DIVERSE DISTRICT
Anderson Community Schools ’ student population – about 6,500 – is the most diverse in Madison County :
White 52.6 % Black 21.7 % Hispanic 15.2 % Multiracial 10.2 % Asian 0.3 %
Source : Indiana Department of Education .
Knowing ‘ What You Don ’ t Know ’
Schools diversity initiative addresses ‘ blind spots ’
STORY AND PHOTOS BY ANDY KNIGHT
The image flashes onto the screen , and Treva Bostic has a simple question for the 15 educators gathered in a classroom at Edgewood Elementary School .
“ What do you see ?” she asks .
To some , the picture shows an African American man in profile , with a pensive look in the one eye they could see . His lips , seen from the side , are curled into a slight frown . Others see an angrier face looking straight ahead . Some describe what they see as a pair of furled eyebrows above both eyes that appeared slightly closed .
By perceptions , one image depicts worry , the other fury .
The exercise served as a springboard for a frank discussion of bias , both hidden and expressed . Bostic shared material from “ Blind Spot : Hidden Biases of Good People ,” a 2016 book by Mahzarin Banaji that explores why , despite their best intentions , many people are unable to shield their behavior from treating some better than others .
“ Sometimes when you don ’ t know what you don ’ t know , people think they know that this is how it should go ,” Bostic says . “ It goes back to , are you bringing people
26 2023 Diversity Magazine