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Following UNESCO’s launch of the interview series, Media and Information Literacy (MIL) Experts Speak, two other MIL experts from South Africa and Brazil share their personal narratives about how, by becoming media and information literate, people can resist all forms of stereotypes that lead to discrimination and hate.

 

The UNESCO’s work in Communication and Information promotes a diversity of voices in all types of information, whether in books, digital platforms, or in the media. One way through which we do this is to promote MIL as an integrated set of information, digital, and media critical thinking competences. The UNESCO Media and Information Literacy for Teachers provides modules that can help people to understand the power of media representation and how to analyse messages in online or offline spaces.

 

How we are seen determines in part how we are treated: how we treat others is based on how we see them; such seeing comes from representation.

-- Richard Dyer, "The Matter of Images"

 

Journey with us into the minds of the two MIL experts/practitioners below. If you are inspired, then share your experiences and positive insights for human solidarity and peace in your preferred space online. As you share your insights about change through unity and mutual respect, put a note referencing this MIL Experts Speak series.

 

Interview 1: Rachel Fischer, Information Ethicist, Co-Chair of the International Centre for Information Ethics

 

 

UNESCO: Ms Fischer, you are a MIL expert/practitioner. How do you think MIL is relevant to tackle racial discrimination?

 

Rachel Fischer: I view my experience co-rooted in philosophy, MIL and Information Ethics. If we consider ethics, they seek to guide our decision-making towards doing good. Much of our actions and decisions depend on being well-informed: if we have manipulated, inaccurate or insufficient information, this will impact our understanding and by extension our behaviour. Towards your question, MIL is one of the central elements in tackling racial discrimination. It equips one with the skills to seek, evaluate and impart accurate information. One is less likely to be discriminatory if she/he is completely informed about the equality of all human beings and our responsibility to treat people with fairness.

 

UNESCO: Have you had a personal experience of racial discrimination?

 

Rachel Fischer: Being a South African means your psyche is steeped in racial awareness. Whether you deem yourself racist or not, you cannot avoid racial awareness. I firmly believe we as a nation are extremely sensitive towards racial discrimination, and yes, I have unfortunately seen and experienced racial discrimination in many communities. 

 

UNESCO: How did you respond to the experience?

 

Rachel Fischer: There are several ways in which this, and all other forms of discrimination manifests: you see it in comments on Facebook posts, during insensitive conversations, in job selection policies as well as in public discourse, such as what is portrayed in media. What this shows is that there tends to be a mix of experiences of which some are anonymous, some private or some supported by official policy. It is a subversive type of discrimination which is not particularly easy to pinpoint, but instead systematically erodes the social fabric and human dignity. When able, I voice my disagreement and remove myself from such conversations. The worst one can do is to stand by and do/say nothing. It is our moral imperative to act against racial discrimination.

 

UNESCO: How would you characterize incidents of racial discrimination?

 

Rachel Fischer: In many South African communities, racial awareness is etched in peoples' identity. Political, economic and social discourses are frequently influenced by racial awareness: whether to be more inclusive or used as a tool for dissent. The jobs people have (or don’t have when reflecting on our high unemployment figures), the suburbs they live in, the schools they go to, the food they eat and the places they shop, are all influenced by race historically and presently. Racial discrimination is considered by many a constant, either in the way it was practiced or reacted to, due to our history. 

 

UNESCO: Do you know about how MIL is being applied in your country to address these challenges?

 

Rachel Fischer: There are many initiatives that seek to promote media, digital and information literacies. Poverty and unemployment are two of our biggest challenges in South Africa. When our citizens become better equipped with MIL skills they are better positioned to learn, work and contribute to society in an informed manner. Education and ICT skills are central considerations for these challenges to be addressed. Service providers, government departments and civil society organisations should be better equipped to deliver sustainable and high impact interventions over the longer term.

 

Interview 2: Felipe Chibás Ortiz, Associate Professor and Researcher, School of Communications and Arts, University of São Paulo

 

 

UNESCO: Mr Ortiz, you are a MIL expert/practitioner. How do you think MIL is relevant to tackle racial discrimination?

 

Felipe Chibás Ortiz: The MIL approach teaches how to develop critical thinking fundamentally in young people and adults. MIL methodology teaches them to carefully analyze messages and reality in a more objective way, without prejudices or cultural barriers such as those related to ethnicity, race, religion, different cultural identities, gender, and migration.

 

MIL framework also helps, through education, to recognize and unmask fake news, deep fakes and post-truths that can be conveyed in face-to-face communication, in traditional media or on the Internet, about black and indigenous people, women and other less favored groups.

 

UNESCO: Have you had a personal experience of racial discrimination?

 

Felipe Chibás Ortiz: Yes, I have had many. Racism is institutional and not something that involves only the person who practices it. Sometimes it is subtle and sometimes it is open. Because of my work as a university professor, I don't deal directly with racist policemen. However, even in the academic and business world, I deal with bullying and racism. Black people know that we have to work double to be minimally recognized. Awards, recognition and positions that I deserved for my work were denied or passed over in some of the institutions I worked for.

 

UNESCO: How did you respond to the experience?

 

Felipe Chibás Ortiz: I often repulse bullying on the spot. I also teach the subject to my students and write texts, short stories and poems that I have already published in books or posted on the Internet, to educate those who do not know about the phenomenon or to advocate against racial discrimination. Here is a poem I wrote:

 

Cities without Lungs

(from Racism to Love)

 

The light of doubt
light a boiling soup of words.
We are lost on a clown night.
A Mandela poem
written in blood for 28 years
can answer you point blank
in hands without nails
that hold the minutes, hours, years or decades parallel
of the body that imprisons the black cougar.
We are trying to breathe
in a city without lungs.

They imploded crystals
in a neighborhood of never.
A scream can inspire a film
and a video change the story.

My favorite religion is your song,
but that mirage was born
when you said "I have a dream"
Is it still an impossible dream?
We are trying to breathe
in a city without lungs.
The mirror of that pandemic is terrible.
But change can come,
In and through us all,
With love!
Let’s LOVE!

 

UNESCO: How would you characterize incidents of racial discrimination?

 

Felipe Chibás Ortiz: Unfortunately, it is something daily because it is very ingrained in my society. Thus, black people suffer from more police violence, lower wages, worse jobs, greater difficulties to be accepted into a job and to be promoted or recognized, less access to education and the internet, bullying and disrespect in the streets, etc., and are the largest imprisoned population. Life expectancy is up to eight years less in the poorest neighborhoods, where a large part of the black population lives. 

 

UNESCO: Do you know about how MIL is being applied in your country to address these challenges?

 

Felipe Chibás Ortiz: In Brazil we have courses offered by NGOs that teach about this. At the University of São Paulo, for example, there is the Black Consciousness nucleus. In my study group, Toth-CRIARCOM, we approach the topic with the MIL framework emphasizing the focus of the 20 Cultural Barriers to Communication and teach professors, students, the corporate world and startups to build more inclusive ecosystems.

 

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1. This was recently declared by Mr Bruno Covas, on 3 June this year, in a press conference offered because of COVID-19 and is quoted on the website R7.

 

Disclaimer

The ideas and opinions expressed in these interviews are those of the interviewee and do not necessarily reflect the views of UNESCO. The designations used in this publication and the presentation of the data contained therein do not imply the expression of any opinion on the part of UNESCO concerning the legal status of countries, territories, cities or areas or their authorities, or concerning the layout of their borders or boundaries.

 

The interviews were conducted by Alton Grizzle, UNESCO Programme Specialist in Media and Information Literacy.

 

URL:

https://en.unesco.org/news/experts-south-africa-and-brazil-speak-media-and-information-literacy-against-racial