Seth Doyle

REDI Lab Project: Conversations About Race by Paige Thomas

At the moment, my project is going to be a 10-15 minute video of conversations or interviews about race. What I want to do is go somewhere public with a video camera and a sign that says, “Let’s talk about race.” Hopefully, people will engage in conversations.

I do, however, need to practice these conversations, so most likely I’m going to start getting footage from around CA instead of just going out somewhere public and talking to strangers. I also want to see what happens when it’s someone else with the sign and not a young, white girl. I’m running into a few challenges in terms of time and also the confidence to sit alone in a public space to talk to strangers about a touchy subject. I am, however, confident that after practicing, I’ll be have enough courage to do it.

This project not only reflects my general interest in social experimentation, but also my desire to have conversations about race in order to learn. It’s a topic I’ve shied away from because of who I am: a young, white girl. I have almost always felt ashamed of having white privilege and never realized (until recently) that I can use my privilege to aide social justice and point out racism. As a white person, I can step in and make a change where others cannot. I’m not saying that my project is going to change the way America thinks, but hopefully it’ll change some people’s minds. I also hope that it will increase my awareness, understanding, and general sense of my role in society.