I drew red lines on my face to symbolize the same lines that were once drawn on a map to depict redlining. I wanted to do this to in a way make people think, “why does she have red lines on her face?” I did get quite a few stares. I did not do this act for long. I am a pretty shy person when it comes down to doing such things. I was only outside of my house for about 10 minutes just standing around and walking back and forth. Every time a person would pass, I would look up to face them. At first, my brother, along with his kids were arriving at my house. I got the most major reaction from them. They approached me and stopped to look at me and wanted to laugh but kept somewhat straight faces. My brother stated, “What is that on your face?” I responded that it was redlining and gave a brief history on redlining. My two nieces on the other hand did not quite understand. The 9 year old was in a state of confusion, while the 4 year old was questioning why I had red lines on my face and if I got my face painted by someone else and if it was a school project. After they left, about 5 more people passed by me. As I would stare at them, they would glance at me for a couple seconds then look away and quickly glance back. Not once did anyone say anything to me or laugh. They all kept serious faces.
I was interested in seeing the kinds of reactions from the people that saw me. It was pretty interesting to see that the only people who actually made a comment or I guess you can say “payed more attention” were my family members. I feel this is because they felt comfortable enough to talk to me and actually say something to me. It was really hard for me because it was an act out of my comfort zone and I can be a shy person. I learned that if you bring something new to people who you know, they are more likely to have much more to say than just somebody who you do not know or doesn't know you. However this may not always be true and I cannot conclude this based on one trial of conducting this act for only a couple of minutes and perhaps setting as well.
My next step for further action will be to make redlining pamphlets like the Citizens Action group did in order to give some background content on what redlining was and how there still long term effects that we need to be aware of. I will hand these out on the streets or in school and wear the red lines on my face again. It is a process and although redlining does not exist, I hope to at least give people insight on our history and I also hope to make a point that understanding the past is key to solving or at least being aware of present issues.
I was interested in seeing the kinds of reactions from the people that saw me. It was pretty interesting to see that the only people who actually made a comment or I guess you can say “payed more attention” were my family members. I feel this is because they felt comfortable enough to talk to me and actually say something to me. It was really hard for me because it was an act out of my comfort zone and I can be a shy person. I learned that if you bring something new to people who you know, they are more likely to have much more to say than just somebody who you do not know or doesn't know you. However this may not always be true and I cannot conclude this based on one trial of conducting this act for only a couple of minutes and perhaps setting as well.
My next step for further action will be to make redlining pamphlets like the Citizens Action group did in order to give some background content on what redlining was and how there still long term effects that we need to be aware of. I will hand these out on the streets or in school and wear the red lines on my face again. It is a process and although redlining does not exist, I hope to at least give people insight on our history and I also hope to make a point that understanding the past is key to solving or at least being aware of present issues.