Whistling Vivaldi (Hearing)

Thinking about sound and the memories and emotions that can be triggered from different noises, I was reminded of an interesting piece I had read a while back about racial stereotypes and the specific effect of music. Essentially a black man walking down the street whistling Vivaldi would elicit a more positive response and less discomfort from a passerby than a black man who was not whistling. One can assume that the reasoning behind this is that the recognition of Vivaldi by the black man would indicate his opposition to the common hood rat, thug, gangster stereotype of black people. So much can be (sometimes falsely) assumed or inferred from sound about a person, place, or interaction among people. Brent Staples, author of the book Parallel Time, explains in his book that while being an African American graduate student at the University of Chicago that his presence in the streets, dressed as a student was making whites uncomfortable, they would avoid him or sort of cross the street to get away from him...they were seeing him through the lens of negative stereotype... that he might be violent. He learned to whistle Vivaldi to deflect stereotype. When white people heard classical music being whistled they said, "oh this is a man of refinement, I am not in any danger."

Sound is a powerful component to how we interact with the world around us and how we perceive reality. If we heard a mother screaming shrilly at her child, we would not perceive her to be a nurturing mother (or she has demon children). If you were to hear someone speaking confidently and eloquently without pauses or stutters, you are more inclined to believe them and trust what they are saying.

Here's the link to the NPR interview with author, Dr. Claude Steele discussing his book: Whistling Vivaldi: and Other Clues to How Stereotypes Affect Us