Reference no: EM133319673

Write letter to someone whom you need to inform about how they have impacted you (mainly negatively) and in which you convince them to change their mind and their behavior about some implicit bias, or a biased view they have on a particular topic.

This should be someone whom you know, or have crossed paths with, in actual life, someone whom you have met or have known, whether in the past or currently.

Choices of TO WHOM to WRITE: 

Good choices might include: 

• a letter to a teacher (for example, a former teacher or a teacher of your child-what do you want them to understand?)
• a letter to a relative who has made interactions difficult or uncomfortable
• a letter to a friend whom has been demonstrating micro-aggressive behavior (whether to you or someone else);
• a letter to the person you wrote about in "Implicit Bias and Me Discussion Board post: 'I Should Have Said Something'"
• a letter to a person in authority that you don't know personally but 'see' sometimes
• or a letter to a person you used to see sometimes (for example, "Letter to the Cops Who Patrol My Brooklyn Neighborhood," or "Letter to the Security Guard Who Followed Me in the Store While I was Shopping")

Directions: Do all of these things in your letter to make your letter "work":

1. Decide to whom you are writing and what is your main purpose for writing to this individual (or for writing as the person you are going to use as your voice-for example, Baldwin or Shane Johnson)
2. Explain your intrusion upon their life: As you start the letter, be clear and direct about why you are writing and why now, at this moment. In other words, be clear about what specific event-or what specific thing happened-that pushed you into writing right now.
3. Reveal your relationship with this person, either "You don't really know me," or "You know me well," or "I am the one whom you used to call...."  Something like this. Talk about this relationship so the reader can get a picture of your connection with this person, whether close or not.
4. *Introduce concepts that the person needs to understand-ideas that you have learned are important to thinking about bias (actual "terms" and "expressions"-things that you've educated yourself about). Share those concepts as part of the letter in a separate paragraph.
5. *Also relate a news story-at least one or two-to make the case that this matter is going on in the world. It's happening. What news stories or article can you share that will educate this person?
6. *Do some "perspective-taking" to show that you understand where the person is coming from psychologically (and maybe because of their background). This is not to say that you want to "excuse" their innocence, but only that you can be empathetic, understand their mindset, see that "it's not all their fault." (You may even want to integrate a psychological concept in this part to show you truly understand what's going on in their psychology.) This is a good way to further build trust and communication.
7. Then drop the façade that you're writing to only one person. Talk to your bigger audience-people like this who do same kind of thing-and go heavy on what action needs to be taken.
8. Finally, get humble again, but stay strong: Explain what makes you a good or not-so-good person to write him a letter: Are you "perfect" and very knowledgeable about this topic or did you have to go through a struggle yourself? How can you end the letter to ensure that the person is not angry or defensive, but instead so that the person is really "with you" as part of your community and shares your goal?