Tracy Chapman, Luke Combs, And How We Talk About Race
“Don't you know?
They're talkin' 'bout a revolution.
It sounds like a whisper.”
– Tracy Chapman
One of my favorite memories as a child in Jamaica was listening to Tracy Chapman's debut album on my father's record player. If you have an hour to spare today, pull it up on your music service (or record player) of your choice. Then watch Tracy Chapman herself last night at the Grammys singing Fast Car. She. Was. Spectacular. And find yourself someone who looks at you with as much respect and awe as Luke Combs does to Tracy Chapman. What a beautiful performance of a perfect song.
The many (many) think pieces written about a White straight man's cover of a Black queer woman's signature song is on my mind today as I write this first Black History Month newsletter. Because it has a lot to do with how we talk about race in America. If you've watched my TED talk, you know I believe that talking about race is the heart and soul of how we make real progress on equity and inclusion. Yet, so many of us are unequipped to talk about race. To mention the word race. To talk about it in our own lives. To talk about the reality of it in where we live and who we socialize with and who we mentor and who we promote at work. That sheer discomfort with talking about race means many of us would prefer to act like we don’t see race. We don’t see color. We don’t judge people based on the color of their skin.
We have to get honest about race. About race in our lives, inside and outside the workplace. About why we have assumptions of people, about what they can and cannot achieve. About why we create our in-groups and reinforce them. Let’s do this Black History Month justice. Let’s get honest about race.
I'd like you to try the thought experiment I share in my TED talk. I want you to visualize a circle made up of 20 different pieces, like a circular puzzle. Next, I want you to fill those pieces in with colors - each color representing a very broadly defined racial or ethnic group. Then, I'm going to tell you some categories and I want you to color in your world for me.
If you live like I do in the States, you can use these colors. Green for Asian, black for Black, red for Hawaiian Pacific Islander, orange for Latinx, blue for Middle Eastern and North African, pink for Native American, and white for White. If you live outside the States, use colors that better resonate with your community. Remember, it's just a thought experiment and no one is going to see your colors except for you.
Start with you, one color, two colors, however many you need. The neighborhood you grew up in. Your childhood best friend. Your favorite teacher in elementary school. The author of your favorite book as a child. Your first boss. Your first crush. Your best friend in college, if you went to college. Your last year of high school if you did not. Your favorite professor. Your significant other or spouse, if you have one.
Your current neighborhood. Your closest neighbor - the one you'd borrow sugar from. The star of your favorite movie last year.
Your doctor. Your dentist. Your mayor. The leader of your country.
Now, take a look at your colors. Take a look at your world. Be honest. Is it what you would have thought?
On May 25, 2020, we had a seismic shift in racial discussions here in the States when a Black man named George Floyd was murdered in Minneapolis. Then over the next year of protests and discussions and company statements and town halls, do you know what the number one question I received was? It was from parents, primarily White parents, asking very simply, “Michelle - how can I talk to my kids about race?”
People always ask me how to talk to their kids about race, and I honestly find it difficult to explain because I have always talked to my kids about race. I don’t know how my two biracial children can navigate the world if I don’t. So we talk about history and slavery and colonialism and farmers and teachers and indentured laborers and immigrants and all the people who make up their ancestry. It's not an optional conversation for me. If you have that option of when and where and how and even if you talk to your children about race, that option is a privilege. I sincerely hope you exercise it.
But I also tell them this. Children don’t just listen to what you say. Children look at how you live. The friends you have, the circles you associate with, the neighborhoods you live in, the schools you send them to, the books you read, the movies you watch, the way you speak about others. They look at your in-group and see who’s in it and who's not in it and what actions you take to reinforce it or to change it.
You want to talk about race? Then start by reckoning with truths. The truths about the choices our parents made, their parents made, the choices we make, the choices many of us are making or will make for our children, how very much centered on race they are. That as much as we might like to say, “I don’t see race,” and “I don’t see color,” that the truth about our lives, and the truth about our workplaces, and the truth about who wins major awards and who does not, demonstrate that we very much see race. We very much see the color of someone’s skin. And it’s only once we reckon with it, that we can start to change it.
Let's talk about race. Because every revolution can start with a whisper.
Do the work
This week, I commit to use my voice and platform to speak out against racism and discrimination. I will have difficult conversations with friends, family members, and colleagues, speak up when I witness racism, and use my privileges to amplify voices and stories from communities of color.
Spread the word
If you want to keep going
What If I Say the Wrong Thing?: How
to Have Hard Conversations on Race
In the months following George Floyd’s murder, many of us restarted long overdue conversations on race. Those conversations took place at home, in schools, and in workplaces. As the past few years have demonstrated, these conversations continue to be necessary and urgent to continue the work of racial equity. But having those conversations without the right preparation can lead to anger and frustration. That’s where I come in, to share how we can have successful conversations on race. In this program you will learn why talking about race matters, why it is so difficult for many to talk about race, and the five principles on which to center your conversations on race.
