Spider-Man: Miles Morales and Challenging Biases (2-10-21)

Last week was about video games, milestones, and ambiguity. This week we are going to look at Spider-man: Miles Morales and challenging biases.

I mentioned earlier in the series that Miles Morales is Black and Puerto Rican. Throughout the game there are times when he speaks Spanish to his mom and other characters. At one point, my daughter Violet (6) asked, “Why are they speaking Spanish?” I responded by saying, “Why shouldn’t they be speaking Spanish? What’s wrong with that?” She said, “This is an English video game and an English TV, right? So shouldn’t they speak English?” I paused for a moment and then explained that Miles is Black and Puerto Rican, and was raised in multiple cultures. This means he speaks English and Spanish. I explained that this is a story about Miles, and if Miles is being true to himself, then he should speak Spanish. He should embrace who he is, and this gives us a chance to see the beauty in who Miles is and where he comes from. From then on, Violet had an appreciation for Miles being who he is.

Do you see the connections? When she asked me that question all I could think about is how often I’ve heard other white majority members say similar things. “Why do they have to speak Spanish? Why does that person act so Black? Why can’t she just act like one of the guys?” Maybe you’ve said or thought these things (I know I have, especially when I was younger and more ignorant). Maybe you’ve heard other people say those things. Maybe you’ve been the target of those statements. All of these statements (and ones like them) are racist, sexist, etc. because they are all based in the assumption that the majority way of doing something is superior and the right way of doing things. When Violet asked her question what she was really saying was, “I’m closer to the majority. Those characters are not the majority. Why don’t they just assimilate and act like the majority? Isn’t the majority way the best way? Shouldn’t they assimilate to that?” Those statements and mindsets are signals that individuals are not welcome and will not be included. It was challenging the assumption of why that behavior is inferior or wrong that got her to realize that it wasn’t and she was wrong to view it that way. In a similar way, we all have these built in biases. Unless we are actively challenging our biases, we will never get better.

The challenge: How are you confronting your biases and assumptions to be a better human?

Bonus: Last year I read, How to be an Antiracist by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi. It opened my eyes to how often I have had and continue to have assimilationist views and how those are harmful. Worth checking out.

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Factories and Diversity- Broken Parts or Design Issues? (7-22-20)

Last week was about the idea of a blank canvas. This week we will build on that idea by looking at factories and broken parts vs. poorly designed systems. Let’s pretend you own a factory that makes red, yellow, and green bottles. The factory has 2 large machines. Machine 1 has an issue and breaks some bottles of all colors. What would you do? I’d assume you’d run some diagnostics and check past logs to see if there is a pattern. There’s no pattern. You realize that sometimes stuff just breaks, so you replace the part and things work again.

One day machine 2 has an issue and breaks a bunch of green bottles. What would you do? You’d probably run diagnostics and check past logs. When you check the logs, you notice a pattern emerging. You notice that only green bottles are broken, and that it happens on the 2^nd Tuesday of a every month. You decide to replace the parts, but when the 2^nd Tuesday of the next month comes around more green bottles are broken. At this point, you have to ask yourself if something on machine 2 is broken or if it is poorly designed. I’d argue that it’s likely a design issue, since the problem keeps repeating itself. If it’s a design issue, then replacing parts won’t help. Instead, you need to redesign the machine and the processes to reach a new outcome.

You might be wondering what this has to do with anything. Over the past few months, I’ve heard a lot of people comment that “the system” is broken in response to racially charged events. I’d argue this isn’t correct. If the system was broken, you should be able to just fix the parts, and it would work again kind of like machine 1 in our analogy. Instead, I’d argue that “the system” is doing exactly what it was designed to do, and the roots of this design are in the not so blank canvas that our country has grown from. I’d argue that “the system” isn’t broken, it has design flaws. To solve the problem, you need to design a new system that serves everyone. For a work related example you can look at the evolution of talent management processes in various companies. For the longest time talent management systems either intentionally or unintentionally discriminated against minority group members. To fix the problem we had to move away from the assessments and practices we had always used, and replace them with a new design that would generate more fairness. This evolution continues every day as we learn more and more about he biases that are built into things.

The challenge: What designs and systems influence your life? Are you designing and building the right processes and systems to serve EVERYONE?

Bonus thought 1: I recently started reading Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Dr. Ibram Kendi https://www.amazon.com/Stamped-Beginning-Definitive-History-National/dp/1568585985. I’m only a few chapters in, and I’m already gaining a better appreciation of the themes and ideas that have been shaping our canvas and have been the foundation for the design of our country and world. It’s definitely been eye opening to me, especially as I read about racist ideas that started back hundreds of years ago and cause me to instantly think of things today.

Bonus thought 2: You can apply the idea of broken vs. poorly designed to your individual life as well. When you want to make big changes in your life, you can’t just get a new part to replace a broken one. You have to change the system and things you surround yourself with. Changing the design, changes the output. I’m currently in the midst of doing this for my physical, mental, and spiritual health.

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Are we investing time and effort in becoming more anti-racist? (5-29-20)

Today Lilly recognizes a day of solidarity to support one another during this time and stand together against injustice and in support of humanity. With this in mind, I’d like to share a bonus blog for the week. We will stick with our finance theme and reflect on investing for long-term goals and investing in becoming more anti-racist.

When I first met with my financial advisor, I explained what the goals are for my family when it comes to investing. One of these goals is to be able to pay for a certain percentage of college for each of my daughters. When I shared this with him he did an analysis to see how I was doing against the goal. When he came back, he told me I wasn’t doing enough. If I really wanted to reach that goal, my family would need to take action and invest more time and resources into the college fund. Since then, I’ve taken action and invested more resources to reach this goal.

What does investing for college have to do with recent injustices? When it comes to my financial goals, it’s really simple. I’m either investing enough energy to achieve them or I’m not. Period. There is NO gray space. Merely thinking about how important it is to save for college isn’t enough. All that matters is whether or not I put enough of my energy toward achieving this goal. This idea of whether or not we are putting enough energy and resources to achieving a goal applies to the recent injustices we have witnessed. If our goal is to create a society where everyone truly is equal, then as individuals we are either investing our time and energy into becoming more anti-racist or we are allowing ourselves to further a racist system. Period.

The recent murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor along with Amy Cooper leveraging her white privilege to harm Christian Cooper have continued to demonstrate that there is no such thing as neutral when it comes to racism and matters of race. There is no middle ground. You are either investing the time, effort, and resources to make things better or you are not. Merely thinking that racism is bad isn’t enough. Trying to be colorblind is not okay. Merely thinking that you aren’t racist and wouldn’t commit the same acts isn’t enough. We (and by we I mean primarily white people, because white people are the ones who have the most power to address these issues) need to do better and be better. We say we want an equal society, and if that’s true we need to take action to make that happen.

Challenge: How are you investing your time and effort to make things better? What are you doing to become more anti-racist?

In full vulnerability, I know I can do more and do better, and that’s something I’m continuing to reflect and act on. Resources with suggestions on things you can do

Sending you love, peace, and prayers,

Andrew Embry