Vernā Myers: How to overcome our biases? Walk boldly toward them
Vernā Myers: Como ultrapassar os nossos preconceitos? Enfrentando-os corajosamente.
Vernā Myers is dedicated to promoting meaningful, lasting diversity in the workplace. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
por estrada
a wonderful time listening
"The Warmth of Other Suns."
de Isabel Wilkerson.
fleeing the South from 1915 to 1970
de seis milhões de negros do sul
from all the brutality
opportunity up North,
melhores oportunidades no norte.
of the resilience and the brilliance
da resistência e do fulgor
all the stories of the horrors
e das humilhações.
and all the humiliations.
about the beatings and the burnings
dos espancamentos e incêndios
this is a little deep.
to turn on the radio."
vou ligar a telefonia".
laid on the ground dead,
estendido morto no chão,
and his neighbors watched in horror,
observavam horrorizados.
against black men
contra os negros
It's just different names.
só com nomes diferentes.
of our national psyche.
da nossa psique nacional.
crosses the street,
ainda atravessa a rua,
shooting people down in the street,
a alvejar pessoas na rua,
stereotypes and prejudices
estereótipos e preconceitos
de incidentes trágicos
these types of incidents,
com este tipo de incidentes,
and being willing to change ourselves.
e estando dispostos a mudar.
to offer us today to think about
hoje para refletirem
from happening again;
que voltem a acontecer Fergusons:
will not only protect them
so that they can thrive.
embracing young black men,
a aceitar os jovens negros
giving them that kind of openness,
uma parte do nosso futuro,
que damos às pessoas que amamos?
to people we love?
How much better would our country be?
de tentar ser boas pessoas.
at the beginning of the workshop.
no início da "workshop" e dizem:
we're so glad you're here" --
ainda bem que está aqui...
in our body."
preconceituoso no nosso corpo".
and I see all my biases."
todos os dias
pilot coming over the P.A. system,
no sistema de audiocomunicação
tão entusiasmada, do tipo:
we are rocking it.
getting turbulent and bumpy,
a haver turbulência e sobressaltos
I knew that was a bias
and there's always a guy driving
a confiança no condutor masculino.
the confidence of the male driver.
I would say, "Female pilot: awesome."
eu diria:
and a little troublesome, a little risky,
quando as coisas se complicam,
even know that I had.
que nem sabia que tinha.
nos sentimos ligados?
what we have learned.
which measures unconscious bias,
que mede os preconceitos inconscientes
We like white people.
a nossa predefinição é "branco".
O que é que eu quero dizer com isso?
of black men and white men,
de homens negros e homens brancos,
that white person with a positive word,
esse branco com uma palavra positiva,
trying to associate
and vice versa.
com um rosto negro e vice-versa.
black with negative
taking that test prefer white.
que fazem o teste preferem os brancos.
que fazem o teste preferem os brancos.
taking that test prefer white.
when the contamination came down.
quando chegou a contaminação.
that our brain automatically associates?
o nosso cérebro associar automaticamente?
that you probably are thinking about,
estão a pensar
sabem o que é?
on my color blindness.
a minha cegueira quanto à cor.
trying to make a difference
a tentar fazer a diferença,
It was what we did when we saw the color.
quando reparávamos na cor.
pretending not to see,
fingindo que não reparamos,
in which racial difference
em que a diferença étnica
that's keeping them from thriving,
as possibilidades das pessoas,
an early death.
uma morte precoce.
are telling us is, no way.
estão a dizer-nos:
pensem na cegueira quanto à cor".
and memorize them,
e os memorizemos,
at awesome folks who are black,
para pessoas negras espantosas
automatically in our brain.
automaticamente no nosso cérebro.
these beautiful black men behind me?
que eu estou a mostrar
por detrás de mim?
associations about who black men are.
as vossas associações automáticas
grow up to be amazing human beings
em seres humanos espantosos
and made them better.
e a tornou melhor.
our automatic assumptions,
nas nossas deduções automáticas —
who is odious that you know,
odiosa, que conhecermos,
causes us to disassociate too.
pode levar-nos a dissociar.
e em Colin Powell.
So go looking for your bias.
and go looking for disconfirming data
e procurem dados que a desmintam,
your old stereotypes are wrong.
velhos estereótipos são incorretos.
young black men instead of away from them.
dos jovens negros em vez de fugirem deles.
and intentional about it.
e ter uma intenção.
one time several years ago
já há uns anos.
and she's really wonderful
que é maravilhosa.
and she's a woman of color, she's Korean.
e é de cor, é coreana.
it was late at night,
we were going, we were lost.
para onde é que devíamos de ir.
lado da rua e pensei:
and I was thinking, "Oh great, black guy."
without even thinking about it.
"Oh, that's interesting."
he was a black guy.
know where they're going.
sabem para onde vão.
but that's what I think.
mas é o que penso.
were going, 'Yay, a black guy'?"
'Ah, um negro!'?
'Ooh, a black guy.'"
same guy, same clothes,
o mesmo tipo, as mesmas roupas,
different reaction.
uma reação diferente.
Sou uma conselheira de diversidade.
I'm a diversity consultant.
I'm a woman of color. Oh my God!"
Eu sou uma mulher de cor. Oh, meu Deus!"
We really need to relax about this."
Temos que descontrair".
I go way back with black guys.
que eu tenho antepassados negros".
You see what I'm saying?
Percebem o que estou a dizer?
I was married to a black guy.
Sou casada com um negro.
is so wide and so deep
é tão ampla e tão profunda
and figure out who that black guy is,
quem era aquele negro,
where you're going. I'll take you there."
sei onde querem ir, Eu levo-as lá".
we make up about people
que nós inventamos sobre as pessoas
quem elas são na realidade.
and be afraid of them?
e termos medo delas?
to walk toward your discomfort.
de encontro ao vosso desconforto.
to take any crazy risks.
que corram riscos perigosos.
façam um inventário,
sociais e profissionais.
and professional circles.
folks, men, women?
homens e mulheres?
from who you are
em relação a quem vocês são
Just look around your periphery.
in your classroom,
na vossa sala de aulas,
there's some black young guy there.
há aí algum jovem negro
and build the kinds of relationships,
vão mais fundo, mais perto,
cause you to see the holistic person
com que vejam a pessoa no seu todo
friends in particular that will say,
como eu sou desajeitado.
is going to work for me.
about perfection. It's about connection.
before you get uncomfortable.
antes de se sentirem desconfortáveis.
and authentically, take the invitation.
e autêntico, aceitem o convite.
who can see your humanity.
que vos veem como seres humanos.
and the compassion
with people who are different from you.
com pessoas diferentes de nós.
and beautiful happens:
deveras poderosa e bela:
que elas somos nós,
that they are you in your family,
que elas somos nós na nossa família,
we become advocates,
passamos a ser defensores
into a bigger, brighter thing,
para uma coisa maior, mais brilhante,
another Ferguson from happening.
que aconteça outro Ferguson.
young black men, can thrive.
os jovens negros, podem prosperar.
bem sei,
to put it out there anyway.
the courage to say something,
que ter a coragem de dizer qualquer coisa,
and it's going to be a time
a passar um bom bocado.
and having a good time.
com muitos de nós, num feriado.
the conversations around the table.
em volta da mesa.
"Grandma's a bigot."
and we love Uncle Joe. We do.
a avó e o tio Joe. A sério.
but what they're saying is wrong.
mas o que eles dizem é incorreto.
because you know who else is at the table?
de dizer qualquer coisa
and move from generation to generation?
por estes preconceitos não morrerem
we don't call people that anymore."
that he deserved that.
que ele merecesse isso.
from the ugliness of racism
da fealdade do racismo
have the luxury to do so,
não se podem dar ao luxo de o fazer,
young black sons.
filhos negros jovens.
our lovely darlings, our future,
os nossos queridos, o nosso futuro,
an amazing country with incredible ideals,
que temos um país espantoso
and we have made some progress,
e fizemos algum progresso
ainda mais
into our institutions
na nossa sociedade e gerações,
devaluing of young black men.
devastadora dos jovens negros.
é o que temos que lhes dizer,
que eles também,
in this society
desta sociedade
and is willing, above all other things,
e estamos dispostos, acima de tudo,
can be seen for all of who they are.
em que os jovens negros
statesmen that have ever lived,
que jamais houve,
are powerful preachers.
and artists and writers.
artistas e escritores.
with dreams of their own.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Vernā Myers - Diversity advocateVernā Myers is dedicated to promoting meaningful, lasting diversity in the workplace.
Why you should listen
Vernā Myers is a diversity consultant and self-described "recovering lawyer" with a degree from Harvard Law. She leads the Vernā Myers Consulting Group, an organization that has helped break down barriers of race, gender, ethnicity and sexual orientation in thousand-member workplaces. She is also the author of Moving Diversity Forward: How to Go from Well-Meaning to Well-Doing.
Myers encourages us to recognize our own biases in order to actively combat them, emphasizing a "low guilt, high responsibility" philosophy. In her work she points to her own inner biases, because, as she says, "People relax when they know the diversity lady has her own issues."
Vernā Myers | Speaker | TED.com