diversity work,

0:03:55.412,0:03:58.382
and people will come up to me[br]at the beginning of the workshop.

0:03:58.382,0:04:02.067
They're like, "Oh, Ms. Diversity Lady,[br]we're so glad you're here" --

0:04:02.067,0:04:03.646
(Laughter) --

0:04:03.646,0:04:06.659
"but we don't have a biased bone [br]in our body."

0:04:06.659,0:04:08.522
And I'm like, "Really?

0:04:08.522,0:04:13.010
Because I do this work every day,[br]and I see all my biases."

0:04:13.010,0:04:16.525
I mean, not too long ago, I was on a plane

0:04:16.525,0:04:20.902
and I heard the voice of a woman[br]pilot coming over the P.A. system,

0:04:20.902,0:04:23.014
and I was just so excited, so thrilled.

0:04:23.014,0:04:26.116
I was like, "Yes, women,[br]we are rocking it.

0:04:26.116,0:04:28.326
We are now in the stratosphere."

0:04:28.326,0:04:31.460
It was all good, and then it started[br]getting turbulent and bumpy,

0:04:31.460,0:04:32.877
and I was like,

0:04:32.877,0:04:35.295
"I hope she can drive."

0:04:35.295,0:04:36.634
(Laughter)

0:04:36.634,0:04:37.826
I know. Right.

0:04:37.826,0:04:40.068
But it's not even like[br]I knew that was a bias

0:04:40.068,0:04:43.558
until I was coming back on the other leg[br]and there's always a guy driving

0:04:43.558,0:04:45.307
and it's often turbulent and bumpy,

0:04:45.307,0:04:48.133
and I've never questioned[br]the confidence of the male driver.

0:04:48.133,0:04:50.089
The pilot is good.

0:04:50.089,0:04:52.585
Now, here's the problem.

0:04:52.585,0:05:00.096
If you ask me explicitly,[br]I would say, "Female pilot: awesome."

0:05:00.096,0:05:04.792
But it appears that when things get funky[br]and a little troublesome, a little risky,

0:05:04.792,0:05:08.802
I lean on a bias that I didn't[br]even know that I had.

0:05:08.802,0:05:11.416
You know, fast-moving planes in the sky,

0:05:11.416,0:05:13.379
I want a guy.

0:05:13.379,0:05:15.662
That's my default.

0:05:15.662,0:05:18.291
Men are my default.

0:05:18.291,0:05:20.611
Who is your default?

0:05:20.611,0:05:22.641
Who do you trust?

0:05:22.641,0:05:24.774
Who are you afraid of?

0:05:24.774,0:05:28.805
Who do you implicitly feel connected to?

0:05:28.805,0:05:31.847
Who do you run away from?

0:05:31.847,0:05:34.271
I'm going to tell you[br]what we have learned.

0:05:34.271,0:05:39.669
The implicit association test,[br]which measures unconscious bias,

0:05:39.669,0:05:41.389
you can go online and take it.

0:05:41.389,0:05:43.645
Five million people have taken it.

0:05:43.645,0:05:49.555
Turns out, our default is white.[br]We like white people.

0:05:49.555,0:05:52.315
We prefer white. What do I mean by that?

0:05:52.315,0:05:57.569
When people are shown images [br]of black men and white men,

0:05:57.569,0:06:01.562
we are more quickly able to associate

0:06:01.562,0:06:05.640
that picture with a positive word,[br]that white person with a positive word,

0:06:05.640,0:06:08.305
than we are when we are [br]trying to associate

0:06:08.305,0:06:11.520
positive with a black face,[br]and vice versa.

0:06:12.010,0:06:13.900
When we see a black face,

0:06:13.900,0:06:19.948
it is easier for us to connect[br]black with negative

0:06:19.948,0:06:22.075
than it is white with negative.

0:06:22.075,0:06:27.339
Seventy percent of white people[br]taking that test prefer white.

0:06:29.039,0:06:33.753
Fifty percent of black people[br]taking that test prefer white.

0:06:33.753,0:06:39.310
You see, we were all outside[br]when the contamination came down.

0:06:39.310,0:06:45.697
What do we do about the fact[br]that our brain automatically associates?

0:06:45.697,0:06:51.306
You know, one of the things[br]that you probably are thinking about,

0:06:51.306,0:06:53.284
and you're probably like, you know what,

0:06:53.284,0:06:56.818
I'm just going to double down[br]on my color blindness.

0:06:56.818,0:06:58.545
Yes, I'm going to recommit to that.

0:06:58.545,0:07:00.662
I'm going to suggest to you, no.

0:07:00.662,0:07:03.821
We've gone about as far as we can go[br]trying to make a difference

0:07:03.821,0:07:05.434
trying to not see color.

0:07:05.434,0:07:10.269
The problem was never that we saw color.[br]It was what we did when we saw the color.

0:07:10.269,0:07:14.270
It's a false ideal.

0:07:14.270,0:07:17.040
And while we're busy [br]pretending not to see,

0:07:17.040,0:07:20.871
we are not being aware of the ways[br]in which racial difference

0:07:20.871,0:07:26.152
is changing people's possibilities,[br]that's keeping them from thriving,

0:07:26.152,0:07:31.339
and sometimes it's causing them[br]an early death.

0:07:31.339,0:07:36.885
So in fact, what the scientists[br]are telling us is, no way.

0:07:36.885,0:07:39.280
Don't even think about color blindness.

0:07:39.280,0:07:41.760
In fact, what they're suggesting is,

0:07:41.760,0:07:46.290
stare at awesome black people.

0:07:46.290,0:07:48.030
(Laughter)

0:07:48.030,0:07:52.997
Look at them directly in their faces[br]and memorize them,

0:07:52.997,0:07:57.663
because when we look[br]at awesome folks who are black,

0:07:57.663,0:08:00.872
it helps to dissociate

0:08:00.872,0:08:06.405
the association that happens[br]automatically in our brain.

0:08:06.405,0:08:11.827
Why do you think I'm showing you[br]these beautiful black men behind me?

0:08:11.827,0:08:15.039
There were so many, I had to cut them.

0:08:15.039,0:08:16.351
Okay, so here's the thing:

0:08:16.351,0:08:22.279
I'm trying to reset your automatic[br]associations about who black men are.

0:08:22.279,0:08:24.641
I'm trying to remind you

0:08:24.641,0:08:29.665
that young black men[br]grow up to be amazing human beings

0:08:29.665,0:08:35.371
who have changed our lives[br]and made them better.

0:08:35.371,0:08:37.890
So here's the thing.

0:08:37.890,0:08:40.441
The other possibility in science,

0:08:40.441,0:08:43.365
and it's only temporarily changing[br]our automatic assumptions,

0:08:43.365,0:08:45.870
but one thing we know

0:08:45.870,0:08:50.662
is that if you take a white person[br]who is odious that you know,

0:08:50.662,0:08:53.672
and stick it up next to a person of color,

0:08:53.672,0:08:56.131
a black person, who is fabulous,

0:08:56.131,0:08:59.637
then that sometimes actually[br]causes us to disassociate too.

0:08:59.637,0:09:04.851
So think Jeffrey Dahmer and Colin Powell.

0:09:04.851,0:09:07.359
Just stare at them, right? (Laughter)

0:09:07.359,0:09:10.168
But these are the things.[br]So go looking for your bias.

0:09:10.168,0:09:14.257
Please, please, just get out of denial[br]and go looking for disconfirming data

0:09:14.257,0:09:18.847
that will prove that in fact[br]your old stereotypes are wrong.

0:09:18.847,0:09:20.781
Okay, so that's number one: number two,

0:09:20.781,0:09:25.466
what I'm going to say is move toward[br]young black men instead of away from them.

0:09:25.466,0:09:28.058
It's not the hardest thing to do,

0:09:28.058,0:09:31.928
but it's also one of these things

0:09:31.928,0:09:34.604
where you have to be conscious [br]and intentional about it.

0:09:34.604,0:09:37.712
You know, I was in a Wall Street area [br]one time several years ago

0:09:37.712,0:09:41.094
when I was with a colleague of mine,[br]and she's really wonderful

0:09:41.094,0:09:44.734
and she does diversity work with me[br]and she's a woman of color, she's Korean.

0:09:44.734,0:09:46.684
And we were outside,[br]it was late at night,

0:09:46.684,0:09:49.726
and we were sort of wondering where[br]we were going, we were lost.

0:09:49.726,0:09:53.910
And I saw this person across the street,[br]and I was thinking, "Oh great, black guy."

0:09:53.910,0:09:56.678
I was going toward him[br]without even thinking about it.

0:09:56.678,0:10:00.462
And she was like,[br]"Oh, that's interesting."

0:10:00.462,0:10:03.280
The guy across the street,[br]he was a black guy.

0:10:03.280,0:10:06.939
I think black guys generally[br]know where they're going.

0:10:06.939,0:10:10.584
I don't know why exactly I think that,[br]but that's what I think.

0:10:10.584,0:10:15.925
So she was saying, "Oh, you[br]were going, 'Yay, a black guy'?"

0:10:15.925,0:10:18.989
She said, "I was going,[br]'Ooh, a black guy.'"

0:10:18.989,0:10:22.385
Other direction. Same need,[br]same guy, same clothes,[br]

0:10:22.385,0:10:25.734
same time, same street,[br]different reaction.

0:10:25.734,0:10:28.463
And she said, "I feel so bad.[br]I'm a diversity consultant.

0:10:28.463,0:10:31.281
I did the black guy thing.[br]I'm a woman of color. Oh my God!"

0:10:31.281,0:10:35.055
And I said, "You know what? Please.[br]We really need to relax about this."

0:10:35.055,0:10:38.781
I mean, you've got to realize[br]I go way back with black guys.

0:10:38.781,0:10:41.527
(Laughter)

0:10:41.527,0:10:44.763
My dad is a black guy.[br]You see what I'm saying?

0:10:44.763,0:10:48.703
I've got a 6'5" black guy son.[br]I was married to a black guy.

0:10:48.703,0:10:51.219
My black guy thing[br]is so wide and so deep

0:10:51.219,0:10:56.009
that I can pretty much sort[br]and figure out who that black guy is,

0:10:56.009,0:10:57.959
and he was my black guy.

0:10:57.959,0:11:01.733
He said, "Yes, ladies, I know[br]where you're going. I'll take you there."

0:11:01.733,0:11:05.376
You know, biases are the stories[br]we make up about people

0:11:05.376,0:11:07.888
before we know who they actually are.

0:11:07.888,0:11:10.620
But how are we going to know who they are

0:11:10.620,0:11:14.427
when we've been told to avoid[br]and be afraid of them?

0:11:14.427,0:11:19.480
So I'm going to tell you[br]to walk toward your discomfort.

0:11:19.480,0:11:22.517
And I'm not asking you[br]to take any crazy risks.

0:11:22.517,0:11:27.417
I'm saying, just do an inventory,

0:11:27.417,0:11:31.309
expand your social[br]and professional circles.

0:11:31.309,0:11:33.139
Who's in your circle?

0:11:33.139,0:11:34.595
Who's missing?

0:11:35.635,0:11:39.592
How many authentic relationships

0:11:39.592,0:11:46.062
do you have with young black people,[br]folks, men, women?

0:11:46.062,0:11:49.814
Or any other major difference[br]from who you are

0:11:49.814,0:11:53.150
and how you roll, so to speak?

0:11:53.150,0:11:56.229
Because, you know what?[br]Just look around your periphery.

0:11:56.229,0:11:58.532
There may be somebody at work,[br]in your classroom,

0:11:58.532,0:12:01.980
in your house of worship, somewhere,[br]there's some black young guy there.

0:12:01.980,0:12:03.438
And you're nice. You say hi.

0:12:03.438,0:12:09.784
I'm saying go deeper, closer, further,[br]and build the kinds of relationships,

0:12:09.784,0:12:15.064
the kinds of friendships that actually[br]cause you to see the holistic person

0:12:15.064,0:12:18.552
and to really go against the stereotypes.

0:12:18.552,0:12:20.145
I know some of you are out there,

0:12:20.145,0:12:23.436
[br]I know because I have some white[br]friends in particular that will say,

0:12:23.436,0:12:25.408
"You have no idea how awkward I am.

0:12:25.408,0:12:28.140
Like, I don't think this[br]is going to work for me.

0:12:28.140,0:12:29.876
I'm sure I'm going to blow this."

0:12:29.876,0:12:35.835
Okay, maybe, but this thing is not [br]about perfection. It's about connection.

0:12:35.835,0:12:40.839
And you're not going to get comfortable[br]before you get uncomfortable.

0:12:40.839,0:12:42.969
I mean, you just have to do it.

0:12:42.969,0:12:45.316
And young black men, what I'm saying is

0:12:45.316,0:12:50.361
if someone comes your way, genuinely[br]and authentically, take the invitation.

0:12:50.361,0:12:52.211
Not everyone is out to get you.

0:12:52.211,0:12:56.691
Go looking for those people[br]who can see your humanity.

0:12:56.691,0:13:00.199
You know, it's the empathy[br]and the compassion

0:13:00.199,0:13:04.903
that comes out of having relationships[br]with people who are different from you.

0:13:04.903,0:13:07.898
Something really powerful[br]and beautiful happens:

0:13:07.898,0:13:10.414
you start to realize that they are you,

0:13:10.414,0:13:16.196
that they are part of you,[br]that they are you in your family,

0:13:16.196,0:13:19.194
and then we cease to be bystanders

0:13:19.194,0:13:23.179
and we become actors,[br]we become advocates,

0:13:23.179,0:13:25.677
and we become allies.

0:13:25.677,0:13:31.148
So go away from your comfort[br]into a bigger, brighter thing,

0:13:31.148,0:13:36.140
because that is how we will stop[br]another Ferguson from happening.

0:13:36.140,0:13:38.370
That's how we create a community

0:13:38.370,0:13:41.382
where everybody, especially[br]young black men, can thrive.

0:13:41.382,0:13:44.305
So this last thing is going to be harder,

0:13:44.305,0:13:47.173
and I know it, but I'm just going[br]to put it out there anyway.

0:13:47.173,0:13:52.412
When we see something, we have to have[br]the courage to say something,

0:13:52.412,0:13:56.206
even to the people we love.

0:13:56.206,0:13:59.847
You know, it's holidays[br]and it's going to be a time

0:13:59.847,0:14:03.279
when we're sitting around the table[br]and having a good time.

0:14:03.279,0:14:05.478
Many of us, anyways, will be in holidays,

0:14:05.478,0:14:10.402
and you've got to listen to[br]the conversations around the table.

0:14:10.402,0:14:17.094
You start to say things like,[br]"Grandma's a bigot."

0:14:17.094,0:14:18.924
(Laughter)

0:14:18.924,0:14:21.863
"Uncle Joe is racist."

0:14:21.863,0:14:26.482
And you know, we love Grandma[br]and we love Uncle Joe. We do.

0:14:26.482,0:14:31.937
We know they're good people,[br]but what they're saying is wrong.

0:14:33.317,0:14:38.964
And we need to be able to say something,[br]because you know who else is at the table?

0:14:40.300,0:14:43.154
The children are at the table.

0:14:43.154,0:14:48.399
And we wonder why these biases don't die,[br]and move from generation to generation?

0:14:48.399,0:14:51.650
Because we're not saying anything.

0:14:51.650,0:14:58.172
We've got to be willing to say, "Grandma,[br]we don't call people that anymore."

0:14:58.172,0:15:03.383
"Uncle Joe, it isn't true[br]that he deserved that.

0:15:03.383,0:15:06.319
No one deserves that."

0:15:06.319,0:15:09.733
And we've got to be willing

0:15:09.733,0:15:14.507
to not shelter our children[br]from the ugliness of racism

0:15:14.507,0:15:17.819
when black parents don't[br]have the luxury to do so,

0:15:17.819,0:15:22.600
especially those who have [br]young black sons.

0:15:22.600,0:15:25.981
We've got to take [br]our lovely darlings, our future,

0:15:25.981,0:15:33.783
and we've got to tell them we have [br]an amazing country with incredible ideals,

0:15:33.783,0:15:36.762
we have worked incredibly hard,[br]and we have made some progress,

0:15:36.762,0:15:39.932
but we are not done.

0:15:39.932,0:15:43.926
We still have in us this old stuff

0:15:43.926,0:15:46.967
about superiority and it is causing us

0:15:46.967,0:15:50.439
to embed those further[br]into our institutions

0:15:50.439,0:15:52.418
and our society and generations,

0:15:52.418,0:15:56.027
and it is making for despair

0:15:56.027,0:16:03.151
and disparities and a devastating[br]devaluing of young black men.

0:16:03.151,0:16:05.612
We still struggle, you have to tell them,

0:16:05.612,0:16:08.390
with seeing both the color

0:16:08.390,0:16:12.024
and the character of young black men,

0:16:12.024,0:16:15.857
but that you, and you expect them,

0:16:15.857,0:16:20.371
to be part of the forces of change[br]in this society

0:16:20.371,0:16:26.939
that will stand against injustice[br]and is willing, above all other things,

0:16:26.939,0:16:35.725
to make a society where young black men [br]can be seen for all of who they are.

0:16:36.705,0:16:41.627
So many amazing black men,

0:16:41.627,0:16:49.959
those who are the most amazing[br]statesmen that have ever lived,

0:16:49.959,0:16:52.992
brave soldiers,

0:16:52.992,0:16:57.286
awesome, hardworking laborers.

0:16:57.286,0:17:01.942
These are people who[br]are powerful preachers.

0:17:01.942,0:17:07.537
They are incredible scientists[br]and artists and writers.

0:17:07.537,0:17:11.512
They are dynamic comedians.

0:17:11.512,0:17:16.448
They are doting grandpas,

0:17:16.448,0:17:19.480
caring sons.

0:17:19.480,0:17:24.237
They are strong fathers,

0:17:24.237,0:17:28.593
and they are young men[br]with dreams of their own.

0:17:28.593,0:17:32.150
Thank you.

0:17:32.150,0:17:36.283
(Applause)