The history behind racial stereotyping | Erika Hall | TEDxColumbiaUniversity
Summary
TLDRThis script explores the profound impact of names and labels on perception and life outcomes. The speaker, influenced by research showing names can affect job prospects, meticulously chose her daughter's name for maximum success. Contrastingly, her son's name, Kingston, was chosen for its cultural significance, reflecting a shift from analytical to emotional naming. The speaker delves into racial labels, revealing through studies that 'African-American' is perceived more positively than 'Black' in professional contexts. She discusses the historical contexts giving rise to these perceptions and the concept of semantic prosody, where words absorb connotations from their linguistic surroundings. The talk concludes with a call to embrace 'Black' as a symbol of education and intelligence, advocating for a change in how we use and perceive racial labels.
Takeaways
- 🎭 The speaker's fascination with names began with the birth of her first child, emphasizing the potential impact of a name on a person's life trajectory.
- 🔍 A research study was conducted to select the best name for her daughter, based on public perception of competence, likability, and hirability.
- 👶 For her second child, a more sentimental approach was taken, choosing a name (Kingston) that connected to the family's Caribbean roots.
- 🏷 The power and complexity of racial labels were explored, particularly the difference in perception between 'black' and 'African-American'.
- 📊 A study revealed that 'African-American' was perceived more positively in professional settings, with participants more likely to associate it with managerial positions.
- 💼 The semantic prosody theory was introduced to explain how words like 'negro' absorbed negative connotations from their historical context.
- 📚 The historical context of 'African-American' and 'black' was analyzed, showing how they are tied to the Civil Rights and Black Power movements, respectively.
- 📊 Another study demonstrated how racial labels in nonprofit names influenced perceptions and donations, highlighting the real-world impact of labels.
- 🗣️ The speaker suggests three strategies for better understanding and using labels: understanding symbolic associations, disaggregating labels, and allowing individuals to choose their preferred labels.
- ✍️ The speaker concludes that embracing the 'black' label as a symbol of education, intelligence, and poise can change its semantic prosody over time.
Q & A
What is the main argument of the speaker regarding names and labels?
-The speaker argues that names and labels have significant power and can influence perceptions and outcomes, contrary to Juliet's belief that a name does not change the essence of something.
Why did the speaker conduct a research study to choose her eldest daughter's name?
-The speaker wanted to give her daughter the best chance in society and believed that a name could impact a child's life trajectory, hence she used a research study to select a name that would maximize her daughter's success.
What was the result of the resume audit studies mentioned in the script?
-The audit studies showed that resumes with different names received different callback rates, indicating that names can influence hiring decisions.
Why did the speaker choose the name 'Kingston' for her son?
-The name 'Kingston' was chosen to tie the child to his ancestral Caribbean roots, reflecting a more meaningful and symbolic naming choice rather than one based purely on research.
How did the speaker's research reveal the difference in perception between 'black' and 'African-American'?
-The research showed that white participants perceived the 'African-American' label as more competent, educated, and deserving of higher managerial positions and salaries compared to the 'black' label.
What is semantic prosody and how does it relate to the speaker's discussion on racial labels?
-Semantic prosody is the process by which a word absorbs the tone of the words that frequently surround it, becoming associated with positive or negative connotations. The speaker discusses how racial labels like 'negro' and 'African-American' have absorbed the ideologies and undertones of their respective historical periods.
What historical context does the speaker provide for the terms 'African-American' and 'black'?
-The term 'African-American' became prominent during the Civil Rights movement, associated with voting and political participation for racial equality, while 'black' rose to prominence in the Black Power movement, associated with economic disadvantage and racial victimization.
How did the speaker's research on nonprofits show the impact of racial labels on perceptions and donations?
-The research showed that the 'black' label was associated with goals of eradicating racial injustice and defunding the police, leading to more donations from those wanting to eradicate racial bias, while the 'African-American' label was linked to civil rights and equality, influencing donations from those championing these causes.
What are the three strategies the speaker suggests for making informed choices about labels?
-The three strategies are: understanding the symbolic associations of a label by situating it in history, disaggregating labels to consider more specific group identities, and allowing individuals to choose their preferred labels.
Why does the speaker argue against replacing the 'black' label despite its negative stereotypes?
-The speaker argues that the 'black' label connects her to a cultural past and signifies dignity, unity, and beauty, and that changing how we use the label can alter its semantic prosody to reflect more positive associations.
Outlines
🔖 The Impact of Names and Labels
The speaker begins by referencing Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet' to discuss the significance of names and labels, arguing that contrary to Juliet's belief, names do carry weight in society. This is exemplified by the speaker's experience naming her children, where her eldest daughter was given a name chosen through extensive research to maximize her life opportunities. In contrast, her son was named Kingston, a name rich in cultural significance and ancestral ties. The speaker then delves into the power of racial labels, sharing her personal experiences and research that shows how labels like 'black' and 'African-American' can elicit different perceptions and treatment, even influencing job prospects and societal status.
📚 The Historical and Semantic Weight of Racial Labels
This paragraph delves into the historical context and semantic prosody of racial labels. The speaker explains how the term 'negro' became outdated and negative due to its association with the Jim Crow era, illustrating the concept of semantic prosody—the process by which words absorb the tone of surrounding words. The speaker contrasts this with 'African-American,' a term that rose to prominence during the Civil Rights movement and is associated with political participation and racial equality. The speaker and her colleagues analyzed decades of newspaper op-eds to demonstrate how the terms 'black' and 'African-American' are surrounded by language reflective of their respective historical movements, impacting how these labels are perceived today.
💡 Strategies for Understanding and Using Labels
The speaker suggests three strategies for making informed choices about labels. First, understanding the historical context and symbolic associations of labels by using tools like Google's Ngram Viewer to see how a label's usage has changed over time. Second, disaggregating labels to recognize that broad categories may mask the unique experiences and challenges of subgroups within them. Lastly, allowing individuals to choose their preferred labels, which can reduce stigma and empower those labeled. The speaker emphasizes the complexity of racial labels, noting how the same label can be associated with both negative stereotypes and positive actions, such as receiving more financial support for a nonprofit focused on racial equality.
🌟 Embracing the Power of Labels
In the final paragraph, the speaker reflects on the personal and cultural significance of the label 'black,' drawing on her own experiences and the historical context of the Civil Rights and Black Power movements. She argues against abandoning the label 'black' due to its potential negative connotations, instead advocating for a change in how the label is used and perceived. The speaker suggests that by associating 'black' with positive terms like 'Professor,' 'President,' and 'Vice President,' the semantic prosody of the label can shift to reflect education, intelligence, and poise. She concludes by asserting her identity as black and encourages embracing the label as a symbol of strength and cultural pride.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Semantic Prosody
💡Racial Labels
💡Audit Studies
💡Civil Rights Movement
💡Black Power Movement
💡Names and Identity
💡Stereotypes
💡Historical Context
💡Labeling Theory
💡Google Ngram Viewer
Highlights
Shakespeare's quote 'What's in a name?' is discussed, suggesting names and labels don't matter, but the speaker disagrees based on research.
The speaker's obsession with names began with naming her first child and the desire to give her the best chance in life.
Audit studies show that names on resumes can significantly affect the likelihood of getting a callback for a job.
The speaker conducted a research study to choose the best name for her daughter, based on perceived competence and likability.
The second child was named Kingston, tying him to the family's Caribbean roots and a more meaningful and symbolic choice.
The power and complexity of racial labels are explored, with personal anecdotes about being referred to as 'black' or 'African-American'.
Research findings show that 'African-American' is perceived more positively in professional settings than 'black'.
The historical context of racial labels like 'negro' and their association with negative ideologies are discussed.
Semantic prosody is introduced as the process by which words absorb the tone of surrounding words, influencing their connotations.
The term 'African-American' became prominent after a speech by Reverend Jesse Jackson, aligning with Civil Rights ideals.
The term 'black' is associated with the Black Power movement and a history of struggle and unity.
A study shows that racial labels in nonprofit names can significantly influence public perception and financial support.
The speaker suggests understanding the historical context of labels, disaggregating them, and allowing self-identification to make informed choices.
Google's Ngram Viewer is recommended as a tool to understand the historical use and connotations of labels.
The importance of allowing individuals to choose their preferred labels is emphasized to reduce stigma and increase personal power.
The speaker concludes that embracing the label 'black' as a symbol of education, intelligence, and poise can change its connotations.
Transcripts
Shakespeare famously pinned the quote
what's in a name he was talking through
his character Juliet as she pleaded with
her lover Romeo that what we call a rose
by any other name would smell as sweet
in her mind names and labels made no
difference because it was the content of
one's character that was weighted the
most heavily and I've learned through
both personal and professional
research that nothing is farther from
the
truth my obsession with names first
stemmed from my eldest daughter's birth
I wanted to give her the best chance at
navigating in at times by a society and
I knew that a name could be
consequential for a child's trajectory
in life because of common research
methodology used in my field in audit
studies researchers create fictitious
resumés that are identical except for
they affix different names to the tops
of each
one after which they send these resumés
out to real jobs and companies and they
assess the percentage of call backs
received depending on which name applied
for the
position so when it came time to name my
eldest daughter my quirky Professor
brain kicked
in and I decided I needed a research
study to find her the the best name that
would offer her the most success in
life seriously I had a thousand survey
takers from Across the Nation assess
each of my name choices on just how
competent likable and hirable they
perceived a person with that name to
be with little sentimentality the
scientists in me chose the name that
rated highest across all measures of my
study true
story now if you're a parent of more
than one kid you may understand why by
the time it got to the second kid he
didn't receive the same rigorous
investigation there was no research
sample or empirical investigation from
my son instead we named him Kingston
which was reminiscent of his ancestral
path so instead of thinking with the
logical analytical left side of my brain
we wanted something more meaningful and
symbolic
both my husband and I have Caribbean
Roots so naming him Kingston tied him to
a history that we never wanted him to
forget my obsession with names and
labels progressed even further when we
started to understand the power and
complexity of racial labels so in
one-on-one conversations with white
counterparts at networking events I
would refer to myself as black and in
response they would refer to me as
African-American
it was as if they were placing black for
African-Americans so not to offend
me now there are technical differences
between the two labels where black is
more of a global term and
African-American refers solely to
residents of the United States but
colloquially within this country we
treat the two
interchangeably and I certainly wasn't
offended by the use of either one but I
did find my counterpart's behavior to be
strange after multiple interactions like
this I started to wonder whether there
was a stigma inherent in the Black Label
that I was missing so the researcher and
me set out to test whether white people
perceived black people differently than
African-Americans in a series of studies
that I collected with Sarah Townson
Katherine Phillips and James Carter we
created fictitious application forms
that were identical except for in one we
ident identified the candidate as black
and in the other we identified the
candidate as
African-American the results shocked me
the white participants who evaluated the
African-American candidate were twice as
likely to believe that that candidate
belonged in a managerial position rather
than the same exact candidate but who
was described as black the
African-American label LED participants
to believe there was a completely new
candidate
one who was more competent educated and
worthy of a higher salary this is like
$88,000 that we're talking about for
this
label it made me think back to my
cocktail party participants and wonder
whether the Black Label conjured up all
these negative stereotypes and they were
reticent to apply those stereotypes to
me I decided to dig even deeper to
investigate how racial labels even
become imbued with stere stereotypical
content and to do so I had to go back in
time let's take the racial label negro
most Americans will consider it negative
or at least
old-fashioned in fact it was removed
from the Census after 2010 because of
complaints that it was negative outdated
and reminiscent of the Jim Crow
era I realize that this racial label
evoked the historical period it gained
prominence with
in negro was frequently used during a
time that furthered Jim Crow ideology
therefore it's not terribly surprising
that it soaked up some of this ideology
and those undertones continue on with
the word even
today now the process of a word
absorbing the tone of the words that
frequently surround it is called
semantic
Pro and a word gains semantic Pro when
it absorbs the the positive or negative
tone of the words that frequently prede
or follow it in natural language I'm
going to give you an example okay the
drug produced increased blood flow in
the
extremities
or the blood caused increased blood flow
in the
extremities if I'm trying to assess the
side effect as being positive or
negative which one sounds more
negative raise your hand if you think
it's the first
one the second
one exactly the second one sounds more
negative even though produced and cause
are technically synonyms with the same
definition in the
dictionary and this is because cause is
typically followed by more um negative
terms like death problems and damage
whereas produce is typically followed by
more neutral terms in natural language
therefore these terms have absorbed the
meaning of the words that frequently
surround them and that persists even
when those other following words are no
longer
present in the same manner negro
semantically soaked up all of the
ideology of Jim Crow that surrounded it
and if we want to start to understand
the undertones of the African-American
and black labels then we can look into
their historical
context the term African-American became
prominent after a 1988 speech where
Reverend Jesse Jackson declared that
Americans of African descent now wanted
to be called
African-American Jesse Jackson
exemplified civil rights ideals after
getting his start working under Martin
Luther King
Jr Civil Rights ideology uh professed
voting and political participation as a
means for racial minorities to achieve
Racial
equality conversely the Black Label Rose
to prominence in the Black Power
movement where stokeley carmichel who
later identified as quam Tor championed
its use black power ideology suggested
that white supremacy had economically
disadvantaged black people leaving them
destitute racially victimized and
subject to poor socioeconomic condition
now let's go back to this idea of
semantic procity because my colleagues
and I collected and analyzed over 40
years worth of op-eds in major US
newspapers and found that paragraph
segments con turnning containing the
term black were more frequently
surrounded by language reminiscent of
the Black Power movement whereas those
containing the term African-American
were more frequently surrounded by
language reminiscent of the Civil Rights
movement now these findings aren't just
a historical curiosity they actually
have real
consequences in one of our studies we
had white Americans evaluate nonprofits
committed to Racial equality except for
we varied the racial label in the
nonprofits name so one of the nonprofits
was named the African-American Alliance
and the other was named the black
Alliance our participants believed that
the black Alliance iance was
significantly more likely than the
African-American Alliance to have a goal
of eradicating racial Injustice to
consider Malcolm X their Idol and to
have an aim to defund the police whereas
those believe that the African American
Alliance was more likely to Champion
civil rights and inequality and equality
and consider the teachings of Martin
Luther King Jr and also have a aim to
end voter
suppression the these and coded meetings
guided how much money white participants
decided to financially donate to these
nonprofits and which ones they decided
to donate
to for example white Americans who
wanted to eradicate racial bias were 99%
more likely to donate to the black
Alliance rather than the
African-American Alliance whereas those
who really wanted to Champion civil
rights and inequality in equality were
50% less likely to donate to the black
organization than the African-American
one these simple choices of labels
created very different organizations in
the minds of my participants one's tied
to the historical origins of these
labels I also want to draw your
attention to how complex these different
consequences are on the one hand I'm
telling you that black is related to a
candidate's incompetence and then on the
other hand I'm saying that it spawns
more financial support for a nonprofit
gear to Racial equality and I can
imagine how these different Myriad of
consequences might leave you even more
confused about which label to choose so
here are three things we can do to make
more informed choices about the labels
we use to Divine ourselves and
others first to understand the symbolic
associations of label we can situate the
label in history an easy and fascinating
way to do this is to use Google's Ingram
viewer which charts the use of the label
over
time take the label Latin x a gender
neutral term used to describe a
descendant of Latin America when was
this label used most frequently well we
see the rise of Latin X after
2010 what do we know about that time
well this this time period corresponds
with a few pivotal dates that brought
gender and sex identity issues to light
for example the term latinx became more
prominent on Twitter during the tragic
shooting at paulse night club a gay bar
frequented by the Latin American
community and what does this tell us
about current customs and Norms well on
the one hand latinx is still a
relatively rare word in comparison to
Hispanic Latin or Latina I think this
may speak to the marginalization of
non-binary people but on the other hand
the X and Latin X reads well in English
but it flows so awkwardly in Spanish
latinis one of the predominant languages
of the people that it professes to
label the second thing we can do is
disaggregate the label when we
categorize people into a group we
believe that they're categorized for a
reason
and that the people within the group
share more in common with each other
than they do with people outside the
group so labels can be broad think bipo
aapi and Latinos or they can be more
specific think Nick uh black Pacific
Islander in
Nicaraguan often the more specific label
is more meaningful but that's dependent
on the context of its use so if I wanted
to talk about the disadvantages is uh
faced by non-whites I could use the term
bipac but often what we find is that the
sub groups do not face the same
consequences as the broader group for
example even though uh the aapi label is
uh touted as the model minority because
of their High median income we find that
the median income for Pacific Islanders
is even less than the US national
average so in this case using broader
group labels aapi rather than P specific
group labels Pacific Islander May blind
us to the struggle of the specific
group third and finally allow people to
choose their preferred label this with
the caveat that you'd be repeating a
racial label not a racial
slur and this method takes the anxiety
out of knowing which label to choose
think back to my cocktail parties where
I describe myself as black it also
allows the self labor labeler to reduce
the stigma associated with their label
so research by my wonderful doctoral
advisor Adam galinsky suggests that when
people self-label with a derogatory
label they're able to attenuate the
stigma in that label and they're also
rated as more powerful by
others people often ask me if they
should stop using the Black Label due to
some of its implicit stereotypes and my
answer to that is a resounding
no the Black Label transports me to a
point in time where the words that
surrounded that label signified dignity
unity and
Beauty I'm an 80s baby but it teleports
me to the 60s and 70s with by black
signs and black is beautiful
signs back to the music of Marvin Gay
and Tammy Terell music that nourishes my
soul back to a time where there were
immense struggles yes but there was an
incredible amount of unity tenacity and
power now you'll recall that when naming
my own children I wanted to give my
daughter a name that would Shield her
from bias but that also t tide my son to
a cultural path that would nourish his
life and guide him in the
future this tension is no different for
racial
labels I may have to contend with a
world that will box me in when I label
myself black but that label also makes
me nostalgic for a cultural past that
only my elders
experienced so I'm going to leave you
with a simple
solution the way semantic it works the
Black Label is only going to change when
how we use it
changes when black is used to describe
Professor President and Vice President
our lexicon will adapt and soak up the
positivity of those surrounding
words if you ask me I am black without
question and you don't have to replace
black for African-American in any of our
cocktail party
interactions but until we truly embrace
the Black Label as a symbol of
Education intelligence and
Poise mark my words that a rose Will
Never Smell a
week
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