Everyday Racism: using mobile apps to challenge thinking

2nd Annual Future of Learning in Higher Education Summit

Kevin  M.  Dunn  

School  of  Social  Science  and  Psychology,    

The  University  of  Western  Sydney  

K.Dunn@uws.edu.au  

The Challenging Racism Project • Gathering  evidence  on  discrimina1on  • Developing  ac1on  and  ini1a1ves  that  are  locally  relevant  • Cri1cally  evaluate  and  report  on  the  solu1ons/ac1ons  • New  foci:  the  cyber  /  social  media  worlds  /  families  h>p://www.uws.edu.au/ssap/ssap/research/challenging_racism  

Facebook:Challenging Racism Project

Twitter:@ChallengeRacism

Prevalence of racism: Everyday quality of most racism

About one-in-five (19%) had experienced forms of race hate talk.Culture-based exclusion (11%);7% unfair treatment / ethnic discrimination; 6% racist physical attack.75% of race talk takes the form of offensive slang.Racist jokes (52%), stereotypes in media (63%), verbal abuse (65%), and offensive gestures (51%).

Prevalence: The uneven experience of racism in Australia

LOTE higher experience of race talk (32%), double non-LOTE.Non-Christian higher experience of race talk (34%).

Prevalence: The uneven experience of racism in Australia

Indigenous experience over 4 times that of non-Indigenous.High rates among those with Middle Eastern and African ancestry.

Cyber racism survey: witness

When  the  encounter  took  place   n   %  

In  the  last  day   30   4  

In  the  last  week   109   14.7  

In  the  last  month   160   21.6  

In  the  last  six  months   242   32.7  

In  the  last  year   123   16.6  

More  than  a  year  ago   77   10.4  

Total  of  those  who  have  witnessed  racism  online  

741   34.8  

Total  sample   2129   100  

Data collected December 2013, N= 2141

Cyber racism survey: witness

PlaBorm   n   %  

Time  spent  on  plaBorm/day  (minutes)  Mean  

Facebook   293   40.1   69  

Twi>er   14   1.9   22.1  

Youtube   115   15.7   38.1  

Forums   94   12.9   20.7  

Comments  –  online  news  

135   18.5   33.5  

Email   42   5.7   34.2  

Other   38   5.2  

Total   731   100  

Form  (n=  741)   n   %  

Talk   667   89.7  

Exclusion   90   12.1  

Violent  incitement   88   11.8  

Bystander anti-racism: forms “Ac1on  taken  by  a  person(s)  to  iden1fy,  speak  out  about  or  seek  to  engage  others  in  responding,  either  directly  or  indirectly,  to  specific  incidents  of  racism,  or  racist  prac1ces,  cultures  and  systems.”  • Confron1ng  or  disagreeing  with  the  perpetrator  • Calling  it  “racism”  or  “discrimina1on”  (if  it  is  safe  or  produc1ve  to  do  so)  • Interrup1ng  or  distrac1ng  perpetrator  • Comfor1ng  the  person(s)  targeted    • Expressing  upset  feelings  • Seeking  assistance  from  friend,  teacher,  manager,  coach  etc.  • Repor1ng  the  incident  to  authori1es  

Bystander anti-racism: obstacles

Obstacles to bystander action The ambiguous nature of racism

Exclusive group identity

Fear of violence or vilification, being targeted by perpetrator

Perception that action would be ineffective

Lack of knowledge about how to intervene

Gender role prescriptions for women

Impression management, preserving interpersonal relations

Desire to avoid conflict

Source: Nelson, J., Paradies, Y & Dunn, KM. (2011) “Bystander Anti-Racism: A Review of the Literature” Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy, 11(1), 263-284

Bystander action against cyber racism

•  56% (n= 165) made an active dissonant response

•  54% (n= 159) made an active dissonant response within the platform

Prevalence & implications

Key Points:

•  Many Australians experience racism in their daily lives;•  Australians of certain ethnic backgrounds are the focus of antipathy and intolerance;• One-third (34.8%) of Australians have witnessed racism in online settings.• About half take no action (consistent with non-online in Australia; two-thirds in global research).

Everyday Racism App h>p://alltogethernow.org.au/news/campaigns/everydayracism/  

What  is  the  Everyday  Racism  App  h>ps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZP_Cc5MxGM  

Interviews  with  actors  in  the  app  h>ps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-­‐-­‐vNcR_3nmI  

Everyday Racism App “Could  you  walk  in  the  shoes  of  someone  who  is  subjected  to  racism  on  a  daily  basis?”  

Four  chapters:  1.  Aboriginal  man  (Patrick  Redford)  2.  Hijab-­‐wearing  Muslim  woman  (Aisha  Karim)  3.  Indian  student  (Vihaan  Sharma)  4.  You  

McCaughey VicHealth Centre Challenging

Racism Project

Centre for Citizenship & Globalisation

Everyday Racism App: Aims Opportunity:  Pervasiveness  of  mobile  technologies  

Social  aims:  •  Raising  racial  literacy  •  Empowering  people  to  act  in  the  face  of  racism  •  Crea1ng  new  social  norms  Business  aims:  •  Engage  download  and  interac1on  •  Raise  awareness  about  the  existence  of  racism  in  Australia  through  media  coverage    •  Raise  the  profile  of  all  partners  in  this  project  as  expert  leaders  in  the  field  of  an1-­‐racism  in  Australia  

Everyday Racism App: Targets

18-­‐34  year  olds  who  are  ambivalent  about  cultural  diversity,  feel  like  they  don’t  know  enough  about  racism,  haven’t  experienced  racism  in  the  past  12  months  (86%  of  popn),  live  in  an  urban  area  in  NSW  or  VIC.  

http://www.alltogethernow.org.au/

App uses in training / teaching

• University  of  Western  Sydney  (UWS)  &  Halogen  Founda1on  (n:100  leaders  (school/vice  captains  etc.)  from  high  schools  across  Western  Sydney,  2011-­‐13  • UWS  1st  year  Social  Science  students  (n:1200)  2014-­‐.  • UWS  staff  and  student  training  (n:300  each)  2014-­‐.  • Football  clinics  of  WSW  (2015-­‐).  • Trialling  school  training  materials  (NSW  &  Vict)  2015-­‐  (ARCLP  funded).  • A  gamified  ‘bolt-­‐on’.  

Everyday Racism App: criticisms Problems  with  ‘gaming  race’.  • the  problema1c  rela1onship  between  the  player  and  their  elected  avatar;    • the  pedagogic  compromises  that  are  made  in  modelling  racism  as  a  game;  • the  superliminal  narra1ve  that  a>empts  to  transcend  the  limited  diege1c  world  of  the  game.  (Fordyce,  Neale  &  Apperley,  2014)  

Everyday Racism App: stats so far 25,000  downloads  (7,500  target).  Opened  globally.  

The  early  in-­‐app  survey  results  (n:210).  Arer  playing  the  game:  •  Increased  awareness  of  racist  talk  and  ac1ons  76.5%  •  Percep1on  of  app’s  effec1veness  at  encouraging  bystander  ac1on  90.7%  •  Have  spoken  up  against  racism  since:  60%  •  Perceived  importance  of  ac1on:  97.9%  

Everyday Racism App Awards • The  Project  was  ranked  2nd  place  by  the  United  Na1ons  for  best  community  rela1ons  ini1a1ve  in  2014    • Co-­‐winner  of  the  UN  global  #peaceapp  compe11on  for  the  Everyday  Racism  App  (twice!)  h>p://alltogethernow.org.au/news/campaigns/everydayracism/  

Everyday Racism App: next steps

In  Australia,  new  chapters:  to  be  adapted  for  school-­‐aged  children  (NSW  &  Vict)  housing  based  scenarios.  

Globally:    New  versions,  context  specific  (NZ,  Sweden,  Nthn  Ireland).  

New  evalua1on  (n:1502c)