We studied the dangers of stereotype threat by reading a passage from Claude Steele’s, Whistling Vivaldi. The excerpt was compelling because of how authentic the author’s torment was. Written in first person, the passage explains how a black man whistles Vivaldi whilst walking at night past white strangers in order to make them fear him less. The author articulates how he “threatened” the people around him just by existing, because all of those people had already made a decision about the type of person he was just because of the color of his skin. But by whistling Vivaldi, he explains how the strangers around him seemed to relax at the sound of something familiar and commonly listened to by “civilized white people”. Thus determining him to be less of a threat and not feeling the need to cross to the opposite side of the street just to escape his presence. This reading was my introductory experience into the concept of stereotype threat.
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