(Don’t) Guess My Race: It’s more than just a game

When you log onto the (Don’t) Guess My Race program, you enter a world that looks familiar. You come face to face with a picture of a person and you are asked to choose the option which matches the way the person in the image identifies him or herself. Instead of an easy answer, you discover that there are many ways people identify beyond race that you may not have imagined. As you explore the program and find out a bit about each person, you may start finding out things about yourself, things that may add up to what social scientists term implicit bias. In simple terms, it means you’re making unconscious positive and negative assumptions based on what you see without any further knowledge about the person.

“(Don’t) Guess My Race is a unique interactive diversity program based on social science research,” says TMI Consulting Inc. CEO Tiffany Jana. “The point of the game is to decrease implicit bias while increasing cultural understanding and empathy. It works for the workplace, school, government or any organization.”

The program was developed by cultural anthropologist Dr. Michael Baran who has researched race and diversity for 20 years and taught about them at Harvard and the University of Michigan, and Michael Handelman, an expert in creating educational interactive multi-media. “We wanted to get people thinking and talking about diversity in an entirely new way,” says Baran. “We included some fascinating anthropological, historical, psychological and sociological insights about race and diversity in a way that would interest wider audiences.”

“We like the way (Don’t) Guess My Race includes ethnic, national, linguistic and cultural ways people identify themselves,” says Jana. “We hope the game causes you to question certain assumptions and how you think about current events. You may be surprised at who in the program talks about being discriminated against. The more you play the more you develop a critical perspective on race.”

The program is used to help create a corporate culture where employees feel valued and accepted. It also helps you attract and retain a diverse workforce, improve working relationships, communication and collaboration.

To play a demo of the game, go to demo.dontguessmyrace.com/tmiconsultinginc#/login. For more information on the game or a special session featuring Baran and the game, please contact TMI Consulting at (804) 225-5537 or [email protected].

Says Jana, “We’re looking for big and small ways to make our world a better place.”