Listening: An Essential Tool for Anti-Racism Work
A group of mostly white university students gathered around a small table in the library. They had just received their group assignments for the project they would be working on this semester. The students quickly dove into conversation. They eagerly explained their ideas, sometimes even speaking over one another. It seemed that everyone thought they had the best idea and was intent on explaining why. But Mei, a Chinese American student in the group, felt shut out of the conversation. She wasn’t able to get a word in amidst all the chatter—and felt that if even if she tried, no one would hear her. The other students were not listening.
It may seem like a simple thing, but listening is one of the most important skills you can develop in your lifetime, and it is essential if you want to do the serious work of racial justice.
What do we mean by listening?
Listening is not simply hearing another person speak. We are talking about the practice of listening with the full intent to understand another, while engaging with the conversation in meaningful ways. It involves putting your ego aside, withholding judgment, and directing your full attention to the things the speaker is saying. It can also apply when you're listening to the radio or reading an article that presents a different perspective. Listening is a practice of engaging with the world in an attentive, empathic way.
While we don't always want to acknowledge it, we all have unconscious biases and unrecognized assumptions about people who look different from us. And these assumptions can keep us from hearing what that individual is saying, from seeing who that individual really is. This may have been what was happening with Mei. We can tackle this by setting an intention to really, actively listen to each other.
Listening to different perspectives
As sometimes uncomfortable or heated conversations about police brutality and racism begin to enter mainstream discourse, it’s important that we all take some time to learn what it means to truly listen. While you might feel a strong need to speak out on these issues, give your own perspective, or offer solutions that you think may work, start by listening deeply to what is being said.
Listening from a place of privilege
If you come from a place of privilege, listening is the first thing you can do to practice anti-racism. Privilege manifests as a set of blinders on the world; those with privilege are often unaware of the harms they do to those without. BIPOC (an acronym that stands for Black, Indigenous, and/or people of color) have been vocal about these topics for years but were largely not heard until the murder of George Floyd forced mainstream media and society to pay attention. We need to pay attention to the voices of those who have been doing the work all along. And we can best do so with listening, which provides a bridge to understanding the lived experiences of marginalized groups; an essential step in devising and implementing solutions for the future.
How to do it
Direct your full attention to the speaker. Quiet the background noise in your mind and focus on the speaker and the meaning behind the words they are saying. Using your full attention also involves letting go of the urge to craft a response as you listen. Rather, listen with your whole self, and trust that it is only through listening that you could possibly be able to respond wisely--if a response is even necessary.
Ask clarifying questions when appropriate. As you turn your attention to the meaning that is being conveyed by the speaker, you will undoubtedly encounter a need for clarification. Make sure to ask questions that grow understanding rather than questions that challenge a speaker’s perspective. Now is not the time to debate the validity of someone’s experience. Now is the time to learn.
Choose when you speak. It is impossible to speak and listen at the same time, so it’s important to recognize that one comes at the expense of another. People in positions of privilege or power should be especially mindful of speaking over those without. If you are someone who tends to speak often, try taking a speaking break. You may be surprised by what you hear when you allow space for others' ideas to emerge.
And that group of university students?
Once the talkative group members had exhausted their discussion, the table fell into a pensive silence. It was only then that they realized Mei had been excluded from the conversation. When she finally explained the ideas she had been keeping to herself, the group realized that her solution would make their project stand out. They realized that they had made assumptions that kept them from listening to her and resolved to make space for all in their conversations moving forward.
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