On November 12th, I attended the Sharp Viewpoint Speakers Series event featuring Michele Norris. Founder of The Race Card Project and host for National Public Radio, Norris discussed the importance of leaning into uncomfortable conversations about race, identity, and inclusion. Norris’s Race Card Project accepts six-word story submissions about race. Starting with only paper submissions, The Race Card Project grew to accept responses to the prompt electronically. Norris and her team have collected 500,000 cards to date. These six-word stories tap into the individual’s honest thoughts about difficult topics of discussion. Often, when confronted with discomfort, many individuals fold their arms and tend to shy away from the uncomfortable. Given the extent of political polarization within the United States, conversations regarding race, identity, and inclusion are more important than ever. In President Crutcher’s introduction of Norris, he mentioned our nation’s “fraying social fabric.” I think this phrase perfectly captures the reason for discussions such as those facilitated through the Sharp Viewpoint Speaker Series: opportunities to engage with other perspectives.
One of the stories Michele Norris shared particularly stood out to me. Jamal, a white male, received a job offer from a high school in Des Moines, Iowa. Members of the school administration were surprised upon Jamal’s arrival on his first day. Quickly, Jamal realized he was a diversity hire, judgement made based on his name. Norris shared a quote from Jamal, “a name can walk into the room before they do.” This quotation demonstrates the prevalence of implicit bias within our country. I really enjoyed the discussion with Michele Norris, and I think that it was an effective method to spark tough conversation among individuals on our campus.