What's in a Last Name? A Lesson in Implicit Bias

I had to man lunch detention this week and I had an interesting conversation with one of my students.  He told me he wanted to change his last name and was begging his mom to do so. I asked why would he want to do that.  His response was that everyone with his last name always seems to be in trouble and he didn't like it.  I know where this kid is coming from.  My last name growing up meant nothing to anyone.  That might just be as bad as a name being associated with trouble all the time.

I was taken by this and immediately went into Man Lesson mode.  These are little lessons I give boys that hopefully will prepare them for manhood someday.  I related my own experience to his and told him that sometimes you have to make your own name.  If you want your last name to mean something, you have to build it up.  This isn't just for you.  It is also about your children and their children.  The conversation seemed to resonate with him and I reminded him that after nine years of being in this school, I had a lot of kids with his last name and his perception was not really accurate.

At the Mt. Vernon Conference I spoke about deficit mindset and implicit bias.  There is a lot to be said here and a lot to be applied.  Implicit bias is an unconscious attitude towards certain social groups.  Those groups might be low-income kids, special education kids or kids of color.  In other words, stereotyping students based on a social factor.  The result may be a micro-aggression against that student.  This could ruin a relationship and allow the student to accept what they think is a deficit.  Both are detrimental to the student's success.

Let's do a little soul searching.  Have you ever read a class list on the first day and noticed some familiar last names?  Don't lie and say you didn't take a pause before you kept reading the list.  Can you make a last name a stereotype?  What my student is saying is a legitimate concern for him.   The possible micro-aggressions that could take place might be:

• "Is your cousin still in the GED program?"
• "Your brother could not sit still ever."
• Call them by a sibling's name for fun or to joke with the student.
• Lowering their expectations based on previous experiences with family.

The best way to deal with my student is to simply treat him as an individual.  He obviously is affected by the baggage that comes with a last name.  He needs to be recognized for his own efforts and establish himself as a good student.  My point is that last names don't mean much.  If you have been at your school for a while, you either believe that or you don't based on your own experiences.  The part of the equation that should not be affected is the student.