When colors are missing 🌧️
What happens if I don't notice? · 8 min
What it costs
What do I lose if I keep going like this? · 10 min
What it costs
What do I lose if I keep going like this? · 15 min
Each age has its own progress. People of the same age share this space and its logbook in this browser.
Can a pencil make someone erase themselves from their drawings?
Thanks for sharing. You're not the only one.
Maya's story
Case 1Skin color
The teacher asks everyone to draw themselves.
Illustrative case. The characters and events are made up. The pattern is based on evidence.
Where would you have changed course? Pick the panel where you would have done something different.
- Art class
The teacher asks everyone to draw themselves. Maya, a classmate with dark skin, looks for a crayon. Lía hands her the pink one: "Here, the skin color one."
What could have been done here
Ask her: "Which one is your color?"
- A week later
Maya draws herself with the pink crayon, like everyone else. Someone tells her: "But you're not that color," and some kids laugh.
What could have been done here
Not laugh. Help her find her color.
- A month later
Maya doesn't draw herself anymore. In her drawings she puts her family, her friends and her dog, but not herself.
What could have been done here
Tell her: "I want to see how you draw yourself."
- At the end of the year
The teacher brings a box of crayons in many skin tones. Maya finds hers and, for the first time, draws herself smiling. Lía finds hers and draws herself next to her.
What could have been done here
What the teacher did! Every color is a "skin color."
Any moment was a good moment to change course, even the last one. The best one is today.
The cost: Many months in which a girl erased herself from her own drawings.
What the data says: Some scientists saw that newborn babies look at faces of all colors with the same interest. What we think about colors, we learn later. And we can also learn to see all colors as beautiful! Source: Kelly, D. J., Quinn, P. C., Slater, A. M., Lee, K., Gibson, A., Smith, M., Ge, L. and Pascalis, O. (2005). Three-month-olds, but not newborns, prefer own-race faces. Developmental Science, 8(6), F31–F36.
Today: Draw your friends with their real colors.
Lía didn't want to do anything bad to Maya. She just thought there was only one «skin color». But because of that pencil, Maya felt her color didn't fit.
Every color is a skin color.
How would you feel?
Imagine you're Maya and your color isn't in the box. How would you feel? What would you want someone to do?
Draw your friends with their real colors.
Did you ever feel that something about you «didn't fit»: your hair, your skin, your name?
Stories about a man who went over to the people everyone left out.
Finish and go to lesson 5 →A nickname. Some laughs. A straightening treatment. A classmate crying in front of the mirror.
Thanks for sharing. You're not the only one.
The timeline
Case 1Bad hair
Teo gives Camila, a classmate with very curly hair, a nickname: "sponge head." The whole class laughs.
Illustrative case. The characters and events are made up. The pattern is based on evidence.
Where would you have changed course? Pick the panel where you would have done something different.
- Start of the year
Teo gives Camila, a classmate with very curly hair, a nickname: "sponge head." The whole class laughs. Camila laughs too, so she won't look bad.
What could have been done here
Not give her a nickname about her hair. And if it already happened, ask her afterward if it bothered her.
- A month later
Camila shows up with her hair straightened. Everyone congratulates her: "Now you look good!"
What could have been done here
Not celebrate that she "fixed herself." Tell her she looked good before too.
- Three months later
Camila doesn't go to the pool anymore and doesn't go out on rainy days: she doesn't want her hair to show. She straightens it every day before school.
What could have been done here
Go up to her and tell her nobody should have to hide their hair.
- Half a year later
Camila misses a week: she hurt her scalp with a very strong straightening treatment. A friend says she cries every morning in front of the mirror. Teo remembers he was the one who came up with "sponge head."
What could have been done here
It's still possible: apologize to Camila and tell the class that nicknames about hair are over.
Any moment was a good moment to change course, even the last one. The best one is today.
The cost: A classmate who learned to hate her hair, over a nickname that "was a joke."
What the data says: In a review of 293 studies, experiencing racism was linked to poorer mental health: more depression, anxiety and stress. Source: Paradies, Y., Ben, J., Denson, N., Elias, A., Priest, N., Pieterse, A., Gupta, A., Kelaher, M. and Gee, G. (2015). Racism as a determinant of health: A systematic review and meta-analysis. PLOS ONE, 10(9), e0138511.
Today: If someone in your class has a nickname about their hair or color, call them by their name.
For the person who suffers it, it costs feeling less, hiding, changing their hair or skin to fit in. Experiencing racism was linked with more sadness, anxiety and stress. (Paradies et al., 2015)
For you, it costs friends you'll never get to know, and carrying the weight of having hurt someone who didn't deserve it.
The other side: talking about color isn't racism. Saying «she has dark skin» or «he has curly hair» doesn't put anyone lower. What hurts is using it to make fun of someone or leave them out.
The tally
1 · What was said to you. What have people said to you about your skin, your hair or your features? How did it make you feel?
2 · What you said. Who did you say something like that to that you wouldn't say today?
3 · One small action for this week.
If someone in your class has a nickname about their hair or color, call them by their name.
What has racism cost you, whether because you suffered it or because you did it?
Someone who went straight to the people everyone pushed away.
Finish and go to lesson 5 →Sources for this lesson
- Paradies, Y. et al. (2015). Racism as a determinant of health: A systematic review and meta-analysis. PLOS ONE, 10(9), e0138511. View source: Paradies, Y. et al. (2015). Racism as a determinant of health: A systematic review and meta-analysis. PLOS ONE, 10(9), e0138511.
A five-second decision: «They don't fit the profile».
A career that has to find its way somewhere else.
Thanks for sharing. You're not the only one.
The timeline
Case 1The résumé
Mara has to choose someone for a customer service job.
Illustrative case. The characters and events are made up. The pattern is based on evidence.
Where would you have changed course? Pick the panel where you would have done something different.
- One Monday
Mara has to choose someone for a customer service job. One of the résumés is excellent: good training, years of experience. In the photo, a dark-skinned woman with an Indigenous last name. Mara thinks: "She doesn't fit the profile." She puts it aside.
What could have been done here
Ask herself: "What profile?" Look only at what the person can do. Better still, ask for résumés without photos.
- A month later
Mara hires someone else, with less experience, because she "looks more presentable." When Sam asks what that means, Mara changes the subject.
What could have been done here
Listen to Sam's question and answer it honestly.
- A year later
The person she hired quits. The job opens again and Mara does the same thing. A new coworker tells her: "Have you noticed that everyone on this team looks alike?" Mara laughs.
What could have been done here
Take the comment seriously and review how people were being chosen.
- Five years later
At an industry conference, the keynote is given by the general manager of the most successful company in the field. Mara recognizes her: it's the woman whose résumé she put aside.
What could have been done here
It's still possible. Propose résumés without photos at her company, review who has been hired in recent years, and choose people for what they can do.
Any moment was a good moment to change course, even the last one. The best one is today.
The cost: A career that had to find its way somewhere else, and a company that let the best candidate go without even interviewing her.
What the data says: In an experiment in the United States, identical résumés were sent with different names. The ones with names that sounded "white" got 50% more calls for interviews. Source: Bertrand, M. and Mullainathan, S. (2004). Are Emily and Greg more employable than Lakisha and Jamal? A field experiment on labor market discrimination. American Economic Review, 94(4), 991–1013.
What the data says: Pooling all the experiments of this kind in that country since 1989, discrimination against Black people in hiring hadn't gone down: white applicants got on average 36% more calls. Source: Quillian, L., Pager, D., Hexel, O. and Midtbøen, A. H. (2017). Meta-analysis of field experiments shows no change in racial discrimination in hiring over time. PNAS, 114(41), 10870–10875.
Today: If you choose someone for a job, a team or a rental, ask yourself whether their color played a part in your decision.
What it costs the person who suffers it
Opportunities. In the United States, identical résumés were sent out with different names: the ones that sounded «white» got 50% more callbacks for interviews. (Bertrand & Mullainathan, 2004) And when all experiments of that kind since 1989 were put together, the gap hadn't gone down. (Quillian, Pager, Hexel & Midtbøen, 2017) These are US studies, but «doesn't fit the profile» and «looks more presentable» are heard everywhere.
Health. In a review of almost 300 studies, experiencing racism was linked to worse mental health: more depression, more anxiety, more stress. (Paradies et al., 2015) Hearing every day that your skin or your hair is worth less leaves a mark.
What it costs children
Children learn what they're worth by listening to their family. In this route's other shipwreck, «Improve the race», Lía grows up hearing «too bad she came out dark» and «that hair needs taming». Over the years, she asks for a cream «to be lighter». At 13, she tells her mom she feels ugly.
Nobody meant to hurt her. Everyone laughed. And Lía learned to be ashamed of her own skin at her family's table.
What it costs you
The best people you didn't hire, didn't get to know or didn't let in. Mara lost a brilliant manager because of a photo. And teams, neighborhoods and families where «everyone looks alike» miss out on a lot of what others bring.
The other side: talking about color isn't racism
Asking with interest about someone's background, celebrating different skin colors, saying «I'm brown» or «I'm Black» with pride: none of that is racism. Quite the opposite.
What hurts is using color to put someone lower. Even with a smile.
The tally
Step 1 · What you heard. What did people tell you as a kid about your skin, your hair or your features? How did it make you feel?
Step 2 · What the children at home hear. What phrases about color are said in your family today? What do you think the children are learning?
Step 3 · What you decided. Have you ever ruled out, distrusted or chosen someone because of how they looked?
Step 4 · One single action. Write something small you could do this week: stop using a nickname, change a phrase at home, review a decision.
If there's a phrase about color that keeps getting repeated in your family, this week don't say it yourself. Just that.
What has racism cost you more: what was said to you, or what you repeated?
So far you've seen how racism disguises itself, where it comes from and what it costs.
In the next lesson you'll meet someone who never looked down on anyone because of how they were born. He touched the skin everyone avoided, held up the foreigner as an example and opened his table to everyone.
Finish and go to lesson 5 →Sources for this lesson
- Bertrand, M. & Mullainathan, S. (2004). Are Emily and Greg more employable than Lakisha and Jamal? A field experiment on labor market discrimination. American Economic Review, 94(4), 991–1013. View source: Bertrand, M. & Mullainathan, S. (2004). Are Emily and Greg more employable than Lakisha and Jamal? A field experiment on labor market discrimination. American Economic Review, 94(4), 991–1013.
- Quillian, L., Pager, D., Hexel, O. & Midtbøen, A. H. (2017). Meta-analysis of field experiments shows no change in racial discrimination in hiring over time. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 114(41), 10870–10875. View source: Quillian, L., Pager, D., Hexel, O. & Midtbøen, A. H. (2017). Meta-analysis of field experiments shows no change in racial discrimination in hiring over time. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 114(41), 10870–10875.
- Paradies, Y. et al. (2015). Racism as a determinant of health: A systematic review and meta-analysis. PLOS ONE, 10(9), e0138511. View source: Paradies, Y. et al. (2015). Racism as a determinant of health: A systematic review and meta-analysis. PLOS ONE, 10(9), e0138511.
Lesson 4 of 10.
You're doing well.
To take with youDraw your friends with their real colors.
To take with youIf someone in your class has a nickname about their hair or color, call them by their name.
To take with youIf there's a phrase about color that keeps getting repeated in your family, this week don't say it yourself. Just that.
What you write and your progress are saved only on this device. When you finish the lesson we add 1 to the total, without knowing who you are.