Racism’s role in my work
For my first blog post, I will reflect on my experience taking the Harvard Implicit Association Test and what the results may mean for my participation in the course and work at my NGO.
I have not taken the Harvard Implicit Association (Race) test before. Still, I have taken a similar test conducted by students in the Psychology department at UCLA, so it wasn’t a completely novel experience. I chose to take the race version of the test because I will be working with adults and children in Uganda and wanted to examine any bias I had towards Black individuals that may impact my work.
Before beginning and during the test, I felt nervous about my results and what they would say about me. As a half-white, half-Latina person, I realized that I have feelings of white guilt that do not serve people affected by racism or me. I felt a shift to take the test without self-judgment and use the results in the most proactive way possible. Although my results showed that I had no preference for neither white people nor Black people, I know it is always essential to make every effort to be anti-racist in this course, work with my NGO, and all other aspects of my life.
Specifically, after doing this week’s readings, I know that everything happens within the context of one’s environment (Sroufe et al., 2005). This environment starts with the caregivers and expands to the world in which one lives. In our case, racism plays a role in the world we live in, which influences the social determinants of mental health, and plays a role in the causes and symptoms we see manifested (Kirmayer & Swartz, 2013). My work at War Child will consist of helping to identify children with mental health needs remotely. To do this, I will need to use a cultural psychology lens to understand what local people see as mental health problems, what the symptoms look like, and what treatments are commonly used (Kirmayer & Swartz, 2013). Taking the Harvard Implicit Association test allowed me to apply the knowledge of race and culture I have gained so far and apply it to this course and my work in my NGO.
