The above video has been making the rounds of progressive blogs recently. It features Jay Smooth, a popular New York hip-hop radio host, giving a brief lesson on how best to approach a racially-charged conversation. In a quick three minutes, Smooth gives several witty examples of conversational traps to avoid, effectively presenting the difference between the two broad categories of racial discussion: the “what they did” conversation versus the “what they are” conversation. The video demonstrates the best way to “call out” racist behavior without leading the conversation into name-calling, by focusing on specific words and actions (“what they did”) rather than drawing broad conclusions (“what they are”).
While Smooth’s clever lecture/sermon focuses on racial issues, it also functions essentially as a primer on how to engage difficult issues with critical intelligence, and as such it has captured the attention of communication-intensive educators (that’s us). According to this interview on NPR, the video has become a hit among college professors, who use Smooth’s rant to help introduce ideas about effective oral communication. Because the video is hip, funny, and easily understandable, it seems like a decent way to get students talking about talking.
As I’ve noticed in my own classes, difficulties with in-class discussions are not always related to shy, silent students. Oftentimes, I’ve had boisterous groups that have LOTS to say, but don’t often have the most effective tools for oral communication at their disposal, and the result can be an awkward, pointless (and, at worst, offensive) discussion. After all, there are many ways to talk about any given issue, but our job is to promote a very specific kind of academic discussion that is most likely very different from the average student’s everyday mode of communication.
Smooth’s video is certainly a great starting point for a classroom discussion about arguments, evidence, and rhetorical strategy, but I think it also provides an opportunity for us, as educators, to begin thinking about our own role in teaching students how to effectively “speak up” in class. What other tools can we use to help students create meaningful, civil in-class discussions? How can we get students not just to talk, but to talk with confidence and authority, avoiding the “rhetorical Bermuda Triangle” described in the video? And finally, is Smooth available for guest lectures?
Let’s invite Jay Smooth to the symposium!
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We can do that. We have the technology.
This is a great video, thanks for posting it. And I agree, that we should have him at the symposium. I could use this in teaching an Anthropology of Sex and Gender course, too, which can also generate some awkward discussions.