Race, Privilege, and Emojis [Video]

I really enjoy the work of Sasheer Zamata and I thought that her recent bit on weekend update captured a few things we that often teach about when we talk about race.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/726782

Zamata points makes a link between structural differences in power and opportunity (in this case the lack of racial diversity in tech companies) and the lack of black emojis. Sure, it seems trivial, but I think these examples really make students think about the invisibility of privilege in ways that connect meaningfully to their real world experiences. If a white student thinks "wow, I never thought twice about racial differences in emojis", maybe this is a stepping stone towards 'Wow, I never thought twice about racial differences in policing".

Zamata and Michael  Che make that leap in the skit-Here's to hoping our students do too.