Beach Walk 717 – Are Your Responsible for Your Subconscious?

November 13, 2008 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I did a show on the latent racist tendencies many of us have a few weeks ago, Beach Walk 707, talking about how deeply racism (and other “-isms”) reside within our subconscious. Exploring a little further, if we resist the notion and feel guilty or go into denial, then it lingers. Maybe not feeling so burdened or responsible for things before our time can free us to notice when we are acting under the influence, and choose to act differently now.

Hawaiian Word:
ʻIkeʻole; unaware

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Beach Walk 707 – The Race Against Racism

October 22, 2008 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |

Do you think of yourself as a racist? Chances are no, That doesn’t mean you don’t have latent racism. Nicholas Kristof wrote a piece in the NY Times that really helps to explain it.

Rather, most of the votes that Mr. Obama actually loses belong to well-meaning whites who believe in racial equality and have no objection to electing a black person as president — yet who discriminate unconsciously.

The cure? Out yourself when you have a racist thought, even if it’s embarrassing. It helps I think to flush up those legacy thoughts that have been passed down from generation to generation, just like, “put a coat on or you’ll catch a cold!” Paying attention and breaking the habit – that does work.

Welcome back to Hawaii Barack Obama. I filmed this before I knew of your impending visit.

Hawaiian Word:
Lāhui: race of people
Heihei: contest

This conversation is continued over here, Are You Responsible for Your Subconscious?

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Beach Walk 87 – Sorting Saves Energy But…

May 18, 2006 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Sorting people into quick, superficial categories saves energy and it also leads to stereotyping and missed opportunities.

h3. About Today’s Show

My brain was full and I was feeling aware of how much information and stimulation exists in my (and your) environment, I found it really useful many years ago when I learned about the limbic brain and how it wants to categorize and store things for simplicity sake. It makes sense from a filing point of view, but it turns people into groups based on the most superficial of criteria, then the result is racism, sexism, nerdism, and so forth. (I mean that literally as in their surface attributes, not conceptually, whether they are deep thinkers or not.) Here’s a list of 234 isms relating to belief systems.

Consciousness takes energy to be sure. It is hard some days. We get to choose though with whom we want to use our energy to get to know more personally. And for me, it’s really useful to tell my old back brain that just because I met someone with whom I did or did not click, please do not take a scan of their physical characteristics and apply the intrinsic qualities I experienced to all similar types of people!

And so I end up with one of my favorite recurring themes: life is specific. The urge to generalize is compelling, but I prefer things like cognitive dissonance and meeting people who shake up my known world.

Hawaiian words
‘Ano: type, sort
Lolo: brain

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