This essay is a first-person narrative describing the emotional reactions of a Black man to the images that have been prominently featured in news coverage of the protests following the death of George Lloyd. As a professor of both the history of photography and African history at the University of Virginia, Mason’s unique perspective artfully combines critical analysis of image composition with the visceral emotion of a Black man living in America 2020. He explains racial perceptions related to common visual tropes, and draws comparisons between iconic images from the civil rights protests of the 1960s to similar images from the numerous race-related protests of the last seven years as evidence of the perpetuated visual stereotypes. Mason also explores the ways that specific images have been used to influence the narrative around current events, both in the media and in public perception. He concludes with a close reading of a photo that challenges the visual stereotypes, shining a more positive light on the experience of being a Black man in America.

Mason’s first sentence suggests the power of visual imagery in journalism: “One morning last week, a photograph made me mad.” He goes on to describe the specific photo that sparked the emotion of this opening statement: “It invoked the centuries-old stereotype of black men as inherently savage beasts.” At times, the reader can actually feel the emotion — anger, fear, even exhaustion — underlying his prose. While a white person might see a dramatic photo that effectively expresses the intense emotion surrounding the death of George Floyd, a black person sees the same image as a perpetuation a terrifically negative perception of Black men in America. Mason’s perspective as a Black man in America (especially in the South), combined with his experience with and close relationship to the medium of photography, presents an honest and thought-provoking discussion of racial tropes and inherent bias in visual media. 

My planned unit of instruction is Writing to Inform, for an 11^th/12^th grade Graphic Journalism class. One of the defined lessons specifically relates to the use of images in journalism, which addresses standards defined by the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) and Common Core to include non-textual content and formats as part of the literacy curriculum. Responsible journalism requires thoughtful consideration to the perceived and inherent racial bias in imagery; image choice, like word choice, matters. Mason’s essay addresses racial awareness directly within the context of visual imagery, which makes this piece ideal for inclusion in my instructional plan. The subject is timely, discussing major national events that continue to impact the United States. Students will be able to relate to the content because they have likely seen most of the pictures Mason describes. I feel the content of the article is appropriate for discussion with students in grades 11 and 12, although probably not for younger students. (The final image discussed in the article, which does include offensive language in graffiti, could be blurred or masked if required by the school administration.)

 

Bailey begins his article by describing his personal connection to the subject of implicit bias; yes, he is a Black journalist in the American South, but he also what he describes as a “severe stutter.” This second defining feature, he believes, is the one that has affected his career through implicit bias in the hiring process. He clearly defines the problem of implicit bias through multiple examples, and does not limit his focus to any one category (racial, gender, political belief, etc.). Following these specific examples, Bailey explores the reasons and causes of implicit bias, then specifically addresses how modern culture has brought the subject to the forefront of conversation. He describes recent efforts of news publishers that have been implemented to attempt to address the problem in both hiring practices and coverage decisions, but admits that the conversation is only starting to extend beyond upper management into the work of those who are actually reporting the news. Bailey’s conclusion returns to his personal experience, and makes a clear call to action to continue the important work of battling implicit bias in journalism.

Bailey’s argument is not isolated to racial bias; he addresses issues of gender, disability, and political belief (among others), which I believe are an important part of the same conversation if we are truly to have equity in both journalistic hiring and coverage decisions. Implicit bias in journalism is not only a product of the journalist’s psychology; Bailey’s discussion of potential solutions places strong emphasis on conscious self-assessment or “self-audit” to identify both examples of implicit bias and the potential for misinterpretation by the reader — clearly accepting the role of the consumer in the perception of journalistic bias. As American communities grow increasingly diverse, journalism must also change to reflect the communities it serves. While acknowledging that systemic attempts to combat implicit bias in journalism are still young, Bailey’s conclusion makes a strong argument for continuing the effort to consciously identify bias — both explicit and implicit — in journalism, and to include voices that have traditionally been excluded from the profession and from the discussion.

This report, which very specifically addresses the topic of bias in journalism, is directly relevant to my Graphic Journalism class in a number of ways. First, its structure and style provide a textbook example of good journalistic writing. Second, the author’s personal experience with bias is surprising and outside the typical conversation of bias; I believe this “twist” might encourage students to move beyond hot-button visceral reactions that are too common in discussions about bias. Third, the article addresses the issue of bias in an almost academic manner, rather than offering an emotionally charged outcry (from either perspective) that might have an adverse effect on productive and meaningful discussion. Finally, the article promotes a type of journalistic self-assessment that closely mirrors the metacognitive processes that I hope to encourage in my students as they develop their writing skills. Bailey’s academic approach, despite personal experience with both implicit and explicit bias, creates a non-confrontational doorway for opening the conversation about bias. While some might argue that the author’s tone is too mild — and that my interpretation of that tone is, in itself, implicit bias — I contend that Bailey’s specific lack of heat and consideration of both political perspectives prevents minds from immediately closing based on preconceived beliefs.

 

Bryant, Sue. “Death and Dying: How Different Cultures View the End.” Country Navigator, Country Navigator, 2 Sept. 2019, https://countrynavigator.com/blog/cultural-intelligence/death/

            
This informative article by Sue Bryant will also serve as a great introductory piece for the students’ research project on how other cultures handle death. It too is brief in nature (I don’t want to do all the research for the students!), but it discusses a few other cultures that the previous article does not. For example, it gives a little more detail on the mourning process opposed to just what the religions believe about death. It also mentions specific countries opposed to just religions. It gives examples of the colors some cultures wear, what a coffin may look like, who is involved in the funeral process, It paints each cultures way of handling it is a beautiful, but succinct way. Each country mentioned has traditions that most likely will not be familiar to many of the students in the classroom, so once again it is a great way for them to be exposed to other cultures’ way of dealing with death and mourning. Like the previous resource mentioned this one too will serve as an informative piece that can be incorporated into many different major literary works we will study in a secondary English course. 

Hughes, Langston. “Dear Lovely Death.” Poem: Dear Lovely Death by Langston Hughes, www.poetrynook.com/poem/dear-lovely-death.

“Dear Lovely Death” by Langston Hughes is one of my favorite poems (and Langston Hughes is one of my favorite writers) so any way I could incorporate his work into my classroom I will. The book Tuesdays With Morrie is about so much more than just and old man dying, but rather about how Morrie changes the lives of everyone he encounters. Another ventral idea in the text is how Mitch himself changes because of his learning from Morrie. This short poem 10-line poem seems to cover all these ideas and more. The last two lines I believe sum it up, “Dear Lovely Death, / Change is thy other name.” Depending on the students’ background knowledge up until this point (for example, if they already read the two previous articles) they may see this poem in an afterlife and being born again into heaven. They may also interpret it by relating it to Mitch himself (death of an old way of life into a new and happier way of life). There are multiple interpretations of this poem that I believe are all valid and worth discussing. Once again, this work could be used in conjunction with any other work that discusses the ideas of death, dying, character development or change. It also could simply be used in a unit on poetry. I believe that this poem offers a lot and you could spend quite some time discussing it. However, as a warning this was a poem that I studied in college and I recall that some found it to be romanticizing death in a way, which could be controversial to use in a secondary education English course, so if one would be concerned about this then I would suggest using it in an advanced or AP English course. I also would be sure to have very clear reasons on why you chose to use this poem in case any parent were to ask/complain about its use. In my personal opinion I do not see it as romanticizing death, but once again literature (especially poems) are interpreted in a multitude of ways, so those that do see it that way I don’t believe I can necessarily tell them they are wrong, but rather I can discuss with them the other ways it may be interpreted and why that is important in the classroom.

 

Bell, Alexandra. “Rewriting Racist Headlines.” The New Yorker Videos. Released 24 May 2018 

https://www.newyorker.com/video/watch/rewriting-racist-headlines. 

 

In this video essay, Alexandra Bell describes her Counternarratives series, in which she dissects the portrayal of minorities, especially related to crime and Black men, in printed news media. She examines issues of language, imagery, and even layout — all critical aspects of the journalistic process — to identify and highlight examples of intentional and inherent bias. To create the five works in the series, Bell rewrites and redesigns newspaper layouts to remove the inherent bias and reflect what she sees as a more accurate account of events. The redesigned layouts are placed in areas of urban [white] gentrification, side-by-side with the marked-up original layout, to spark conversation about the narratives that are created by news coverage of minority communities. 

From the very first words in this video, Bell makes her opinion abundantly clear: “I think everything’s about race.” Unlike the quiet anger of Mason’s essay or the academic tone of Bailey’s report, Bell is both upbeat and unapologetic. Her demeanor stands in stark contradiction to the topic of her story, which I believe makes her arguments even more compelling; rather than scream in justifiable rage, she almost laughs (however mockingly) at the bias that so prevalent in the coverage of crime and minorities. She uses her art to change not only the narrative around the subjects of specific news coverage, but also the way minorities are (mis)represented by the mainstream media. 

Bell’s discussion of her Counternarratives project is without question the best explanation of inherent racism that I have ever seen. It moves the conversation beyond the words in a story to include the visual aspects that typify graphic journalism — the use of specific images, placement and size of those images, and even relative scale of one article to another on the same page. Bell makes a simple and yet powerfully accurate statement: “What you give space to and what you allow people to see says a lot.” This video, and a closer look at the actual Counternarratives series (http://www.alexandrabell.com/public-work), should be “required reading” for any graphic journalism class. 

The Community Tool Box put together a chapter (27) entitled, “Working Together for Racial Justice and Inclusion” that addresses the issue of racism and prejudice.  Through the use of short video clips that tie into the article, it asks questions, such as what is racism?  Why is this issue important and what can each of us do to correct this problem?  There are many tools and resources that are a part of each section to assist teachers, parents, and community members with racial issues.  This resource, while helpful in the classroom environment, is also helpful for the work environment.  It has specific tools to be used in specific circumstances.

The Community Tool Box is a public service of the Center for Community Health and Development at the University of Kansas. It works in conjunction with the World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Community Health and Development.  With the current spotlight on racism and prejudice, I believe this to be both a scholarly and popular resource.  I do not find any bias in the article and the facts are well documented. It asks readers to think critically about different scenarios and offers advice on how to handle them.  

I like this resource because I can use the videos to teach a timely lesson on prejudice and racism while linking it to content specific material such as informative speech or journalism.  The article is chock full of ideas such as taking field trips to historical places that are important to the cultures and traditions of students in the class.  It also talks about ways to incorporate these ideas into curriculum.  However, it goes beyond the classroom, as it offers tools that can be used in the work place and community.  I can use it in my own personal life, as can my students.  I highly recommend this resource.

Murphy, Quinn. “Even My Closest Friends Can't See the World the Way I Do.” EmbraceRace,www.embracerace.org/resources/even-my-closest-friends-cant-see-the-world-the-way-i-do.

Quinn Murphy offers an audio and textual account of a time when her father, “a Black man” was confronted by police as she witnessed from the car.  She talks about having a white friend with her and described herself as being white skinned but fearing for her father because of his black skin.  There is much tension felt in her recount of the event.  What began as an enjoyable car ride ended in frustration and anger.  Quinn is frustrated because she does not think her white friends understand the world from her eyes.  She seems to feel very alone.

This is one account from a series entitled, “Your Stories; Being Biracial.”  The personal account is of a popular nature due to the focus in our country on racial inequality. It is not, however, a scholarly article.  Because, the personal account is something many students can relate to, it is relevant.  As the author is giving her own account from a teenage perspective, she is not only a valid source, but also relatable to students.

These kinds of personal accounts are helpful in the classroom because it is personal and speaks directly to the students.  Quinn paints a vivid picture of both the scene as well as her own emotions.  She speaks plainly, however, creates a picture where the listener senses her unspoken words.  This is a very powerful account that can be used for beginning a conversation in the classroom about racial inequality and what it “looks” like.  It can also be used to discuss the power of communication and how our words paint pictures and create emotion.  A piece, such as this, can empower students to learn how to use communication effectively when they want to be heard.  I highly recommend this resource.