TRANSCRIPT:
ONE DROP OF LOVE: What’s your name?
JENNIFER GOODWIN LYLES: Jennifer Goodwin Lyles.
ODOL: What race did you choose on the 2010 census?
JGL: African American and White.
ODOL: What do you know about the one-drop rule?
JGL: Probably learned about one-drop rule in high school being biracial and studying African American history it was pretty well talked about.
ODOL: What can we do about racism?
JGL: So my thoughts on what we can do about racism…that’s a really lengthy question. I think it starts in schools. I think it starts with education. I remember – I don’t know the name – but a movie, a documentary that was done I think in the 70s with a classroom (here is a link to the film she’s referring to: “A Class Divided“). The teacher took the white students and treated them poorly and gave them insight into how Black students would feel, and it changed their lives. They followed these children years later and interviewed them and it was fascinating. So I think that with education – if we had teachers that actually knew what they were doing – would go into the schools and teach multiculturalism, that would be great. That’s a start, that’s certainly a start. And I think the narratives that we are all human – we all come from families, that we all have challenges and struggles that are similar – when you get down to it the more narratives we hear from other people I think the more race is diminished.
ODOL: What did you think about One Drop of Love?
JGL: Sitting there watching her makes you think about your own struggles and things that you’ve overcome. It’s really inspirational.
