YouTube Originals' "Glad You Asked" Educates and Aggravates (In the Right Way)

This brings us to Glad You Asked an educational YouTube Original series developed in partnership with Vox Originally created with the intention of using scientific methodology to answer the internet39s frequently asked questions think things like quotShould we be worried about GMOsquot and quotHow does the internet workquot Glad You Asked is now using its very recently released second season to answer questions that have a lot more to do with race and let me tell you I know I39ve just been further educated because now I39m really pissedGlad You Asked is hosted by a multicultural group of Millennials who spend every show answering the hell out of whatever titular question each respective episode poses Deliverywise the producers hit the metaphorical nail on the head by hiring hosts that are young relatable and goodlooking to deliver the facts and data behind these questions and their answers Productionwise the show was equally as clever to go with a visual style that feels very tactile and handcrafted especially with things like graphs and title cards This not only helps to simplify the more complicated data for its viewers but also adds to the show39s overall style which gives a colorful new age spin to the kind of stuff we used to see as kids on PBSMore important than all that however is the subject matter of each of this new season39s episodes Over the past year it39s become obvious that to some extent or another the big word on everyone39s mind is race More specifically terms like racial bias and systemic racism have been getting their fair share of the limelight and everyone needs to be educated about the former if we as a people have any real shot at dismantling the latter That39s where Glad You Asked comes inThe first episode titled How Racist Am I opens on host Cleo Abrams explaining the intent of the episode which in this case is to figure out how one measures one39s own biases Why is this important Because it is apparently the basis of racism as a wholeAccording to Dr Nilanjana Dasgupta Professor of Social Psychology at the University of Massachusetts quotRacism is structural bias Racism is residential segregation Racism is policies that oftentimes intentionally try to create and then justify inequalityquot Dr Dasgupta said this in response to a question asked by Cleo39s cohost and Vox39s lead reporter on race Fabiola Cineas during a segment in which the three of them discussed the quotcultural thumbprintquot of biases on both the film and television industries quotImplicit bias if you built it out from the individual mind to that environment to the institution to the society the end result is racismquot Dasgupta explainedThe following episode Are We Automating Racism takes it a step further with host Joss Fong who opens up her episode with a way to test Twitter39s picturecropping algorithm which purportedly seemed to prefer white faces over those of people with darker skin The subjects of her first test were her cohosts Lee Adams and Christophe Haubursin who are dark and light skinned respectively Of course the Twitter algorithm failed the first two times beginning an overall conversation that doesn39t really demonize any particular group but does help one determine where the fault may liequotPart of it is a deep attachment and commitment to this idea of tech neutralityquot said Ruha Benjamin the author of Race After Technology to Joss during a discussion on this topic Benjamin described how people are attracted to this idea that technology can be unbiased and pure so to speak especially in a world so quotdrenched in the muck of all of human subjectivityquot as she put it quotIt39s a systemic issue in the truest sense of the wordquotEnlightening as it all was I didn39t feel that anger I mentioned up top well up inside of me until GYA39s third episode Does My Neighborhood Determine My Future According to the episode39s host Lee Adams it very much doesDuring the New Deal the federal government instituted housing programs and policies to save the severely distressed housing market One of the first of such policies was the creation of the Home Owners Loan Corporation or HOLC This company sent real estate appraisers to towns all over the country in order to create maps to be sent to the nation39s banks These maps were then used by said banks to determine how risky offering their services to areas in each town or city may be Sure it sounds legit at least until you read the corresponding reports that came with the maps and see shit like quotThe area is well laid out and the improvements are attractive but the proximity of Negro families on Spruce Street at the southern edge precludes the district from a better rating and is retarding its developmentquotThe sad truth is that the origins of the bigotry and oppression that systematic racism allows and enables goes far enough back in our country39s history that unless people educate themselves through watching programs like GYA for example it is damn near impossible to see the metaphorical strings that are controlling this little puppet show called quotyour lifequot That39s honestly what gets me the most how blatant it all is and how blind a lot of us have beenIt39s not unlike that quote that superstar Pharrell Williams once said at the start of a song quotThe truth shall set you free but first it39ll piss you offquotClick the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writersamp160amp160

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YouTube Originals' "Glad You Asked" Educates and Aggravates (In the Right Way)

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Ainsley Andrade

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YouTube Originals' "Glad You Asked" Educates and Aggravates (In the Right Way)

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