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Minority Health Month Collection: April 2021

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Minority Health Month Collection: April 2021

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Books for children and adults

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Discrimination and violence against Asians in the country have been on the rise since the pandemic began in early 2020. Last year, we told our families and friends outside of the United States that we were fighting the pandemic by wearing masks and abiding by the health guidelines, and everything would be fine. This year, while concerns over COVID-19 lessen, many feel powerless fighting a different enemy: a wave of anti-Asian hate and discrimination that threatens our safety.

Crime statistics do not capture all that is happening. More and more we hear of passers-by who spit and swear at Asians, and we have learned to shrug it off, and told ourselves that none of this causes physical harm.

In the past year, it truly feels like things have escalated, even if you haven't heard about it on the news. In March of last year, a father and son were killed in Midland, TX, and "the suspect indicated that he stabbed the family because he thought the family was Chinese, and infecting people with the coronavirus." In February of this year a man in San Francisco was slashed with a knife as a mob hurled racist insults at him on a public street, all captured on video.

And last week, when six of eight victims of the brutal spa killing in Atlanta were Asian, it seemed that the media finally turned its attention to what has been going on. We cannot remain silent and keep our anger inside anymore.

Because I'm concerned about racial justice, I have deliberately read and collected books about Asians in the United States. When a teacher at my kid's school mentioned to me about writing a letter in support of the Asian American and Pacific Islander community, I proposed that I could make a book list for children.

After the murder of George Floyd last year, we saw a lot of book lists about anti-racism and the history of African Americans. They helped many people, including me, to deepen understanding of the African American community. However, a similar book list for Asian Americans is rarely seen. I'm happy to share my book list now，so that families from all cultural backgrounds can take this opportunity to learn more about the history and culture of Asian immigrants in the United States.

The book list, contained below, is divided into two parts: One book list for children, and one for adults. Please note that:

1. The book list mainly focuses on the history, life experience and feelings of Asians living in the United States, especially those coming from East Asia. This is for two reasons. First, we have learned that many East Asians look indistinguishable to people in the west. Second, I am myself Chinese, and the list comes from what I know and is authentic to my experience.

2. There are many excellent picture books about broader Chinese history or cultural stories, but I'm not including those here. There are similarly a lot of books on Asian American topics, and it is impossible to present all of them here. I have listed the ones that I feel comfortable recommending based on my experience and what I've read. I am aware of the lack of fiction and poetry books in this list. There are so many great ones, and they are mostly on my to-read list.

3. This list skews authors who are alive today. These are not musty old books. Many of the authors listed are activists on Asian civil rights, and you can find them on various social media platforms. I recommend that everyone interested in these topics subscribe to their updates and continue to follow the Asian civil rights movement.

Children's books are more about general life experiences and feelings than those for adults, but I find that the best children's books resonate with everyone.

1. Grandfather's Journey, by Allen Say

Allen Say is a Japanese American writer and illustrator. His mother was born in the United States to Japanese parents, and his father was a Korean orphan who had been adopted by a British citizen and grew up in Shanghai, China. Most of his works are related to his own and his family's experience.

This book, which won the Caldecott Medal, tells of his grandfather's journey split between Japan and the United States, and his grandfather's search for belonging and connections with both countries. I held this book to my chest after finishing it, triggering complicated emotions that took a long time to calm down.

2. I Dream of Popo, by Livia Blackburne
Author Livia Blackburne was a neuroscience researcher at MIT. She switched to writing full-time and creates books for children and youth. As a second-generation Taiwanese immigrant, Livia tells a true story of her own in this book with beautiful language.

She spent her childhood with her Popo (grandmother) in Taipei. The two of them grew apart since Livia moved to the US, and Popo eventually passed away. I finished this book standing in a bookstore, tears rolling down my cheeks while I repeatedly read out the word "Popo." This picture book brings comfort to all of us who did not get to say a proper goodbye to elderly family members because of moving to the US.

3. Eyes that Kiss in the Corners, by Joanna Ho
I love this newly published book. It was written specifically for Asians, especially Asian girls with almond-shaped eyes, who are still made aware every time they open a fashion magazine that they do not fit a western conception of beauty.

The book's author, Joanna Ho, is a Chinese immigrant who teaches at a high school in the Bay Area and also creates children's books. I thought of the daughters of my friends when I saw this book. Hopefully, they will get to read this book when they go to school and start pondering the implications of mainstream aesthetics. I am also looking forward to Joanna Ho's next book, which will be the story of Yo-Yo Ma.

4. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, by Grace Lin

If I'm asked to recommend only one children's book author rooted in Chinese culture, I would recommend Grace Lin, a very productive writer and illustrator. Her motivation is to let Asian kids see themselves and to accept themselves the way they are. Her books also became a channel for more readers to see and accept Asian kids.

This book is one of her most noted books, and has won many awards. It's about a fantasy adventure of a girl inspired by Chinese folklore. In a Ted Talk, she mentioned that when she reads this book in schools, many kids tell her they felt like they are the protagonist Minli.

Ed Young is probably the most famous illustrator from an older generation of Chinese immigrants, publishing his first book in 1962. Since then, he's won countless awards for his books including the Caldecott Medal in 1990. His illustrations have strong Chinese traditional styles, and his stories often originate from Chinese folklore, languages, and aesthetics.

The House Baba Built is an illustrated memoir, telling the author's family history of war, childhood, love, and loss through the events that took place in the house his Baba (father) built in Shanghai.

6. American Born Chinese, by Gene Luen Yang
A graphic novel with a straightforward title. The author, Gene Luen Yang, is a Chinese American cartoonist who used to be a science teacher in a high school in Oakland, CA. This cartoonish graphic novel interweaves stories about the Monkey King of Chinese mythology, a first-generation immigrant, and a white American boy and his strangely-stereotypical Chinese cousin.

7. Paper Son: The Inspiring Story of Tyrus Wong, Immigrant and Artist, by Julie Leung
"Paper Son" is the name given to those Chinese children who immigrated to the United States with documentation which stated that they were blood relatives to Chinese Americans. The illustrated book Paper Son tells the true story of one such immigrant, the Chinese painter, calligrapher, and Hollywood film artist Tyrus Wong (黄齐耀).

He immigrated to the United States through Angel Island in San Francisco when he was only 10 years old, where he was kept in solitary confinement for nearly a month, separated from his father. Against all obstacles he became the rare Asian artist working at Disney in the 1930s and 40s, where among other work he was the lead production illustrator for Bambi, drawing beautiful backgrounds inspired by Song Dynasty landscape paintings.

His contribution to many cartoons were largely unknown by the public at the time. It was not until much later in the 20th century that Wong started to receive recognition for his talents and contributions. He died in 2016 at the age of 106.

Bonus Reading:
There are several books bearing the same title, "Paper Son." Some of them are children's illustrated books, some for young adults, and some are novels for adults. They all tell stories about different people with the same history as "paper son" immigrants. If you're interested in the history of that particular generation of Chinese immigrants, these stories are a great place to start.
8. The Best We Could Do, by Thi Bui
This is an illustrated memoir, full of emotion, of the long journey of a Vietnamese family who immigrated to American as refugees in the 1970s, fleeing civil war. The author, Thi Bui, has published a number of illustrated novels about Asian immigrants. She herself is an advocate for Asian rights, and is a great follow on social media.

As a Chinese American, this book was eye-opening to me and made me appreciate how diverse the immigration experiences are within the Asian American community, and the distinct journeys of Vietnamese Americans.

9. Inside Out and Back Again, by Thanhhà Lại

Similar with The Best We Could Do, Inside Out and Back Again is an award-winning novel based on the author, Thanhhà Lại's personal experience. It's a story about a girl's loss, healing, hope and growth as she flees Vietnam with her family to dwell in a new country. This story has inspired many people who have shared the experience of leaving their homeland to survive in the United States.

10. Front Desk, by Kelly Yang

Front Desk is the winner of the 2019 Asian Pacific American Award for Children's Literature. It's written by Kelly Yang, who is an active advocate on social media.This story, based on the author's own experience, illustrates a Chinese immigrant family's hardship and resilience when they move to the US, from a young girl's perspective. The top review on Amazon for this book tells a lot:

"One reason why I loved this book was learning about the Tangs' hardships. I think that this book can open the eyes of many people to how immigrating is hard and painful to many. When I learned about what the Tangs went through, I thought about what it must have been like for everyone else like them. More people need to know about these people and what they go through, and how they make America a great and stronger country."

11. They Called Us Enemy, by George Takei
They Called Us Enemy is a memoir from Japanese American actor George Takei, famous for playing Sulu on the original Star Trek. This book talks about how the American government sent 120,000 Japanese Americans to concentration camps during WWII. These American citizens had their property and family stripped away by their own government, as they were sent to isolated camps to live in dismal conditions far from their homes.

George spent his childhood in such a camp. As an adult, he has worked hard to pursue justice for the people affected, pushing the U.S. government for apologies and compensation. This is history for all Americans to know, not only Japanese or Asian Americans.

12. The Arrival, by Shaun Tan
Unlike the rest of the books on this list, The Arrival is not written directly for or about Asian Americans. But this illustrated book strikes the chords of all hearts far away from home.

The author, Shaun Tan, is a second-generation Chinese immigrant in Australia. He is married to a Finnish woman, and he is the son of a Malaysian Chinese father and an Irish immigrant mother. This entangled and complicated family background has created a unique focus on outsiders and cross-cultural issues in his works.

13. Awesome Asian Americans: 20 Stars Who Made America Amazing, by Phil Amara and Oliver Chin 14. Asian Americans Who Inspire Us, by Analiza Quiroz Wolf 15. Queen of Physics, by Teresa Robeson 16. Maya Lin, by Jeanne Walker Harvey
These four picture books share the commonality of telling the stories of outstanding Asian Americans to children. Kids everywhere can see themselves in these Asian role models.

1. Third Culture Kids, by Ruth E. Van Reken, Michael V. Pollock, and David C. Pollock
This book is important to me personally, and I want to talk about why.

I wonder if any other immigrants share this similar feeling: The longer I live in the U.S., the more homesick I feel, but the harder it is to search for the home in my memory. Like many immigrants, I moved frequently when I first arrived, and never really felt like I had a hometown here. I would meet other immigrants and share a bond with them, but then they're moving a lot too, and the relationships do not last. At times I feel alienated, like I do not belong here. Then when Trump became president, this feeling grew stronger and stronger with his anti-immigrant rhetoric.

I once shared my feelings with my husband's colleagues, who are twin sisters from a mixed-race family, born and raised in Jamaica and then immigrated to the US. I opened my heart and told them I wish I could feel like I have a home. They immediately recommended the book "Third Culture Kids".

Third culture kids live in a culture that is different from their parents' culture or the culture of their original nationality, and feel like they are part of neither culture and yet both cultures. Since I moved from China to the United States, where I have spent a significant part of my life, I am a grown-up third culture kid.

My Chinese culture is fading while I develop a new cultural identity. I understand how it feels to live in China and live in the U.S., but my friends and relatives who are in China do not understand what I go through living in the U.S., and my U.S. friends do not understand how it feels to be Chinese in this country. This makes me feel lonely, especially when the political relationship between these two countries that I love grows more tense.

The book "Third Culture Kids" helped immensely. Knowing that I am not alone in this journey makes me feel validated. People like me, who celebrate more than one culture, have existed for generations. This book discusses many studies about the unique experiences and the consequent psychological effects of third culture kids and adults. Being a third culture kid is not a lack of identity, it is our identity.

This book is on the top of my book list because it was so important to me. It provides a foundation for people like me, who are shaped by different cultures, to put our experiences and feelings in words. I hope this book brings light to your life as it has to mine.

2. Minor Feelings, by Cathy Park Hong

This is an essay collection by Cathy Park Hong, a Korean American poet and writer. These essays illustrate a variety of "minor feelings" experienced by Asian Americans, especially Asian women, due to stereotypes and biases. The topics are excellent, and the narratives beautiful. This essay collection became a hit in 2020, representing Asian women's experiences and thoughts through the lenses of ethnic and gender identities.

3. Chinatown Pretty, by Andria Lo and Valerie Luu
Elderly Asians have been notably targeted in the current wave of Asian hate crimes. When a video surfaced of an old Chinese lady fighting back with a wooden board, she became a hero in everyone's heart. I often wonder what kind of challenges the seemingly relaxed and silent seniors in Chinatown have been through.

This book is a collaboration by two young Asian female photographers. Featuring vivid portraits and touching stories of seniors across six Chinatowns, this book challenges our stereotypical image of Chinese elders and allows you to discover the uplifting spirit and uncanny humor of those Chinatown grandmas and grandpas.

4. The Asian American Achievement Paradox, by Jennifer Lee and Min Zhou 5. The Color of Success, by Ellen D. Wu

These two books are quite similar. They are both about how Asian immigrants succeeded, and how they became "model minorities" at the same time. These two books broke lots of stereotypes and provided new perspectives of the model minority myth. They are especially good for Asian parents who are anxious about education policy reforms.

6. Ambitious and Anxious, by Yingyi Ma
The author Yingyi Ma is an associate professor of sociology at Syracuse University. This is a rare book about Chinese students who came to the U.S. in recent years for higher education: their lives here, their successes and losses, their ambitions and anxieties.

The COVID-19 pandemic, which spread in the U.S. right after this book was published, took away many Chinese students' path to higher education in the U.S. Maybe eventually, this book will be not only a sociology study, but a record with historical value.

7. The Souls of Yellow Folk: Essays, by Wesley Yang
A few essays in this book from Wesley Yang are the best I've seen about Asian males' experience in the United States. It's a very good reference if you want to learn more about that little-discussed experience.

8. Eat a Peach: A Memoir, by David Chung and Gabe Ulla
This book is a memoir by the Korean American chef and founder of Momofuku, David Chung. It's a book about how he created his business across restaurants, publishing, and entertainment in an American restaurant industry dominated by white people.

In this book, he discusses not only his career, but also about being an Asian man, an underdog who disobeyed family expectations and struggled with depression and suicidal intentions, and his transformation into a dad who accepts himself, loves and accepts being loved.

There are several similar memoirs from prominent Asian Americans of his generation. Whether Ali Wong, or Jimmy O. Yang, they've all talked about the struggles of climbing the social ladder in American mainstream culture as an outsider, while ironically as an outlier not being accepted by their own Asian family.

9. The Fortune Cookie Chronicles, by Jennifer 8. Lee
Fortune cookies are a unique invention of American Chinese restaurants. The author Jennifer 8. Lee is a second-generation Chinese American, and grew up in New York. After graduating from Harvard she went to study at Peking University in China, and then came back to the U.S. and worked as a food journalist for the New York Times. She mentions her middle name 8 symbolizes prosperity in Chinese culture.

This book tells the story of the creation of fortune cookies, and within it tells the story of Chinese food and how American Chinese food developed. If you are looking for a relaxing book, this is a good choice.

10. All You Can Ever Know, by Nicole Chung
A large group of Asians living in the U.S. are adoptees. They are frequently considered as "the lucky ones," but the immense self-doubt, struggle, trauma, and guilt they deal with are unknown to many. Their identities often intertwine with discrimination, and their Asian appearance may feel foreign to the experiences and cultures they grow up within their adopted families.

In this memoir, Nicole Chung tells a beautiful story of a journey to understand her identity, reuniting with her family, and healing her wounds when she becomes a mother.

11. The Making of Asian America, by Erika Lee 12. America for Americans, by Erika Lee
These two books were both written by Erika Lee, a professor of history at the University of Minnesota. Her research specialties include immigration history and Asian Americans.

The first book focuses on the immigration history of Asian immigrants from different countries. The second book is a comprehensive history of perpetuated xenophobia in the United States as a country of immigrants. Early arrivers discriminate against latecomers. Light-skinned immigrants discriminated against those with dark skin. And so on.

13. Ghosts of Gold Mountain, by Gordon H. Chang

This book, about the Chinese workers who arrived in America to build the Transcontinental Railroad, has a dedication page which reads, "For the forgotten." The author, Gordon H. Chang, is a Stanford professor who specializes in China studies and history, and I thought the book would be an academic piece with a tragic plot. It turned out to be a lively book of stories.

In this book, the author has shown the rich variety of these early Chinese immigrants' life experiences. At times hated and disrespected, there were also times when they were respected and admired. The group of largely Cantonese immigrants managed to prepare decent food for themselves in the rough terrain of the American west. They made salted fish, soups, herbal teas, and even roasted whole pigs. Their tents were full of soup ladles. It was somewhat comforting reading this.

After the Chinese workers finished building the railroad, their accomplishments were briefly acknowledged. However, once their labor was no longer needed, the United States restricted Chinese migrant labor in the latter half of the 19th century, ultimately giving birth to the only law ever made in the United States prohibiting immigration from a specific country or ethnic group, the Chinese Exclusion Act.

14. The Chinese in America, by Iris Chang
This is the third book by Iris Chang, the author of the widely-recognized The Rape of Nanking. On a book tour, the author met with many Chinese Americans from different generations who told her of their experiences, and it inspired her to write this book providing a broad narrative history of Chinese immigration over 150 years. It tells of the Chinese immigrants' great journey forging an identity in a new land, often against great discrimination, to find success and prosperity.

15. Asian American Dreams, by Helen Zia
Helen Zia is a journalist covering Asian communities for a long time, and an Asian civil rights activist. She is a second-generation Chinese immigrant and was one of the first female graduates of Princeton. She actively participated in the civil rights movement while she was in school. Later she worked as a reporter covering the murder of Vincent Jen Chin in Michigan, a turning point in the Asian civil rights movement.

As a lesbian, she has also been actively involved in LGBTQ and feminist movements. This book is largely about the history of social movements among Asian groups in the United States.

16. Driven Out, by Jean Pfaelzer

When you open the cover of the book, you can find the more straightforward Chinese title of the name - "Paihua" (meaning Chinese Exclusion). The author, Jean Pfaelzer, is a professor of English at the University of Delaware, focusing on women and gender studies and Asian studies.

This book focuses on the history of Chinese labor from 1848 to 1900. Because of the author's background, the book reads more like a historical report. Through individual stories, readers can appreciate the contributions of early Chinese immigrants to American infrastructure, in spite of massacres and oppression of their race, and their continuous attempts to fight for a brighter future.

17. The Chinese Must Go: Violence, Exclusion, and the Making of the Alien in America, by Beth Lew-Williams

"Chinese Must Go" is a book by Beth Lew-Williams, a historian of race and migration in the United States. She is an Associate Professor of History at Princeton University.

I attended a seminar by the author about this book. She described the anti-China violence that broke out across the West Coast of the United States in the 1850s. From California to Oregon, to Washington State, the government and general public of the United States expelled, oppressed, and even killed the Chinese.

This book is helpful in understanding the feelings of first-generation immigrants from this time, how these experiences took root in Asian American feelings on social issues, and how the feeling that everyone should "bow their heads and behave" came to be passed on within the Asian community.

18. Strangers from a Different Shore: A History of Asian Americans, by Ronald Takaki
A classic on the history of Asian immigrants, published in 1989. The author, Ronald Takaki, received his Ph.D. in history in 1967 from UC Berkeley. He later became a professor of ethnic studies.

He established the major of ethnic studies in Berkeley and had a number of students who now continue to strengthen ethnic studies in many academic institutions across the United States. Professor Takaki also promoted teaching the history of Asian immigrants in American K-12 schools. His UC Berkeley obituary stated that "his work has changed the way American history is taught."

Interior Chinatown, by Charles Yu

Interior Chinatown won the 2020 National Book Award for Fiction. Its unique storyline overlays the experiences of new Chinese immigrants with older generations of immigrants.

It's an important reading experience, especially in the past year. It highlights the astonishing similarities of the seemingly very different journeys of older and newer immigrants.

This is the only fiction book in this list because of my own limitations since I myself prefer reading non-fiction. However, I've read this novel twice and still keep it at hand. Other fiction on my to-read list includes but is not limited to the following authors: Chang-Rae Lee, Lisa Ko, Min Jin Lee, Viet Thanh Nguyen, and of course, Amy Tan.

I strongly recommend a documentary called Asian American from PBS. If you don't have time to read, this documentary provides a good introduction to Asian American history. The authors of several books mentioned above were interviewed in it.

I'd like to recommend a bookstore at Berkeley called Eastwind Books. This bookstore focuses on selling and publishing minority-related, especially Asian-related books, and has been an organizer within the Bay Area's Asian community.

COVID has hit their business hard. Eastwind Books provides pickup and mailing services, and if you plan to buy the books mentioned above, please consider supporting them and purchase from their website.

Lastly, the rising violence against Asians in America hopefully has one silver lining: while Asians are frequently the "quiet" minority, staying out of the mainstream American news, suddenly people are noticing we exist.

I hope we do not waste this moment. The injustices and fights many generations of Asian people have endured should not be ignored or forgotten. I hope we can understand the shared history of Asian Americans, what we've been through, where we are today, and where we're headed.

Again, 如果你觉得这分数单有益，也希望更多的人看到可以发给更多英语读者，就请点 "在看" ，然后转发吧。

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Discrimination and violence against Asians in the country have been on the rise since the pandemic began in early 2020. Last year, we told our families and friends outside of the United States that we were fighting the pandemic by wearing masks and abiding by the health guidelines, and everything would be fine.

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Anti-Asian Violence Resources for Educators 

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Anti-Asian Violence Resources for Educators 

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Anti-Asian Violence Resources for Educators 

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Colorado AAPI Anti-Hate Community Resources

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Colorado AAPI Anti-Hate Community Resources

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We are a network of local and national Asian American organizations that convened in the wake of the pandemic a year ago, to address the rise in anti-Asian violence. We are currently focused on supporting Atlanta-based organizations.

The Asian American Leaders Table on Covid-19 Racism is coordinated by Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Asian Law Caucus.

Collective Statements from Asian American Organizations in Georgia & Allies

Ways to Support Georgia Families & Communities

Attend or organize a vigil in your area!

Here is a list of vigils planned for the upcoming week. This list will continue to be updated. Please email asianamtable@gmail.com if you'd like to add one to the list. If you'd like to share about these vigils, here are social media graphics.

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We are a network of local and national Asian American organizations that convened in the wake of the pandemic a year ago, to address the rise in anti-Asian violence. We are currently focused on supporting Atlanta-based organizations. The Asian American Leaders Table on Covid-19 Racism is coordinated by Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Asian Law Caucus.

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How to support your AAPI community in a time of hate and violence: A resource list

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How to support your AAPI community in a time of hate and violence: A resource list

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How to support the AAPI community in a time of hate and violence: A Resource List

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Statement of Acknowledgment and Solidarity

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Statement of Acknowledgment and Solidarity

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Their instagram can be found here.

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hateisavirus | Beacons mobile website builder

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@hateisavirus | Subscribe to my email list.Check out my links to (Donate to the Hate Is A Virus commUNITY Action Fund, #HateIsAVirus Site, Hollaback! Bystander Intervention Training).

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Bystander Intervention, Conflict De-Escalation, & People Experiencing Anti-Asian Harassment

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In memory of Hyun Jung Kim and in support of her sons

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In memory of Hyun Jung Kim and in support of her sons

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My mother, Hyun Jung Grant( maiden name Kim), was one of the victims of the shootings in Atlanta, Georgia at Gold Spa. This is something that should never happen to anyone. She was a single mother who dedicated her whole life to providing for my brother and I. It is only my brother and I in the United States. The rest of my family is in South Korea and are unable to come. She was one of my best friends and the strongest influence on who we are today. Losing her has put a new lens on my eyes on the amount of hate that exists in our world. As much as I want to grieve and process the reality that she is gone, I have a younger brother to take care of and matters to resolve as a result of this tragedy. Frankly, I have no time to grieve for long. I will need to figure out the living situation for my brother and I for the next few months, possibly year. As of now I have been advised to move out of my current home within the end of March to save money and find a new place to live. My biggest priority right now is to put my mother to rest and plan out the funeral but due to some legal complications, I am unable to obtain my mother's body. I don't think I'll be able to figure out this whole situation along with legal matters if given 2 weeks to move out. Any donation will be used as funds for basic living necessities for my brother and I such as food, bills, and other expenses. I wish to stay in my current home for at least one more month to sort everything out. Any amount would be forever appreciated. Please everyone just stay safe and check up on your friends and loved ones that may feel endangered.

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In memory of HyunJungKim to support my brother & I, organized by Randy Park

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My mother, Hyun Jung Grant( maiden name Kim), was one of the victims of the shootings in Atlanta, Georgia at Gold Spa. This is something that should never happen to anyone. She was a single mother who dedicated her whole life to providing for my brother and I.

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AAPI Donations and hate crime reporting resources 

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AAPI Donations and hate crime reporting resources 

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Roots of Anti-Asian Hate from Colonialism to Anti-China Political Rhetoric 

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Roots of Anti-Asian Hate from Colonialism to Anti-China Political Rhetoric 

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By: Viet Thanh Nguyen

An additional interview can be seen here

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This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The Quarantine Report. I'm Amy Goodman.

Protests condemning racism and hate crimes against Asian Americans continue, following last week's deadly shootings in Atlanta, where a white 21-year-old gunman attacked three Asian-owned spas, killing eight people, seven of them women, six of them women of Asian descent.

President Biden and Kamala Harris traveled to Atlanta on Friday to meet with Asian American leaders. Vice President Harris, who is the the first Asian American and first woman vice president, condemned last week's attacks.

VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS: Whatever the killer's motive, these facts are clear: Six out of the eight people killed on Tuesday night were of Asian descent. Seven were women. The shootings took place in businesses owned by Asian Americans. The shootings took place as violent hate crimes and discrimination against Asian Americans has risen dramatically over the last year and more. In fact, over the past year, 3,800 such incidents have been reported, two of three by women, everything from physical assaults to verbal accusations. And it's all harmful. And sadly, it's not new. Racism is real in America, and it has always been. Xenophobia is real in America and always has been. Sexism, too. ... For the last year, we've had people in positions of incredible power scapegoating Asian Americans, people with the biggest pulpits spreading this kind of hate.

As we continue to look at the mass shootings in Atlanta, the spike in hate crimes targeting Asian Americans and broader issues, we're joined in Los Angeles, California, by the Pulitzer Prize-winning Vietnamese American writer Viet Thanh Nguyen. His new novel, The Committed, a sequel to his best-selling book, The Sympathizer. His other books include The Refugees and The Displaced: Refugee Writers on Refugee Lives, which he edited. Viet Thanh Nguyen came to the United States as a refugee when he was 4 years old. He's a professor at the University of Southern California and recently co-wrote an article for The Washington Post headlined "Bipartisan political rhetoric about Asia leads to anti-Asian violence here."

Professor Nguyen, it's great to have you back on Democracy Now! Congratulations on your new book! And condolences on the horror that has taken place in Atlanta, which is not just a horror for the Asian American community, but clearly for all of us. If you can talk about the significance of what happened and also the point you make in this op-ed in The Washington Post, where you say, "Bipartisan political rhetoric about Asia leads to anti-Asian violence here"?

I spent the last week talking to a lot of fellow Asian Americans. We're all, I think, in a state of anger and despair about what happened, and, I think, partly because, for many of us, we recognize that this is not anything new. As I've spoken about repeatedly, and as have so many others, the history of anti-Asian violence in this country goes back to as long as we've had Asian immigrants in this country, that Asian immigrants have been brought here to have their labor exploited. And to have that labor exploited, it's often couched in a language and a justification of racism and sexism.

And that is also tied to the United States' attitudes towards Asia as a whole, that the United States has, ever since the 19th century, been focused on expanding westwards into Asia, especially China, to reach Asian resources, and that this has had a distinct relationship in terms of pulling Asia immigrants to the United States, either through economic relationships or through wars that the United States has fought with many Asian countries.

So, for many of us, I think, during the last year of the pandemic, to hear President Trump and many of his supporters talk about COVID-19 as the "kung flu" and the "China virus" was simply the most recent manifestation of a deep-held anti-Asian racism, that when people say things like "kung flu" and "China virus," they're tapping into this very deep well of anti-Asian feeling. And I think that that combined with the obvious stresses of the pandemic has a direct relationship to the rise, the very significant rise, in anti-Asian violence and rhetoric that many people have experienced in the last 12 months.

But outside of that immediate trigger, I think that the bipartisan rhetoric that I mentioned, the fact that both Democrats and Republicans have focused on China as the major threat and competitor to the United States, number one, continues this concern with Asia that's been present throughout much of American history, but also keeps China in the foreground of the American imagination as a country to be feared. And I think that, inevitably, whether this is said with explicit racism or just with a latent and implicit xenophobia, it can't help but to aggravate the suspicions and the feelings of many Americans about people of Asian descent.

SECRETARY OF STATE ANTONY BLINKEN: We're united in the vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific region, where countries follow the rules, cooperate whenever they can, and resolve their differences peacefully. And in particular, we will push back, if necessary, when China uses coercion or aggression to get its way.

DEFENSE SECRETARY LLOYD AUSTIN: I know Japan shares our concerns with China's destabilizing actions. And as I have said before, China is a pacing challenge for the Department of Defense.

So, China has again resumed that position for the United States - Russia, too, to a certain extent. But I think China, because of this, again, deep well of anti-Asian racism, this set of Orientalist expectations that we have that China is going to be mysterious, that it's going to be menacing, that it's going to have all kinds of calculations going on strategically and economically that we have to worry about - all this is being put forth by various people in both parties.

And I think that one of the things to stress here is that, of course, there are things about China that we should be concerned about. I think that we should be concerned about human rights abuses that China has undertaken in Tibet, Hong Kong and Xinjiang. But oftentimes this kind of rhetoric about what China is doing is, again, being used to justify an American militaristic stance against China, instead of the United States worrying about how it can compete with China economically but in a nonviolent and nonthreatening manner. And, of course, our outrage about the depredations of China against its own people is sometimes a little bit hypocritical, ,because we're still struggling, as we are talking about now, with our own capacity to take care of Americans.

Now, the term that the Reverend Barber, William Barber, used was "white supremacy" to connect all of these kinds of manifestations, and I think that that is correct, that for some people in the United States, talking about anti-Asian violence means that it allows them to deploy other methods of violence directed against other kinds of populations, whether it's populations abroad or, as well, in this case, the idea that African Americans or Black people also need to be suppressed in this country. So I think one of the points that we, as Asian Americans, must insist on is that our efforts are tied together here. You know, our efforts to highlight and to combat anti-Asian racism also need to go hand in hand with the necessity to address anti-Black racism, as well.

And, as has come to light, many of these women who were working in these massage parlors - we don't know whether they were sex workers or not; if they were sex workers, that doesn't invalidate the fact that they were also victims of racist and sexist violence - but many of them appeared to be women of a marginal economic class who were living and working in these massage parlors. In effect, they were exploited laborers. And all these things are happening at the same time. So, it's enormously frustrating that the police response and the FBI response has been to try to compartmentalize what has taken place under one category only of sexual exploitation, when in fact all these things are happening at once.

I want to read from a statement by Kimberlé Crenshaw and The African American Policy Forum. Professor Crenshaw writes, quote, "To say the murderer's actions were about sexual desire, and therefore not about race, is a fundamental intersectional failure: it denies the racial dimensions of the hyper-sexualization of Asian women, and reproduces the environment that makes Asian women particularly vulnerable to harassment, abuse, and murder." Professor Nguyen?

And it's pervasive in American popular culture, as well. Certainly, the figure of the Asian or Asian American woman as a sexual object or as a prostitute in sort of the American cinematic fantasy has been with us for a very long time. You know, many, many people have talked about this infamous moment in Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket where the marines, on first going to Vietnam, encounter a Vietnamese woman prostitute who approaches them and says, "Me so horny." That became the line for a 2 Live Crew hit that many of us heard in the 1980s and 1990s, and a line that many Asian American women have been subjected to. So, again, in the experiences of Asian American women, racism, sexism and exploitation have been always mutually experienced.

And so, what happened was that Chinese immigrants had come to the United States to work on the transcontinental railroad, and when their usefulness was expired, they were let go and had to make a living for themselves in the American West. And anti-Chinese fervor among the white working class was encouraged by the media and by politicians - again, scapegoating an Asian other in the United States to deal with white working-class economic frustration.

And other Asian populations that came after the Chinese were also subjected to these kinds of feelings. Obviously, there was the Japanese American internment, when 120,000 Japanese American people, many of them citizens, were put into concentration camps, even though people of German and Italian descent were not.

Racist incidents against Asian Americans have proliferated in the last few decades, as well, most notoriously the murder of Vincent Chin in 1982. He was a Chinese American who was mistaken for Japanese by two Detroit auto workers who were frustrated by Japanese economic competition, and they beat him to death with a baseball bat. They did not spend any time in jail. In 1989, five Cambodian and Vietnamese schoolchildren were shot and killed in a Stockton schoolyard massacre by a white gunman, which I feel is a direct outcome of the wars in Cambodia and Vietnam that the United States fought. In 2012 - in 2002, I'm sorry, six Sikh worshipers at a gurdwara in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, were massacred by a white supremacist gunman.

And these are just some of the most notorious incidents. But again, throughout American history, from the 19th through the 20th century up until the 21st century, we've seen repeated incidents of both singular and mass anti-Asian violence taking place periodically.

I certainly think so. But again, it was shocking to me to read yesterday in The Guardian that Christopher Wray, the FBI director, has said that it's not conclusive that this was a racially motivated crime. And the Reverend Raphael Warnock immediately said, "No, it is a hate crime," when we're looking at this targeted attack, targeted against Asian massage parlors, in which six of the eight victims were Asian women, who were deliberately tracked down. It looks like a hate crime. It smells like a hate crime. It is a hate crime. And I think, overwhelmingly, the Asian American population of this country believes that.

Let me go directly to what FBI Director Christopher Wray said on NPR on Thursday about the FBI's role in the investigation into the mass shooting in Atlanta and his thoughts on the motive.

CHRISTOPHER WRAY: We're actively involved, but in a support role. And while the motive remains still under investigation at the moment, it does not appear that the motive was racially motivated. But I really would defer to the state and local investigation on that for now.

That's the new Georgia senator, Reverend Raphael Warnock. We're going to break and then come back to our discussion with the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Viet Thanh Nguyen, author of the new book The Committed, sequel to his Pulitzer Prize-winning book, The Sympathizer. We'll talk to him about his new book and also about his use of the word "refugees" - not "migrants," but "refugees - whether we're talking about his family coming to this country from Vietnam or refugees from Honduras or Guatemala or El Salvador. Stay with us.

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Viet Thanh Nguyen on Roots of Anti-Asian Hate from U.S. Colonialism to Anti-China Political Rhetoric

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Protests condemning hate crimes against Asian Americans continue, following the deadly shootings in Atlanta where a white gunman attacked three Asian-owned spas and killed eight people, six of them women of Asian descent. Hundreds of people gathered outside the Georgia state Capitol in Atlanta and around the U.S.

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Asian Americans: PBS documentary series | KQED

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How "sex addiction" has historically been used to absolve white men

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How "sex addiction" has historically been used to absolve white men

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While authorities said Atlanta-area spa shooting suspect Robert Aaron Long, 21, told investigators he was motivated by "sexual addiction" and claimed he had no racial motivation, health specialists say the explanation falls short.

Capt. Jay Baker, a spokesman for the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office, said Long - who is accused of killing eight people, six of them Asian women - indicated that the spas were "a temptation for him that he wanted to eliminate." However, experts say such rationale has been used before in attempts to exonerate white men. The explanation also discounts racial dynamics and can "cause harm" in the way the public understands these issues.

White men have traditionally been given a pass when they say it - and have the privilege of overlooking how race is a factor, experts say.

"Historically, the term 'sex addiction' has been used by white males to absolve themselves from personal and legal responsibility for their behaviors," Apryl Alexander, associate professor in the Graduate School of Professional Psychology at the University of Denver, told NBC Asian America. "It is often used as an excuse to pathologize misogyny."

The defense of sex addiction itself, Alexander said, is a highly controversial one as those in the fields of psychology, psychiatry and sex research continue to debate whether to formally recognize it. Currently, the idea that sex addiction is a disorder is not supported by research, nor is it accepted as a clinical diagnosis, she said.

"A lot of individuals who are doing this kind of self-reports of sexual addiction are having normative sexual behaviors and urges, but they might be excessive. Or for a lot of people, it's rooted in shame that 'I'm having these attractions and emotional desires that are normal, but I don't recognize them as normal,'" Alexander said.

Though the American Psychiatric Association added the concept of sexual addiction to its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders in 1987, it later retracted the term and has since rejected the addition of the idea to its later editions including the DSM-5, which is widely seen as the definitive resource on mental disorders, on the basis of a lack of supporting evidence.

Alexander said this sexual behavior doesn't affect the brain in the same ways other addictions, including substance use and gambling behavior, do, either, calling the characterization of Long's behavior "concerning."

The self-identification of sex addiction, she said, is often seen in individuals who are raised in conservative and religious environments, "where there's a high level of moral disapproval of their natural kind of sexual urges and desires." Many of these populations are overwhelmingly white.

In examining acts of gender-based violence, Alexander said such attacks often occur at the intersection of misogyny, racism, xenophobia and homophobia. She emphasized that contrary to what Long told police, such violence "doesn't just occur in isolation."

Richelle Concepcion, president of the Asian American Psychological Association, said accepting the suspect's rationale in this case erases several colliding dynamics of class, immigration status and gender that impact the communities most at risk for physical and sexual violence.

"Quite frankly, it's really difficult to attribute the atrocious behaviors to an addiction, especially when you look at the demographics of a majority of those who were murdered," she said. "Race and gender do play a role in this."

"It's really unfair to take his word as there is intersectionality that exists pertaining to the lives taken, especially when one considers that the suspect claims to have gone to these businesses with the intention of eliminating the threat of temptation," Concepcion added.

Still, sex addiction is a common defense invoked by white men in power.

After a number of allegations emerged last year from multiple women, including several who were underage at the time, accusing comedian Chris D'Elia of requesting sexual favors, he responded with a statement in June saying his relationships were "legal and consensual" and then a video this February saying, "Sex, it controlled my life." He added, "I had a problem, and I do have a problem." Earlier this month, the Los Angeles Times reported he denied similar allegations in a new lawsuit.

Harvey Weinstein similarly claimed in a 2017 video that he wasn't "doing OK" and "I've got to get help" after numerous accusations of sexual harassment and rape. In a statement provided to NBC News, his brother, Bob Weinstein, described him as "obviously a very sick man."

And former congressman Anthony Weiner in 2017 broke down in front of a judge after being sentenced to 21 months in prison for sexting an underage girl. Weiner, who called himself a "very sick man for a very long time," had aimed to avoid jail time after the judge acknowledged that he had sought and received treatment for the behavior.

But controversies don't end at the diagnosis itself, and treatments have been criticized for insufficiently addressing the role of misogyny in sexual behavior. Ideas, including society's hypersexualization of Asian women, Alexander said, often go unexamined.

"They often don't talk about these hypermasculine attitudes or misogynistic messages that individuals are getting, whether that's from pornography or society at large," Alexander said. "A lot of these so-called treatment programs often reinforce gender stereotypes. They talk about things like 'Women are tempting you,' 'Women in pornography are trying to seduce you, and that's why you need to avoid' instead of talking about your own kind of personal attitudes and behaviors that cause you to marginalize women."

Such framing of women as "temptresses," particularly in reference to Asian women, in part shifts the onus from perpetrator to victim, Concepcion said. It plays into a stereotype of women as manipulative dragon ladies, fueling dangerous perceptions that make them uniquely vulnerable to violence. She explained that there's a tendency to attribute the reasoning behind violence and murderous acts to others' malicious intent, creating the perception that these victims who were killed intentionally provoked the perpetrator to violence.

"There have been examinations recently of television shows and even movies from years ago that depicted Asian women as temptresses, which appear to prove these stereotypes of Asian women as fact," she said.

Alexander said larger toxic societal issues need to be unpacked in this context of treatment, in addition to other experiences that may have contributed to such behaviors.

"Those are the things that need to be addressed as underlying issues in this constellation of things that may have led to maybe sexual preoccupation," she said. "The sexual compulsions or preoccupations are often associated with other types of underlying psychological issues, unmet emotional needs, childhood trauma or, again, power and control dynamics that contribute to oppression."

But experts stressed that even when people exhibit attitudes that are indicative of oppression and marginalization of others, that does not often lead to committing an act of mass violence. Contrary to prevailing stereotypes, statistics show that roughly 3 percent to 5 percent of violent acts can be attributed to people who have a serious mental illness. In reality, individuals confronting mental health issues are more than 10 times more likely to be victims of violent crime compared to the general population.

For people dealing with sexual preoccupation that may be causing them distress, experts recommend help and support that approach the issue with positivity. Treatments that are shame-based are never effective, Alexander said, and mitigating feelings of shame comes with comprehensive sex education. Sexuality is marginalized so frequently in culture and it's not uncommon that people harbor difficult emotions around the subject, unsure of how to wrestle with it, she said.

"A lot of our sex education is rooted in shame and stigma, that we don't talk about normative sexuality and how to work through that - that maybe your urges are natural," she said.

With the resources available to help people living with mental illnesses, Concepcion said it's never acceptable to chalk this violent behavior up to having a "bad day."

"Many of us have bad days and yet a majority of us focus on other forms of coping to alleviate the impact of said days," she said. "It is never justified to take lives or engage in acts of violence when we ourselves have experienced less than ideal days."

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How 'sex addiction' has historically been used to absolve white men

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While authorities said Atlanta-area spa shooting suspect Robert Aaron Long, 21, told investigators he was motivated by "sexual addiction" and claimed he had no racial motivation, health specialists say the explanation falls short. Capt.

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Why this Wave of Anti-Asian Racism Feels Different

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Why this Wave of Anti-Asian Racism Feels Different

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Anti-Asian Violence in American is Rooted in US Empire

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Anti-Asian Violence in American is Rooted in US Empire

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Shortly after the mass killing in Georgia-including six Asian women-earlier this week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken denounced the violence, saying it "has no place in America or anywhere." Blinken made the comments during his first major overseas trip to Asia with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, where Blinken warned China that the United States will push back against its "coercion and aggression," and Austin cautioned North Korea that the United States was ready to "fight tonight."

Yet such hawkish rhetoric against China-which was initially spread by Donald Trump and other Republicans around the coronavirus-has directly contributed to rising anti-Asian violence across the country. In fact, it's reflective of a long history of US foreign policy in Asia centered on domination and violence, fueled by racism. Belittling and dehumanizing Asians has helped justify endless wars and the expansion of US militarism. And this has deadly consequences for Asians and Asian Americans, especially women.

Anti-Asian violence through US foreign policy has manifested in the wars that have killed millions, torn families apart, and led to massive displacement; in the nuclear tests and chemical weapons storage that resulted in environmental contamination in Okinawa, Guam, and the Marshall Islands; in the widespread use of napalm and Agent Orange in Vietnam, Laos, and Korea; in the US military bases that have destroyed villages and entire communities; in the violence perpetrated by US soldiers on Asian women's bodies; and in the imposition of sanctions that result in economic, social, and physical harms to everyday people.

These things can't happen without dehumanization, and this dynamic has had dire consequences for Asian Americans, especially women. Of the 3,800 hate incidents reported against Asian Americans last year, 70 percent were directed at women. Exoticized and fetishized Asian American women have borne a dual burden of both racism and sexism, viewed on one hand as submissive and sexually available "lotus blossoms" and on the other as manipulative and dangerous "dragon ladies."

Asian women are particularly harmed by US militarism and foreign policy-economically, socially, and physically. In Korea, women have long been collateral damage from militarized US foreign policy. The 1950-53 Korean War, which killed 4 million people, led to social and political chaos, separated families, and orphaned and widowed millions, creating conditions where women were without homes and work. This forced women into prostitution, according to Katherine H.S. Moon, an expert on US military prostitution in South Korea and author of the book Sex Among Allies.

Over a million Korean women have worked in "camptowns" that surround US military bases in South Korea. This system of military prostitution was controlled by the South Korean government and supported by the US military in order to strengthen military alliances and prop up the South Korean economy. Yet the women were stigmatized, "destined to invisibility and silence," according to Moon.

These camptowns not only facilitated the immigration of thousands of Korean "war brides" to the United States, but also transported the system itself. As the US military steadily reduced its troop presence in Asia, camptown establishments, facing social upheaval and economic uncertainty, began sending their madams and sex workers to US domestic military sites through brokered marriages with US servicemen. Many of these exploited Korean women arrived in the US South, a region housing many domestic military bases, which saw the proliferation of military prostitution. By the 1980s, the Korean American sex trade would spread from these Southern military towns to elsewhere in the United States-including the Atlanta metropolitan area, site of Tuesday's horrific mass shooting.

Current Issue

We see this anti-Asian violence now manifesting in ramped up US aggression toward China and the ubiquitous US military presence throughout the Asia-Pacific region. According to American University professor David Vine, there are approximately 300 US bases in the Asia-Pacific region circling China, which along with "aggressive naval and air patrols and military exercises, increases threats to Chinese security and encourages the Chinese government to respond by boosting its own military spending and activity." The military buildup is raising regional military tensions, and increasing the risk of a deadly military clash or what should be an unthinkable war between two nuclear-armed powers.

If we are to successfully stop anti-Asian hatred here in the United States, we must recognize how US foreign policy perpetuates it and end US militarism and wars throughout the Asia-Pacific region. The Biden administration could start by formally ending the Korean War, which cost nearly $400 billion (in 2019 dollars) to fight, and continues to be a source of justification for military-centered policies by the United States, South Korea, Japan, and others in the region.

As we address violence against Asians and women and dismantle white supremacy here at home, we must also fundamentally reorient US foreign policy in the Asia-Pacific region away from domination and control and toward true human security for all.

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Anti-Asian Violence in America Is Rooted in US Empire

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Shortly after the mass killing in Georgia-including six Asian women-earlier this week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken denounced the violence, saying it "has no place in America or anywhere."

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Guidelines for Faculty and staff during racial crises

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Guidelines for Faculty and staff during racial crises

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This specific email template was specific to AAPI Hate. However, this template can be modified to be thoughtful of and responsive to all our minoritized communities, as well as include program/department/university specific resources.

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Exoticism at its worst: Violence of fetishization

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Exoticism at its worst: Violence of fetishization

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Click here to register.

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Countering Hate Against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders

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Countering Hate Against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders

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countering hate against asian americans and pacific islanders

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countering hate against asian americans and pacific islanders tickets

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Countering Hate Against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders

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Eventbrite - The Raben Group presents Countering Hate Against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders - Thursday, March 25, 2021 - Find event and ticket information.

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Eventbrite - Community Organizing for Radical Empathy presents AAPI Women's Healing Circle - Wednesday, March 24, 2021 - Find event and ticket information.

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"People who are minoritized endure mistreatment, and face prejudices that are enforced upon them because of situations outside of their control. [BIPoC are] often incorrectly considered a minority group. However, they are actually minoritized."

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If I say "he's a minority student," what comes to mind? Perhaps you envision an African American male living in an impoverished home, or a Hispanic girl struggling her way through her literature course, or maybe even a wheelchair bound middle school student. The Oxford dictionary defines minority as "A relatively small group of people, especially one commonly discriminated against in a community, society, or nation, differing from others in race, religion, language, or political persuasion: representatives of ethnic minorities" (minority. n.d.). The Merriam-Webster dictionary describes a minority as "group of people who are different from the larger group in a country, area, etc., in some way (such as race or religion" (minority. n.d.). The free online dictionary defines the word minority as, " A racial, religious, political, national, or other group thought to be different from the larger group of which it is a part. A group having little power or representation relative to other groups in society" ("Minority." Merriam-Webster.com).
Little power, different, race, religion.
All of these words jump out at me. They are all extremely subjective. People who are considered minorities are given a stamp on his or her foreheads and forced into situations because of details outside of his or her own control. The word minority has seriously damaging connotations. Minority can be seen as a dismissive, or even insulting noun. Women can be considered a minority group, in the United States women are highly underrepresented in the STEM fields, and education courses. In addition studies have suggested that women make only seventy five cents for every dollar a man makes at a comparable job. However, according to the U.S. Cenus of 2010 women made up 50.4 percent of the population, this is slightly more than half, and the word minority implies less, or at least a smaller population. (2010 Census Data, n.d.)

Therefore, I would like to argue that minority should be defined "a group of less than half of the total, a group that is sufficiently smaller in number." I believe that "groups that are different in race, religious creed, nation of origin, sexuality, and gender and as a result of social constructs have less power or representation compared to other members or groups in society" should be considered minoritized. Women are not minorities, they are one of many minoritized groups.

(Image from Birmingham and The Civil Rights Movement, APUSH Documentary)

What It Means To Be Minoritized
People who are minoritized endure mistreatment, and face prejudices that are enforced upon them because of situations outside of their control. African Americans are often incorrectly considered a minority group. However, they are actually minoritized. During the Martin Luther King movement, and the fight to end segregation this group of people possessed extreme political power and sway. While economically, and socially, they had substantially less power, this was forced upon them. African American's had to fight because their culture was considered minor, they were considered to be less in some way. This ideology was forced on their race over many years and through social constructs. Since this ideology is being forced on a group of people, and is so subjective, the idea of being a minority needs to be represented using a verb. Being treated in this fashion is something that is being shoved upon people; they do not chose to be minoritized.
People are forced into being minoritized
How is it that a school has mainly 'minority' students when the majority of their students are African American or Latino? "Kids of color represent a majority of the student body in 83 of the 100 largest cities" (Brownstein, R., & J., Boschma, 2016.) If these races are in the majority, how can it be considered a school of minorities? The term minority school is used incorrectly to refer to schools where the majority of students are low-income, and these schools often have under qualified teachers. "The majority of African American students attend schools where most of their classmates qualify as poor or low income." (Brownstein, R., & J., Boschma, 2016.) These schools are commonly labeled as minority school districts, especially those in large cities. These students cannot possibly be minorities when they make up the majority of the school's population. They are minoritized students; students who are facing social and economical barriers that constrict them.

This idea goes back to imprecision of language. The noun minority is not appropriate, the verb minoritized should be used. These students, despite representing the population, are facing stigmas and prejudices. A minoritized student, is a student that because of circumstances outside of his or her control has to deal with issues of racism, ableism, and teachers presuming his or her competence. A student who is gay, transgender, Latino, or disabled is not automatically minoritized. In order to be minoritized a student who is a group that is different in race, religious creed, nation of origin, sexuality, or gender is only considered minortized when the school system they are in enforces them to have less power, representation or rights of their fellow students. A student is minortized when they are pushed to the side, and mistreated because of who they are.

One extremely poignant example of a minoritized student is Ahmed Mohamed. He was an exceptionally bright student, who was able to repair a broken digital clock on his own. He reassembled it into his pencil case, and excitedly showed his engineering teacher. His engineering teacher was supportive of his creation; young Ahmend is quoted as saying that he "only wanted to impress his teachers" (Mullin, J. 2016). His English teacher was not impressed however, and confiscated the clock, and sent this young teen to the principal's office. He was handcuffed, taken into custody, interrogated without anyone present, fingerprinted, and was forced to pose for a mugshot. Why? His English teacher accused this intelligent student of creating a bomb. He was even suspended from school. While it cannot be explicitly proven, signs indicate that this student was minoritized because of his Muslim beliefs, and his heritage. Ahmed's parents even threatened to sue the city for civil rights infringement and mental anguish of their son (Mullin, J. 2016). Especially after the Boston bombings, and the 9/11 attack, Muslims have become a severely minoritized group of people. When these prejudices carry over into schools, real damage can be done.

(Ahmed Mohamed Clock Incident)

History of students being minoritized
One of the most famous cases in the history of education is that of Brown vs. Board of education. This was passed around sixty years ago. It was a bill that allowed African American students to attend the same schools as Caucasian students (McBride, A. Brown vs. Board of Education, 2006). Another case that was extremely similar, however on a smaller scale, occurred in California. The Mendez vs. Westminster case involved the school districts of Orange County. Students of Mexican descent were being forced to go to separate "Mexican schools." This was banned unconstitutional. It was the first of many ruling in favor of desegregation (Background - Mendez v. Westminster Re-Enactment, n.d.). While schools have improved on this issue at face value, many students are still being minoritized in their schools.

(Segregation, n.d.)
Redefining Terms
No group of people should be considered minor, or lesser. We are all people, and therefore, we are all equal. The word minority should strictly refer to numbers, and data that can be compared in a cumulative manner. When referring to a group of people that is socially, or institutionally forced to the margins, and mistreated, a verb should be used. People were not born to be discriminated against, yet people still use the noun minority. Most people would tell you that a noun refers to a person, place, or thing. Therefore, the usage of the word minority does not make sense. Students are not born minorities, the world and social constructs cause them to be in the position they are in. Therefore, the verb minoritized should be used instead.
Def: Minority
1: a group of less than half of the total, a group that is sufficiently smaller in number

2: of or relating to quantities that are comparatively less

3: a relatively small group
Def: Minoritized
1: groups that are different in race, religious creed, nation of origin, sexuality, and gender and as a result of social constructs have less power or representation compared to other members or groups in society

2. To be a person forced into a group that is mistreated or faces prejudices such as albeism, racism, homophobia, and islamaphobia

3. To be in a small group of people that is discriminated against because of situations outside of personal control
Are you being minoritized by your school?

Being denied permission to do certain activities peers can

Not being permitted to bring a same sex date to prom

Not having access to a safe bathroom or locker room that fits your gender identity

Cut from sports teams, or not being allowed to play

Being denied basic rights

Being forced to go to schools that are under qualified, and teachers aren't certified without being allowed to switch districts

Feeling unsafe because of your race, sexuality, religion etc

Unfair tracking, or being placed into wrong level classes

Teachers and staff presuming you're incompetent

Unfair treatment from teachers
Rude comments, unjust grading, bullying

You are entitled to your rights! You are protected under the Title VII Civil Rights Act of 1964, The American's With Disabilities Act and basic discrimination laws. Speak up. Ask for help. References:
2010 Census Data. (n.d.). Retrieved August 10, 2016, from http://www.census.gov/2010census/data/

Ahmed Mohamed Clock Incident. (n.d.). Retrieved August 10, 2016, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Mohamed_clock_...

Background - Mendez v. Westminster Re-Enactment. (n.d.). Retrieved August 9, 2016, from http://www.uscourts.gov/educational-resources/educ...

Brownstein, R., & J., Boschma. (2016, February 29). The Concentration of Poverty in American Schools. Retrieved August 10, 2016, from http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/...

McBride, A. Brown vs. Board of Education (2006). Retrieved August 9, 2016, from http://www.pbs.org/wnet/supremecourt/rights/landma...

Minority. (n.d.) American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. (2011). Retrieved August 0 2016 from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/minority

Minority. (n.d.) Oxford English Dictionary. University Press. Retrieved August 9, 2016. From: http://www.kentwired.com/latest_updates/article_dc83f7e0-5fe9-11e5-b6c0-2b8c8a9b5266.html

"Minority." Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 9 Aug. 2016.Retrieved from: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/minority

Mullin, J. (2016). "Clock boy" Ahmed Mohamed sues Irving schools, police for wrongful arrest. Retrieved August 8, 2016, from http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/08/clock-b...

Segregation, n.d. Retrieved August 9, 2016, from http://350cr.blogs.brynmawr.edu/files/2013/03/danv...

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If I say "he's a minority student," what comes to mind? Perhaps you envision an African American male living in an impoverished home, or a Hispanic girl struggling her way through her literature course, or maybe even a wheelchair bound middle school student.

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"Celebrity readers share children's books by Black authors to spark kid-friendly conversations about empathy, equality, self-love and antiracism."

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Celebrity readers share children's books by Black authors to spark kid-friendly conversations about empathy, equality, self-love and antiracism. Watch trailers & learn more.

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January 18, 2021

APA's Apology to Black, Indigenous and People of Color for Its Support of Structural Racism in Psychiatry

Today, the American Psychiatric Association (APA), the oldest national physician association in the country, is taking an important step in addressing racism in psychiatry. The APA is beginning the process of making amends for both the direct and indirect acts of racism in psychiatry. The APA Board of Trustees (BOT) apologizes to its members, patients, their families, and the public for enabling discriminatory and prejudicial actions within the APA and racist practices in psychiatric treatment for Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC). The APA is committed to identifying, understanding, and rectifying our past injustices, as well as developing anti-racist policies that promote equity in mental health for all.

Early psychiatric practices laid the groundwork for the inequities in clinical treatment that have historically limited quality access to psychiatric care for BIPOC. These actions sadly connect with larger social issues, such as race-based discrimination and racial injustice, that have furthered poverty along with other adverse outcomes. Since the APA's inception, practitioners have at times subjected persons of African descent and Indigenous people who suffered from mental illness to abusive treatment, experimentation, victimization in the name of "scientific evidence," along with racialized theories that attempted to confirm their deficit status. Similar race-based discrepancies in care also exist in medical practice today as evidenced by the variations in schizophrenia diagnosis between white and BIPOC patients, for instance. These appalling past actions, as well as their harmful effects, are ingrained in the structure of psychiatric practice and continue to harm BIPOC psychological well-being even today. Unfortunately, the APA has historically remained silent on these issues. As the leading American organization in psychiatric care, the APA recognizes that this inaction has contributed to perpetuation of structural racism that has adversely impacted not just its own BIPOC members, but also psychiatric patients across America.

Events in 2020 have clearly highlighted the need for action by the APA to reverse the persistent tone of privilege built upon the inhumanity of past events. Inequities in access to quality psychiatric care, research opportunities, education/training, and representation in leadership can no longer be tolerated. The APA apologizes for our contributions to the structural racism in our nation and pledges to enact corresponding anti-racist practices. We commit to working together with members and patients in order to achieve the social equality, health equity, and fairness that all human beings deserve. We hope this apology will be a turning point as we strive to make the future of psychiatry more equitable for all.

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APA's Apology to Black, Indigenous and People of Color for Its Support of Structural Racism in Psychiatry

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Today, the American Psychiatric Association (APA), the oldest national physician association in the country, is taking an important step in addressing racism in psychiatry. The APA is beginning the process of making amends for both the direct and indirect acts of racism in psychiatry.

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September 8th (9am-4pm CST)

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Scholar Strike

is an action inspired by the NBA, WNBA, Colin Kapernick and other athletes, to underscore the urgent importance of addressing racism and injustice in the United States. Conceived via a tweet by Anthea Butler, this is designed to call awareness to the racial climate in America, and the rash of police shootings and racialized violence.

We are also in solidarity with Canadian Scholars at https://scholarstrikecanada.ca.

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Scholar Strike is an action inspired by the NBA, WNBA, Colin Kapernick and other athletes, to underscore the urgent importance of addressing racism and injustice in the United States. Conceived via a tweet by Anthea Butler, this is designed to call awareness to the racial climate in America, and the rash of police shootings and racialized violence.

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Training and Education in Professional Psychology 

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Training and Education in Professional Psychology 

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Special Issue: Social Justice Training in Health Service Psychology

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School Closed

In "Some Students Should go to School, Most Should Stay Home: Socially Just Schooling in the Time of Covid-19," I argued that we need to adopt both/and thinking in our planning for the coming school year. Instead of going fully online, or trying to provide all students with some face-to-face instruction, I propose that the more socially just answer would be to "make schools work for the students and families who are most on the margins, who are at greatest risk if school buildings remain closed, who cannot meet their basic needs without them. Give these students full days and full weeks so that their families have a reasonable chance of being able to support them. And the rest of us stay home."

This argument addressed how schools should be planning for the coming school year in ways that are rooted in social justice and safety, but it left a pretty big question unanswered: What exactly are the rest of us (myself included) supposed to do with our children this fall?

The Social Justice Dilemma

Right now, many parents are answering this question by collectively creating "pandemic pods" - small groups of families who will commit to working together to care for and educate their children until we can safely return to the classroom. Some of these pods are basically childcare cooperatives in which parents rotate days they will be responsible for care, while others are closer to mini-private schools in which parents pool their resources to hire a teacher to educate their children in a home environment, and there are plenty of models in between.

Unsurprisingly, the conversation about pods seems to be especially prevalent in middle-class, majority white communities where schools have already committed to online learning. Also unsurprisingly, the conversation about pandemic pods has quickly raised concerns about equity and social justice. The problem for parents who value social justice (the idea that we should be actively working to dismantle systems that privilege some and oppress others) is that in a society segregated by race and class, in which even integrated schools are internally segregated by race and class, pandemic pods are virtually guaranteed to be segregated by race and class. Middle-class, predominantly white parents will be creating academically enriching experiences for their children out of school, while lower-income parents, who are disproportionately likely to be families of color, cannot in the same way. In trying to figure out a plan for managing their own lives, privileged parents will exacerbate the injustices already present in our education system and widen the inequities that have plagued our country since its founding.

The social justice problem of pandemic pods is obvious. What to do about it is not. While I can't help you with the logistics of caring for your children during Covid-19, I do have some insight about how to make plans in ways that are more socially just.

First, a couple of reality checks for those of us with class privilege.

Low-income parents have always been in this position.

Recently, when talking to my spouse about the schooling dilemma in our own home, he responded, "middle-class parents are, for the first time, experiencing the stress that low-income single parents have been living with, and we can't handle it." The dilemma we middle- and upper-middle class parents are facing is one that working-class parents have long dealt with. Schools have never been designed with them in mind. Who is caring for the children of people who have to work and cannot afford childcare for the entire summer? Holiday breaks? Spring break? After 3pm when the school day is over, but the workday is not? Wealthier parents have solved this problem by writing checks - to camps, aftercare, enrichment activities, nannies, daycares, etc. Low-income parents have never had this luxury. We should look to them as models of what we should do next and check our own privilege in how we talk about the unprecedented nature of what we are facing.

2. This is a crisis; we should act like it!

While the dilemma of childcare is not new, this is a unique time for our country and world, and we should act like it. One of the real challenges to Covid-19 is that there is a kind of collective denial permeating all areas of our society - just look at how difficult it still is to convince people to wear masks, even after 140,000 people have died. As has always been true, it's hard to face a foe you cannot bring yourself to acknowledge. So, in case my first essay didn't do the job, let me give you a dose of reality: "What we are currently dealing with is an absolute disaster of epic proportions with no good answers, no clear sides, and no room for either/or thinking."

Think for a moment about a time in your life when you faced an epic crisis - an unexpected illness, a natural disaster, a war. In 2015, when I was 26 weeks pregnant, I did a presentation at an elementary school about how teachers can use multicultural books to talk to students about race and other social identities. Afterwards, I had a regularly scheduled prenatal appointment where I discovered I was 9cm dilated. I had a baby that day! My baby - who by the way, is now healthy, thriving, and whining for snacks as I write this - spent 3 months in the NICU.

That crisis meant I had to immediately shift almost everything about my life - cancel plans, find a place to live closer to the hospital, forget promoting my first book, and, most relevant here, stop working in the ways I had been. The societal-level crisis we are facing should be leading those of us who have privilege to consider: reducing our work schedules, going down to part-time, taking FMLA, using our vacation days, applying for food assistance, taking advantage of the leave we are now entitled to through the CARES Act, and calling our elected officials to demand a guaranteed basic income with job protections that will help ensure we have jobs to return to when it is reasonable to do so. We are now living in precisely the moment we created our (relatively limited) social safety nets for. We should use them.

This also means anyone who is an employer has a moral obligation to allow any employees who can work from home to do so, so they can care for their children, just as we would if an employee suddenly had a baby three months early. Moreover, it is everyone's moral obligation not to unnecessarily expose those who have no choice but to work in person to potential carriers of Covid-19 who could be working from home.
How is this relevant to the discussion about "pandemic pods"?
If you are a relatively privileged person seeking a pandemic pod because you simply cannot imagine working less, the solution you seek might not be a pod, but a rethinking of the unrealistic expectations of "work" our current economic system is placing upon us. Raising critically thinking, social justice-minded children is also important work that the future of our country and our planet depend on, perhaps now more than ever. If schools can no longer contribute as much to this endeavor, families will have to do more, which will likely require doing other work less.

In families in which a woman and man are navigating this together, gender needs to be discussed as you do the deep work of maybe coming to terms, as I have, with the reality that your work may need to shift for the foreseeable future. You should be very intentional about making sure it is not only the woman who is doing the sacrificing, otherwise we're just falling into another trap of injustice.

On a hopeful note, while almost everything we know about Covid-19 is deflating, our sacrifices will likely only be temporary as vaccines and therapies become available.

Now, some answers to your questions about social justice and pods.

1. Can I just homeschool next year?

If you do nothing else in your efforts to pod more justly, stay enrolled in public school. The biggest social justice risk we face as a result of this pandemic is the destruction of the public education system in the United States. This is the explicit and decades-long goal of Betsy DeVos, the current U.S. Secretary Education. If many of the most privileged parents officially opt out of public schools, they will be laying the foundation of destruction that will last long after this pandemic is over. Public schools in this country rely on enrollment. So, whatever you actually plan to do in your home, make sure your child's name is on the list of kids opting into the online public school option and make sure they are being counted.

2. Can we hire a teacher for our pod?

There is a difference between "childcare" and "schooling." All parents are in need of childcare - a safe place for their children to be during the day. However, finding childcare is very different than hiring a teacher to create a mini-private school for you and your (similarly raced and classed) friends. If significant numbers of already privileged parents hire private teachers to educate their children in their homes, there is no doubt they will be contributing significantly to huge disparities in opportunities for learning that disadvantage students and families already most disadvantaged and undermine the public school system (see above). The more just thing to do would be to find someone to watch your children if you need to, perhaps in a "pod" with other families, and then use the online education being offered by your child's school to all students, not just the privileged few.

3. How do I justly compensate a person I hire for childcare or teaching?

Anyone you hire to provide childcare (or teaching if you still decide to do this) should be considered a household employee of which you are the employer. You should be paying them a living wage (minimally) and offering unemployment, paid sick leave, and other protections. If you are not sure how to do this, sites like care.com have some great resources for employing care-workers. Note: If you are asking someone to sign a liability waiver to work in your home (or the many homes of your pods), you're doing it wrong. Hiring someone ethically is more expensive and complicated than paying them "under the table," but doing so gives that caregiver (to whom you are entrusting your children) access to our social safety net so they can take care of their own families.

4. Are pods actually safer?

I am not a public health expert, but the answer seems to be that it depends. While many pods may be safer for families than schools (for those who will have the option of face-to-face schooling) it is also possible that the pod you are envisioning will be risky. Pods will not necessarily be smaller than the reduced class sizes some districts are proposing. The adults involved (parents of all the children, childcare providers, teachers etc.) will not necessarily be any less exposed to Covid-19 than the teachers at your school. There is no guarantee of better safety measures, and, not necessarily any system by which to monitor each other's level of risk, which schools will be doing systematically. Creating a pod on your own isn't in itself a safer option than sending your child to a school that is implementing safety standards and regularly testing.

5. Would it be more socially just to invite families with fewer resources to join our pod?

I have (more) bad news: we are not going to fix hundreds of years of race and class segregation through better pod strategizing. Pandemic pods rely on families feeling comfortable enough with each other to work together, send their children to each other's homes, and trust the level of risk everyone is taking. Because of the way bias, relationships, segregation, and inequality work in our country, this likely means most people will really only do this with people they already have relationships with (through prior friendships, school connections, or neighborhoods), or feel connected to (because of race, class, and other identities).

I'm glad to see many white, middle-class parents online looking for ways to make their pods diverse, but my years as a social justice educator tell me that these are the real questions you will end up asking yourself:

· Am I willing to let my child spend the day at the home of a person I do not know well who is in a lower-class position than my family?

· Am I willing to have a child in my pod whose parents never take a turn doing childcare because they actually have to work outside of their home most days a week?

· Am I willing to let my child spend the day at the home of a person who is an essential worker being exposed to Covid-19 at much higher levels than me?

· Am I willing to let my child spend the day with someone who I never managed to build a friendship with despite our kids going to the same school for the past three years?

The fact is, pods are going to be just as segregated as everything else in our system and there's likely no "invitation of others" that will fix this at any scale. If you are able to work out these considerations, great! There is nothing inherently wrong with doing this. But be clear, this entire conversation is largely an exercise in privileged people trying to feel better about their own complicity in generations of inequality and injustice. At the end of the day, it has little bearing on what most people are actually willing to do.

6. Is organizing a pandemic pod the most socially just use of my time?

If, after reading everything above, you've decided that you really want to do the thing that has the most benefit for the most marginalized students and families, then planning a pandemic pod is probably not the best use of your time. What should you do instead of (or at least in addition to) pod planning? Get angry at the level of injustice we are facing and get active!

Our time would be better spent collectively organizing and lobbying our school districts, and local, state, and federal governments for the kinds of supports that would benefit all families - like the immediate passage of guaranteed income for the duration of the pandemic, expanded paid leave, universal healthcare, protections for those who contract Covid-19, and accessible accurate testing for students and teachers who go to school in person.

There are many reasons we may not be able to live our values at this moment, starting with the children who have been crying non-stop in my house as I try to finish typing this. But, if we are committed to trying to achieve justice for all, I suggest that we should not be giving too much thought to organizing spreadsheets of privileged parents, we should be marching in the streets (with masks, proper distancing, and testing)! We should be demanding that those we have elected to lead and represent us do what the leaders of almost every other country on the planet have managed to: provide an actual social safety net that will benefit us all. Right now, the HEROES Act, which would be one step in this direction, is sitting in the Senate as Mitch McConnell refuses to do anything useful. So, start marching, or calling, or emailing, or tweeting, or Facebooking, or zooming, or figuring out who in your circles of privilege knows some senators.

In fact, let me help you begin. If you are working to organize for more socially just solutions at the systems-level put your info in the comments so the rest of us can join you!

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If "Most Students Should Stay Home," What Do I Do with My Kids?

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In "Some Students Should go to School, Most Should Stay Home: Socially Just Schooling in the Time of Covid-19," I argued that we need to adopt both/and thinking in our planning for the coming school year.

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COVID-19 Impacts on Native American Populations

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COVID-19 Impacts on Native American Populations

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Physicians for Human Rights Webinar Series

July 24, 2020 / 2:00pm Eastern / Webinar

Shaquita Bell, MD
Center for Diversity and Health Equity, Seattle Children’s Hospital

Abigail Echo Hawk, MA
Urban Indian Health Institute

Spero Manson, PhD
Centers for American Indian and Alaska Native Health, Colorado School of Public Health

Moderated by PHR Advocacy Council Member
Chris Beyrer, MD, MPH
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

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As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, PHR is using its global digital platforms to elevate the voices of health care professionals on the front lines of this crisis. Launched in March 2020, PHR's webinar series aims to educate advocates and health providers alike in these uncertain times. Sign up here to receive invitations to future webinars.

Coming up: COVID-19 Impacts on Native American Populations

July 24, 2020 at 1:00 p.m. EDT
On Friday, July 24, at 2:00 p.m. EDT, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) will host a conversation on the compounding impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on American Indian and Alaska (AI/AN) populations, including the excessive rate of infection and death, threats to livelihood, and systemic inequalities that affect community members' safety and well-being. Panelists will also discuss responses to address these crises.

The discussion will be moderated by Chris Beyrer, MD, MPH, the Desmond M. Tutu Professor of Public Health and Human Rights and professor of epidemiology, international health, health, behavior and society, and nursing at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, director of the Johns Hopkins HIV Epidemiology and Prevention Science Training Program, and a member of PHR's Advisory Council.

Our panelists will be:

● Shaquita Bell, MD is the medical director of the Seattle Children's Hospital's Center for Diversity and Health Equity, a practicing pediatrician at the Seattle Children's Odessa Brown Children's Clinic, and clinical associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington.

● Abigail Echo-Hawk, MA is the director of the Urban Indian Health Institute, chief research officer for the Seattle Indian Health Board, and an enrolled member of the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma.

● Spero Manson, PhD is a distinguished professor of public health and psychiatry and director of the Centers for American Indian and Alaska Native Health at the Colorado School of Public Health, and the Colorado Trust Chair in American Indian Health at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.

Featured Webinars

Rebuilding a Global Approach to Health

COVID-19 Mental Health Impacts on At-Risk Populations

Protests, Police Violence, and the Pandemic

COVID-19 Racial Disparities

Empowering Health Professionals as Human Rights Advocates

Protecting Health Care Workers Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic

On May 28, 2020, The Lancet Editor-in-Chief and PHR Board Member Dr. Richard Horton moderated a discussion on protecting health care workers amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The panel featured nurse Howard Catton, Dr. Michele Heisler, and Dr. Otmar Kleiber, who discussed the alarming public targeting of frontline health care workers and what we can do to protect and better support them in their critical roles as we face the COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID-19 Threats to Detention Center/Prison Populations

Gender-based Violence and COVID-19

Health and Rights-driven Responses to COVID-19

More Webinars

COVID-19 and Children

Reopening: Balancing Public Health, Safety, Human Rights and the Economy

Perspectives from Health Professionals on the Frontlines

COVID-19 Medical Ethics

Homelessness and COVID-19

COVID-19 and Food Insecurity

Mental Health Impacts

Sign up here to receive invitations to future webinars.

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Events, Webinars, and Expert Discussions - Physicians for Human Rights

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As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, PHR is using its global digital platforms to elevate the voices of health care professionals on the front lines of this crisis. Launched in March 2020, PHR's webinar series aims to educate advocates and health providers alike in these uncertain times.

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Envisioning Higher Education as Antiracist

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Envisioning Higher Education as Antiracist

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Higher education institutions in the United States are failing to fully buy in to an equitable and just society for all. Although affirmative action is meant to redress former policies and practices that excluded or limited Black and brown people (and women) from obtaining postsecondary educations and good jobs, racial disparities persist in both arenas.

Black and Latinx students are more likely to receive educations from institutions that are less funded, have higher dropout rates, operate for profit, pay lower faculty salaries and have higher student-to-faculty ratios. The educational spending gap alone gives white students a $5 billion advantage over students of color at public colleges every year, and spending directly impacts student graduation rates.

For those who do graduate, racial inequities follow them into the job market. A 2019 study by the Center on Education and the Workforce at Georgetown University found that white workers, as compared to Black and Latinx workers, are more likely to have good jobs, increased their share of good jobs between 1991 and 2016, and have a disproportionate share of good jobs relative to their levels of employment. Among Black, Latinx and white workers with good jobs, the researchers found that white workers are paid more at every level of education. The racial inequities in representation and earnings shifted $554 billion from Black and Latinx workers to white workers in 2016 alone.

The outlook is bleak: American institutions have already ensured immense generational advantages for whites and disadvantages for people of color. And this will continue if we do nothing.

The time for all social institutions to become antiracist and sever all ties with systemic racism is long overdue. As Beverly D. Tatum, a scholar of race in America, reminds us, we are in an active cycle of racism. Being passive will only ensure that we will still have racial inequities far into the future.

I mourn in fury because our country failed to protect Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and so many other precious lives while continuing to disenfranchise many more. Taking inspiration from organizations addressing the criminal justice system like the Movement for Black Lives and Civil Rights Corps, and drawing upon my experiences in higher education, I envision colleges and universities as antiracist institutions that participate fully in restoring the dignity, sanctity and empowerment of communities of color through policies and practices that produce and sustain racial equity.
Three Tiers of Recommendations
In the rest of this essay, I will suggest various practices and policies to help leaders of higher education institutions close the racial gaps. I've divided my recommendations into three tiers that progressively unfold toward a greater embodiment of antiracist positions for higher education.

First, however, if the reforms are to be effective, these four overarching principles must prevail, as well:

1. All reforms must be committed to reinstating civil rights, restorative justice, dignity and respect to the communities that have been the targets of systemic racism.

2. All reforms must be holistic, recognizing that racism is a pervasive system that holds a tight iron fist on Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) communities. They must not just be a haphazard menu of options but be part of a cohesive approach.

3. All reforms must be participatory, enabling BIPOC communities and independent civil rights organizations to share decision making. In particular, local communities must be empowered to influence priorities and offer meaningful oversight.

4. All reforms must be intersectional, acknowledging the great diversity among BIPOC communities, including but not limited to economic status, immigration status, gender, sexual orientation, pregnancy, religion, disability, HIV status and ethnicity -- which, when intertwined, can deepen the inequalities in our societies.

Within the context of those four principles, leaders of colleges and universities should consider the following.

Tier 1 -- Novice: ensuring responsibility and accountability. You are responsible for educating and providing knowledge about BIPOC histories of racism and implicit bias training to your communities. You are holding yourself and your institution accountable for ensuring that racism does not continue within your institution. You work to ensure that those who represent or attend your institution are prepared and empowered to be allies in fighting racism. This is about breaking institutional silence and becoming a responsible social organization. You:

Publicly take responsibility for your college or university's historical participation in racism and discrimination, and you acknowledge who has benefited and who has been disadvantaged or harmed.

Develop funded, mandatory antiracism workshops, reading groups and teach-ins for department faculty, university staff and students led by experts in their respective disciplines that include BIPOC histories of racism.

Advance campus debate about racial justice by inviting antiracist and BIPOC history speakers to hold discussions in and outside classrooms.

Publicly denounce all racism, hate, discrimination and bias -- both before and after all incidents.

Follow transparent procedures for removing faculty, staff and students who are found to be perpetuating discrimination, hate and/or bias on and off campus.

Implement a universitywide hate and bias incident reporting system with safeguards for victims and transparent methods for addressing all reports effectively. You ensure that collected data on incidents is disseminated for analysis, policy improvements and prevention.

Fund semester-long and winter, spring and summer break trips for students to historical sites to learn the histories of racism and colonialism. You also reform service programs so that they do not re-enact colonialist exchanges with communities of color.

Tier 2 -- Intermediate: countering and redressing a legacy of racism. Having acknowledged that your institution is embedded in a society that has systematically targeted and disempowered BIPOC communities through racist and discriminatory policies, practices and laws, your institution begins to redress and dismantle centuries of racism embedded in the fabric and culture of society. This is done by supporting internal and external community efforts dedicated to those actions. You:

Increase funding for departments, centers and faculty that offer social justice, critical race, queer, ethnic and gender studies classes and workshops.

Incentivize departments to hire researchers and educators who do critical race, ethnic and gender studies work.

Dedicate alternating years of your institution's work contracts to local Black- and brown-owned businesses or guarantee that 50 percent of all contracts go to BIPOC-owned businesses.

Build and fund student internship opportunities with organizations fighting against systemic racism.

Divest from police departments and redirect funding to local restorative justice services.

Create visible, well-funded and continuing partnerships with HBCUs.

Eliminate legacy and donor considerations in applications.

Create a campuswide antiracism campaign.

Create or reinvest in comprehensive antiracist policy institutes on the campus to fight institutionalized racism in partnership with local, regional and national organizations. Publicly report goals and progress.

Support graduate student workers and adjunct faculty unions rather than opposing the collective bargaining power of your graduate students and adjuncts.

Tier 3 -- Advanced: enacting an equitable antiracist society. Desiring to live in a just world, your institution enacts policies that create and maintain equity among racial groups, despite ongoing racism in our society. You:

Divest from prisons, parole and bail corporations, and prison vendors.

Build local food system infrastructures in communities that are historically the target of systemic racism.

Invest in affordable housing infrastructure in communities that are historically the target of systemic racism.

Create low-interest loan programs for Black, Indigenous, immigrant, queer, working-class and POC small business owners.

Divest from banks that have a record of racially inequitable lending practices.

Offer free or low-cost community education programs in BIPOC communities.

Build accessible pathways to enter your institution for BIPOC communities (for example, by changing advertising practices and sending representatives to BIPOC communities).

Invest in programs that support K-12 education in communities that are historically disadvantaged by racism.

Create dual-enrollment programs in partnership with high schools that serve BIPOC and working-class communities.

Lower tuition fees and create sliding-scale tuition structures.

Eliminate the use of standardized test scores in college admissions.

Make all on-campus housing, meal plans and extracurricular institutional activities optional and affordable.

Pay all staff, graduate workers and faculty members a living wage with health care, paid sick leave and paid maternity leave.

Eliminate all conflict-of-interest contracts and enact policies to fight internal corruption and discriminatory hiring, firing and promoting practices.

Reduce adjunct and non-tenure-track faculty positions at your institution to 20 percent or lower, and increase tenure or tenure-track faculty positions to 80 percent or higher.

This work should not wait for legal mandates, nor should an institution self-regulate its progress. Rather, higher education institutions should build strategic initiatives with research-based advocacy centers (e.g., the Poverty and Race Research Action Council), institutional evaluation and consulting organizations (e.g., Beloved Community and Achieving the Dream), and similar independent national and local groups dedicated to enacting an antiracist society.

And this work should begin now. As Martin Luther King Jr. aptly wrote, "Justice too long delayed is justice denied."

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Actions higher ed institutions should take to help eradicate racism (opinion)

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Higher education institutions in the United States are failing to fully buy in to an equitable and just society for all. Although affirmative action is meant to redress former policies and practices that excluded or limited Black and brown people (and women) from obtaining postsecondary educations and good jobs, racial disparities persist in both arenas.

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If You Really Want to Make a Difference in Black Lives, Change How You Teach White Kids

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If You Really Want to Make a Difference in Black Lives, Change How You Teach White Kids

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The latest episodes of police murdering Black people have my chest burning like a building set ablaze. My heart is hot, my stomach churns. My head filled with black smoke. I am exhausted.

My body is weak from seeing, hearing, reading and crying over people who look like my father and brothers getting choked out on video ... again. My body hurts not seeing anything happen when people who look like my mother or me are killed by violent White men. The silence when Black trans- men and women are killed by police violently bangs in my eardrum. I'm sore from the hashtags marking yet another Black death gone viral. Physically, emotionally, mentally, I'm hurt. Professionally I'm tired.

I work in education advocacy and I focus on the protection, advancement and dignity of Black children and Black life. Black death is a threat to everything I work and live for, so when it happens I can't help but relate what I see, experience and feel to my work. When anything goes down with Black people I think about education and schools and whether I am a part of something that is preserving Black life or failing it.

As I saw the system choke the life out of George Floyd I became enraged because I knew the focus would be on the systems that produced this end result and not the ones that groomed both George Floyd and the cop who killed him for that moment. That the conversations would be about prosecution and police training, but not changing the places that socialize Americans for White violence and Black death.

The system that killed George Floyd and the system that raised and educated the cop who killed him are the same. And in the same way that folks are tired of the viral Black death-protest-fake trial-acquittal-rinse and repeat cycle, I am tired of folks acting like there's no direct connection between the schools where White children sit and the street corners where they choke out Black life.

There's a George Floyd in every school where Black children learn. Black children are screamed at, berated, surveilled and searched in schools. Black children are slammed and dragged, kicked and prodded in classrooms. Black children are denied an education and disrespected because of their culture. Black children are groomed for containment. We've got children walking on tape with hands over their mouths like prisoners in training.

Black children are suspended, detained, "demerited" and isolated in schools for trivial things every day. And there's a killer cop sitting in every school where White children learn. They hear the litany of bad statistics and stereotypes about "scary" Black people in their classes and on the news. They gleefully soak in their White-washed history that downplays the holocaust of Indigenous, Native peoples and Africans in the Americas. They happily believe their all-White spaces exist as a matter of personal effort and willingly use violence against Black bodies to keep those spaces white.

Yet whenever we talk about what's wrong with the systems that train and socialize young minds to become violent and depraved adults who, say choose to choke people out as part of their jobs, all we ever hear is that Black children, Black families, Black communities, Black-NESS are "behind" and stuck in gaps. Conservatives, liberals and progressives alike grow their careers and feed their families off of myths about Black deficiency.

If you let them tell it, Black kids are in terrible shape while White children are doing gloriously. But how can White kids be doing okay when they're growing up to be police officers, district attorneys, mayors, judges, media, mothers, fathers and presidents who take away Black life and call it justified? As Black bodies drop like flies around us from physical, medical, economic, and material deprivation and violence at White hands, how can we in any of our minds or metrics conclude that the Whites are alright? What kind of warped standards are these?

Because let me tell you something ...

And any school or culture that produces children to grow up like this is failing.

White children are left unchecked and unbothered in their schools, homes and communities to join, advance and protect systems that take away Black life. We never talk about this moral and human failing in White culture as something that needs to get fixed now. Instead, we pour millions of dollars into discussions, conferences, professional development, curriculum and consultancies that talk about fixing Black people. And I'm tired.

I'm tired of White people reveling in their state-sanctioned depravity, snuffing out Black life with no consequences and then having the nerve to tell Black children that they are "behind" and need to work harder.

I'm tired of White people telling Black kids that they need to be held "accountable," yet killer cops go free when they take Black life and White teachers go free when they miseducate Black kids.

I'm tired of White people taking their violent culture, standards and metrics into Black spaces and telling Black children that they don't measure up. Because who is really failing here?

Where's the urgency for school reform for White kids being indoctrinated in Black death and protected from the consequences?

Where are the government-sponsored reports looking into how White mothers are raising culturally deprived children who think Black death is okay?

Where are the national conferences, white papers and policy positions on the pathology of Whiteness in schools and how it leaves White children behind as adults?

Why isn't Bill Gates throwing billions into school programs teaching White kids how not to grow up racist and choke out Black life?

The federal government needs to commission studies on White neighborhoods that produce and insulate anti-Black physical, economic and political violence. City councils and state legislatures should redline those places and determine them to be "high risk" and unfit for life. School reformers need to lobby, plot and plan on how to disrupt school systems that produce, protect and reward White violence.

Go get Walmart and the Koch brothers to fund tens of thousands of recent White college graduates trained in anti-racism and dispatch them to the disadvantaged all-White school districts across the country full of future killer cops. Take your six weeks of training and be an anti-racist teacher in classrooms full of families that hoard resources, separate their school districts and fund the police to keep their knees on Black necks.

Simply, this time after you take off your Black Lives Matter t-shirt and recycle your protest signs, don't go back into Black spaces with your usual bullshit. This time if you really want to make a difference in Black lives-and not have to protest this shit again -go reform white kids.

Because that's where the problem is-with White children being raised from infancy to violate Black bodies with no remorse or accountability. That cop didn't just learn how to snuff out George Floyd's life in a police training or on the job. He spent a lifetime preparing for that moment with his parents and family, teachers, coaches, neighborhoods and churches.

Eventually, the fires will burn out and the aftermath of the latest uprisings will clear. The heat in my chest may subside a little, but the grief will still be there for the next time. And unfortunately, there will be a next time because I've seen this episode before. We all have. Today we scream for justice but on Monday we'll call for better police training and a guilty verdict that will only leave the system-all the systems-intact. And we'll feel better about ourselves as we return to business as usual, preparing children for White violence and Black death, again.

I'm tired.

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If You Really Want to Make a Difference in Black Lives, Change How You Teach White Kids

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The latest episodes of police murdering Black people have my chest burning like a building set ablaze. My heart is hot, my stomach churns. My head filled w

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Systematic inequality and hierarchy in faculty hiring networks

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Systematic inequality and hierarchy in faculty hiring networks

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Systematic inequality and hierarchy in faculty hiring networks

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Advancing Multicultural and Social Justice Counseling Efforts during the COVID-19 Era

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Advancing Multicultural and Social Justice Counseling Efforts during the COVID-19 Era

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Free access from the Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development

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How to respond to common racist statements 

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How to respond to common racist statements 

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Courageous and intentional conversations around implicit bias and racism aimed at the black community have always taken place. These conversations were occurring long before the tragedies of George Floyd, Trayvon Martin and many others. As I scroll through the social media timelines and see so many new perceived allies of the black community, I can't help but think, why now?

I am gratified by the recent public statements from leaders at small to large public and private universities and corporations conveying their support and pledging to stand by the black community to end racial injustices. Still, as I read, I wonder, what now?

As a higher education practitioner who has worked in many areas of student affairs since my undergrad years, I have poured out so many of my thoughts and feelings to the people on campuses who hold the influence and power to make final decisions concerning racial injustice, institutionalized racism, inequalities for all marginalized communities and more. And certainly, higher education institutions have addressed these issues in the past -- usually through programs and events hosted by the Office of Multicultural Affairs or Office of Equity and Inclusion or some similar part of the college or university. But black students, staff and faculty want and need more. So, again, I ask, what now?

I once personally shared with a white colleague of mine at an institution that we needed more conversations around racism as perceived by black students and staff members. I told them that, although many marginalized and underrepresented communities have experienced some form of prejudice or racism, historically no other group of people has been subjected to such hostilities and their continuing negative effects as much as black people. What my colleague said next was most troubling. They immediately responded, "This isn't the office or department to have these conversations. Our white colleagues will feel attacked and won't speak."

I strongly disagree with that point of view. On the contrary, all offices, departments and university officials need to have these conversations as often as possible. Being white shouldn't exclude one's involvement in critical discussions around race. Being black doesn't exclude us from being hated, discriminated against, physically harmed and seen as unequal based on the color of our skin.

So while it's great that the black community has more professed allies now than ever, it's important for all of us to consider what a true ally of an underrepresented community actually is. Are allies just going to go hard in the paint on social media and virtually combat bigotry and racism so their racist friends can see and debate them? Well, it's a start. Are our allies going to step up to the plate at town halls, our institutions and staff meetings and speak out on behalf of the unheard? Are they going to demand changes in policies and more trainings, funding and social and educational programs to support the black community -- what members of that community and many others on and off the campuses that have sought, and fought for, for so long?

These types of conversations must happen expeditiously and effectively. For those of you willing to be part of them, here are some helpful tips and strategies to become an ally beyond simply posting on Facebook.

Attend multiple (consistency is key) cultural student organization meetings. Black student unions, black student success centers and black male/female initiative programs offer spaces for the sole purpose of creating comfortable, supportive environments to foster community and engagement for black students with peers who look like them. Not sure where to start at your own institution? Go to your campus's student-led organizations' general webpage and find these communities. Or contact the diversity and inclusion office and inquire about contact information and/or meeting times and locations.

Partner with the diversity office or inclusion coordinator on your campus. Work to create opportunities for all people to converse and be informed about and challenged on the topics of race, gender, intersectionality and police brutality. Don't try to lead these conversations -- it's important for an ally to listen and learn. But you can become a part of the support system by helping plan and/or advertise the program. Trust me, that will go a long way.

Watch films and documentaries that highlight racial inequality and discrimination. To start, I'll list a few of my favorites: When They See Us, , Dear White People, Fruitvale Station, and The Hate U Give.

Now here's the challenge. Talk with a black friend about these movies and shows. Share your perspective and allow your black friend to do the same. Please don't make it awkward when bringing it up! For example, one way you can ask a friend to talk about it is to say, "Hey, I wanted to start to learn more about racial inequality against the black community and was encouraged to watch some of these programs. Would you be interested and comfortable having a conversation about it after I finish?" Sorry, I have to spell out how to do this but, unfortunately, I've learned from experience that nonblack people struggle with communicating effectively with their black friends more often than you think.

Continue to call out racism and bigotry through social media. This shouldn't be the only action you take, but as I mentioned, it's at least a start. If you've started speaking out against racism, then don't stop! Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd were not the first victims of racism and will not be the last. We want you to continue to speak up and speak out to fight this war with us. Are you ready for the long battle?

Organize group talks to discuss race, social injustices and the role privilege plays in the fight for racial justice. Creating spaces for nonblack people to come together to share perspectives and learn how to support the black community is a great way to build and expand alliances. Black people constantly talk about race and how their blackness can be a beacon of change on and off campuses -- in their families, communities, churches and other organizations. It's time for white people and other groups who have certain privileges based on the color of their skin and family history to start these community talks to explore their racial identity and the impact it has on our nation. That will provide a space to challenge and inform your peers about racist systems built to hold black people back. I have provided some sources below that can provide insights about how to start these types of conversations.

Review articles and other resources on the issues. Some of those include: " Becoming an Anti-Racist White Ally," a tool kit on " Navigating the Conflict Zone and Becoming an Ally," " Empathy and Being an Ally," and " What Is an Ally?" ACPA, College Student Educators International, also provides resources on Black Lives Matter. And the African American Historical Society's Black Perspectives offers numerous relevant articles, including "Black Lives Matter, Black Power and the Role of White Allies."

I refuse to be clichéd and write "In conclusion" at this point, because this is only the beginning. Please take this fight seriously. Black people have lived through this emotional, mental and physical abuse for far too long. Our communities are changing for the better and growing stronger to combat the hate we received from the start of our existence in this country.

You're welcome to join the struggle, but are you ready? So as you navigate these new opportunities through allyship, I challenge you to ask yourself the two questions that I raised at the beginning: Why now? And what now?

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Recommendations for how white allies can truly support black people and their communities (opinion)

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Courageous and intentional conversations around implicit bias and racism aimed at the black community have always taken place. These conversations were occurring long before the tragedies of George Floyd, Trayvon Martin and many others. As I scroll through the social media timelines and see so many new perceived allies of the black community, I can't help but think, why now?

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What Black scientists want from colleagues and their institutions

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What Black scientists want from colleagues and their institutions

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Black academics are calling out racism in science, recounting behaviours ranging from overt acts to micro-aggressions, using social-media hashtags such as #BlackInTheIvory.

A study in April highlighted how students from under-represented groups innovate more than their white male counterparts do - but receive few to no career benefits from their discoveries because their contributions are often overlooked.

Nature spoke to six Black academic researchers about the effects of racism on their careers, their advice to white colleagues and their thoughts on meaningful institutional actions.

White colleagues have the power to change the system
Vashan Wright, a geophysicist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Massachusetts.
Before I started my undergraduate programme, I thought a university campus was a magical place. I thought I'd be treated not on the basis of my skin colour, but according to how smart I was and my efforts to make the world a better place. This view changed when I saw a Confederate flag flying on my campus - the first time I'd seen one in real life. It changed when someone used a racial epithet against me and threatened to kill me.

Black academic success happens despite systemic racism and bias. It's hard to tell whether dismissive body language is bias. It's hard to tell why my first paper was in limbo for ten months and rejected without review. It's hard to tell whether people's faces are expressing surprise at my ideas, or at the fact that those ideas are coming from someone who is Black. It's those quiet things that eat away at you.

In March, I started a postdoc at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) in Massachusetts, which I had visited a couple of times as a PhD student. But I haven't physically been there in my new position because of the coronavirus. I enjoyed earning a PhD in a laboratory with a diverse range of students at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, and I'll miss that environment, but I appreciate that WHOI formed a committee for diversity and inclusion and a partnership-education programme to foster a culture of inclusivity.

More recently, Hendratta Ali, a geoscientist at Fort Hays State University in Kansas, and colleagues crafted an anti-racist action plan for geoscience societies. It calls for them to collect scientifically valid data on diversity, equity and inclusion, to publish accountability reports and to ensure that diversity and racial justice are discussed at well-attended events.

Still, the geosciences are one of the least diverse disciplines in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. I sometimes worry that I'll never be able to recreate the diverse environment that I enjoyed during my PhD, but I am committed to that vision as I advance in my career.

Some white faculty members don't want to acknowledge that Black students experience racism. They don't necessarily deny your experiences, but they often look for another explanation to try to protect you. A faculty member of colour knows that they cannot protect you from it.

Scientific communities need to decide where, and for what, they stand by asking their members: what message are you sending if you are not actively being anti-racist and trying to change the system?

I say to my white colleagues: you have the most power in the geosciences; you benefit the most from racism and lack of diversity. It is therefore your job to fix the system. But I'll help you.

Create opportunities for difficult conversations
Nikea Pittman, a structural biologist at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
My university and its diversity and inclusivity committee have released messages of support for the Black community following the protests in the wake of George Floyd's death, but it can feel like there's a lot of silence beyond those messages. It's hard for a Black person to initiate conversations around this topic because of a fear of coming across as aggressive, especially when those conversations might not be welcome. In early June, two white male colleagues (not in my lab) discussed the protests, standing two feet away from me, while I pretended not to be hurt by the exclusion.

Almost two weeks later, one of the youngest graduate students in my lab suggested we have a group conversation about race. I intentionally didn't open my mouth until everyone else had spoken. I hadn't heard what my colleagues think about these issues, and it was easier for me to open up once it became apparent that everyone wanted to know how to be an ally to the Black community. If your lab hasn't had this conversation yet, you can still have it - and it can make a big difference.

I've been waiting for more than a decade to hear non-Black people be outraged at the way Black people are treated in the United States, and was hopeful that we could collectively mourn. Even though it's not my responsibility, I want to help make these conversations easier. But I don't always know how to proceed. I jumped on a bandwagon of Black academics on social media who are volunteering to support younger colleagues who feel alone. We need collaboration in academia to tackle these problems. Black scientists can't carry the burden on their own.

Universities can help faculty members to learn how to bridge difficult conversations, and to acknowledge the emotional burden of systemic racism. Department heads can encourage their faculty members to initiate and maintain these discussions with their teams.

At the institutional level, so much of the diversity conversation right now is focused on recruiting more students of colour and finding ways to support them once they arrive. And that's important, but it's a very different question from the one that the Black community is struggling with right now: we're asking what we can do to prevent the next instance of police brutality. I saw that the University of Minnesota had severed a contract with the city's police department, which had provided patrols at large campus events, because of concerns about violence. Those are bold, immediate actions that get to the root of the problem.

On social media, I saw medical students at the University of Washington in Seattle initiate an anti-racism summer-reading programme. I really hope that tenured white faculty members will do the research, too, and be able to say: "I've learned how racism, discrimination and implicit bias affect my Black colleagues." And then they will realize at the next faculty meeting that they can start conversations that their Black colleagues cannot start without putting their career on the line.

Commit to bold hiring targets
Mark Richards, a physicist at Imperial College London.
It's quite easy for a Black person in the United Kingdom to relate to underlying issues of racism in the United States. Heavy-handed policing is not new to our Black community. Like most people around the world, we are experiencing sadness, anger and frustration.

Being one of the few Black academics in my field and at this university, I feel a level of responsibility to do what I can to nurture and inspire the next generation. To be a good ally, it's not quite enough to be neutral. You have to be anti-racist when necessary. Racism is like a virus - attitudes spread when they are validated. To kill the racism virus, you have to distance yourself from that ideology so that eventually there is nowhere for it to be transmitted. The best way to combat white supremacy is to focus on Black excellence.

Until recently, many institutions didn't feel there was a problem. They lamented that no Black students were applying, but a 'what can we do?' attitude prevailed for many years. I think that institutions must look at their data to shed light on whether they are being institutionally racist. If a university is located in the centre of a huge city with a high Black population living locally, but has only a minuscule number of Black students, that has to tell you something.

At Imperial College London, we have been trying for 15 years to address a shortage of Black students and those from other under-represented groups, through an advisory group called Imperial as One. Yet representation of people from all minority ethnic groups remains low here, at less than 10%. The problem will not be solved simply by employing more faculty members of colour. We have to actually attract students from under-represented groups. Imperial did something decisive and made a commitment to double its intake of students from under-represented groups over the next five years. The push to achieve this goal is due to start this autumn. I hope other academic institutions will replicate these types of action.

Beyond the basics of simply treating all people as equals, enough data exists to show that diverse teams are more productive. Posing the question, "Is your university being as diverse as it could be?" is essentially the same as asking, "Is the university being as productive as it could be?" What leader doesn't want to ask that question?

Consider 'cluster hiring'
Kishana Taylor, a virologist at the University of California, Davis.
I met my postdoc adviser, virologist Sam Díaz-Muñoz, in 2017 at a Twitter meet-up, at a conference organized by the American Society for Microbiology in New Orleans, Louisiana. At the end of the conversation, he asked me to apply for a job in his new lab at the University of California (UC), Davis.

My PhD experience, at the University of Georgia in Athens, had dealt a blow to my self-esteem. I was the only Black graduate student in a department with no Black professors. I was by myself, in terms of representation, in a state where Black people make up 30% of the population. When I met my postdoc adviser, I hadn't yet published anything and had no confidence that I would be competitive. Had he not contacted me a second time, I would not have pursued that position.

During my PhD programme, between 2013 and 2018, high-profile shootings of unarmed Black people - notably Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, who was just 12 years old, and Michael Brown - prompted a number of criminal trials, but none secured convictions. I'd come into the lab feeling heavy and upset after these deaths. No one noticed. I tried to talk about my feelings to a staff member, who told me not to get too upset because we didn't know what had happened. I learnt quickly to not even bother trying to have those conversations.

I was going to leave science after my PhD unless I found a lab that valued diversity. Although I found a principal investigator who does, my department at UC Davis doesn't have any Black professors. Academic institutions need to take actions instead of just saying they value students from under-represented minority groups. We need more scientists of colour in leadership positions.

Practices such as 'cluster hiring', which can be used to diversify faculties, have been tried at a number of universities and should get more attention. With cluster hiring, universities advertise multiple faculty positions at once, but don't always stipulate specific fields; this can improve the odds that candidates from under-represented minority groups will be selected, making it easier for them to fit in if they are. It's infinitely more lonely, and harder to adjust, if someone is the only Black person to be hired in a department. For example, the entire University of Maryland system has a US National Science Foundation grant to create a pre-professoriate pipeline, hiring transitional postdocs with the intent of bringing them in as faculty members in a year or two.

It's important for white colleagues to ask themselves whether they'd be comfortable walking into a room full of Black or Latin American people - and then to imagine what it's like for us when, every day of our lives, we have to enter rooms full of only white people. My biggest pet peeve is when white colleagues, who do research for a living, ask me for advice on how to be an ally without having done any research. It's not hard to find journal articles that detail the impact of diversity, equity and inclusivity initiatives.

Create a welcoming environment
Henry Henderson, a cancer biologist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee.
I trained at Tuskegee University in Alabama, a historically Black university, where everyone looked like me. But I started to question whether I wanted to continue in academia when I went to national conferences and saw so few people of colour. Yet I realized that, if I stepped out, it would decrease the chances for someone else who looked like me to climb the academic ladder.

At Vanderbilt, I am one of two Black postdocs on a floor with at least ten labs. It reminds me that there's still a lot to do. We have programmes to support diversity and inclusion, but that's not enough. I've experienced microaggressions. At a poster presentation at a large meeting, every question I got asked was, "Who did all this work?", even though I was first author. It's not unusual for white colleagues to insinuate that people of colour are in certain programmes only because their research is being supported by supplementary grants for members of minority groups. If you create opportunities, honour the policy in place to increase diversity.

When I come to the lab in the evening, I am usually followed by campus police from the parking complex to the building, and they ask to see my badge but let white people go right by. I'm used to that from city police. My mother wants me to wear my ID badge everywhere I go, in the hope that it will keep me safe.

I had considered leaving academia several times. My current principal investigator, oncologist Christine Lovly, saved me. She strives to foster opportunities, and puts me in leadership roles - inviting me, for example, into a group focused on health disparities in cancer - so that I can have a voice and gain experience promoting dialogue in areas relevant to my research. This approach took me by surprise at first. I wondered whether she was overworking me, but she wanted to increase my impact in spaces that I otherwise wouldn't be in. She's encouraged me to apply for a US National Institutes of Health grant, even though I was hesitant because of the gap between success rates for white and African American applicants. I wouldn't be on Twitter if it weren't for her. She saw that I wanted to diversify science, and created this postdoc opportunity so that I could reach back and pull others up, too.

Creating a welcoming environment is very different from inviting Black people to university functions, academic programmes and professional society meetings simply to increase the number of us. We can tell when we're here to be here as opposed to being tokenized. In a welcoming space, we are asked to speak at talks, to offer input, to collaborate and to lead projects.

I worry that there are periods during which society is outraged by racism, only for everything to go back to the way it was within a couple of months. We need a continuous effort to improve racial diversity in science and medicine. Institutions should create more programmes that emphasize not only diversity, but also the retention of Black students in the scientific pipeline, including support throughout their education. I have six nephews who are all interested in science because of me. Imagine if there were more Black academics. How many other kids would be inspired?

Make hiring for leadership posts more transparent
Abdulhakim Abdi, a physical geographer at Lund University, Sweden.
I came to Sweden in 2012 to get a PhD at Lund. Before that, I worked as a geographic-information systems specialist at the Lamont-Doherty Observatory in New York City. There, Robin Bell, the head of the research group and the current president of the American Geophysical Union, created an environment where everybody's voice was heard and respected. That encouraged me to pursue a PhD and to ask my own research questions.

At the same time, I experienced overt racism in the United States while exploring the outdoors as a bird watcher. I grew up in Abu Dhabi and started observing birds when I was 14. After I moved to the United States at the age of 21, for my undergraduate degree, I had to explain to police at least half a dozen times that I was simply outside watching birds. The police weren't aggressive, but they told me that I was making people uncomfortable and that I had to move along. So, for the rest of the 11 years that I was in the United States, I stopped bird-watching. Here in Sweden, people might give me strange looks when I'm outdoors, but they don't say anything or call the police. In everyday encounters here, it can be difficult to discern whether people are being racist or whether they are simply introverted culturally.

The student body is pretty diverse in universities across Sweden, but less so in the upper echelons. I'm worried about the lack of transparency in hiring and promotion decisions. What goes on behind closed doors? These problems were detailed in a 2018 report on the prevalence of nepotism in Swedish academia.

As the report suggested, a combination of increased funding, to help alleviate universities' reliance on hiring 'safe bets', and greater transparency in hiring should reduce nepotism and hopefully eliminate it. Swedish institutions have strong gender-equality programmes, as they should. But there are no programmes that open the higher echelons of academia to qualified and capable researchers from the country's recognized minority groups; these include the Sami and the Roma, as well as other established communities such as people from Iraq and Somalia.

Still, when I was offered a position in the United States soon after I earned my PhD, I decided to stay here with my family - it made more sense financially because we have subsidized day care and health care.

I think every university should create an ecosystem where Black scientists and those from other minority groups feel comfortable. Academics need to let go of the myth that they have no biases. They need to respect Black people's opinions and invite Black and minority-ethnic academics to be co-authors of papers. And they need to expand their networks to create opportunities for colleagues from under-represented groups.

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What Black scientists want from colleagues and their institutions

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Black academics are calling out racism in science, recounting behaviours ranging from overt acts to micro-aggressions, using social-media hashtags such as #BlackInTheIvory. A study in April highlighted how students from under-represented groups innovate more than their white male counterparts do - but receive few to no career benefits from their discoveries because their contributions are often overlooked.

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Academia Isn’t a Safe Haven for Conversations About Race and Racism

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Academia Isn’t a Safe Haven for Conversations About Race and Racism

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We're having hard conversations about racial justice in corporate America and academia right now. We have seen a flurry of company statements about diversity amid nationwide protests supporting the Black Lives Matter movement. Will these conversations yield anything?

Our research, personal stories, and the experiences of many others don't offer much cause for optimism. Why? When people of color give voice to the discrimination they experience, they are often silenced by their white colleagues, many of whom purport to be liberal progressives. And although there is a perception that academia is a safe haven for these kinds of honest conversations, it is often the opposite. Until this changes in education and beyond, it's our view that we will be unable to reach racial equity in white institutional spaces.

We know firsthand what it means to be part of a white academic institution - we write as scholars of color who have committed a lifetime to anti-racism and cross-racial alliances. The two of us bonded and built a friendship over our shared experiences with racial hostility in the workplace. In this article, we want to share our personal stories and some of the relevant research to identify some of the common themes that underpin what silencing and sidelining looks like, especially from white progressive colleagues. We believe that our personal experiences - along with the experiences of so many others - will help illustrate the barriers still in place for how we talk about, analyze and take action around racial justice.

The Burdens of Invisible Labor and the "Inclusion Tax"

Tsedale's research focuses on how race, gender, class, diversity, and workplace inequality play a major role in the professional experiences of women of color. Her book, You Don't Look Like a Lawyer: Black Women and Systemic Gendered Racism, specifically examines how race and gender impact the career trajectories of Black women lawyers. In it, she describes the concept of the invisible labor clause, which is the added "invisible labor" marginalized groups are required to perform in order to navigate their daily existence within social and professional spaces. She also introduces the inclusion tax concept to describe the additional resources "spent," such as time, money, and emotional and cognitive energy, just to adhere to the norms in these white spaces - all of which contributes to the silencing of people of color in white institutional spaces. Their competence is questioned daily in ways that their white counterparts are not. And Black women are often made to bear the brunt of doing the diversity work in order to have their organizations perceived as progressive.

Angie's work has included research into how women and faculty of color teach about racism. She addresses invisible labor in terms of the added burden faculty of color face in teaching their courses and taking on the disproportionate level of mentoring students of color. Faculty of color dedicate a great deal of time preparing for and managing student resistance to their teaching, but that work is rarely recognized in tenure and promotion decisions. In fact, this added labor takes away from writing and publishing, which, in turn, hurts their tenure and promotion chances.

Angie, like Tsedale, has also found that people of color are pressured to conform and manage their emotions to suit the comfort of white people, often as a means of professional survival. Faculty of color may feel pressure to remain silent about injustice or inequalities until they are tenured or promoted. Furthermore, faculty who have faced hostility in departments tend to withdraw from department functions or resign. White colleagues may resort to criticizing these faculty of color for not being engaged or interacting with them. Again, this can have very real consequences on tenure and promotion.

Black women are significantly underrepresented in academic departments, as well as across various industries. As a Black woman traversing academia, Tsedale has experienced how white people, many of whom may consider themselves progressive, devalue Black bodies. When she was about seven months pregnant, she had a troubling encounter with an older white male faculty member. On an elevator filled with students, he saw her pregnant belly and said: "Oh my God, Why? Your life is going to be over. Come on!" This remark reinforces sociologist Adia Harvey Wingfield's concept of systemic gendered racism. Wingfield argues that Joe R. Feagin's concept of a white racial frame - a dominant white perspective that only sees things from a white point of view, including ideologies, images, stereotypes, assumptions, and racialized narratives that posit whites as superior to people of color, thereby reinforcing white privilege and power and maintaining racial inequality (although people of color can also adopt this frame) - is also gendered.

Systemic gendered racism denotes that there is an inextricable linkage of race and gender that leads to differentiated outcomes. Black women therefore experience racial and gendered domination in ways that are unique to their social identity. What Tsedale had to do next is an example of the invisible labor Black women have to perform as a result - she had to directly address the racialized and gendered nature of his attack. This was not just a careless remark in an elevator. All of these everyday interactions add up to an exhausting burden on people of color.

Angie is Korean-American and grew up in a predominantly white community where she was called a "chink" and harassed on a daily basis. The discrimination she has experienced - from watching her mother be mocked for her accent to being taunted, bullied, and physically attacked by white neighbors and classmates - exacerbated her instinct to remain silent so as not to risk further antagonizing anyone. Some of Angie's experiences with white colleagues, many of whom call themselves progressives, have included everything from being asked what her ethnicity is during interviews, being referred to as a "favorite food," to being told her personal and professional experiences do not matter because she is not Black, to being sexually harassed by faculty who have told her they like Asian women.

The emotional and cognitive energy Angie has exerted to deal with daily, racialized aggressions from her white colleagues is part of her invisible labor. That's often prevented her from engaging fully with her department and feeling like a valued member of her academic community. Like many other faculty of color, she has to spend extra time and effort to ensure that her reputation, as well as her work, is not derailed.

Racism-Evasive Rhetoric

Angie studies liberal ideology and how it contributes to organizational silences on racism. She argues that external racial ideologies of "color-blindness" interact with internal organizational cultures to produce something called racism-evasive responses. Racism-evasive rhetoric denies naming and addressing the significance and realities of racism. Examples include: emotional responses, such as crying, to deflect from hard conversations; using African Americans as color capital; the performance of sending white children to racially diverse schools as a way to deflect from problematic or racist behavior; and claiming special insights due to traveling the world or having intermarried. In Angie's experience, all of these racism-evasive tactics have surfaced in everything from departmental discussions about racism to cynicism and incredulity about her research on the experiences of faculty of color.

When discussions of systemic and institutional racism do happen, white people often want to run the conversation. In her forthcoming book, Angie names this phenomenon " liberal white supremacy " - the tendency of white people to constantly place themselves in the superior moral position. This takes many forms. Some want to compete for the title of most "woke" progressive. Some show up to insert themselves in conversations about racial and economic inequality only when it becomes popular or high-profile to do so.

In line with Angie's research, Tsedale has experienced how white colleagues use racism-evasive tactics to avoid engaging issues that push Black voices from the margins to the center. One such incident occurred when Tsedale was working towards incorporating more diverse programming for academics and practitioners in her field. To her dismay, her ideas were met with skepticism by a white liberal colleague for actively promoting too many voices of leading Black scholars. This colleague was concerned that the event, which traditionally centers white academics, would turn into a "Black thing." This staved off the centering of Black voices in a predominately white organization, while simultaneously silencing Tsedale. One of the worst parts of this interaction is that this white liberal colleague would probably never imagine herself to be participating in anti-black racism-evasive tactics.

Defining Who Gets to Be An Ally

Angie's experiences differ from her African American colleagues, but the issue that unites them is that none of them share in white privilege. Angie has had strong African and Asian American mentors, who supported her scholarship, but also listened empathetically to her experiences with racial discrimination and helped her combat it. These mentors of color never denied her experiences or claim that they did not matter. That is a level of disrespect Angie has only encountered from her white, presumably progressive colleagues.

When Angie united with African Americans in a people of color caucus to address racism in academia, her white colleagues responded by questioning her racial identity and her right to these associations - questions her Black colleagues never asked. Some of her white colleagues have gone so far as to tell her Black colleagues that she is an "honorary white" and should not be allied with them. This behavior is another example of liberal white supremacy. White faculty are dictating which people of color are allowed to share connections while failing to recognize their own racial status and privilege as white. These divisive acts further silence and control people of color.

Angie has found that her white colleagues often react with denial when she discusses the racist bullying, harassment, and trauma she has faced as a person of color. They discourage her from talking about how this trauma informs her teaching and research on racism, anti-blackness, and why academic departments have an obligation to address racial hostility. They certainly seem to like her better when she is a silent model minority sharing her bulgogi recipe.

Going forward, we need to redefine both who gets to be an ally and what that role means - in part, to recognize that the assumptions and biases that preserve white spaces are reproduced over and over by the same white faculty who argue that racial equity is part of their narrative. In our view, it is not.

Normalizing White Experiences

Another point of convergence in Tsedale and Angie's research is how dominant white culture in American society operates to normalize the white experience, frequently excluding all other racial groups. As illustrated in sociologist Wendy Leo Moore's work, in order for students and faculty of color to be successful in white spaces, they are often required to put their own experiences aside to "fit in" to the existing culture.

Tsedale has been questioned in her work as to whether she should center the experiences of Black women in her research without including the voices of white women. Here, white liberal faculty worked - knowingly or not - to shift the intellectual discourse back to their white voices, making them seem superior. Thankfully, Tsedale had a champion who stood up in that moment so that she would not have to legitimize Black women's voices - including her own - through the lens of a white female narrative.

In Tsedale's research, individuals in organizations who publicly align themselves with those who are vocal on issues pertaining to race and racism tend to be marginalized. Taking a stand on strong issues of racial justice and equity, calling out racist practices, or identifying ways that the institution participates in maintaining the status quo is frowned upon. Therefore, individuals who engage in this "political" work in institutions find themselves in difficult positions. This often equates to being "too Black" in white institutional spaces. Raising issues about racialized aggressions large or small and aligning oneself publicly with individuals who share in this mindset, is viewed as problematic and can lead to being penalized in the future.

Where Do We Go From Here?

Given all of this context, we return to the question we started with: Is it possible to have the kinds of constructive conversations that will lead to real change? Can the silencing of people of color be shifted? What will happen after this sudden scramble of predominantly white institutions writing statements on racial justice? Are they trying to performatively jump into the excitement of the movement?

We believe the most important thing organizations can do is outline clear, actionable steps to create change, not only at the administrative and leadership levels, but also in the behavior and mindset of white colleagues. For academic departments issuing racial and social justice affirmation statements, ask yourselves honestly: Why now? How many full-time Black faculty members do you have? Do you respect your colleagues of color by taking their complaints seriously? Do you promote their work? Do you recognize the invisible labor your colleagues of color engage in, or do you pile more work onto them expecting them to be your teachers? Have your colleagues complained of mistreatment in your institutions? How do you treat people of color who are brave enough to point out your racist practices? Do you engage in racism-denial or racial ignorance and subject your colleagues to dehumanizing white fragile behaviors? For those of you in leadership positions, have colleagues of color asked you for help? How have you responded? Have you used your voice to push for needed changes when you're at the decision-making table?

We hope that by sharing our stories, more of our colleagues in academia and beyond will be inspired to speak out - even when the crowds have gone home and if that support comes at a personal cost to you. There needs to be accountability. Progressive white people, we see you. Do you see us?
A note on style: In her academic work, Angie Beeman prefers to put the word "white" in quotation marks when referring to race to reflect the scholarly position that it does not represent a biological reality, but a harmful identity created over time to divide people.

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Academia Isn't a Safe Haven for Conversations About Race and Racism

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We are having hard conversations about racial justice in corporate America and academia right now. Will they yield anything? The research and personal stories of these authors - both scholars of color - along with experiences of many others don't offer much cause for optimism. Why?

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What Critical Race Studies Teaches Us About Racism, Resistance & Policing

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What Critical Race Studies Teaches Us About Racism, Resistance & Policing

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Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: What Critical Race Studies Teaches Us About Racism, Resistance & Policing. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar.

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The Critical Race Studies Program (https://law.ucla.edu/academics/centers/critical-race-studies) at UCLA School of Law is pleased to invite you to our upcoming webinar, What Critical Race Studies Teaches Us About Racism, Resistance & Policing, on Tuesday July 7th from 12-1:30 PST. Panelists: E. Tendayi Achiume (https://law.ucla.edu/faculty/faculty-profiles/e-tendayi-achiume) Devon W. Carbado (https://law.ucla.edu/faculty/faculty-profiles/devon-w-carbado) Cheryl I. Harris (https://law.ucla.edu/faculty/faculty-profiles/cheryl-i-harris).

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Nell Irvin Painter White identity in America is ideology, not biology. The history of 'whiteness' proves it.

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Nell Irvin Painter White identity in America is ideology, not biology. The history of 'whiteness' proves it.

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The last few weeks have subjected Americans to images of atrocities that Black Americans, sadly, are all too familiar with: killings at the hands of police and horrendous but routine instances of racial discrimination. These injustices have been going on for decades, with Black people staging protests largely alone. This time feels different, because anti-police brutality and anti-racist demonstrations have occurred in all 50 states, in small towns as well as big cities, and indeed around the world. The demonstrators are not solely Black this time; they display a beautiful range of races and ethnicities, in the streets together to proclaim that Black lives matter.

That history includes white people who think of themselves as individuals without a meaningful racial identity as well as white nationalists and Klansmen.

Demands arise now for cultural change, for education that imparts the history of white supremacy in America and the history of Black Americans as citizens and creators. Please don't think those two are the same thing. Black history, on the one hand, and anti-Black injustice, on the other, are two distinct histories, even though African American history includes the devastating toll of anti-Black atrocity.

I'm delighted to see so many flocking to the histories of Black Americans and white supremacy, two subjects that every American should be familiar with. Because we need to know that the construction of whiteness has its own history. That history includes white people who think of themselves as individuals without a meaningful racial identity as well as white nationalists and Klansmen parading around in theirs. There's so much more to the history of white people.

Americans still struggle to understand that race is an ideology, not a biological fact, more like witchcraft than empirical science. Just as difficult to grasp, it seems, is the idea that our idea of one big white race, which you're either in or out of, is less than a century old.

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White identity didn't just spring to life full-blown and unchanging, which is what most people assume. Whiteness is severely under theorized, leaving millions unaware of a history whose constant characteristic is change. Whiteness has changed over time, over place, and in the myriad situations of human ranking.

Let me say it again: Whiteness has a history whose meanings change. Neither scholars nor ordinary people have been able to agree upon the definition of white people - who is white and who is not - nor on the number of races that count as white. Disagreement reigns and has reigned since the modern scientific notion of human races was invented in the 18th-century Enlightenment. Nota bene: invented in the 18th century.

Before the Enlightenment, people classified themselves and others according to clan, tribe, kingdom, locale, religion and an infinity of identities dependent on what people thought was important about themselves and others. Before the Enlightenment, Europeans could see human difference, they could see who was tall, who short, who light-skinned, who dark, differences they explained according to religion, cultural habits, geography, wealth and climate, among the most usual characteristics, but not race.

But Enlightenment scholars started to classify humanity into groups that came to be called races, defined according to bodily measurements such as eye color, skin color, height, and skull dimensions. The most enduring classification came from Johann Friedrich Blumenbach (1752-1840), a professor in the German University of Göttingen. Blumenbach based his classification on skull measurements and divided humanity into five "varieties," which he laid out according to his aesthetic preferences.

At the two extremities Blumenbach placed the skulls he considered ugly, the African and the Asian. Next to the African was the Tahitian. Next to the Asian was the Native American. In the middle was Blumenbach's "most beautiful skull" - of a young Georgian woman who had been a sex slave in Moscow, where she died of venereal disease. Her beautiful skull became the basis for the name given to white people; a native of the South Caucasus (between the Black and Caspian Seas), she inspired the label "Caucasian."

The history of American whiteness since the Enlightenment bristles with an abundance of fascinating figures. Everyone from Thomas Jefferson, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Franz Boas, Malcolm X, Michael Novak and Toni Morrison have influenced our thinking about whiteness. I have written a whole long book about how this thinking evolved, conveniently entitled "The History of White People," which elaborates on what I just said.

It's too easy to think of Irish, Italian, Slavic, or Greek immigrants and their children as "becoming" white. But that rhetorical construction ignores how Americans thought about whiteness before the 1940s. Then, race scientists and ordinary people thought there were several white races, such as the Celtic (Irish) race, the Northern Italian Race, the Eastern European Hebrew race, the Southern Italian race, and so on, which were ranked high to low beneath the Anglo-Saxon/Saxon/Teutonic/Nordic white race on top, depending on when you were speaking and to whom. Adult male immigrants of these supposedly inferior white races could vote when Black men born in the U.S. could not.

Why were the 1940s such a turning point? Because Nazis in Germany were committing racist crimes while arguing that Jews were different racially from Germans.

Why were the 1940s such a turning point? Because Nazis in Germany were committing racist crimes while arguing that Jews were different racially from Germans, that Jews were not Aryans, which an embarrassingly large proportion of Americans also believed, e.g., Henry Ford, an ardent anti-Semite.

In the 1940s, with another world war looming and national unity a top priority, experts taught Americans that whiteness was unitary, a key point used to prop up anti-Black segregation.

Unitary whiteness held up until the late 20th century, when immigrants from Latin America and Asia complicated the classification of American races. We now live in an age where race (Black, white, etc.) coexists with ethnicity (Hispanic, non-Hispanic). Who knows what classifications the future will bring? Some things we can see already, that whiteness was most valuable when laws and customs of exclusion protected it, laws no longer enforceable and customs falling by the wayside as Americans trample color bars and marry whomever they wish, regardless of race. At the same time, whiteness continues to reconstitute itself, as Hispanic Americans increasingly declare themselves to be white, along with a constellation of Americans who boast mixed races and a kaleidoscope of skin tones.

Whiteness isn't done with us yet, but it need not be the same whiteness as two or three generations ago, as a generation ago, despite the heroic efforts of white nationalists to shore it up with guns. This is a good thing. Since the George Floyd protests, fewer and fewer white Americans are now able thoughtlessly to think of themselves as unraced individuals with no role to play in undoing white supremacy. May their embrace of human rights, especially Black rights, change yet again the meanings of American whiteness.

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Opinion | How the real history of whiteness undermines the myth of white supremacy

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The last few weeks have subjected Americans to images of atrocities that Black Americans, sadly, are all too familiar with: killings at the hands of police and horrendous but routine instances of racial discrimination. These injustices have been going on for decades, with Black people staging protests largely alone.

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Racism isn’t about ignorance. Some highly educated people have upheld systemic inequality

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Racism isn’t about ignorance. Some highly educated people have upheld systemic inequality

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About US is an initiative by The Washington Post to explore issues of identity in the United States. Sign up for the newsletter.

As rebellions against the police killings of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and, last weekend, Rayshard Brooks, shake the country, education is once again being prescribed as racism's cure. Anti-racist reading lists are bouncing around Twitter and mainstream publications, pushing books on racism atop bestseller charts and fueling months-long wait-lists at local libraries. Celebrities like the Golden State Warriors' coach, Steve Kerr, have called for a better education in African American history, and many white people have decided now is the time to reach out to their black friends, seeking absolution and education.

Nothing warms our nerdy professorial hearts like seeing people buy books, and we understand the need for knowledge to attack entrenched social problems (please keep borrowing, exchanging and buying books, everyone). And we are deeply committed to popular anti-racist education. We hope anti-racist education can play a part in eradicating myths about causes and consequences of racial inequality. And black women theorists of abolition have unquestionably contributed to the current global mass movements calling for defunding the police.

But as educators, we also are aware of the limits of the education-as-cure-for-racism trope when it is uncoupled from commitments to redistribute resources. Education detached from concrete, measurable changes, such as protesters' calls for defunding the police departments, is the " thoughts and prayers" of anti-racism. It allows people to feel like something is being done without committing to actual changes that might upset broader patterns of privilege. Prescribing education as the cure for racism often confuses individual bigotry with a system of domination. As a system of domination, racism can be manipulated, because it is bigger than any individual. Highly educated people, who sometimes know better, contribute to systems of racial harm on a regular basis.

The architecture of American racism is not an unfortunate accident: It was created intentionally to acquire and keep power. The highly educated designed America's system of segregation and America's prison system. Highly educated lawyers devise arguments to protect police who kill black and brown folks, highly educated prosecutors decline to bring charges, and highly educated judges assign light sentences. There is no good evidence that educating police about implicit bias works to lessen harm. And whites with high cognitive ability are no more likely to support practical policies that lessen racial inequality. But their education does allow them to offer more sophisticated justifications for privilege.

The trope of education-as-cure also presumes a kind of unwarranted racial innocence, assuming if the poor souls just knew better, they would not call the cops on a birdwatcher, defend segregated schools or shoot a black jogger. For example, white women who call the police on black and brown people for barbecuing, selling bottled water, or simply existing show a keen awareness of racism's operating system. When Amy Cooper called the police in retaliation for being asked to leash her dog in New York's Central Park, she was not showing an irrational fear of black men. Calling 911 was a calculated manipulation of a system that has historically harmed black men. Using knowledge of a system to your advantage is not ignorance, it is the act of someone educated in the nuances of institutionalized racism.

Public outrage, legislation follow calls to police about black people

For some, the caricature of an uneducated backwoods racist may be comforting. This caricature safely places the taint of racism on a different group and immunizes the middle-class from accusations of bias. By placing the problem of racism on the poorly educated, it allows those who are aware or racial inequality to feel like they have done nothing wrong and can therefore safely continue to do nothing.

Most students are taught about the Jim Crow-era efforts to keep schools separate and unequal, but fewer probably know contemporary education shows levels of segregation not seen since before the Supreme Court's 1954 Brown v Board of Education decision. For example, a recent report by the Economic Policy Institute found that black children are five times as likely as white children to attend racially and ethnically segregated schools and twice as likely to attend "high-poverty" schools.

Furthermore, continued use of admissions screens for elite public high schools yield racially exclusive results, as do supposedly desegregated schools that employ racialized tracking. As sociologists Amanda Lewis and John Diamond show, even "best case scenario" integrated schools in highly educated, liberal enclaves maintain segregation in nominally integrated buildings. All these processes happen in the United States' most educated and often most liberal cities, where those who know about the causes of racial inequality lack the political will to intervene.

The lines that divide: School district boundaries often stymie integration

Or imagine a highly educated, anti-racist teacher working in a segregated school who has a personal commitment to equal education. As many teachers from underfunded predominantly nonwhite schools will readily admit, no amount of personal heroism can overcome the racially segregated educational system America seems to accept. These individual commitments to anti-racism, while meaningful and commendable, do little to change the system that disproportionately condemns nonwhite students to schools with poor resources in the first place.

The problem of racial inequality is not just a lack of knowledge; it is the lack of a willingness among many white people to commit to an equitable distribution of resources.

What movements like those currently in the streets recognize is that systemic problems are not solved by education in the absence of collective action. Solutions to racial inequality require a reorganization of what creates inequality in the first place: unequal access to social and material resources. Seeing education as a necessary but insufficient condition for challenging racial inequality is not pessimistic. It recognizes that knowledge used to confront, rather than accommodate or legitimate authority, can lead to a more equitable distribution of power.

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Perspective | Racism isn't about ignorance. Some highly educated people have upheld systemic inequality.

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About US is an initiative by The Washington Post to explore issues of identity in the United States. Sign up for the newsletter . As rebellions against the police killings of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and, last weekend, Rayshard Brooks, shake the country, education is once again being prescribed as racism's cure.

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Josiah Henson: the forgotten story in the history of slavery

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Josiah Henson: the forgotten story in the history of slavery

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From its very first moments, Harriet Beecher Stowe's debut novel Uncle Tom's Cabin was a smashing success. It sold out its 5,000-copy print run in four days in 1852, with one newspaper declaring that "everybody has read it, is reading, or is about to read it". Soon, 17 printing presses were running around the clock to keep up with demand. By the end of its first year in print, the book had sold more than 300,000 copies in the US alone, and another million in Great Britain. It went on to become the bestselling novel of the 19th century.

Before reading Uncle Tom's Cabin, I only knew that Stowe's novel had been credited with influencing the debate at the heart of the American civil war. I had an expensive education, but sadly I learned very little about black history at school; by my early 20s, only names such as Frederick Douglass or Harriet Tubman still rang a bell. All that changed when I discovered that Stowe's novel was based on the life of a real man, named Josiah Henson, whose cabin in Ontario was just a few hours from my home.

As I walked the four-acre grounds and tiny museum, an astounding story unfolded. Henson was entertained at both Windsor Castle and the White House. He won a medal at the first World's Fair, the Great Exhibition at the Crystal Palace in Hyde Park. The British prime minister Lord John Russell threw him a surprise banquet. The archbishop of Canterbury wept after hearing his story. Henson rescued 118 enslaved people, including his own brother, and helped build a 500-person freeman settlement, called Dawn, that was known as one of the final stops on the Underground Railroad. But before all this, he was brutally enslaved for more than 40 years.

And few people have heard of him. Henson has largely been lost to history. Every month, nearly 1.4 million people Google Abraham Lincoln, 228,000 look up Frederick Douglass, and 135,000 search for Confederate general Robert E Lee. Around 3,400 seek out Henson. But after I visited his cabin, I had to know more - so I set off on a 3,000-mile journey to retrace his footsteps from birth to freedom.

Henson was born near Port Tobacco, Maryland, around 1789. His first memory was of his father being whipped to the bone, having his ear cut off and being sold south - all as punishment for striking a white man who had attempted to rape his wife. He never saw his father again. Several years later, Henson was separated from his mother and sold to a child trafficker, but soon fell dangerously ill. The slave trader offered the boy to Henson's mother's owner, an alcoholic blacksmith named Isaac Riley, at a price he couldn't refuse: free of charge if the boy died, some horseshoeing work if he survived.

Henson not only survived but rose to the position of farm overseer and Riley's market man in the nation's capital. There he rubbed shoulders with lawyers, businessmen and Methodist ministers, one of whom taught him how to preach and helped him fundraise to buy his freedom.

Today 'Uncle Tom' has a very derogatory meaning, due to its bastardisation at the hands of racist blackface playwrights

After receiving a $350 down payment on his emancipation - about three years' wages for a white farm labourer - Riley swindled Henson by sending him to Kentucky to visit his brother Amos, who attempted to sell him south to New Orleans. Henson narrowly avoided that harsh fate through a highly providential twist of events: Riley's nephew Amos Junior, the young man tasked with selling Henson, contracted malaria. Rather than letting the teenager die, Henson honourably loaded him on a steamship, then returned north.

In 1830, Henson escaped Kentucky by water on a moonless night. Travelling by night and sleeping by day, Henson, his wife and four children made the 600-mile journey to the Canadian border on foot, assisted in part by Quakers and Native Americans, but mostly by their own pluck. Upon reaching the Niagara River, a kindly Scottish captain paid to send the Henson family across. According to one edition of Henson's autobiography, the captain askedif Henson would be a good man in his new land.

"Yes," Henson replied. "I'll use my freedom well."

Josiah Henson and his wife Nancy. Photograph: Public Domain

And indeed, the overarching theme of Henson's story is the stewardship of freedom. Rather than using his prodigious business and oratory skills to simply build a comfortable life for himself, he agitated for equality of opportunity, smuggled friends and family to safety, planted churches, and defended himself against imprisonment after supporting families who sent sons to fight in the civil war. He embarked on a nearly 100-stop British speaking tour to raise funds for the cause. With the help of US American supporters and British Christian philanthropists, he constructed a settlement for African American refugees, fundraised for black social enterprises including a sawmill and brickworks, and even built a desegregated school, nearly a century before the end of Jim Crow in the 1960s.

Inspired in part by Henson's story, Stowe penned her novel. The backlash came rapidly and rabidly; authors and columnists rushed to defend their romantic and chivalric southern ideals from this Yankee onslaught, arguing that Stowe's writing was nothing more than sectarian propaganda.

A Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin by Stowe.

In response, Stowe published A Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin. In it, she named all the real people who inspired Mr Haley, George Harris, Eliza, Simon Legree, and the rest. As for Uncle Tom, Stowe wrote: "The character of Uncle Tom has been objected to as improbable; and yet the writer has received more confirmations of that character, and from a great variety of sources, than of any other in the book." Laying out the inspiration for various scenes in Uncle Tom's story, she declared: "A last instance parallel with that of Uncle Tom is to be found in the published memoirs of the venerable Josiah Henson ... now pastor of the missionary settlement at Dawn, in Canada."

Among all the readers of Stowe's Key, there was one whose influence could not be overstated. According to the Library of Congress's circulation records, Lincoln borrowed The Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin on 16 June 1862, and returned it 43 days later, on 29 July. The dates correspond exactly to the time during which he drafted the Emancipation Proclamation. We may never know the degree to which Stowe influenced Lincoln, but it is clear that during the critical time, he had Henson's story near at hand.

Henson's story played a major role in Lincoln's election as well. His Republican party distributed 100,000 copies of Uncle Tom's Cabin during the presidential campaign of 1860, as a way to stir up anti-slavery support. Without the abolitionist press and Stowe's book, it's possible that Lincoln would not have garnered enough support to win. As fellow Republican US senator Charles Sumner declared: "Had there been no Uncle Tom's Cabin, there would have been no Lincoln in the White House."

Despite the fact that Henson played a pivotal role in world history, entrenched values are not easily uprooted. After Stowe published the Key and identified Henson, his supporters rebranded him "the real Uncle Tom". It was a good thing, at the time. Today "Uncle Tom" has a very derogatory meaning, due to its bastardisation at the hands of racist blackface playwrights in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The man who sacrificed himself to win freedom for others was turned into a subservient and cowardly slave who curries favour with the white man. In a cruel disfigurement of a fictional hero, humility became baboonery, martyrdom became traitorhood. For more than 40 years after his death, blackface Tom shows played within a half-mile of Henson's grave. And within a generation, his story was nearly lost.

This is perhaps the greatest travesty of the white-centric narratives we are taught about our nations' pasts, that a bona fide international hero can be erased because of the colour of his skin. Black history has been intentionally lost and destroyed, on a huge scale. There are certainly many more figures like Henson, but we don't even know what we don't know. Harper's Magazine once estimated that the US owes more than $100 trillion in reparations for forced labour between 1619 and 1865. After slavery was abolished in the US, it continued overseas - there may be more people enslaved today than at any point in history - while other means of repression were quickly institutionalised to deal with the "black problem" in the US. Jim Crow tactics eventually failed, as will manufactured inequality, mass incarceration, and violence-based policing. But who knows what the future holds, in the age of AI superintelligence, algorithmic blockchains, and surveillance corporatism.

Lying about our history? Now that's something Britain excels at | Ian Cobain

Henson died at 93 in Ontario, in 1883. Today, he has been consigned to obscurity. There are no riverfront statues of him, nor are there any parks, schools, or universities named in his honour. He is little-taught in British, American or Canadian history classrooms, nor has his story been portrayed on the big or small screen. But thankfully, Henson's legacy continues through his descendants, who include Arctic explorer Matthew Henson, Oscar-nominated actor Taraji P Henson, and the hundreds-strong family reunion that takes place every summer, rotating between Michigan, Ontario, and Maryland. So long as the Henson family lives, there will be torchbearers to keep his story alive. It may take another 100 years before school children know the name Henson as readily as they do Lincoln and Washington - but as monuments to racism topple around the globe, they leave space for worthier replacements.

Jared A Brock is the author of The Road to Dawn: Josiah Henson and the Story That Sparked the Civil War and the director of PBS's Redeeming Uncle Tom.
Topics

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Josiah Henson: the forgotten story in the history of slavery

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From its very first moments, Harriet Beecher Stowe's debut novel Uncle Tom's Cabin was a smashing success. It sold out its 5,000-copy print run in four days in 1852, with one newspaper declaring that "everybody has read it, is reading, or is about to read it".

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Loving a Black person isn’t the same as fighting for Black lives

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Loving a Black person isn’t the same as fighting for Black lives

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My boyfriend and I have a game we play whenever we're out in public. Whenever one of us spots another interracial couple passing by, we'll give the other a little nudge and whisper, "Look, an us!" Sometimes it's an older us; sometimes it's a more stylish version, or a queer version, or a rebellious teen version. Every time, though, we share a smile, because it's nice to be reminded that we aren't alone. While interracial couples now make up more than 10 percent of all new marriages in the U.S., partnerships like ours are still uncommon enough - or taboo enough - to garner stares when we're out in public. I've noticed that police tend to stare the hardest, and whenever I catch them looking, my stomach drops.

As a white cisgender woman from a rural community, my early interactions with police barely left an impression. My boyfriend, on the other hand, vividly remembers each time he was stopped and frisked on his way home from his South Brooklyn high school, and all the times he's been arrested just because he happened to be Black in public. They see him as a threat, and me as a potential victim. I may be safe around them, but he isn't, and even my whiteness can only offer so much protection.

There is this prevailing notion among some white people that having a close relationship with a Black person means that you cannot possibly be racist.

It can offer some, though, and as the one who holds that power of unearned privilege, it's my job to find ways to use it to support and protect him and the other Black people in our lives. As author and sociologist Crystal Fleming wrote in her book, How to Be Less Stupid About Race, "All too often, interracial couples don't even bother talking about how racism shapes their lives because they can't do that kind of intimate work."

Of course any relationship requires hard work, sacrifice, and communication. But white partners need to understand how those normal challenges are amplified when the person they love is struggling to survive under a white supremacist system designed to tear them down. And that intimate work of loving someone takes on a whole new dimension when your partner is living under constant threat of violence from the racist police state.

It's only been 53 years since the Supreme Court's ruling in the Loving vs. Virginia case declared state bans on interracial marriage unconstitutional and effectively legalizing the practice decades - sometimes centuries - after the laws prohibiting them were first entered onto the books. Each year on June 12, Loving Day, people gather to remember and celebrate that landmark decision, which finally made it legal for straight couples to marry regardless of race, and also helped pave the way for further marriage equality for LGBTQ couples.

KEREM YUCEL/AFP/Getty Images

A lot has changed in those 53 years, but the Black community and its allies are still engaged in that same fight against white supremacy, racism, and police brutality. The arc of history still needs correcting, and the recent nationwide uprising against state violence and police brutality that was sparked by the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery has made clear just how much work there is to be done. During this current moment, white accomplices have a chance to actually be useful, and it is imperative that we get it right.

There is this prevailing notion among some white people that having a close relationship with a Black person means that you cannot possibly be racist.This is a wrongheaded and ignorant way to think about the subject, yet the "but I have a Black friend!" excuse has long been treated as an accountability-avoidance card. And to add another layer, just because you're in an interracial relationship - or have dated or slept with Black partners - that doesn't mean that you're automatically insulated from racism or no longer complicit in white supremacy. Your proximity to Blackness isn't a magical shield.It's a responsibility to those who have allowed you to share that space with them.

Loving a Black person isn't the same as fighting for Black lives. The sooner that white partners realize that it isn't enough to simply consider oneself not racist, and one must be actively, vehemently, radically anti-racist, the sooner they - we - can finish the work of dismantling white supremacy once and for all, and show that we are worthy of those who love us.

Being white and loving a Black person means being eager to listen, to learn, and most importantly, to show up and fight for them. It means educating yourself on the Black liberation struggle, consuming Black literature and art and political theory, interrogating your own privilege and internalized racism, and actively betraying whiteness at every turn. Instead of spouting off about how you "don't see color," you need to acknowledge and honor your partner's Blackness and every part of their identity. You need to know when to mind your own business, and recognize that some spaces are not meant for you and that your presence there may actually be harmful.

Your commitment to your partner means committing to fighting for all Black lives, including the Black trans lives that are among the most vulnerable, and those who have been impacted by the prison industrial complex and racist criminal justice system. It means engaging in direct political action in support of Black lives and political issues that impact Black communities. It means identifying where your privilege can be useful, and understanding that it is your role to center and amplify the Black voices leading that charge. It means understanding that if you have children together, they will be Black, and you will need to educate yourself on how to help them celebrate and feel connected to their Black identity, history, and culture. You will also have to learn how to talk to them about the police.

If you're a white woman involved with a Black man, it also means understanding why some Black people may not approve of your relationship, and accepting that it's not your place to argue. There is a long and bloody history of violence that has been perpetuated against Black men by white men who sought to "protect" white women from an imagined threat, and the complicity of the white women who allowed it to happen in their names. The fetishization and sexualization of Black men's bodies has deeply racist roots, yet is still upheld everywhere from porn to protests.

Your proximity to Blackness isn't a magical shield.

We hear echoes of the white women who have actively worked to uphold white supremacy and exploited their place in that hierarchy to inflict violence upon Black men in the voice of Amy Cooper, and that of every other racist Karen caught on video threatening a Black man's life just because she can. Carolyn Bryant Donham knew that she was condemning Emmet Till to death when she pointed him out to her husband and lied, but she did it anyway - and waited decades to confess that Till had never whistled at her at all. White lies have taken countless Black lives.

Knowing this, knowing the risks your partner is taking to be with you, means that the bare minimum you can do is to call out racism wherever it rears its ugly head, no matter how close to home that may be. I know from experience how uncomfortable it can be to rebuke your dad over a racist remark, or to call your grandma and confront her about her pointed word choices (the man I love is many things, but as a son of South Brooklyn, he'd be the first person to tell you that "articulate" is not one of them).

It's hard, and it can cause rifts that are difficult to repair, but guess what? That's your problem. Confronting or even cutting off white friends and family members who can't accept your relationship or the humanity of your partner comes with the territory. It's not acceptable to expect your partner to put themself into an unsafe situation or endure your bigoted family's microaggressions just because you don't want to have an awkward conversation. It's not their responsibility to educate your racist uncle or ask him to leave the dinner table when he starts mouthing off; it's yours.

Every love story is unique, and every one of us comes to them from a different place. My partner and I met through our involvement in anarchist activist circles, and while our shared radical politics and commitment to anti-racism provides a sturdy foundation, there are still many things about his experience that I will never be able to understand, and so much work I need to do. But it's on me to continue doing that labor of learning and unlearning, and to keep showing up for him and his community. It's my job to keep on loving him as hard as I can, while trying not to immediately fear the worst if he's a few minutes late coming home and I hear sirens in the distance. All he needs to do is survive (and stop wearing his boots inside the house).

Like Richard and Mildred Loving, we just want to be left to live and love in peace - but that's simply not an option until we're all free.

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Loving a Black person isn't the same as fighting for Black lives

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My boyfriend and I have a game we play whenever we're out in public. Whenever one of us spots another interracial couple passing by, we'll give the other a little nudge and whisper, "Look, an us!" Sometimes it's an older us; sometimes it's a more...

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Why we capitalize ‘Black’ (and not ‘white’)

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Why we capitalize ‘Black’ (and not ‘white’)

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At the Columbia Journalism Review, we capitalize , and not , when referring to racial groups. is an ethnic designation; merely describes the skin color of people who can, usually without much difficulty, trace their ethnic origins back to a handful of European countries.

In deciding on a styling, fusspot grammarians and addled copy editors generally fall back on a pair of considerations. The first is broad adherence to a general rule-like, say, the Chicago Manual of Style 's ( §8.38) edict that "Names of ethnic and national groups are capitalized." (Though still generally mandates lowercasing both and , it does include the proviso that the rule can be suspended if "a particular author or publisher prefers otherwise." ) The second thing we look for is attestation. In this case, it's instructive to turn not to the largely lilywhite mainstream press (nor to the style guides that govern their renderings), but to writers of color and to alternative stylebooks. The Diversity Style Guide (2019), produced by Rachele Kanigel in consultation with some fifty journalists and experts, takes it as a given that ought to be capitalized. Sarah Glover, a past president of the National Association of Black Journalists, wrote in a recent piece for the New York Amsterdam News , a historically Black weekly, that "capitalizing the 'B' in Black should become standard use to describe people, culture, art and communities." After all, she pointed out, "We already capitalize Asian, Hispanic, African American and Native American."

And, as my CJR colleague Alexandria Neason told me recently, "I view the term as both a recognition of an ethnic identity in the States that doesn't rely on hyphenated Americanness (and is more accurate than African American , which suggests recent ties to the continent) and is also transnational and inclusive of our Caribbean [and] Central/South American siblings." To capitalize , in her view, is to acknowledge that slavery "deliberately stripped" people forcibly shipped overseas "of all other ethnic/national ties." She added, " African American is not wrong, and some prefer it, but if we are going to capitalize and South Asian and Indigenous , for example, groups that include myriad ethnic identities united by shared race and geography and, to some degree, culture, then we also have to capitalize ."

Per this understanding, it is a kind of orthographic injustice to lowercase the : to do so is to perpetuate the iniquity of an institution that uprooted people from the most ethnically diverse place on the planet , systematically obliterating any and all distinctions regarding ethnicity and culture. When people identify with specific terms of the African diaspora, we defer to those; i n the absence of the identifiable ethnicities slavery stole from those it subjugated, can be a preferred ethnic designation for some descendants. (For a pop-culture consideration of this question, see the "Juneteenth" episode of , in which a woke white husband asks Donald Glover's character what part of "the motherland" he's from, hazarding a guess that the answer might be "southeastern Bantu." Glover responds, dryly, "I don't know. See, this spooky thing called slavery happened and my entire ethnic identity was erased.")

There are various historical, social and political reasons why one might prefer to identify as Black. The term has historically connected people of African descent around the world and was revived during the Black Power Movement.... Black and then African American replaced older terms such as Colored and imposed by others. Self-identification might reflect feelings about origin, affiliation, colonialism, enslavement and cultural dispossession.

That argument persuaded CJR to change its style (in defiance of published on our site a few years earlier). Glover, in her article, called on the Associated Press stylebook ("the bible for working journalists") to update its entry. Given the timing, after the killing of George Floyd and in light of a global reckoning with race relations, I'd be surprised if the AP didn't take heed, and soon. In the meantime-and in what is surely a sign of evolving American attitudes on the topic- has that it will be adopting the cap- across its network, which includes the flagship paper and "more than 260 local news organizations." (The man responsible for issuing the editorial fiat, Michael McCarter, was named managing editor of standards, ethics, and inclusion exactly one day before making the call.)

This all makes for a good start, but it will mean nothing if white Americans don't make an effort to understand the whys and wherefores-which is to say, the history that delivered us to this precise point in time. That, of course, will be a taller order than simply asking them to capitalize one little letter.
Editors Note: This piece has been updated for clarity. RECENTLY: The movement for Black trans lives
Mike Laws is a freelance copy editor, for CJR among others, who pursues this sort of labor of love all over the greater New York area.

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Why we capitalize 'Black' (and not 'white')

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At the Columbia Journalism Review, we capitalize Black, and not white, when referring to racial groups. Black is an ethnic designation; white merely describes the skin color of people who can, usually without much difficulty, trace their ethnic origins back to a handful of European countries.

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Dr. Kenneth Pope's Anti-Racism & Racism Psychology, Psychiatry, Counseling, Psychotherapy, & Supervision:

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Dr. Kenneth Pope's Anti-Racism & Racism Psychology, Psychiatry, Counseling, Psychotherapy, & Supervision:

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home " ethics " anti-racism

Anti-Racism & Racism Psychology, Psychiatry, Counseling, Psychotherapy, & Supervision:

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I gathered the following 57 references to help psychologists, psychiatrists, psychotherapists, and others committed to anti-racist activism, research, teaching, and practice.

Although there is a massive literature on racism and anti-racism, the following resource focuses only on anti-racism and racism in psychology (as a science, discipline, and profession), psychiatry, counseling, social work, psychotherapy, & supervision.

Here are the 57 books and articles:

Ali, S. R., et al. (2005). When racism is reversed: Therapists of color speak about their experiences with racism from clients, supervisees, and supervisors. Voices of color: First-person accounts of ethnic minority therapists. Thousand Oaks, CA, US, Sage Publications, Inc: 117-133.

Abstract: "This chapter discusses situations where the therapist of color is on the receiving end of racism and addresses the following question: How do we react to and address racism directed at us by our clients, supervisors, and supervisees? Each of the seven authors describes a vignette of a powerful experience with racism, as well as how he or she responded to it and perhaps resolved it. The last part of the chapter includes suggestions for educators, supervisors, and program directors to use to plug the hole in training regarding multicultural issues."

Alleyne, A. (2009). Working therapeutically with hidden dimensions of racism. Mental health in a multi-ethnic society: A multidisciplinary handbook, 2nd ed. New York, NY, US, Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group: 161-173.

Abstract: "The impact of racism on people seeking therapy or help for mental health problems can present as a complex picture which is often misunderstood and can lead to misinterpretations, misdiagnoses and inappropriate interventions. 'Race' enters psychotherapy in ways that parallel its workings in society at large. Overt racism is easily recognised as traumatic for the people at its receiving end-and is relatively easy to address as 'trauma'. It is the shift into 'subtle' and 'institutional' forms that is a major challenge for therapists (and sufferers) to address in the consulting room. The impact of racism, whether experienced as a one-off encounter, or an ongoing experience, can prove debilitating and even damaging to the well-being of an individual. But something that is all too often overlooked and under-appreciated is the importance of the capacity for resilience in the face of racism. So, in addition to holding on to the theme of resilience, therapists faced with the challenge of addressing racism need to be equipped with a full working knowledge of the following key themes: racism as cultural trauma or 'the grinding down experience'; racism as undermining identity, or 'black identity wounding'; racism threatening relationships and leading to isolation or 'cultural shame'; and racism leading to an unhealthy attachment that allows transgenerational trauma to be kept alive, or 'the internal oppressor'. In this chapter I shall discuss these themes separately although they are clearly inter-related. They help us to understand and interpret what may come up in the consulting room during psychotherapy."

Bartoli, E. and A. Pyati (2009). "Addressing clients' racism and racial prejudice in individual psychotherapy: Therapeutic considerations." Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, Training 46(2): 145-157.

Abstract: "Psychotherapists lack clear guidelines regarding how to address clients' racist and prejudicial comments in clinical work. The authors explore the contributions of multicultural, social justice, feminist, and ethical theories to the field of psychotherapy and apply these theories to 2 clinical vignettes in which clients made racially charged statements. These clinical examples highlight the importance of using racial, in addition to traditional, theories to decipher the clinical meanings of racial comments and dynamics in clinical work. The article provides therapeutic conceptualizations regarding how to address clients' racist and prejudicial comments in psychotherapy and elaborates on the complex meanings that might arise from engaging in racially charged discussions with clients depending on the racial composition of the therapeutic dyad. In addition to highlighting how social justice, multicultural, and feminist lenses are necessary to fully understand the meaning of clients' comments, the argument is made that addressing clients' racist and prejudicial comments is at once a clinical and a social justice issue."

Basham, K. (2004). "Weaving A Tapestry: Anti-Racism and The Pedagogy of Clinical Social Work Practice." Smith College Studies in Social Work 74(2): 389-314.

Abstract: "This paper aims to describe how the Smith College School for Social Work's commitment to anti-racism, affirmed in 1994, shapes the teaching of clinical social work practice. The discussion is situated in a review of the School's mission statement, the guiding teaching principles of cultural competence as developed by social work's professional organizations, and current research and clinical findings. A brief review of the literature pertaining to anti-racism in clinical practice follows. Various assumptions and myths are addressed concerning what constitutes clinical practice grounded in anti-racism. I then present a case method of teaching clinical practice based on a social constructivist view of valuing multiple theoretical lenses, an "informed not knowing" stance and the intersubjective space. Three central principles inform the teaching of cultural responsiveness. They are: (1) values, ethics and self-reflection; (2) cross-cultural knowledge and skills; and (3) empowerment and advocacy. Although a synthesis of social and psychological theories is useful in all psychotherapy, for the sake of brevity, this paper narrows the focus to racial identity development and object relations theories, in particular Winnicottian theory. Both are developmental models. They stress the importance of optimal nurturing environments and of facilitating the emergence of complex racial and psychological identities. Specific questions are posed to promote critical thinking and dialogue in the classroom. Finally, I present a clinical case of couple therapy, lasting seven months, where the clients and clinician self-identified as white, while the clinical consultant identified as African American. The role of anti-racism in this therapeutic process is addressed in the context of a case analysis based on the central principles outlined."

Beck, A. (2019). "Understanding Black and Minority Ethnic service user's experience of racism as part of the assessment, formulation and treatment of mental health problems in cognitive behaviour therapy." the Cognitive Behaviour Therapist 12.

Abstract: "Experiences of racism can be a cumulative risk factor for developing mental health problems. Cognitive Behaviour Therapists working with Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) service users should be confident in their ability to establish the necessary rapport to ask about these experiences and be able to incorporate this information into longitudinal formulations and as part of maintenance cycles. This paper sets out guidelines as to how to do this as part of a wider engagement process."

Brooks, O. (2012). "The dangerous usefulness of theorising about race and racism in psychotherapy." Psychodynamic Practice: Individuals, Groups and Organisations 18(2): 181-194.

Abstract: "This article consists of a general and a specific argument. The general argument is that theorising can be both useful and dangerous, and that our perceived advantages or successes are sometimes effective enemies of our ability to think about what we are doing and have done. The more specific argument, which is the main concern of this article, is that theorising about race and racism can be useful in psychotherapy, but that this is a dangerous usefulness that may at times be a repetition or re-enactment of racism. The author draws on examples from the literature to illustrate his argument, as well as on his own client work. As the oxymoronic or paradoxical phrase 'dangerous usefulness' indicates, this article does not argue that one school of or approach to psychotherapy is superior to all others because of beliefs held or theoretical resources possessed. The article does not claim that we can be naive and complacent about any psychotherapeutic notion or theory, or that, on the other hand, we may naively and complacently believe that we might simply claim to be able to do without theories, assumptions and beliefs of any kind. 'Dangerous usefulness' implies due caution, tensions, vigilance and paradox. This article suggests that we may have to live warily with the paradox or tension here, rather than resolve or dissipate it."

Casas, J. M. (2005). "Race and Racism: The Efforts of Counseling Psychology to Understand and Address the Issues Associated With These Terms." The Counseling Psychologist 33(4): 501-512.

Abstract: "This paper focuses on race and racism with the "race" and "racism" will be more accurately understood and, when necessary, more appropriately and selectively addressed by the field of counseling psychology. With respect to the term racism, it is hoped that the efforts of counseling psychology on behalf of social justice will reduce inaccurate and unacceptable race-driven attitudes and behaviors that comprise this "ism." To this end, the goal of this reaction is to provide a more accurate understanding of the terms "race" and "racism" and the psychosocial issues associated with these terms. To accomplish this goal, the reaction is divided into three sections. The first section critically examines the terms as they are most frequently defined, used, and/or misused in the literature. The second section presents the changing population demographics that serve to bolster the continued use of the term "race." For perspective, special attention is given to a sociopolitical phenomenon that is undermining the accuracy, validity, and generalizability of existing statistics that are reflective of and/or associated with racial identification. The third section reviews and critically discusses the respective Major Contribution articles in this issue. This section not only underscores and reacts to the racial issues discussed in the respective papers but, more importantly, highlights research, educational, and applied efforts that are or should be directed to racial issues."

Cencirulo, J., et al. (2020). "Trainee experiences of racism, sexism, heterosexism, and ableism (the "ISMs") at a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) healthcare facility." Training and Education in Professional Psychology, published online in advance of print publication.

Abstract: "Experiences of racism, sexism, heterosexism, and ableism (the "isms") are well documented among military populations and have been associated with numerous deleterious consequences, including decreased physical functioning and poorer mental health by those who encounter them. However, the degree to which the isms are experienced by-and impact-psychological trainees at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is yet unknown. As the nation's largest training network for doctoral-level psychology students, the VA has the unique ability to shape both the professional and personal identities of individual psychologists, and by extension, the field of psychology writ large. As such, experiences of the isms while training-and the manner in which these experiences are encountered, reported, explored, and/or resolved in supervision-is an important area of study, due in part to the far-reaching implications these experiences may have on trainee health, wellbeing, and professional identity. From an institutional standpoint, these experiences directly impact employee recruitment and retention, and as such, should be of primary administrative concern. To assess experiences of the isms, this study utilized a mixed-methods survey consisting of focus groups (n = 16), and anonymous questionnaires (n = 55) from current and former trainees (training years 2012-2018) from an urban, West Coast VA medical center. Questionnaire results indicated widespread trainee experiences of sexism (65%), racism (54%), and heterosexism (50%) perpetuated by veterans with a corresponding fear of repercussions for voicing objections to these experiences, particularly in regards to incidents of sexism (45%). Focus group results provided rich descriptions that contextualized this fear, which included prominent themes of persistence of objectification and corresponding experiences akin to learned helplessness, the experience of cognitive/emotional double binds, unique trainee vulnerabilities, and differences in trainee experiences based on gender."

Chapman, R. T. (2006). "Internalized racism of the clinician and the treatment dynamic." Journal of Emotional Abuse 6(2-3): 219-228.

Abstract: "This article examines the transference and countertransference found in an interethnic treatment dyad where the therapist is a heterosexual Black woman and the patient is a homosexual White man. The core issues examined are racial and sexual identity, power and privilege, internalized racism, and shame. Clinical examples, including dream material, are presented in an effort to explore the unconscious aspects of identity and internalized introjects."

Cooper, A. (2010). "Institutional racism: Can psychotherapy change?" British Journal of Psychotherapy 26(4): 486-501.

Abstract: "In this paper I explore programmes of work undertaken to address institutional racism within two institutions providing psychoanalytic psychotherapy training and services. The paper suggests that training institutions of this kind may be paradoxically positioned. The same features that we might expect to facilitate reflection and change in favour of increased tolerance and diversity may act as points of organizational resistance to change. The paper draws on a range of theoretical resources that may be helpful in understanding the acute anxieties that are often mobilized when institutional racism is named and identified as something the organization has decided to tackle. The account is interwoven with various personal reflections on the experience of this work, and some autobiographical observations that may illuminate the stories presented."

Cummins, I. (2015). "Discussing race, racism and mental health: Two mental health inquiries reconsidered." International Journal of Human Rights in Healthcare 8(3): 160-172.

Abstract: "The failings of "community care" in the late 1980s and early 1990s led to a number of inquiries. The purpose of this paper is to examine one of these key issues that is rarely if ever at the forefront of the inquiry process-the experiences of young black men of African-Caribbean origin within mental health services and the Criminal Justice System (CJS). Design/methodology/approach: It sets out to do this by exploring the way in which two inquiries, both from the early 1990s, approached the issues of race, racism and psychiatry. The two inquiries are the Ritchie Inquiry (1994) into the Care and Treatment of Christopher Clunis and Report of the Committee of Inquiry into the death of Orville Blackwood and a Review of the Deaths of Two Other African-Caribbean Patients (Prins, 1994). The Ritchie Inquiry was established following the murder of Jonathan Zito by Christopher Clunis. The Prins Inquiry examined the circumstances of the death of Orville Blackwood at Broadmoor Special Hospital. Findings: These two inquiries are used as contrasting case studies as a means of examining the approaches to the questions of race and racism. However, the attitudes and approaches that the inquiries took to the issue of race are startlingly different. The Prins Inquiry takes a very clear position that racism was a feature of service provision whilst the Ritchie Inquiry is much more equivocal. Originality/value: These issues remain relevant for current practice across mental health and CJS systems where young black men are still over-represented. The deaths of black men in mental health and CJS systems continue to scar these institutions and family continue to struggle for answers and justice."

Drustrup, D. (2019). "White therapists addressing racism in psychotherapy: An ethical and clinical model for practice." Ethics & Behavior, published online in advance of print publication.

Abstract: "Although racism has always been present in the therapy room, the recent political climate and flood of news stories highlighting racist narratives and behaviors has made race and racism more salient in our society. For white therapists who align with antiracism in their self-identity and practice, this may present a difficult ethical dilemma when race and racism enter the therapy office. Therapists have a duty to protect client autonomy and self-determination as much as possible. However, therapists also have a responsibility to the communities in which they work and to not willingly condone activities of others that hold prejudice, both of which are threatened with unacknowledged racism. This article addresses the issue of whether to work with racism as a clinical and ethical concern with white clients who hold racist ideas and narratives, and then offers a concise clinical model for therapists to help guide their practice."

Fernando, S. (2014). Racism in psychiatry. Critical psychiatry and mental health: Exploring the work of Suman Fernando in clinical practice. New York, NY, US, Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group: 22-32.

Abstract: "Suman Fernando has spent his career noticing the observable but overlooked facts that link race, racialization and mental health status and care experiences. In this chapter, he offers a detailed overview of race and racism by applying social and cultural theories to the practice of psychiatry."

Fernando, S. (2017). Institutional racism in psychiatry and clinical psychology: Race matters in mental health. New York, NY, Palgrave Macmillan.

Abstract: "This book examines the deep roots of racism in the mental health system. Suman Fernando weaves the histories of racial discourse and clinical practice into a narrative of power, knowledge, and black suffering in an ostensibly progressive and scientifically grounded system. Drawing on a lifetime of experience as a practicing psychiatrist, he examines how the system has shifted in response to new forms of racism which have emerged since the 1960s, highlighting the widespread pathologization of black people, the impact of Islamophobia on clinical practice after 9/11, and various struggles to reform. Engaging and accessible, this book makes a compelling case for the entrenchment of racism across all aspects of psychiatry and clinical psychology, and calls for a paradigm shift in both theory and practice."

Frosh, S. (2013). "Psychoanalysis, colonialism, racism." Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology 33(3): 141-154.

Abstract: "Postcolonial theory has been ambivalent towards psychoanalysis, for good reasons. One of them is the general suspicion of psychological approaches, with their individualistic focus and general history of neglect of sociohistorical concerns. Additionally, there are specific elements of psychoanalysis' conceptual framework that draw upon, and advance, colonialist ideology. Freud's postulation of the "primitive" or "savage" mind, which still infects psychoanalytic thinking, is a prime example here. On the other hand, psychoanalysis' assertion that all human subjects are inhabited by such "primitivity" goes some way to trouble developmental assumptions. In addition, psychoanalysis offers a number of tools that provide leverage on postcolonial issues-most notably, the damage done by colonialist and racist thought. This article presents some of these arguments in greater detail and also examines two specific contributions to postcolonial psychology made by psychoanalysis. These contributions address the 'colonizing gaze' and the 'racist imaginary.'"

Gordon, P. (1993). Keeping therapy white?: psychotherapy trainings and equal opportunities. British Journal of Psychotherapy, 10(1), 44-49.

Abstract: "This paper looks at the issue of equal opportunities for ethnic minorities as it relates to psychoanalytic psychotherapy trainings. It reports on a survey of trainings and equal opportunity policies and argues that all training organisations should examine their practices in this area and consider the adoption of formal policies aimed at the elimination of possible discrimination against ethnic minority candidates who are otherwise well qualified to train as psychotherapists."

Gordon, P. (2004). "Souls in Armour: Thoughts on Psychoanalysis and Racism." British Journal of Psychotherapy 21(2): 277-294.

Abstract: "Presents thoughts on the relationship between racism and psychoanalysis and examines what psychoanalysis has had to say and not to say about racism. The tension is explored between a political understanding of racism vs a psychological, in particular, a psychoanalytic one. The author suggests that the problem with many psychoanalytic accounts is the failure to recognize that there is a social dimension to racism. The author also stresses the need to break the link between racial identity and a subordinate SES. More useful ways of looking at this subject are offered."

Guthrie, R. V. (2004). Even the rat was white: A historical view of psychology, 2nd ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

Abstract: "The present edition continues within the spirit of the aims of the first edition, specifically, using nontraditional sources of documentation for the purposes of presenting, documenting, and analyzing vignettes meaningful to the study of psychology from a nontraditional perspective. Throughout Part One, Psychology and Racial Differences, new and expanded historical materials that formed scientific precursors to racial stereotypes and negative views toward Black Americans are presented. Discussions that provide early concepts of how Africans first viewed Europeans are contrasted with how Europeans first reported Africans. Expanded discussions concerning the introduction of psychometry in racial difference have been added to the chapter Psychometric Scientism. Part Two, Psychology and Psychologists, is updated with specifics of what and how psychology was taught in the pre-1960 Black colleges with emphases on philosophical directions in teaching individual differences. Discussions concerning the philosophical forces that brought about the formation of the first group of Black psychologists in 1938 to the formation of the Association of Black Psychologists in 1969 are presented. The chapter that documents the trials and tribulations of Francis Sumner, the first Black American to receive the Ph.D. degree in psychology, contains additional materials and expands on his publications. Part Three, Conclusion, advances discussions on the implication of new historical information for the field of psychology as it relates to Black America."

Hahn, K. J. (2014). Considering the power of context: Racism, sexism, and belonging in the vicarious traumatization of counselors. US, ProQuest Information & Learning. 74.

Abstract: "Recent concerns have arisen about the effects on counselors of working with trauma survivors. Vicarious traumatization may be a normal developmental process of adapting to client trauma material and may ultimately result in vicarious posttraumatic growth, or positive changes arising from vicarious trauma. Most studies have focused on individual variables or clinician coping strategies that predict vicarious traumatization. Taking a feminist approach to vicarious traumatization, this study examined the role of workplace context variables, such as sense of belonging in the workplace and support for vicarious trauma at work, on counselor vicarious traumatization and vicarious posttraumatic growth. Stratified random sampling was used to recruit counselors from domestic violence and rape crisis centers, and recruitment messages were sent to all psychology internship and postdoctoral sites in the United States which were accredited by the American Psychological Association. Surveys were completed by 234 counselors. Counselors reported sub-clinical levels of vicarious trauma symptoms (intrusions, avoidance, and hyperarousal resulting from work with trauma survivors). Results of hierarchical regression analyses indicated that amount and intensity of exposure to client trauma material positively predicted vicarious trauma symptoms, and sense of belonging in the workplace negatively predicted vicarious trauma symptoms. Intensity of exposure, work setting, and support for vicarious trauma at work predicted vicarious posttraumatic growth, so that counselors exposed to more graphic details of client trauma, those working in domestic violence or rape crisis centers, and counselors with more support for vicarious trauma at work reported more vicarious posttraumatic growth. The relation between amount of exposure and vicarious posttraumatic growth was moderated by intensity of exposure and by sense of belonging in the workplace. Counselors with low sense of belonging at work reported less vicarious posttraumatic growth when amount of exposure was high, whereas counselors with high sense of belonging reported more vicarious posttraumatic growth with high exposure. Results suggest that counselors' reactions to client trauma material are normal rather than pathological, are largely due to exposure to client trauma, and can be affected by workplace context factors, especially sense of belonging in the workplace and support for vicarious trauma at work."

Hamer, F. M. (2006). "Racism as a transference state: Episodes of racial hostility in the psychoanalytic context." The Psychoanalytic Quarterly 75(1): 197-214.

Abstract: "Episodes of racial prejudice emerging in the context of a psychoanalytic therapy suggest that racism can be thought of as a regressed state of transference, characterized by polarized representations of self and other, categorical thinking, and the predominance of splitting and projection as defenses. The author suggests that activation of racial hostility in the clinical situation occurs as a result of events and processes not atypical in an analytic process. Though such states occurring outside of the analytic context are more likely made conscious in certain situations and in certain persons, the author suggests that racism can be more generally described as an ever-potential state of mind for most people living in racialized contexts."

Henwood, K. L. (1994). Resisting racism and sexism in academic psychology: A personal/political view. Feminism & psychology, 4(1), 41-62.

Abstract: "The article discusses resistance to racism and sexism within academic psychology. Its contents are linked together by the chronology of my own experiences, presenting a personal/political view. Focusing upon Social Identity Theory in particular, I point out that even critical perspectives in the social psychology of prejudice and discrimination tend to neglect black people's experiences of racism and represent an impoverished approach to the social construction of `race'. I pay special attention to the culturally pervasive problem of new racism, and to psychology's commitment to a purportedly apolitical professional identity and value-free science. Both are implicated in academic psychology's lack of a clear commitment to anti-racism, as illustrated in my account of the British Psychological Society's handling of the call for an academic boycott of apartheid South Africa. I touch on various ways of moving forward to an anti-racist psychology in respect of theory, research and the institution of psychology. One possibility is to work within a version offeminist standpoint epistemology which seeks to re-vision knowledge by starting from the multiplicity and diversity of women's experiences and conditions of our lives."

Hoberman, J. (2012). Black and blue: The origins and consequences of medical racism. Berkeley, CA, US, University of California Press.

Abstract: "Black and Blue is the first systematic description of how doctors think about racial differences and how this kind of thinking affects the treatment of their patients. While some fine studies of medical racism have appeared, they have not examined the thought processes and behaviors of physicians in any sort of detailed way. In effect, these studies have not seen fit to enter into the physician's private sphere where specific racial fantasies and misinformation distort diagnoses and treatments. Nor have they shown much interest in identifying the specific origins of racially motivated diagnoses and treatments of black patients that have ranged across the entire spectrum of medical sub-disciplines, from cardiology to obstetrics to psychiatry. It is true that American physicians have been "major perpetrators of racialist dogma," as a monumental history of American medical racism states. Black and Blue moves beyond such general claims about racially motivated medical behaviors and describes how mainstream medicine devised racial interpretations that have been applied to every organ system of the human body."

King, K. M. and L. D. Borders (2019). "An experimental investigation of white counselors broaching race and racism." Journal of Counseling & Development 97(4): 341-351.

Abstract: "Broaching involves actively addressing culture and power in session, a counseling skill that is underused despite its promising track record. In an experimental analogue design, the authors studied potential clients' evaluation of an initial broaching statement. Results provide evidence of the therapeutic benefits of broaching, preference for broaching that addresses the counseling relationship, and the role of positionality in evaluating counselors' cultural responsiveness. Implications for broaching with minoritized clients are discussed."

King, M. J. (2015). What do clinicians do? Addressing white clients' racist comments in the therapy room. US, ProQuest Information & Learning. 76, published online in advance of print publication.

Abstract: "There is currently a paucity of literature in the field to provide clinicians guidance regarding best practices when clients make racist comments during individual therapy. As of this writing, very little theoretical literature and no empirical literature had been published on the topic. To address this gap in the literature, the current study used a mixed-methods design to investigate the topics. The investigation queried clinicians trained in Clinical and Counseling Psychology who had had at least three years of experience working with adult clients in individual therapy. As a starting point, the investigation focused on participants' experiences when White clients made racist comments, as White individuals have historically held more social power than People of Color. As the first of its kind, this exploratory study asked participants what they do when their White clients make racist comments in session and what factors (i.e., motivators, barriers, and other influencing factors) influence their decision-making in these situations. Data analysis was also done to identify some characteristics of the clinician that relate to the behaviors in which the clinician engages when clients make racist comments in therapy. Participants reported engaging in a range of behaviors from ignoring the comment or changing the subject to directly confronting the client's comment, labeling it racist and processing this with the client. In general, participants reported wanting to intervene with the comments more than they actually did. They indicated that the factors that influenced their behaviors included their own values regarding eradicating racism, their theoretical orientations, a desire to keep the focus on the client's presenting concern, and concerns about negative consequences that might result from confronting the comments. The information gleaned from the current study can be useful in beginning the conversation about what to do in these situations so that psychology's value of multiculturalism is upheld while also respecting clients' individual beliefs and values as well as their autonomy in therapy. It is hoped that this information will prompt additional process research in this area to establish best practices for therapeutically addressing racism and other forms of prejudice as they arise in therapy.

Lee, L. J. (2005). Taking off the mask: Breaking the silence--The art of naming racism in the therapy room. Voices of color: First-person accounts of ethnic minority therapists. Thousand Oaks, CA, US, Sage Publications, Inc: 91-115.

Abstract: "The author uses vignettes of difficult exchanges he had had with clients and colleagues to illustrate how racism can impact therapy. This chapter also explores the power of cultural context, the context of power and privilege, the double blind therapists often find themselves in--whether to speak up or remain silent about racism, and how therapists can utilize self and context to meet people of color in a more equitable place."

Lewis, G., Croft-Jeffreys, C., & David, A. (1990). Are British psychiatrists racist?. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 157(3), 410-415.

Abstract: "Out of a sample of 220 British psychiatrists, 139 completed a questionnaire regarding a case vignette of a psychotic illness. The sex and 'race' of the vignette were varied and the responses compared. The Afro-Caribbean case was regarded as that of an illness of shorter duration, and requiring less neuroleptics than the white case. Respondents judged the Afro-Caribbean case as potentially more violent and thought criminal proceedings were more appropriate. The female vignette was perceived as less violent, less criminal, and less likely to need neuroleptics. Cannabis psychosis and acute reactive psychosis tended to be diagnosed more often and schizophrenia less often in Afro-Caribbean cases, refuting the claim that psychiatrists tend to overdiagnose schizophrenia in this group. Such 'race thinking' (a form of stereotyping which is distinct from ideological racism) could lead to inappropriate management."

Liu, T. (2018). Gendered Racism Scales for Asian American Men: Scale development and validation. US, ProQuest Information & Learning. 79.

Abstract: "This dissertation utilizes a 2-in-1 format combining two manuscripts within one dissertation. The first is a conceptual paper in which I reviewed three theoretical paradigms on Asian American men's experiences of discrimination based on the intersection of gender and race. My literature review found that the intersectionality perspective is not a unitary viewpoint but can be categorized into at least three conceptual paradigms, each with differing emphases: (a) the Cumulative Disadvantage Paradigm, (b) the Subordinate Male Target Hypothesis Paradigm, and (c) the Intersectional Fusion Paradigm. In this paper, I provided a description of these paradigms, a review of the empirical research supporting these paradigms, and an evaluation of the extent to which these paradigms are applicable to Asian American men's experience of racism. This paper has been published on Psychology of Man & Masculinity. The second part of the dissertation is an empirical manuscript. Grounded in the Intersectional Fusion Paradigm, I developed the Gendered Racism Scales for Asian American Men (GRSAM), and examined the psychometric properties. Exploratory factor analyses showed three dimensions of GRSAM: Psychological Emasculation, Perceived Undesirable Partner, and Perceived Lack of Leadership. Results from confirmatory factor analyses supported this internal structure. Results of correlation and regression analyses further provided evidence for different dimensions of construct validity and internal consistency. Both the Stress and Frequency versions of GRSAM positively predicted psychological distress and somatic symptoms above and beyond the effects of general racism experienced by Asian Americans and masculine gender role stress. Upon completion of the dissertation defense, this empirical manuscript will also be submitted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal in psychology."

Long, K. L. (2013). Impact of aversive racism on clinical impressions. US, ProQuest Information & Learning. 73.

Abstract: "This study aimed to determine the impact of aversive racism on initial clinical judgments and on a therapist's flexibility to readjust initial impressions. In particular, the study was interested on how psychotherapists rate an African American or a Caucasian client (from a vignette) on the client's likeability, likelihood to benefit from treatment, level of pathology, and level of personal adjustment, which was done once after an initial description of the client and after supplemental information was added. Aversive racism is defined as a subtle and often unconscious form of racism in which negative racial attitudes or reactions emerge mainly when those reactions can be attributed to other factors or circumstances prominence (Dovidio, Gaertner, Kawakami & Hodson, 2002). The study hypothesized that the therapist's aversive racism would cause the therapist to initially rate African American patients more severely and would also inhibit the therapist's ability to alter clinical judgments with the addition of new information. The study consisted of 186 Caucasian clinical psychologists who rated the appropriateness of Major Depressive Disorder, Dysthymia, Borderline Personality Disorder, Adjustment Disorder with Depressed Mood, and Other interpersonal problem on a scale from one to seven using seven items from the Diagnostic and Prognostic Rating Form. Furthermore. participants rated the client in the vignette on three attributes on a scale from one to five, including level of aggressiveness, personal initiative, and interpersonal ability. The results of this study suggested that the impact of aversive racism was not as widespread, as easily seen, or as measurable as initially hypothesized. While multiple distinct levels of aversive racism were ascertained within the population of psychologists studied, only a few variations related to these assessments of aversive racism were found. However, it is of interest that medium and low levels of racial aversive racism may have been employing compensatory strategies when dealing with African American clients. Therefore, demonstrating an ability to be constantly self-aware and guard against racist tendencies, as well as adaptation to the unexpected, may be essential for fostering optimal outcomes in the therapeutic environment."

Lowe, F. (2006). Racism as a borderline issue: The avoidance and marginalization of race in psychotherapy. Difference: An avoided topic in practice. London, England, Karnac Books: 43-60.

Abstract: "This chapter highlights the failure of psychoanalysis to face its own truths about issues of race and white racism in the selection and training of psychotherapists and in the delivery of psychotherapy. It explores possible reasons for this failure and calls for action to make psychotherapy less racially exclusive and more responsive to the needs of a multiracial and multicultural society. This paper is concerned with white racism, which is rooted in a specific period of British and European socioeconomic history."

Maher, M. J. (2012). Racism and cultural diversity: Cultivating racial harmony through counselling, group analysis and psychotherapy. London, England, Karnac Books.

Abstract: "M. J. Maher writes for all those interested in the dynamics of racism, from professionals in counselling, group analysis, and psychotherapy working in multiracial and multicultural societies to those exposed to racism who need help in dealing with the impact of their experiences. She also addresses the concept of victims becoming perpetrators if support is not given to contain the process. Herself a group analyst, the author experienced at first hand racial discrimination within the system but, rather than succumb to it, she has instead produced an enduring and proficient work that draws heavily on personal experience. Combining years of counselling skill with a natural compassion, she makes the subject of racism approachable, thus motivating all those wanting to explore the issues. For people whose experience of broken attachments crosses racial lines, this book is possibly the first to use Bowlby's Attachment Theory as a framework for understanding racism."

Maker, A. H. (2005). Post 9/11: Combating racism in the sanctity of healing--A clinical process dialogue. Voices of color: First-person accounts of ethnic minority therapists. Thousand Oaks, CA, US, Sage Publications, Inc: 155-167.

Excerpt: "The author highlights her own encounters and interventions since 9/11 as a Muslim, Pakistani, female psychologist. This chapter focuses on three primary themes: 1. how cemented stereotypes of Muslim women (i.e., specific negative gender roles, values, and cultural norms) emerge in the family therapy session; 2. the assumptions of differences between therapist and client based on race, religion, nationality, and culture; 3. the therapist's use of the self and the cultural process dialogue with clients to confront racism and discuss race and ethnicity, culture, religious beliefs, and values."

Miller, A. L., et al. (2019). "Forging diversity-science-informed guidelines for research on race and racism in psychological science." Journal of Social Issues 75(4): 1240-1261.

Excerpt: "As race and racism continue to be important subjects of research in psychology, guidelines for scholarship in this domain of inquiry are strongly needed. Drawing from the foundations of previous discussions of diversity science, we propose five principles that can help scholars conduct generative research on race and racism. Specifically, research on race and racism is strengthened when scholars: (1) are mindful of historical patterns of oppression and inequality, (2) adopt a racially diverse team science approach, (3) utilize diverse samples, (4) consider the influence of multiple identity groups on human experience, and (5) promote the translation of knowledge from the laboratory to the field. In outlining our proposed guidelines, we elaborate on why this discussion for research about race and racism is needed at this particular point of the field's history."

Miller, M. J., et al. (2018). "Practice recommendations for addressing racism: A content analysis of the counseling psychology literature." J Couns Psychol 65(6): 669-680.

Excerpt: "Although racism persists as a significant public health issue that adversely impacts the mental health of people of color (U.S. Department of Health and Human Service, 2001), there has been very little systematic guidance for mental health professionals to address racism through practice (S. Harrell, 2000). Therefore, we conducted a content analysis of the peer reviewed counseling psychology literature-the first of its kind-to provide a summary and critique of the extant practice recommendations and facilitate the development and enhancement of practice efforts aimed at addressing racism. We reviewed racism-related articles published in the Journal of Counseling Psychology, The Counseling Psychologist, and Counseling Psychology Quarterly and identified 73 relevant articles, of which 51 provided practice recommendations. Based on our review of this literature, we identified eight general categories of recommendations for addressing racism: psychoeducation, validation, self-awareness and critical consciousness, critical examination of privilege and racial attitudes, culturally responsive social support, developing positive identity, externalize/minimize self-blame, and outreach and advocacy. We found that most recommendations within each category were at the individual level with far fewer at the group and systemic level. A critique of recommendations is provided along with suggestions for developing and bolstering practice, research, and consultation efforts aimed at addressing racism."

Msebele, N. and H. Brown (2011). "Racism in the consulting room: Myth or reality?" Psychoanalytic Review 98(4): 451-492.

Abstract: "This paper explores ways in which issues of race might impact on, and/or be ignored within, the practice of psychotherapy. Racial difference, that is being white as well as being black, taps into ingrained patterns of binary thinking that create hierarchies of "otherness." This generates anxiety which leads some therapists to avoid seeing race or naming its resonance in the therapeutic alliance. The origins of this splitting may lie in the unconscious, from whence it can be subtly nudged into more conscious awareness, as a seminal paper by Andrew Curry, published in this journal, suggested some forty-five years ago. Other modalities bring these dynamics more directly into the therapeutic space by exploring the patient's familial history or their daily lived experiences of racial (dis) advantage from an explicitly empowering standpoint. But whatever route is taken, racism is not an animal that can, or should, be left sleeping in the corner of the consulting room."

Murray-García, J. L., et al. (2014). "Dialogue as skill: Training a health professions workforce that can talk about race and racism." American Journal of Orthopsychiatry 84(5): 590-596.

Abstract: "Efforts in the field of multicultural education for the health professions have focused on increasing trainees' knowledge base and awareness of other cultures, and on teaching technical communication skills in cross-cultural encounters. Yet to be adequately addressed in training are profound issues of racial bias and the often awkward challenge of cross-racial dialogue, both of which likely play some part in well-documented racial disparities in health care encounters. We seek to establish the need for the skill of dialoguing explicitly with patients, colleagues, and others about race and racism and its implications for patient well-being, for clinical practice, and for the ongoing personal and professional development of health care professionals. We present evidence establishing the need to go beyond training in interview skills that efficiently "extract" relevant cultural and clinical information from patients. This evidence includes concepts from social psychology that include implicit bias, explicit bias, and aversive racism. Aiming to connect the dots of diverse literatures, we believe health professions educators and institutional leaders can play a pivotal role in reducing racial disparities in health care encounters by actively promoting, nurturing, and participating in this dialogue, modeling its value as an indispensable skill and institutional priority."

Myers, J. L. (2012). Practicum students' experience with culture and racism in clinical settings. US, ProQuest Information & Learning. 73: 1262-1262.

Abstract: "Despite the increasing need to address the concerns of ethnic, cultural, and racial minorities in the clinical setting, few programs in counseling and clinical psychology provide their students and practitioners with the clinical training necessary to do so. The majority of psychology graduate training programs continue to minimize the importance of this deficit and its impact on minorities (D. W. Sue, 2003). To assist in the process of addressing this concern, this study sought to gain understanding of the awareness, skills, comfort, and experiences that practitioners acquire in relation to their training experiences with racial, ethnic, and cultural minority clients. A sample of 185 practicum students participated in this study. These externs represented graduate level psychology programs from different regions in the United States. The majority of the students (94%) were enrolled in a Psy.D program in Clinical Psychology with a median of 3 years in graduate school. The most common types of agencies that students worked at were community mental health centers and college counseling centers. The findings of a stepwise regression analysis indicated that students' preparation to engage in conversations with their supervisors about race/ethnicity was significantly related to supervisors' knowledge of race/ethnicity based on their experience (β = .20, p = .005); years in graduate school (β = .19, p = .01); and when the student raises the topic of race/ethnicity (β = −.17, p = .02). The current research demonstrates that gaining a thorough and well-developed knowledge of racial, cultural, and ethnic diversity is a requirement of all psychologists and graduate students working in a clinical setting to ensure that the best possible treatment is given to all clients."

Neville, H. A. and R. T. Carter (2005). "Race and Racism in Counseling Psychology Research, Training, and Practice: A Critical Review, Current Trends, and Future Directions." The Counseling Psychologist 33(4): 413-418.

Abstract: "The modern civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s radically transformed practice and research in applied psychology, at least in terms of its understanding of race and racism. Rapid changes in psychology generally and in counseling psychology specifically occurred, and during this time we witnessed the formation of organizations to attend to the professional concerns of racial and ethnic minority psychologists. The field of counseling psychology began to examine issues of race and eventually racism in training, research, and practice within this context. This article introduces this special issue on race and racism in counseling psychology. The issue represents various perspectives on more recent scholarship and future directions in counseling psychology research and practice in the post-civil rights era. The authors envision that the special issue will also serve as an initial discourse linking previous work on race and racism with current knowledge about race and psychology in the genome era. The issue is an extension of the field's leadership in advocating multicultural issues in psychology. The scholarly engagement with the literature underscores the continuing significance of race and racism not only in our society but in our profession. The authors' sophisticated theoretical and empirical consideration of racial issues in counseling psychology research, practice, and training provide a springboard for new, innovative research in this area."

Nicholas, L. J. (2001). The history of racism in professional South African psychology. 'Race', racism, knowledge production and psychology in South Africa. Hauppauge, NY, US, Nova Science Publishers: 17-25.

Abstract: "Apart for the overt acts of racism by psychologists that will be delineated in this chapter, more interesting may be the attempts by psychologists at finding a middle way or a compromise that stops short of completely repudiating the racism that characterized much of South African psychology."

Nordstrom, A. H. (2015). "The voices project: Reducing white students' racism in introduction to psychology." Teaching of Psychology 42(1): 43-50.

Abstract: "This study examined the impact of an assignment involving intergroup contact (The Voices Project [TVP]) on student racism toward Muslims, African Americans, Asians, and Hispanics in Introduction to Psychology. TVP students interviewed members from racial groups and wrote autobiographical memoirs of their lives. A faculty-writing team integrated the stories into a staged reading program and presented to the class and campus. Students completed attitude surveys during the first and last weeks of a 15-week semester as well as 1 year later. TVP class showed significant reductions in prejudice toward racial groups across the semester and improvements remained 1 year later. Compared to a control class, TVP class demonstrated significantly greater attitude changes toward Muslims, Hispanics, and acknowledgment of White privilege.

Patel, N. (2012). Difference and power in supervision: The case of culture and racism. Supervision and clinical psychology: Theory, practice and perspectives, 2nd ed. New York, NY, US, Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group: 96-117.

Abstract: "This chapter has attempted to explore some key issues and some of the ways of improving supervisory practice in clinical psychology to enable us to develop greater understanding, confidence and competence in addressing power, cultural differences and racism. Whilst some implications for supervisors and supervisees have been outlined, the overall implications for the profession also require attention, although these will be mentioned only briefly here. Key implications include the responsibilities for the professional body in examining its own structure, policies and procedures and its own organizational processes that reinforce a Eurocentric bias in every aspect of clinical psychology. Clinical psychology training programs also need to review and revise the content and methods of training, to examine their own biases and institutional racism and to pay particular attention to the potential abuses within supervision, clinical, academic and research supervision in relation to cultural and racial oppression. Finally, and inevitably, the content and nature of training for supervisors and the monitoring of supervisors and supervision with respect to issues of culture and racism remain important challenges for the profession."

Pendry, N. (2012). "Race, racism and systemic supervision." Journal of Family Therapy 34(4): 403-418.

Abstract: "The idea of 'race' and the social reality of racism have gained increasing attention in family and systemic psychotherapy. This article seeks to extend this attention by focusing upon the influence of race and racism in the supervision of family and systemic psychotherapy. The way in which the idea of race might be conceptualized is discussed, before looking at how race and racism have been addressed in the field. Attention is then turned to systemic supervision, focusing upon the ideas generated about how supervisors might position themselves in relation to these issues, the implications this might have for the supervisory relationship and the relationships between supervisees and client families. It is proposed that by virtue of the supervisor's position of power over the supervisee, it is the supervisor's responsibility to initiate conversations about race and racism. A proposal for this task is outlined, which recognizes that these conversations are ongoing. A concluding assertion is made that such conversations should form part of the evaluative process for trainee supervisors."

Pieterse, A. L., et al. (2016). "Development and initial validation of the anti-racism behavioral inventory (ARBI)." Counselling Psychology Quarterly 29(4): 356-381.

Abstract: "This investigation reports on the development and initial validation of the anti-racism behavioral inventory, a measure designed to assess anti-racism awareness and behavior among students in counseling and counseling psychology programs within the United States (US). Data from 513 participants were collected over three related studies. Factor analyses suggested that the 21-item scale was best represented as a bifactor model with one general anti-racism behavior factor and three domain-specific factors, namely individual advocacy, awareness of racism, and institutional advocacy. Additional validity was supported through inverse associations with measures of symbolic racism and color-blind racial attitudes, as well as positive associations with scores on the Quick Discrimination Index. Potential utility of the measure and future directions for ongoing development is discussed."

Prescott, B. (2019). Anti-racist identity development in White clinical psychology graduate students. US, ProQuest Information & Learning. 80.

Abstract: "This study sought to explore anti-racist White identity development in psychology graduate students. Specifically, the purpose of this dissertation was to identify particular challenges associated with anti-racist White identity development and the processes that facilitate further development, despite these challenges. The research for this study was conducted qualitatively. A semi-structured interview guide (see Appendix B) was created based on identified areas related to anti-racist White identity development in clinical psychology training and clinical work. The qualitative analysis of the interviews was conducted using Interpretive Phenomenological analysis and included both vertical, case by case, and horizontal, across cases, analysis. Three "super-ordinate," or overarching themes, with multiple themes under each, were discovered. Specifically, the themes fell under overarching themes of "Whiteness," "Difficulties in Addressing White Identity," and "Growth." Themes from this study that relate to previous literature were discussed and it was noted when themes emerged that were not observed in the literature reviewed. Implications of these findings were discussed and suggestions on how the results of this study could be used to inform educational and clinical practices, such as implementing groups and mentorship programs in training institutions, were provided. Limitations in sample size, participant self-selection, participant diversity and subjectivity in abstract data analysis were discussed. Additionally, indications for future research on anti-racist White Identity were discussed, with an emphasis on larger, more inclusive sample size and studies involving pre-test and post-test designs."

Richards, G. (2012). 'Race', racism and psychology: Towards a reflexive history, 2nd ed. New York, NY, US, Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group.

Abstract: "This book offers a comprehensive overview of the ways in which Psychology has engaged with 'race' and racism issues since the late 19th century. It emphasises the complexities and convolutions of the story and attempts to elucidate the subtleties and occasional paradoxes that have arisen as a result. This important and controversial book has proved to be a vital text for readers, as a point of departure for more in-depth inquiries into specific topics, and as a handy reference text. The additional up-to-date material included in this new edition makes the book an even more valuable resource to those working and studying psychology, as well as to anyone concerned with the 'race' issue either professionally or personally."

Ridley, C. R. (2005). Overcoming unintentional racism in counseling and therapy: A practitioner's guide to intentional intervention, 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA, US, Sage Publications, Inc.

Abstract: "Any counselor or therapist, regardless of race, background, or motive, can engage in unintentional acts of racism. In so doing, they may inadvertently sabotage their own efforts and perpetuate the very problems they seek to overcome. Overcoming Unintentional Racism in Counseling and Therapy, Second Edition examines the dynamics and effects of racism in counseling with an emphasis on the insidiousness of unintentional racism. Workable solutions and practical alternatives are proposed with numerous supporting clinical examples included to help counselors and psychotherapists gain new insights into their operational practices, and modify any behaviors that may interfere with a helpful intervention. The Second Edition also provides a new section on the policies and practices of agencies and other institutions in the mental health system that unintentionally results in service disparities. Macrosystem and micro-system interventions are proposed to overcome these disparities. Key features of this text include: discussion on unintentional racism in counseling and therapy; balance of theory and practice; problem identification and solutions. The text is suited as a supplemental text for theoretical courses in counseling, counseling techniques, practicum, multicultural counseling, and in professional seminars."

Ronay-Jinich, D. (2010). White therapists addressing racism with White clients: A theoretical analysis and integrative treatment model. US, ProQuest Information & Learning. 70: 5183-5183.

Abstract: "This dissertation addresses a major gap in the literature and in clinical training regarding how White therapists can approach racist material brought to treatment by White clients. This can be done in a culturally sensitive way that recognizes that racism is psychologically detrimental to both its perpetrators and its victims. Racism is reviewed from psychoanalytic, systems/postmodern, and cognitive behavioral perspectives, both theoretically and in terms of treatment recommendations. Furthermore, White racial identity is examined in an effort to make it more visible and to encourage White clinicians to become culturally sensitive by first exploring their own ethnic identity and then doing so with White clients. In addition, the need for White clinicians to explore their own cultural identity and to do so within a context where other White clinicians can support them is emphasized. Finally, an integrative treatment model is provided which addresses theoretical gaps and builds on theoretical strengths to develop a more comprehensive and effective treatment of racism. This thesis is an invitation and guide for White therapists to carry out culturally accountable work with White clients, using existing theoretical models as a starting point. As is shown through the extensive literature review, it is possible to integrate one's theoretical orientation with multiculturalism to maximize the treatment of racism. The premise that all clients deserve to have culturally sensitive and accountable clinicians is integrated throughout the thesis. Ultimately, this dissertation looks at therapist's ability to stop colluding with racism as a way in which our leadership as agents of pro-social change, advocacy, and social justice can be maximized. By having more of an understanding of how racism operates in a therapeutic dyad, clinicians can understand how it systemically infiltrates a field in which practitioners are well-meaning, caring, and compassionate people."

Sashidharan, S. P. (2001). "Institutional racism in British psychiatry." Psychiatric Bulletin 25(7): 244-247.

Abstract: "Discusses racism in British psychiatry, examining why psychiatric practice in Great Britain continues to discriminate against Irish, Black, and Asian people. The author also examines how psychiatry as a profession responds to the charge of institutional racism, which is increasingly accepted as a major problem within British psychiatry. The author argues that the roots of racism within psychiatric care can be traced to the conceptual and theoretical framework of what constitutes modern psychiatry. The nature of psychiatric practices and procedures that arise from such a knowledge base and professional sanctioned activities around social control have become fundamental to what constitutes mental health activities. It is unlikely that changes will come about as a results of changes in individual practices or through professional training on cultural or race awareness. The author suggests that professionals much address the cultural and historical specificity of psychiatry, in particular the theoretical underpinning of diagnosis and classification. The related ideology around causality, vulnerability, and the emphasis on racial as against social, material, or cultural factors also demand reappraisal, given their cultural and historical roots."

Sawyer, J., & Senn, D. J. (1973). Institutional Racism and the American Psychological Association 1. Journal of Social Issues, 29(1), 67-79.

Abstract: "Institutional racism-institutional practice that perpetuates racial inequality-does not require individual prejudice or institutional intent, but is a by-product of business as usual. Psychologists for Social Action showed how APA practices institutional racism by condoning employment practices of Lancaster Press, APA's major printer. In May 1969, the Press employed one black person ("wash-up man") out of 300 employees, though Lancaster's 63,000 population included over 15% blacks and Puerto Ricans. Both the Press and the APA Central Office attributed this to low educational level. The authors met with representatives of Lancaster minority communities and together with them influenced the Press to hire 9 black persons out of 18 new employees between October 1, 1969 and September 30, 1970. A May 1973 postscript documents APA's continued hesitancy to influence its suppliers toward equal employment practices."

Senn, D. J., & Sawyer, J. (1971). Institutional racism: A problem for psychology?. American Psychologist, 26(7), 671-674.

Abstract: "Discusses whether the American Psychological Association (APA) can be involved, through its normal institutional activity, in the perpetuation of racial inequality. A case study explores APA's relationship with its printer, which had 1 Black employee, and exemplifies institutional racism at APA, despite the absence of an intent to discriminate. The printer was subsequently persuaded by the Psychologists for Social Action to increase its employment of minorities."

Shin, R. Q., et al. (2016). "Is Allison more likely than Lakisha to receive a callback from counseling professionals? A racism audit study." The Counseling Psychologist 44(8): 1187-1211.

Abstract: "Using an audit study, we examined racially biased callback responses in the mental health field by leaving voicemails soliciting services with practicing counselors and psychologists (N = 371). To manipulate perceived race, an actor identified herself with either a stereotypically Black- or non-Latino White-sounding name. Although the difference in callback rate between the two names was not significant, the difference in voice messages from therapists that either promoted potential services or impeded services was significant. The caller with the stereotypically White-sounding name received voice messages that promoted the potential for services at a 12% higher rate than the caller with the stereotypically Black-sounding name. Limitations, future directions for research, and counseling implications are discussed."

Singh, S. P. (2007). "Institutional racism in psychiatry: Lessons from inquiries." Psychiatric Bulletin 31(10): 363-365.

Abstract: "The President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists recently reiterated the College's determination to tackle institutional racism in psychiatry, as defined in the MacPherson Report (MacPherson, 1999). This reaction was prompted by a paper suggesting that racism was perhaps not the only explanation for ethnic differences in rates of psychosis and detention under the Mental Health Act 1983 (Singh & Burns, 2006). The MacPherson Report defines institutional racism as "the collective failure of an organisation to provide an appropriate and professional service to people because of their colour, culture or ethnic origin. It can be seen or detected in processes, attitudes and behaviour which amount to discrimination through unwitting prejudice, ignorance, thoughtlessness, and racist stereotyping which disadvantage minority ethnic people". How would similar failures manifest in mental health services? A person from a minority ethnic group who has a serious mental illness is not given an adequate diagnosis, not provided with a coherent treatment plan, not offered appropriate treatment and does not have their needs met. Such failures occur repeatedly over many encounters with the services, and several clinicians individually and collectively contribute to the poor decision-making. These experiences are replicated nationally for patients from minority ethnic groups."

Stevens, G. (2003). "Academic representations of 'race' and racism in psychology: Knowledge production, historical context and dialectics in transitional South Africa." International Journal of Intercultural Relations 27(2): 189-207.

Abstract: "Reviews thematic patterns and trends pertaining to constructions of 'race' and racism within South African psychology's formal discourse from 1990 to 2000. It notes that clear differences emerge temporally with shifts in the socio-historical terrain of South African society, and it is the author's contention that these manifestations relate directly to ideological, political, social and economic conditions prevalent in South Africa and within the global context. Political transformation and its associated perceived threats to economic, social and cultural integrity; the impact of globalization and neo-liberal ideologies; and the contested institutional dynamics underpinning 'race' and racism in postapartheid South Africa are all explored as potential factors contributing to these academic discourses within South African psychology. The study is a thematic analysis of the South African Journal of Psychology during this period and highlights the shifting ontological, epistemological and methodological frameworks as they relate to the study of 'race' and racism. The paper argues for a revisiting of critical understandings of 'race' and racism within the framework of modernity and cautions against the potential contradictions within postmodernist understandings of these phenomena."

Sue, D. W. (2005). "Racism and the Conspiracy of Silence: Presidential Address." The Counseling Psychologist 33(1): 100-114.

Abstract: "Presents the author's presidential address to the Society of Counseling Psychology, Division 17 of the American Psychological Association. The author discusses the social injustice of racism and why such a topic is relevant to counseling psychology. The following topics are discussed: (1) Three manifestations of racism; (2) Defining racism as pathology or a mental disorder is problematic; (3) Racism is more normative than we like to believe; (4) It is not the white supremacist but the ordinary citizen who perpetrates the greatest harm to people of color; (5) Racism harms white folks as well; and (6) Acknowledging our own racism is not enough."

Tinsley-Jones, H. A. (2001). "Racism in out midst: Listening to psychologists of color." Professional Psychology: Research and Practice 32(6): 573-580.

Abstract: "How is racism covertly or overtly active in psychological theory, practice, and policy? The field of psychology has given little attention to addressing this question. Using a qualitative interviewing approach, this study assessed racism in psychology from the unique perspectives of 8 psychologists of color. An analysis of in-depth responses to 3 target questions suggested that although participants believed that the field has made gains, negative appraisals very clearly predominated, and covert acts of racism were cited, providing additional evidence that racism is in psychology's midst. Suggestions for addressing racism within psychology are made."

Wade, J. C. (1993). Institutional racism: An analysis of the mental health system. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 63(4), 536-544.

Abstract: "Institutional racism is defined and its conceptual application to the institution of psychiatry and the mental health system is described. Data on changes in the patient population and the provision and utilization of mental health services since deinstitutionalization are examined. Mental health policy and diagnostic and treatment issues are identified as areas in which institutional racism affects minority groups."

Wong, L. M. (1994). Di (s)-secting and Dis (s)-closingWhiteness': Two Tales about Psychology. Feminism & Psychology, 4(1), 133-153.

Abstract: "`Whiteness' is di(s)-sected and dis(s)-closed to reveal its privileged position within psychological texts. This allows me to discuss the three ways in which `whiteness' has surfaced. First, `whiteness' is absent. Second, `whiteness' is displaced by synonyms that shift its anxieties on the `other'. And third, `whiteness' is discussed as the predominant epistemological backdrop of psychological texts that e-race, make invisible and token the presence of racial minorities. I will use two instances of psychological practice-e-racing theory and the porno-raced method-to discuss how `whiteness' has manipulated racial minorities to inform, test and construct its own meanings."

Zayas, L. H. (2001). "Incorporating struggles with racism and ethnic identity in therapy with adolescents." Clinical Social Work Journal 29(4): 361-373.

Abstract: "In this paper, the author draws from experiences in clinical practice with minority youth to highlight issues of racism and ethnic identity emergent in treatment. Three cases illustrate discussions of struggles with racism and ethnic identity as they emerged in therapy. In each case, the struggles were made salient by the therapist's purposeful eliciting of them to clarify issues of transference, family relations, peer group relations, and achievement."

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home " ethics " anti-racism PLEASE NOTE: I created this site to be fully accessible for people with disabilities: -Please follow this link to change text size, color, or contrast -Please follow this link for other accessibility functions for those with visual, mobility, and other disabilities I gathered the following 57 references to help psychologists, psychiatrists, psychotherapists, and others committed to anti-racist activism, research, teaching, and practice.

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Lifting Black Voices: Therapy, Trust, and Racial Trauma

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Lifting Black Voices: Therapy, Trust, and Racial Trauma

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A Free 1 CE Credit Hour Podcast Continuing Education Course... Donations Encouraged
Check Out Donation Ideas and Enroll In This Free Course Enroll In This Course for Free

Course Description

Black and African American individuals engage in mental health treatment at a significantly lower rate than White individuals, and simultaneously report higher levels of hopelessness, sadness, and worthlessness. Why is this, and what can be done to create more therapeutic safety for this population?

This panel interview, featuring three BIPOC clinicians, explores the impact of transgenerational and personal racial trauma on the pursuit and engagement in mental healthcare by Black and African American people. This frank and engaging discussion covers themes about what it means to be Black in America, and the first steps therapists can personally take to build therapeutic safety and trust.

Learning Objectives

Upon completing this course, participants will be able to: Discuss how transgenerational trauma may impact therapeutic safety for BIPOC clients; List two or more therapeutic interventions or therapist reactions/responses that may impact therapeutic safety with racial minority clients; Describe how systemic oppression may impact the Black/African American perception of and/or experience of mental health treatment

Target Audience and Instructional Level
This course is intended for psychologists, therapists, social workers, clinical counselors, and addiction counselors. Instructional level: Introductory & Intermediate

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In order to receive a certificate of completion reflecting the associated CE credit hour, you must:
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#2: Listen to the corresponding course podcast
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#4: Complete the required course evaluation.

Course requirements (including the course audio, post-test, and course evaluation) can be completed on a computer or mobile device via your Clearly Clinical account.

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This high-quality and interesting course contains a one-hour audio podcast interview, which is available for free via Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or your other favorite podcast providers. You can also listen to and download the file via the course player.

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Once you've completed the course, your certificate will automatically populate in the 'Certificate' section of your account; it will also be emailed to you. Access to completion certificate will expire 365 days after issuance. Course certificates will be on file for ten (10) years from date of course completion.

Course Access Expiration

Please note that you will have access to this free course for 30 days from when you sign up. If your access lapses, you are able to re-enroll.

La Shanda Sugg, LPC

Senior Instructor
lashanda@thelaborsoflove.com
La Shanda Sugg, LPC (Ohio C.1801024) is a Certified Trauma Responsive Therapist, consultant, and the founder of Labors of Love Counseling and Consulting, LLC in Cincinnati, Ohio. With a trauma specialty and focus on multigenerational families, La Shanda combines her understanding of Relational Cultural Theory, Developmental and Relational Trauma Therapy, EMDR, and other tools to help people improve their quality of life and relationships. By exploring the historical experiences that have left wounds and imprints, La Shanda helps people gain insight and Move from Coping to Healing. In addition to providing therapy for families, couples, and individuals, La Shanda also conducts engaging and dynamic trauma-specific trainings and consultation for companies, community agencies, schools, and faith-based organizations. Her gift for making complex concepts easy to understand and relevant to everyday life is one of many reasons La Shanda is a highly sought-after therapist and trainer. For more information about Labors of Love Counseling and Consulting's service offerings visit www.thelaborsoflove.com, and check out La Shanda's podcast at The Labors of Love Podcast.

Dr. Tiffany Crayton, LPC-S, NCC

Senior Instructor
Live2_inspire@yahoo.com
Dr. Tiffany Crayton earned a Ph.D., in Counseling Education and Supervision with a concentration in Trauma and Crisis from Walden University. She earned her M.Ed., in Guidance and Counseling from the University of Central Oklahoma. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in the states of Virginia (#0701008324), Texas (#73962), and Oklahoma (#3709). She is also a National Certified Counselor and an approved LPC Supervisor. In addition to serving as a secondary counselor for over 16 years, she has worked with children, adolescents, couples and families on various life impacting issues as a mental health professional. Dr. Crayton specializes in working with those who have experienced trauma, intimate partner violence, sexual abuse, anxiety, depression, LGBTQ+ experiences and the value of self. Dr. Tiffany M. Crayton deeply values creating a space that awakens one's bravery. A space that is free of shame and helps clients discover their true authentic selves. To learn more about Dr. Crayton's work, visit her at LinkedIn or PsychologyToday.

L.J. Lumpkin III, LMFT

Senior Instructor
ljlumpkin3@gmail.com
L.J. Lumpkin is a licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in Southern California, and the owner of Nomad Healing Practices. His background includes working in dual-diagnosis inpatient, IOP, and PHP settings as well as private practice and guest lecturing. L.J. specializes in working with trauma, anxiety disorders, and as multicultural issues. L.J. Has found that by introducing clients to mindfulness, meditation, and breathing techniques, they can help create separation from past traumas and start to become their full authentic self. L.J. also consults with companies on how to reduce stress and anxiety through mindfulness practices, so that all voices can be heard. Please visit his PsychologyToday to learn more.

Elizabeth 'Beth' Irias, MS, LMFT #80500

Interviewer
Elizabeth@ClearlyClinical.com
Elizabeth 'Beth' Irias is a licensed Marriage & Family Therapist and the Founder and President of Clearly Clinical. She has specializations in Clinical Documentation, Best Practice, and Utilization Review, and works closely with clinical teams across the US as a trainer and national conference presenter. She operates a private practice in Westlake Village, CA, where she provides therapy to adolescent/young adult clients, members of the LGBT population, and those with addictive disorders. Beth is an adjunct professor at Pepperdine University in the Graduate Psychology and Education department. She also has two young children, a super cool husband who does Clearly Clinical's audio work, a rescue dog, and a rescue cat.

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FREE CE: Lifting Black Voices: Therapy, Trust, & Trauma

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Clinicians La Shanda Sugg, LPC, L.J. Lumpkin, LMFT, & Dr. Tiffany Crayton, LPC discuss the theme of therapeutic mistrust in the Black and African community, and offer insight about how the lived experience of BIPOC individuals may impact the course of therapy. Guidance for non-minority clinicians is also discussed.

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"I Am A Slave" - The Roots Meet Schoolhouse Rock - black-ish

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"I Am A Slave" - The Roots Meet Schoolhouse Rock - black-ish

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"I Am A Slave" - The Roots Meet Schoolhouse Rock - black-ish

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18 Children’s Books to Honor Juneteenth and Black History

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18 Children’s Books to Honor Juneteenth and Black History

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Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day, is a holiday that commemorates the end of slavery. It is celebrated on June 19th each year. On this date in 1865, enslaved people in Texas were informed by the Union Army that the Civil War was over and they were now free. This was more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation had been issued. It was a long fight for freedom, and the fight for equality still continues today.

Here's a list of books for young readers of all ages to read to learn more about Black history and about the history that is still being made today.

19th Century (1800s to 1890s)

Through the eyes of one little girl, All Different Now shares a story about of the first Juneteenth, the day freedom finally came to the last of the enslaved people of the South. This stunning picture book includes notes from the author and illustrator, a timeline of important dates, and a glossary of relevant terms.

This is a gripping biography about Harriet Tubman, who escaped slavery and became a conductor on the secret Underground Railroad, helping others make the dangerous journey to freedom.

Two women with similar backgrounds. Both slaves; both fiercely independent and great, in different ways. The life stories of two vital figures in American history-Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth-are told in this powerful text paired with spectacular artwork. This nonfiction picture book is an excellent choice to share during homeschooling,

This biography goes over some of the amazing periods of Tubman's life: She led 13 escapes-all successful and at great personal risk-between 1850 and 1860. This includes a timeline and historical illustrations all about the life of this inspiring figure, as well as a rare historical photograph of her.

Fleeing on the Underground Railroad meant walking long distances; swimming across streams; hiding in abandoned shanties, swamps, and ditches, always on the run from slave trackers and their dogs. The Underground Railroad operated on secrecy and trust. But who could be trusted? There were free black and white men and women helping, risking their lives, too. Because freedom was worth any risk. Celebrated collaborators Ntozake Shange and Rod Brown pay tribute to the Underground Railroad, a universal story about the human need to be free.

Frederick Douglass was a self-educated slave from the South who grew up to become an icon and leader of the abolitionist movement, a celebrated writer, an esteemed speaker, and a social reformer, proving that, as he said, "Once you learn to read, you will be forever free."

The remarkable true story of how former slave Isabella Baumfree, better known as preacher and orator Sojourner Truth, an iconic figure of the abolitionist and women's rights movements. This beautifully illustrated and well-researched biography includes a detailed historical note and a list of suggested supplemental reading materials.

20th Century (1900s to 1970s)

The Harlem Hellfighters: When Pride Met Courage is a portrait of bravery and honor, sharing the true story of the unsung American heroes of World War I. At a time of widespread bigotry and racism, the African American soldiers of the 369th Infantry Regiment put their lives on the line in the name of democracy.

Although there aren't many ballet schools that will accept a girl like Sylvia in the 1950s, her local bookmobile provides another possibility. A librarian helps Sylvia find a book about ballet and the determined seven-year-old, with the help of her new books, starts teaching herself the basics of classical ballet. Soon Sylvia learns how to fly-how to dance-and how to dare to dream. Includes a foreword from Sylvia Townsend, a brief history of the bookmobile, an author's note, and a further reading list.

Full of heartfelt moments and thrilling magical realism, Big Papa and the Time Machine speaks to the African American experience in a touching dialogue between two family members from different generations and emerges as a voice that shares history and asks questions about one family's experience in 20th-century black America.

When George Washington Carver was just a young child, he had a secret: a garden of his own. He protected roots through harsh winters, so plants could be reborn in the spring. He trimmed flowers, spread soil, studied life cycles. And it was in this very place that George's love of nature sprouted into something so much more-his future.

What was it like growing up as a son of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.? This picture book memoir, My Daddy, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by Martin Luther King III, provides insight into one of history's most fascinating families and into a special bond between father and son. It gives an intimate look at the man and the father behind the civil rights leader. Mr. King's remembrances show both his warm, loving family and a momentous time in American history.

When Delphine and her two younger sisters, Vonetta and Fern, are sent to California to spend the summer with their mother who abandoned them, they're not sure what to expect.While the girls hope to go to Disneyland and meet Tinker Bell, their mother sends them to a day camp run by the Black Panthers. Unexpectedly, Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern learn much about their family, their country, and themselves during one truly crazy summer.

This is the powerful story of four African-American female mathematicians, Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, and Christine Darden, at NASA who helped achieve some of the greatest moments in our space program. These women lived through the Civil Rights era, the Space Race, the Cold War, and the movement for gender equality, and their work forever changed the face of NASA and the country. (There's also a picture book version for younger readers.)

Present Day (1980s to now)

Black cowboys are a part of history that has been all but forgotten, but the Compton Cowboys have made it their mission to carry on the tradition and be role models for their community. Learn about the true story of Black men and women from Compton, California, who found purpose through raising and riding horses.

Shay's sister, Hana, is involved in the Black Lives Matter movement, but Shay doesn't think that's for her. After experiencing a powerful protest, though, she starts wearing an armband to school in support of the movement. Shay is scared to do the wrong thing (and even more scared to do the right thing), but some rules are worth breaking.

Overall

The story of America and African Americans is a story of hope and inspiration and unwavering courage. This is the story of the men, women, and children who toiled in the hot sun picking cotton for their masters; it's about the America ripped in two by Jim Crow laws; it's about the brothers and sisters of all colors who rallied against those who would dare bar a child from an education. It's a story of discrimination and broken promises, determination, and triumphs.

Fresh, accessible, and inspiring, Shaking Things Up introduces fourteen revolutionary young women-each paired with a noteworthy female artist-to the next generation of activists, trail-blazers, and rabble-rousers. These stories include the first known first female fighter, Molly Williams, civil rights pioneer Ruby Bridges, and first female African American astronaut, Mae Jemison.

PIN ME!

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18 Children's Books to Honor Juneteenth and Black History

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Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day, is a holiday that commemorates the end of slavery. On this date in 1865, enslaved people in Texas were informed by the Union Army that the Civil War was over and they were now free. This was more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation had been issued.

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USD Assistant Professor of History Channon Miller outlines the historical significance and impact of the Juneteenth Holiday, and how it represents our continued efforts to strive for freedom and equality for all.

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University of San Diego on Facebook Watch

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BGM was founded by Black graduate students to make higher education planning more accessible for underrepresented students. Our mentors have experience in elite PhD, JD, MD, MA, MSc, MBA, MPH, and MPP programs in nine academic disciplines.

The pilot BGM Mentor Program will connect prospective graduate students with scholars in their field for free, one-hour consultations. This program will last through July 2020. Students in any academic year or application stage are encouraged to apply.

More comprehensive consulting plans are available on a need-conscious pricing scale. After the pilot ends, we will continue to offer free services to students with financial need.

Let's paint the Ivory Tower Black.

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Unlearning Racism and Promoting Social Justice Among Therapists

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Unlearning Racism and Promoting Social Justice Among Therapists

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Deep Eddy Psychotherapy | Therapy & Counseling in Austin, TX

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This workshop will help therapists become more introspective about the costs of racism by exploring new perspectives and learning insights about the psychology of race, prejudice and racism. The first workshop will focus on why it is so difficult to talk about race. Individuals will learn about the history of racism in this country and how concepts such as white fragility, anti-blackness, racial worldview, racial microaggressions, and institutional racism are embedded within everyday society. The second workshop will focus on strategies to combat racism and promote social justice. Individuals will learn how psychological concepts such as automatic and controlled processes and implicit bias, common group identity and the contact hypothesis can be used to reduce racism and anti-blackness.

Kevin Cokley, Ph.D. holds the Oscar and Anne Mauzy Regents Professorship for Educational Research and Development in the College of Education at the University of Texas at Austin. He is a Fellow of both the University of Texas System and University of Texas Academy of Distinguished Teachers, Director of the Institute for Urban Policy Research & Analysis, and Professor of Counseling Psychology and African and African Diaspora Studies. Dr. Cokley's research and teaching can be broadly categorized in the area of African American psychology, with a focus on racial and ethnic identity. Dr. Cokley studies the psychosocial experiences of students of color, and is currently exploring the impostor phenomenon and its relationship to mental health and academic outcomes. His publications have appeared in professional journals such as the Journal of Counseling Psychology, Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, the Journal of Black Psychology, Journal of Black Studies, Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, and the Harvard Educational Review. He is the past Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Black Psychology, and was elected to Fellow status in the American Psychological Association for his contributions to ethnic minority psychology and counseling psychology. He holds the title of Distinguished Psychologist in the Association of Black Psychologists, and is the recipient of the 2014 Regents' Outstanding Teaching Award, the 2009 Charles and Shirley Thomas Award for mentoring ethnic minority students, the 2008 "10 Rising Stars of the Academy" award by Diverse Issues in Higher Education, the 2007 Association of Black Psychologists' Scholarship Award, and the 2004 co-recipient of the Emerging Professional Award given by the Society for the Psychological Study of Ethnic Minority Issues. He is author of the 2014 book " The Myth of Black Anti-Intellectualism" that challenges the notion that African American students are anti-intellectual. He has written several Op-Eds in major media outlets on topics such as Blacks' rational mistrust of police, the aftermath of Ferguson, police and race relations, racism and White supremacy, the use of school vouchers, and racial disparities in school discipline. His research has been recognized in media outlets including the New York Times, USA Today, and Inside Higher Education.

Germine (Gigi) Awad, Ph.D., is an associate professor and program chair of the Human Development and Culture and Learning Science Program at the University of Texas at Austin. She is also affiliated with the Counseling Psychology Program in the Department of Educational Psychology. Her research interests include racism, prejudicial attitudes toward ethnic minorities and immigrants, ethnic/racial identity, and acculturation (with a focus on Arab and African Americans), affirmative action attitudes, and multicultural research methodology. Dr. Awad is the recipient of 3 teaching awards and teaches courses on the psychology of race and racism and the psychology of women. Her publications have appeared in professional journals such as the American Psychologist, Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, the Journal of Black Psychology, Journal of College Student Psychotherapy, Women and Therapy, Journal of Culture and Mental Health, and Journal of Career Development. Dr. Awad is on the editorial boards of Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, The Journal of Black Psychology, and the Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development. She is also the co-editor of the Handbook of Arab American Psychology and the co-founder of the American Arab Middle Eastern and North African Psychological Association (AMENA-Psy). She has also written several op-eds that have appeared in USA Today, Fortune, the Houston Chronicle, the Dallas Morning News, and Al Jazeera America.
Clinical Objectives for Clinicians:

1. Describe the negative impact of racism as a traumatic stressor

2. Identify anti-racist strategies

3. Explain how white fragility undermines social justice efforts

4. Distinguish between automatic and controlled processes

5. Explain the role of implicit bias in perpetuating racism

What: Unlearning Racism and Promoting Social Justice Among Therapists For: Psychotherapists at all levels Leader: Kevin Cokley, Ph.D. and Germine (Gigi) Awad, Ph.D When: Friday, June 26, 2020 from 4:00-7:00pm
and Saturday, June 27, 2020 from 9am-12pm
Where: Zoom Virtual Meeting Room: link will be emailed to registrants before event
Cost: We don't want money to stop anyone from coming. If you'd like to contribute to help cover our presenter costs, however, please feel free. Suggested donation $40 CEUs: 6.0 Diversity hours Contact: rachel@deepeddypsychotherapy.com *If you are not able to attend on June 26 and June 27, you can still register and a recording link will be provided for a period of time after the workshop.* Deep Eddy Psychotherapy is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Deep Eddy Psychotherapy maintains responsibility for this program and its contents.

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Unlearning Racism and Promoting Social Justice Among Therapists | Deep Eddy Psychotherapy | Therapy & Counseling in Austin, TX

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Co-sponsored by: Register Here! This workshop will help therapists become more introspective about the costs of racism by exploring new perspectives and learning insights about the psychology of race, prejudice and racism. The first workshop will focus on why it is so difficult to talk about race.

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Juneteenth Vibes: A Family-Friendly Playlist Celebrating Blackness

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Juneteenth Vibes: A Family-Friendly Playlist Celebrating Blackness

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Juneteenth is a national holiday celebrating the freedom of African Americans from slavery in the U.S. Its name comes from the words "June" and "nineteenth.". On June 19, 1865, U.S. Army Major General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas with news that the Civil War had ended and slavery was abolished, two years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.

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Juneteenth Vibes: A Family-Friendly Playlist Celebrating Blackness | News Break

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Juneteenth is a national holiday celebrating the freedom of African Americans from slavery in the U.S. Its name comes from the words "June" and "nineteenth.". On June 19, 1865, U.S. Army Major General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas with news that the Civil War had ended and slavery was abolished, two years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.

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10 Things We Want White People to Do to Celebrate Juneteenth

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10 Things We Want White People to Do to Celebrate Juneteenth

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By Guimel Carvalho, Director of People and Culture and Amy Hogarth Director of Recruitment and Inclusion

Juneteenth, also known as Emancipation Day, marks the day when Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, arrived in Galveston, Texas to announce the end of the Civil War and slavery. It was June 19, 1865 and although the Emancipation Proclamation had freed slaves more than two years earlier there was minimal enforcement in Texas due to a lack of Union troops.

Each year, Juneteenth is a day for Black people to celebrate freedom. This year Juneteenth carries deeper meaning in the wake of Black lives lost to police brutality in the last few weeks and months. It's hard to think that freedom is on the minds or in the hearts of Americans after the murder of George Floyd, after demonstrations for liberation or after the President was planning a political rally today.

Black and Brown people are calling on white people to stand with them and take action. They've been fighting too hard and too long. ​​​It made us think about what do we want white people to do to celebrate Juneteenth?
10 Things We Want White People to Do to Celebrate Juneteenth

1. We want white people to deeply consider the wound of racism on the hearts of every Black American.

2. On Juneteenth we want white people to read, study Black history, Black poets, Black leaders, Black achievements.

3. We want white people to do things about racism as readily as they do things for their own children.

4. We want white people to make a list of resolutions, of promises, of vows about what will it take for them to use their power, their privilege, their platforms of power to give space to Black and Brown leaders.

5. We want them to find an accountability partner and make the list public of what actions they will take. They CAN do this on social media. A lot of those actions will be giving up privilege and making room for folks who they may not have noticed have no room at all.

6. We want white people to stop talking about how uncomfortable it is to talk about racism or police violence.

7. We want white people to stop being afraid of their own internalized white supremacy. We want them to search and look within at hard facts of thought and deed. Who cares about being comfortable? What about being true, brave and real instead?

8. Then we want white people to stop talking and listen to what needs to be done.

9. We want white people to plan on spending time in spaces with folks who are not like you.

10. We want white people to hold other white people accountable not on social media, instead with measured voices that call folks in to look and wrestle - to change. We are interested in courageous conversations, in hearing folks out and in allowing themselves to feel terrible and to let that feeling be a crucible for change.

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10 Things We Want White People to Do to Celebrate Juneteenth - Wayside Youth & Family Support Network

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By Guimel Carvalho, Director of People and Culture and Amy Hogarth Director of Recruitment and Inclusion Juneteenth, also known as Emancipation Day, marks the day when Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, arrived in Galveston, Texas to announce the end of the Civil War and slavery.

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The black women who launched the original anti-racist reading list

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The black women who launched the original anti-racist reading list

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Books are seen on a table on June 5 at Oakland's Marcus Books, an independent bookstore that has served the black community in the Bay Area with books by and about African Americans for the past 60 years (Nathan Frandino/Reuters)

Book recommendations about race and racism in America have rapidly circulated on social media and news outlets as protests against anti-black violence continue for the third week. Robin DiAngelo's " White Fragility," Ijeoma Oluo's " So You Want to Talk About Race," and Ibram X. Kendi's " How To Be An Antiracist" have soared to the top of the New York Times Best Seller list and Brittany Smith's book recommendations for children - including " Sulwe" by Lupita Nyong'o and Vashti Harris, and " Schomburg " by Carole Weatherford and Eric Velasquez - went viral on Twitter.

The turn to books to combat racism is not new. During World War II, black women librarians created lists of anti-racist books as an explicitly political act. While their work transformed the nature of education, the limitations of their work remind us that change only happens when people act on the ideas in books.

The racist ideology advanced by Nazi Germany inspired a new interest in "intercultural education" in America. Books, national teaching journals and curriculums, among other educational resources and programs, emphasized tolerance toward others. These resources informed students about the political, social and cultural contributions of different ethnic and racial groups.

Black people at home agreed with President Franklin D. Roosevelt that "books are weapons." As they worked to expose the hypocrisy of a war for democracy abroad while they were routinely denied their democratic rights in America, they, too, turned to education as an important front in the war against racism. Recognizing that ideas about race developed in childhood, white and black parents, teachers and librarians sought out non-racist books about black life for children. Several black women librarians emerged to meet the high demand, turning reading and book publishing into an anti-racist campaign, long before the term itself was coined.

Charlemae Rollins, the children's librarian at the George Cleveland Hall Branch of the Chicago Public Library, was one of them. 1941 saw the publication of her pamphlet of 72 books about black life entitled "We Build Together: A Reader's Guide to Negro Life" and "Literature for Elementary and High School Use." One of the first of its kind, the pamphlet listed books that depicted black life truthfully, called out books that contained stereotypes and established criteria for evaluating children's books about black people.

Rollins argued that stories should not encourage readers to feel superior or inferior to other racial groups, nor should they promote nostalgia for the antebellum South. Rollins also insisted books avoid offensive language in reference to black people and avoid inauthentic dialect, which children had difficulty reading and understanding. The illustrations should not dehumanize black characters by exaggerating their features or playing into any stereotype.

In Rollins's view, books that met these standards would boost black children's self-esteem and foster respect for black people among white children. She argued books had the power to reverse the dehumanization of racial minorities, and so she recommended books like Jane Schakelford 's "My Happy Days," Stella Sharpe's "Tobe," and Langston Hughes's " Not Without Laughter."

The book list was well received, in Rollins's opinion, and there was enough interest and demand that she launched a second edition in 1948. The sociopolitical context was essential to its success. According to Rollins, World War II opened the doors for "the colored peoples of the world" to demand "equal partnership with the white minority of humankind" and "back up their demands with appropriate action." Rollins believed that reading books about black people's contributions to all areas of American life would change racial attitudes and lead to the fulfillment of the country's democratic principles.

She wasn't the only one. Augusta Baker, the children's librarian at the 135th Street Branch of the New York Public Library (NYPL), also created booklists to guide anxious Americans seeking anti-racist book recommendations during World War II. In 1943, the NYPL published her "Books About the Negro for Children," a list of books housed in her branch's James Weldon Johnson Memorial Collection. This special collection sought to "acquaint Negro boys and girls with their own heritage as well as racial achievements" and "help white children gain a truer, more sympathetic picture of their fellow Americans." In 1946, the Bureau for Intercultural Education published Baker's bibliography with a slightly different title, "Books About Negro Life for Children," and the NYPL reissued it in 1949, 1957, 1961 and 1963.

In Baker's view, this list of 140 children's books "[gave] an unbiased, accurate, well-rounded picture of Negro life in all parts of the world." Baker's emphasis on children's books that represented life in Africa and the African diaspora was unique. Using similar criteria to Rollins, Baker included books set in Africa, the Caribbean, South America, Oceania and Europe such as Rudolf Voorhoeve 's "Tilio, A Boy of Papua," Margaret Baumann's " A Book of Nigerian Fairy Tales " and Hellen Follett's "Islands on Guard."

In addition to writing bibliographies, Rollins and Baker wrote protest letters to publishers, illustrators and authors to influence their contemporary literary environment. They pressured them to create anti-racist books about black life for children and urged libraries to acquire more of them when they became available. Rollins and Baker also lectured and published journal articles on the topic. To fill the void in books that accurately portrayed black life, they wrote their own children's books as well.

Their activism helped reform the field of children's literature. Rollins and Baker's bibliographies led to a dramatic increase in the number of anti-racist children's books about black life. For example, Rollins encouraged Pulitzer Prize winner Gwendolyn Brooks to write poetry for children and advised Langston Hughes on "The First Book of Negroes." Rollins said "the crowning delight of [her] whole career" was Ezra Jack Keats's " The Snowy Day." Rollins and Baker also discredited classics such as "The Story of Little Black Sambo" and persuaded at least one publishing company to cease its publication.

Yet, the fact we are still a nation marked by rampant racial inequality and widespread injustice forces us to face a sobering reality: Reading is not enough. Baker and Rollins believed books and education would transform the hearts and minds of Americans. They were wrong. The work of dismantling systemic racism does not end with making bibliographies or even reading all of the books on them. Americans must act on what they know. We must demand actual racial justice and equality in education, jobs, health care and housing, now, amid mass protests, and more importantly, we must continue to do so after the protests have subsided.

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Perspective | The black women who launched the original anti-racist reading list

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Book recommendations about race and racism in America have rapidly circulated on social media and news outlets as protests against anti-black violence continue for the third week. Robin DiAngelo's " White Fragility," Ijeoma Oluo's " So You Want to Talk About Race," and Ibram X.

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Six Things Psychologists Are Talking About …

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Six Things Psychologists Are Talking About …

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POLICING EQUITY
A Washington Post article uses data on police shootings to illustrate the lack of progress made on previously promised police reforms, and the resulting tension caused by pent-up anger, fear and pain. "This is generational, what we're seeing on the streets of America," says Phillip Atiba Goff, PhD, co-founder and CEO of the Center for Policing Equity and a professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City. "This is the past-due notice for the unpaid debts this country owes black America. And as always, law enforcement is just the spark, right?"

HUGGING DURING A PANDEMIC
A simple hug is risky in the age of COVID-19, but there are ways to do it safely, says Stanford University psychology professor Johannes Eichstaedt, PhD. In a New York Times article, he and others offer advice on how to safely hug during a pandemic, emphasizing the importance of touch for humans. "Affectionate touch is how our biological systems communicate to one another that we are safe, that we are loved, and that we are not alone," he says.

MONITORING MENTAL HEALTH
Steve Joordens, PhD, a psychology professor at the University of Toronto Scarborough, has launched a free online course on managing your mental health during COVID-19. The Coursera course covers the "machinery" behind anxiety and how different environments can affect mental health, with tips for creating an environment most likely to lead to improved mental health.

POLICE BRUTALITY
Empowering bystanders and encouraging ethical police are critical components of reducing police brutality, says Amherst College psychology professor Catherine A. Sanderson, PhD, in a USA Today article. Sanderson points to the Ethical Policing is Courageous (EPIC) training program, developed by social psychologist Ervin Staub, PhD, as education that builds the expectation that officers will step forward when they see another officer engaging in bad behavior. "The EPIC program teaches officers that real loyalty is not covering up bad behavior but preventing it," she says.

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POLICING EQUITY A Washington Post article uses data on police shootings to illustrate the lack of progress made on previously promised police reforms, and the resulting tension caused by pent-up anger, fear and pain.

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What it’s like to be Your Only Black Friend Right Now

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What it’s like to be Your Only Black Friend Right Now

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Imagine you woke up tomorrow morning and all of a sudden almost every dude in your life magically accepted that sexism exists and that it's bad. What's more, all these dudes are sorry. They are so sorry. They feel real bad. And they need you to know it. How would you respond? Would you criticize them for only acknowledging this now? Would you ask them where they were five years ago when you were in the streets protesting this exact thing? Would you be grateful that they finally tuned in? Would you prepare a reading list for them? Would you thank them?

As a light-skinned Black person who has spent most of her life living, working and learning in predominantly White spaces, my social circle reflects the spaces I inhabit. My Instagram is mostly White, my Facebook is mostly White and my mom groups are mostly White. Resultantly, for many people in my life I am their one Black friend. I doubt this experience is particularly unique for many Blacks in Canada.

My (isolated) presence within White institutions and White social circles offers an easy alibi against accusations of anti-Black racism and exclusion - "our department can't be racist, Nicole is here." Yet this racial exclusion is still operative and is now reflected in the fact that I'm your only Black friend.

And I know that I'm your only Black friend because you need me to know how bad you think racism is. But the thing is, I've been talking about how bad racism is. Professionally, academically, anecdotally - I've been talking about how bad racism is for years. Did you not believe me before now? Did it not seem pressing? Or was the conversation too 'political' or 'combative' or 'difficult' for you?

Are you ready now?

To my many White friends, newly (or more urgently) committed to combatting anti-Black racism, I have a few asks:
Will you notice Black absence?
To move in White spaces as a Black or racialized person in Canada is to be constantly aware of the absence of anyone else "like you."

And by "racialized", I mean those of us who by virtue of skin, hair and features are treated as "Other." I was on a panel once where I was asked to explain the use of the term "racialized." I suggested that if you came to this event and did a quick scan of the room to see if there was anyone present who looked like you, then you were probably racialized. If it had never occurred to you that there wouldn't be, you were probably White.

If I'm right and I am your only Black friend, did you notice before now? Are there any Black families in the books you read to your kids? Are there any Black faculty in your department or in your firm or on your board of directors?

And if there are Black people in proximity to you, what role do they play in your world? During COVID-19, have you noticed Black presence amongst those on the frontlines?
Will you affirm the existence of anti-Black racism when it is less overt?
The traumatic images of anti-Black violence that have been circulating (despite pleas to exercise more care with respect to whose deaths we afford privacy) establish what ought to be an incontrovertible pattern of police brutality unleashed on Black bodies. Yet this extreme and inexcusable violence is just one expression of the anti-Black racism that permeates our schools, our workplaces and our communities.

In order to call something racist in Canada, we frequently hold out for direct evidence of racial discrimination (and even then we deny it when it is staring us in the blackface). And sometimes there is direct evidence of racism, like when a Peel Police officer referred to a Black woman as a "fucking foreigner" and asked if she was able to speak English. But even the courts increasingly recognize that racist treatment based on anti-Blackness occurs most commonly without any explicitly racist utterances . Instead, anti-Black racism can be inferred based on the disproportionate scrutiny and force applied to Black people under the pretence of safety and security. This excessive scrutiny and force comes into effect when shopping while Black, being in a library while Black, and delivering mail while Black. And heart-wrenchingly, this dehumanizing anti-Blackness gets applied even to 6- year old children.
Will you believe Black people when there isn't direct video evidence to corroborate their truth?
Or will you believe the cops - still? Statistically speaking, it is incredibly unlikely that the (many) instances in which the police have been caught on film by bystanders represent the entirety of police attacks on Black people. An yet, this is what the bad apple argument would have you believe, that these are isolated events or outliers in an otherwise respectable police force.

But there is an abundance of evidence that far from being exceptional, anti-Black and anti-Indigenous police violence is deeply embedded within Canadian institutions. And Black and Indigenous communities have been persistently and actively calling for an end to this violence. And there are decades' worth of reports capturing this anti-Black and anti-Indigenous violence including the Ontario Human Rights Commission's 2018 findings that despite making up only 8.8% of Toronto's population, Black people were over-represented in Toronto Police Services' use of force cases (28.8%), shootings (36%), deadly encounters (61.5%) and fatal shootings (70%).
Will you commit to anti-racism in the context of deep structural change (and not as a stepping stone along the path to your self-actualization)?
We cannot expect to self-reflect our way out of structural racism.

There is an abundance of anti-racist reading lists around. Many of these lists offer meaningful and challenging pathways into understanding how white supremacy operates and what systemic anti-Black racism looks like. But we should temper our expectations about what will be accomplished through this broad-scale awareness-building exercise. While reading can absolutely be transformative, it achieves this transformation one individual reader at a time. Our focus needs to shift from the 'individual bias-to-wokeness' pathway to dismantling oppressive institutions.

What we need right now is community mobilization and collective action. You are needed in the ongoing efforts to end police brutality and anti-Black violence. As Esi Edugyan recently expressed, " the weight of change should not rest on the shoulders of Black people." At this moment, action entails supporting growing calls to defund the police and advocate for a more holistic understanding of public safety. Deep structural change necessitates reallocating public funds to social services - to people who are better equipped to respond to crises produced by the sustained divestment in health, education and housing.

As your Black friend, I am heartened that you care and genuinely excited to see how vocal about anti-Black racism you are (now). But, as your Black friend I am also tired. This battle is a long one - recognize that many Black people in your communities have been pushing for reform, in big ways and in small, for a very long time (so keep in mind your fight will also be a long one). To everyone, take breaks, rest when you need to, and when you wake up be ready to break shit.

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What it's like to be Your Only Black Friend Right Now

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Imagine you woke up tomorrow morning and all of a sudden almost every dude in your life magically accepted that sexism exists and that it's bad. What's more, all these dudes are sorry. They are so sorry. They feel real bad. And they need you to know it. How would you respond?

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We recognize that the words we use to talk about our work and the interpretations of the words and concepts are critical to making progress. In the context of decolonizing DEI work, it is imperative...

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Raising Antiracist Kids: Ibram X. Kendi with Derecka Purnell

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Raising Antiracist Kids: Ibram X. Kendi with Derecka Purnell

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A book launch for "Anti-Racist Baby"

Event has ended.

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raising antiracist kids: ibram x. kendi with derecka purnell

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raising antiracist kids: ibram x. kendi with derecka purnell tickets

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Raising Antiracist Kids: Ibram X. Kendi with Derecka Purnell

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Eventbrite - Haymarket Books presents Raising Antiracist Kids: Ibram X. Kendi with Derecka Purnell - Thursday, June 18, 2020 - Find event and ticket information.

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Defund The Police: A Webinar on Police, Race and Universities

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Defund The Police: A Webinar on Police, Race and Universities

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Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: Defund The Police: A Webinar on Police, Race and Universities. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar.

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SATURDAY, JUNE 20, 2020 at 10:00 AM CT A Scholars for Social Justice webinar featuring a panel discussion Moderated by: - Adom Getachew, University of Chicago With Panelists: - Michelle Yang and Kosi Achife, UChicago #CareNotCops Student Activists - Robin D. G.

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5 Anti-Racist Practices White Scholars Can Adopt Today

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5 Anti-Racist Practices White Scholars Can Adopt Today

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[ We continue to solicit #BLM guest posts. We pay $150 for accepted posts. 1000 words ballpark; profanity welcome. Art welcome. Please send a draft or query/pitch to Karen at gettenure@gmail.com]
Marius Kothor is a Ph.D. student in the Department of History at Yale University. She has broad research interests in 20th century African history, gender, and Black Internationalism. Her dissertation research has been funded by the Fulbright Program and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Kothor has published essays in a number of periodicals, including The New York Times, Black Perspectives and The History News Network.
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By Marius Kothor

We are facing a historic moment of reckoning. The violent murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis ignited a movement that has engulfed the entire country. As people demand companies and organizations to account for their complicity in systemic racism, Black scholars are shedding new light on the anti-Blackness embedded within academic institutions.

Black scholars such as Dr. Shardé M. Davis and Joy Melody Woods, for example, have started the # BlackintheIvory to bring renewed attention to the Micro and Macro level racism Black scholars experience in academia. A number of white scholars, on the other hand, are using this moment as an opportunity for hollow virtue signaling. Many have taken to social media to publicly declare that they are allies of Black people. It is unclear, however, if these performances of "woke-ness" will translate into efforts to address the systemic racism embedded in their departments and universities. From my experiences as a graduate student, it is unlikely that it will. Yet, for white scholars who are genuinely interested in using this moment to begin the process of unlearning the racist practices common in academia, there are a few practical steps that they can take.

Below is a list of 5 things I think white scholars can do to begin to address racism in their day-to-day encounters with Black scholars.

Publicly Articulate Solidarity with Black Scholars

I have been in countless meetings where I was the only Black person. When conversations in these meetings touched on topics of race and racism, I was often the only person speaking up about how certain policies or actions impacted Black people. These encounters often leave me feeling alone and vulnerable because no one speaks up in support of my positions. Inevitably, however, a white graduate student or professor will send me an email, or corner me in the hallway to express how much they agreed with my points and how "sorry" they are about the way I was treated. This behavior is not only unhelpful, it is a betrayal. It presents solidarity with Black people as a secret, something that has to be whispered in the corner of hallways and private email exchanges. Solidarity is not solidarity when it is hidden. Show your support in the meeting; publicly stand in solidarity with Black scholars when the stakes are high. You may lose friends and professional allies in this process. Anti-racism work has real material costs.

Stop Calling the Black People in Your Institution by the Wrong Name

I recently learned from one of my colleagues that white people in our institution confuse her with me and another Black woman. I could go on about how we look nothing alike, but it's not about that. It is about the fact that when people see us, all they see is our Blackness. As psychologist Kareem Johnson explained in a 2017 article in The Atlantic, "if we just identify someone as a 'Black person,' then that is how we are going to see them." Black people often laugh about this. My friends and I joke that we could go to meetings in each other's place and no one would notice the difference. All jokes aside, the frequency of these events indicate that white scholars do not take the time to see us as individuals. Constantly mistaking one Black person for another communicates to them that all you see when you look at them is their skin color. This is toxic and demeaning behavior that can easily be stopped by making an effort to get to know your Black peers, staff, and students as individuals.

Do Not Talk to Black People as if You Know their Realities Better than They do

As an African and a scholar of African history, I have had white scholars explain the history of my community to me in condescending ways. They assume that they know something about me because they know these histories. To be sure, white scholars can be experts on a certain moment in Black history, or know a specific set of facts about certain Black communities, but it is quite literally impossible for them to be an expert on the lived experiences of Black people. Like any other group, we are made up of individuals who navigate the world within the context of our lived experiences. Positioning yourself as an expert on a Black person's lived experiences because you know a set of facts about their communities is a colonial way of understanding knowledge.

Cite Black Scholars in the Body of Your work, Not Just in the Footnotes

Citation practices are political statements. The choices scholars make about who and how to cite reflect their attitudes about whose work is worth serious intellectual engagement. Over the years, initiatives like # citeblackwomen have highlighted the ways in which white scholars marginalize their Black peers, particularly Black women scholars, by not citing their work. Yet, the ways in which white scholars cite their Black peers is just as important as whether they cite them at all. Too often, the work of Black scholars is buried in the footnotes instead of being highlighted in the body of the text. Citations are a matter of equity. It is important to read and engage with the intellectual labor of your colleagues instead of relegating them to the margins of your text.

Don't Try to Get Black Scholars to Validate Your Problematic Project

Sometimes, white scholars feel uncomfortable with the work they are doing in Black communities. Instead of interrogating their discomfort, however, they look to Black scholars to validate their projects. The violence of this behavior cannot be overstated. Black scholars already face numerous institutional challenges to their very existence, making them do the additional labor of soothing your anxieties and discomforts is unbelievably corrosive. If a white scholar thinks their work is problematic, it probably is. Instead of burdening their Black peers with that emotional labor, they should rethink the project itself.

Similar Posts:

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5 Anti-Racist Practices White Scholars Can Adopt Today - #BLM Guest Post

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We continue to solicit #BLM guest posts. We pay $150 for accepted posts. 1000 words ballpark; profanity welcome. Art welcome. Please send a draft or query/pitch to Karen at gettenure@gmail.com] Marius Kothor is a Ph.D. student in the Department of History at Yale University.

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Responding to Microaggressions in Online Learning Environments During a Pandemic

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Responding to Microaggressions in Online Learning Environments During a Pandemic

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With faculty and students both stressed during the pandemic, microaggressions may become more frequent in our online learning environment. Here are some practical strategies for mitigating the impact of microaggressions in online and remote classes.
by Dr. Tasha Souza, Associate Director for Inclusive Excellence for the Center for Teaching and Learning, Professor of Communication, Boise State University
Students are especially anxious right now given that their daily routine and expectations of college life have likely been completely derailed. Many have had to move, some to less safe and/or hospitable living environments, and all who were taking face-to-face classes have had to learn how to navigate a different learning and teaching space led by many instructors doing the same. When cortisol levels are high, we are less likely to self-monitor well and more likely to behave in ways that reveal and act upon our implicit biases. These biases can show up as written or oral microaggressions in online and remote spaces and can have a negative effect on the communication climate. Are you equipped to deal with them? When microaggressions occur in our learning environments, it is important that we respond in ways that maintain a supportive communication climate (Souza, 2017) and foster learning.

Before considering communication strategies for responding in the moment, it is important to reflect upon ways to mitigate the impact of microaggressions:

First, consider the risks you are asking students to take in participating, especially at this particular time. When students contribute to an online discussion or a remote, synchronous session, they may worry that their contributions may be unpopular, expose a lack of knowledge, and/or make them vulnerable to harsh judgments by their peers and/or instructor. Remote speaking, especially if recorded, will feel similar to public speaking (which can be especially anxiety-producing) given the unfamiliar and seemingly permanent nature of such expression. All of these fears will feel confounded by the trauma of dealing with a global pandemic and the uncertainty, insecurity, and anxiety that accompanies it.

Second, recognize that some students will feel more at ease than others in interacting online and consider how you will try to create some balance with contributions. Stereotype threat (Steele, 2010) will play a role in students' decisions to participate so you may be left with students who have the most dominant identities and the greatest privilege being the ones who contribute the most (Souza, Vizenor, Sherlip, & Raser, 2016). Negative experiences with online harassment due to targeted identities can also increase anxiety for students. Four in ten U.S. Americans have experienced online harassment and more than 25% have chosen to not post something online after seeing harassment of others (Duggan, 2017).

Given substantial evidence on the importance of interaction in online spaces and the psychological burden our students are currently facing, we must be especially thoughtful and intentional regarding such interactions. It is important to communicate in both implicit and explicit ways that you authentically care not only about your students' learning but about their well-being. Perceived teacher caring is "associated with increased affective and perceived cognitive learning" (Teven & McCrosky, 1996, p. 8). Research by Phelan, Davidson, and Cao (1992) suggests that students are more motivated to learn when they have caring instructors. Share self-care resources with them, do regular check-ins, and gather feedback from them on how they are doing and what challenges they are facing that are impacting their learning. And help students understand that their contributions are an important part of the community learning process.

Further, it's never too late to co-construct group/community agreements to hold each other accountable to certain ways of engaging (Noah & Souza, 2018). Creating the group agreements together (e.g., in Google Docs) can draw attention to the importance of language choice. For example, a student may suggest creating a "safe space" which can allow you to discuss/share that this space may not ever feel safe for all students no matter how supportive the communication climate. You can ask them to consider using "brave space" instead to recognize that participation takes courage and that it feels differently based on our identities. Be sure to revisit, reflect upon, and refine group agreements periodically. These will inevitably need to change to respond to your particular students' needs and the evolving pandemic.

The group agreements can be referenced when a microaggression occurs. For example, "be thoughtful and humble about language choice" can be a helpful group agreement to have in place when a student uses a term that is offensive. As instructors, it is our responsibility to respond to microaggressions in our instructional spaces as no response suggests complicity. It is best to do so in a way that calls a student in, which is done with more compassion, grace, and patience, versus calling them out. Although there are various communication tools (e.g., Rosenberg, 2003) that can organize one's thoughts when attempting to call in, I will describe one that I find especially useful and easy to remember for developing a response. This tool is called OTFD, which stands for Open the Front Door (OTFD) to communication (Learning Forum, 2016; Souza, 2016). The phrase "open the front door" is a mnemonic for the four steps of this tool that follow:

Observe: State in clear, unambiguous language what occurred. Seek common ground here by stating an observation without judgment so that all involved could agree on the speech act, behavior, or incident.

Think: Express what you think and/or what you imagine others might be thinking based on the observation. This is your interpretation step based on the evidence you have. It's important here to be generous with your assumptions as to not put the student on the defense.

Feel: Express your feelings about the situation. It's important to take responsibility for one's own feelings using "I" statements ("I feel upset when...) instead of placing blame ("You made me feel upset when..."). It is also important to actually name an emotion so if the words "I feel" are followed with "like," this is unlikely to happen. For example, "I feel like you are being insensitive" is not naming an emotion and can elicit defensiveness.

Desire: State the concrete action you would like to have happen. For example, this request could be for the behavior to change or for more conversation about the microaggression.

The strength of this tool is that it encourages transparent communication and allows for flexibility in order to adapt it to your own communication style and the particular situation at hand. In addition, an OTFD allows for both compassion and growth which are essential to learning environments. It can also help to clarify the misalignment between intention and impact. The following is an example of what the use of this tool might look like employed by an instructor in response to a microaggression related to the pandemic that could have occurred in an online discussion or a synchronous class discussion.

I see that you referred to COVID 19 as the "Chinese virus" (Observe). I think you may have heard this phrase from our current political leadership and may not have fully considered the implications of this language choice (Think). I feel unsettled by this phrase (Feel) because it suggests blame on a particular community and has been linked to fueling xenophobic behavior being perpetrated against the Asian community. Just like we do not refer to the swine flu as the "American flu," despite its origins in South Carolina, I would like us to refer to the Coronavirus and COVID 19 by their widely accepted scientific terminology (Desire) in order to not contribute to the harm that the Asian community broadly, and the Chinese-American community more specifically, are facing.

Here's a more indirect OTFD utilized with a tokenism microaggression:

I noticed that an individual was asked to speak for an entire group (Observe). I think we need to resist this temptation because it's a lot to place on someone to ask them to speak for a whole community (Think). I feel uncomfortable with this request (Feel) and would like us to follow our group agreements and simply ask others to speak for themselves (Desire).

If you find yourself freezing up in a synchronous hot moment, know that it is okay to take time to pause and ask the students to reflect in silence or to jot down their reactions while you gather your thoughts. Sometimes, it is helpful to move into deeper dialogue by asking the student questions to gain further understanding (consider the ACTION framework). Or you may open up the conversation to the rest of the group by inviting them to respond to the student's comment with a reminder about the group agreements and maintaining a growth mindset and supportive climate.

When practiced, OTFD can be a tool that is quickly retrieved from your mental toolbox to organize your thoughts and respond to the microaggression in a way that cools down tension and addresses the issue. Responding to microaggressions is not about punishment, but rather creating an accountable space where students can address difference and diversity in productive ways (Sue, 2010). When microaggressions occur, doing nothing is a damaging option (Souza, et. al., 2016). Instead, we can engage thoughtfully and purposefully in strategies that foster learning and model the skills needed in responding to microaggressions in any context (Souza, 2016).

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Image Credit: Photo by Sergey Zolkin on Unsplash.
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Sources & Resources

Boysen, G.A. (2012). Teacher and student perceptions of microaggressions in college classrooms. College Teaching, 60, 122-129.

Cheung, F., Ganote, C. M., & Souza, T.J. (2016). Microaggressions and microresistance: Supporting and empowering students. In Faculty Focus Special Report: Diversity and Inclusion in the College Classroom. Magna Publication.

Downs, J. R. (1992). Dealing with hostile and oppositional students. College Teaching, 40 (3), 106-109.

Gomez, M. L., Khurshid, A., Freitag, M. B., & Lachuk, A. J. (2011). Microaggressions in graduate students' lives: How they are encountered and their consequences. Teaching and Teaching Education, 27, 1189-1199.

hooks, b. (1994). Teaching to transgress: Education as the practice of freedom. New York, NY: Routledge.

Learning Forum SuperCamp. (2016, Dec. 15). OTFD. Retrieved from: https://prezi.com/tszt1slnknpa/otfd-a-powerful-communication-technique/.

Minikel-Lacocque, J. (2013). Racism, college, and the power of words: Racial microaggressions reconsidered. American Educational Research Journal, 50(3), 432-465.

Nadal, K. L. (2014). A guide to responding to microaggressions. CUNY Forum, 2(1), 71-76.

Nadal, K. L., Wong, Y., Griffin, K. E., Davidoff, K., & Sriken, J. (2014). The adverse impact of racial microaggressions on college students' self-esteem. Journal of College Student Development, 55(5), 461-474.

Noah, T. & Souza, T.J. (2018). What to Do Before, During, and After Difficult Dialogues About Diversity. Included in the Best of the 2018 Teaching Professor Conference Report, CTL Teaching Gallery. Madison, WI: Magna Publication.

Noddings, N. (2003). Caring: A feminine approach to ethics and moral education (2nd ed.). Berkeley: CA: University of California Press.

Obear, K. (2010). How to Facilitate Triggering Situations. Online manuscript (retrieved August 12, 2012). Alliance For Change: Boston, MA.

Phelan, P., Davidson, A. L., & Cao, H. T. (1992). Speaking up: Students' perspectives on school. Phi Delta Kappan, 73(9), 695-704.

Rosenberg, M. (2003). Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life. PuddleDancer Press.

Ross, L. J. (2019, spring). Speaking up without tearing down. Teaching Tolerance, 61.

Schwartz, H. L. (2019). Connected Teaching: Relationship, Power, and Mattering in Higher Education. Sterling, VA: Stylus Publishing.

Souza, T. J. (2018). Responding to Microaggressions in the Classroom: Taking Online article in Faculty Focus Premium. Madison, WI: Magna Publication.

Souza, T. J. (2017). How to Respond to Hostile, Inappropriate Comments in Class. Online article in Faculty Focus Premium. Madison, WI: Magna Publication.

Souza, T.J. (2016). Managing hot moments in the classroom: Concrete strategies for cooling down tension In Faculty Focus Special Report: Diversity and Inclusion in the College Classroom. Magna Publication.

Souza, T., Vizenor, N., Sherlip, D., & Raser, L. (2016). Transforming conflict in the classroom: Best practices for facilitating difficult dialogues and creating an inclusive communication climate. In P. M. Kellett & T. G. Matyok (Eds.), Transforming conflict through communication: Personal to working relationships. (pp. 373-395). Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.

Souza, T.J., Dallimore, E, Pilling, B. Aoki, E. (2010). Communication climate, comfort, and cold-calling: An analysis of discussion-based courses at multiple universities. In L.B. Nilson & J.E. Miller (Eds.), To Improve the Academy, 28, (pp. 227-249). SF, CA: Jossey-Bass

Steele, C. (2010). Whistling Vivaldi: And other clues to how stereotypes affect us. New York: W.W. Norton & Company,

Teven, J., & McCrosky, J. C. (1996). The relationship between perceived teacher caring with student learning and teacher evaluation. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the speech communication association, San Diego, CA.

Sue, D. W. (2010). Racial microaggressions in everyday life: Race, gender, and sexual orientation. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

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Responding to Microaggressions in Online Learning Environments During a Pandemic

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With faculty and students both stressed during the pandemic, microaggressions may become more frequent in our online learning environment. Here are some practical strategies for mitigating the impact of microaggressions in online and remote classes.

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Priya Vulchi and Winona Guo: What it takes to be racially literate

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Over the last year, Priya Vulchi and Winona Guo traveled to all 50 US states, collecting personal stories about race and intersectionality. Now they're on a mission to equip every American with the tools to understand, navigate and improve a world structured by racial division.

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Why does race matter so profoundly for health? David R. Williams developed a scale to measure the impact of discrimination on well-being, going beyond traditional measures like income and education to reveal how factors like implicit bias, residential segregation and negative stereotypes create and sustain inequality. In this eye-opening talk, Williams presents evidence for how racism is producing a rigged system -- and offers hopeful examples of programs across the US that are working to dismantle discrimination.

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How Students of Color Confront Imposter Syndrome

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How Students of Color Confront Imposter Syndrome

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Dena Simmons: How students of color confront impostor syndrome

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As a black woman from a tough part of the Bronx who grew up to attain all the markers of academic prestige, Dena Simmons knows that for students of color, success in school sometimes comes at the cost of living authentically.

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Dr. Kimberlé Crenshaw : The Urgency of Intersectionality 

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Dr. Kimberlé Crenshaw : The Urgency of Intersectionality 

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Kimberlé Crenshaw: The urgency of intersectionality

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Now more than ever, it's important to look boldly at the reality of race and gender bias -- and understand how the two can combine to create even more harm. Kimberlé Crenshaw uses the term "intersectionality" to describe this phenomenon; as she says, if you're standing in the path of multiple forms of exclusion, you're likely to get hit by both.

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Talks to help you understand racism in America

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Talks to help you understand racism in America

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Talks to help you understand racism in America | TED Talks

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From passionate pleas for reform to poetic turns of phrase, these talks take an honest look at everyday realities of Black Americans and illuminate the way forward.

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Locating hate groups in your area.

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Subscribe to the https://soundslikehate.org/">Sounds Like Hate podcast to learn more about hate groups like the Proud Boys.​

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Twelve books that give context to current protests

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Twelve books that give context to current protests

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Cities across the United States have seen ongoing protests since the death of George Floyd while in police custody on 25 May. Conversations are taking place on social media as well as in the real world, and media coverage has been relentless. We at Oxford University Press would like to highlight some of our books across politics, history, and philosophy that we hope can contribute to the important conversations currently taking place and provide valuable context. Where possible, we've made some of these books available at no cost for a limited time. Explore additional free articles on race and diversity on our website.

1. American While Black: African Americans, Immigration, and the Limits of Citizenship by Niambi Michele Carter
Carter argues that immigration, both historically and in the contemporary moment, has served as a reminder of the limited inclusion of African Americans in the body politic. As Carter contends, immigration provides a way to understand the nature and meaning of black American citizenship-specifically the way that white supremacy structures and constrains not only African Americans' place in the American political landscape, but the black community's political opinions as well.
American While Black is free on Oxford Scholarship Online until 10 July.

2. The Making of Black Lives Matter: A Brief History of an Idea by Christopher J. Lebron
Started in the wake of George Zimmerman's 2013 acquittal in the death of Trayvon Martin, the #BlackLivesMatter movement has become a powerful campaign to demand redress for law enforcement injustices against the African American community in the United States. Drawing on the work of revolutionary black public intellectuals, Lebron clarifies what it means to assert that "Black Lives Matter" when faced with contemporary instances of anti-black law enforcement.

3. Situational Breakdowns: Understanding Protest Violence and Other Surprising Outcomes by Anne Nassauer
Nassauer demonstrates that when routines break down, surprising outcomes often emerge. Focusing on detailed accounts of peaceful and violent protests from the 1960s until 2010, violent uprisings such as Ferguson 2014, and armed store robberies caught on camera, Nassauer argues we can understand how and why routine interactions break down by looking at how situations develop systematically.

4. Bearing Witness While Black: African Americans, Smartphones, and the New Protest #Journalism by Allissa V. Richardson
This book reveals how the perfect storm of smartphones, social media, and social justice empowered Black activists to create their own news outlets, which continued a centuries-long, African American tradition of using the news to challenge racism.Bearing Witness While Black is the first book of its kind to identify three overlapping eras of domestic terror against African American people-slavery, lynching, and police brutality-and explain how storytellers documented such atrocities through journalism.

5. Steeped in the Blood of Racism: Black Power, Law and Order, and the 1970s Shootings at Jackson State College by Nancy K. Bristow
Minutes after midnight on 15 May 1970, white members of the Jackson city police and the Mississippi Highway Patrol opened fire on young people in front of a women's dormitory at Jackson State College, a historically black college. Just ten days after the killings at Kent State, the attack at Jackson State never garnered the same level of national attention. In the aftermath, the victims and their survivors struggled unsuccessfully to find justice. The shootings were soon largely forgotten except among the local African American community. This book reclaims this story and situates it in the broader history of the struggle for African American freedom in the civil rights and black power eras.
Steeped in the Blood of Racism is free on Oxford Scholarship Online until 10 July.

6. Black Software: The Internet & Racial Justice, from AfroNet to Black Lives Matter by Charlton D. McIlwain
Activists, pundits, politicians, and the press frequently proclaim today's digitally mediated racial justice activism the new civil rights movement. InBlack Software, McIlwain shows how the story of racial justice movement organizing online is much longer and more varied. Chronicling the long relationship between African Americans, computing technology, and the Internet from the 1960s to present, the book examines how computing technology has been used to neutralize the threat that black people pose to the existing racial order, but also how black people seized these new computing tools to build community, wealth, and wage a war for racial justice.

7. Sick from Freedom: African American Illness and Suffering during the Civil War and Reconstruction by Jim Downs
Downs recovers the untold story of one of the bitterest ironies in American history-that the emancipation of the slaves had devastating consequences for innumerable freed people. Slaves who fled from bondage during and after the Civil War did not expect that their flight toward freedom would lead to sickness, disease, suffering, and death. But the war produced the largest biological crisis of the nineteenth century, with deadly consequences for hundreds of thousands of freed people.
Sick from Freedom is free on Oxford Scholarship Online until 10 July.

8. A Duty to Resist: When Disobedience Should be Uncivil by Candice Delmas
Advocates from Henry David Thoreau and Mohandas Gandhi to the Black Lives Matter activists have recognized that there are times when, rather than having a duty to obey the law, citizens have a duty to disobey it. There are limits: principle alone does not justify law breaking. But Delmas argues that uncivil disobedience can sometimes be not only permissible but required in the effort to resist injustice.
A Duty to Resist is free on Oxford Scholarship Online until 10 July.

9. Until There is Justice: The Life of Anna Arnold Hedgeman by Jennifer Scanlon
Scanlon presents the first-ever biography of Hedgeman, a demanding feminist, devout Christian, and savvy grassroots civil rights organizer. Anna Arnold Hedgeman played a key role in over half a century of social justice initiatives. Hedgeman ought to be a household name, but until now has received only a fraction of the attention of activists like A. Philip Randolph, Betty Friedan, and Martin Luther King, Jr.

10. Most of 14th Street Is Gone: The Washington, DC Riots of 1968 by J. Samuel Walker
Walker's book takes an in-depth look at the causes and consequences of the Washington, DC, riots of 1968. It shows that the conditions that existed in the city's low-income neighborhoods helped generate the problems that erupted after Martin Luther King's murder. The book also discusses the growing fears produced by the outbreaks of serious riots in many cities during the mid-1960s. Walker analyzes the reasons for the riots and the lessons that authorities drew from them. He also provides an overview of the struggle that the city faced in recovering from the effects of the 1968 disorders.

11. The Color of America Has Changed: How Racial Diversity Shaped Civil Rights Reform in California, 1941-1978 by Mark Brilliant
Brilliant examines California's history to illustrate how the civil rights era was a nationwide and multiracial phenomenon-one that was shaped and complicated by the presence of not only blacks and whites, but also Mexican Americans, Japanese Americans, and Chinese Americans, among others. The Golden State's status as a civil rights vanguard for the nation is due in part to the numerous civil rights precedents set there and to the disparate challenges of civil rights reform in multiracial places.

12. Freedom Riders: 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice by Raymond Arsenault
They were black and white, young and old, men and women. In the spring and summer of 1961, they put their lives on the line, riding buses through the American South to challenge segregation in interstate transport. Their story is one of the most celebrated episodes of the civil rights movement, yet a full-length history has never been written until now. In these pages, acclaimed historian Raymond Arsenault provides an account of six pivotal months that jolted the consciousness of America.

Feature image created by OUP.

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Twelve books that give context to current protests [reading list] | OUPblog

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Cities across the United States have seen ongoing protests since the death of George Floyd while in police custody on 25 May. Conversations are taking place on social media as well as in the real world, and media coverage has been relentless.

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"If you bury something long enough, it can become very difficult to unearth."

Dr. Scott Ellsworth is a professor of Afroamerican and African Studies at the University of Michigan and author of Death in a Promised Land, the first comprehensive history of the Tulsa massacre. He was also one of the lead scholars for the Tulsa Race Riot Commission and a key player in the battle to secure reparations for survivors. According to him, the lasting trauma of the massacre is also intrinsically tied to the silencing of survivors.

"For 50 years, the story was actively suppressed in Tulsa, and it was deliberately kept out of the White newspapers. The people who brought it up were threatened with their jobs; they were threatened with their lives," he says. The story of the massacre indicts White America, which is why it was buried for so long. Without the perseverance and openness of the survivors of the riot, he says, there would be no mainstream acknowledgment of what happened in 1921.

"Many Tulsans are just happy people are talking about [the massacre] at all," adds Dr. Alicia Odewale, assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Tulsa. Odewale is currently working on a research project called Mapping Historical Trauma in Tulsa from 1921-2021 that reanalyzes historical evidence to visualize what happened to Greenwood during the massacre and in the years that followed it. "Ninety-eight years later, almost all of the massacre survivors have passed on, and it's up to their descendants and the people left alive today to carry on their legacy."

As of 2019, the city of Tulsa has yet to award reparations to the families of survivors and victims of the massacre. "The total estimated financial loss, taking into account the destruction of both private residential property and property in the business district would be about $50-100 million in today's currency," Odewale says. The neighborhood, in addition to being subjected to the on-the-ground assault, was bombed from above by planes carrying White assailants.

As an added insult, it took almost a full century for the search for the mass graves of victims to begin in earnest; they are currently ongoing. "If we discover the remains of victims, are able to identify them, and if those people are reburied with honors, that will be a huge moment for the city," says Ellsworth. But it'll be a moment for the country, too.

"White people remember history differently than African Americans do, and the reality is that we have one common history. There's only one American history, and until we are able to confront the bad parts as well as the good parts, we're never going to be on the same page on how we view the country, its promises, its problems," Ellsworth says. "We still have a lot of work to do in Tulsa. There is no question. There is still a lot of hurt and anger over this."

The hurt remains in part because of what happened after the fires burned out. In the days that followed the massacre, insurance companies refused to reimburse the damage done to Greenwood, since "riots" were not covered. As a result, in the weeks that followed the massacre, many of Tulsa's Black residents were forced to languish in the makeshift holding areas they'd been taken to that night, or leave the city-and the community that they'd built-altogether.

"The accumulation of a massive amount of wealth and the loss of income that would have been earned, had Greenwood been allowed to thrive undisturbed, is almost incalculable," says Odewale. "But just as important are the things that can't be quantified, such as the loss of the sense of safety in their own city, the loss of trust in city officials, law enforcement, and in some cases, in people altogether."

This isn't to say that Greenwood was defeated. Over the next couple years, almost every destroyed home was rebuilt; in 1925, the National Negro Business League hosted its annual conference in the neighborhood, signaling the revival of Greenwood as a hub for Black business and entrepreneurship. The following decades brought commerce and culture back onto Greenwood Ave, and more recently, the city has made commercial investments into revitalizing the area.

But for many long-time Greenwood residents, revitalization is not reconciliation. In fact, revitalization can often be a codeword for gentrification that prices and pushes out community institutions, especially those owned by Black residents. At its worst, it might be a form of erasure. Some sources have theorized that the massacre was a calculated attempt by the city to seize the land, one that has taken on a new, contemporary form. "Modern-day gentrification and urban renewal projects, more commonly referred to in North Tulsa as 'urban removal,' continue to try to gobble up what is left of Greenwood," Odewale says, adding that those "renewal" efforts aren't targeted to who they should be. "The equality indicators released by the City of Tulsa every year continue to demonstrate that North Tulsans and South Tulsans are living completely different lives in what seems like two different cities.... Unfortunately, Black citizens in North Tulsa fall to the bottom of every metric."

It took 80 years for the city to release an official report on the massacre, which recommended multiple forms of restitution, including financial reparations for survivors and their families. Calls for those reparations have been dismissed at multiple levels of the justice system, including the U.S. Supreme Court.

"I'm not sure any amount of money or social services, offered 98 years later, can make up for [the massacre]," Odewale says. "I'm in awe of how resilient the North Tulsa community continues to be, as efforts to rebuild and revitalize the Greenwood district have been ongoing since 1921. But at the very least, in my opinion, we need to have a serious plan for reparations, free housing and business support for descendant families, Greenwood business grants, college tuition scholarships for young students in North Tulsa...and a serious effort to close the median income gap between White and Black families in Tulsa."

Odewale's incisive perspective on the ways racial traumas of the past evolve and take form in the present is prescient for an entire country rife with incidents of White-on-Black violence, like the city-wide riots in Detroit in 1943, which mostly took its toll on Paradise Valley, a Black neighborhood. It helps illuminate truths about the relationships between segregation and law enforcement, land loss and land robbery, gentrification and history.

What should Greenwood and Tulsa look like today? We might start to answer that question by seeing what it looked like in the spring of 1921.

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In 1921, White rioters destroyed a beacon of Black prosperity and security. They killed as many as 300 black Tulsans, left thousands homeless, and ransacked an entire neighborhood. At the time, there were no prosecutions of the instigators. Almost a century later, there have been no reparations.

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15 Kid-Friendly Movies to Help Build a Conversation About Race and Racism

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15 Kid-Friendly Movies to Help Build a Conversation About Race and Racism

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15 Kid-Friendly Movies That Can Help Build a Conversation About Race and Racism

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Talking to your kids about race is essential, but difficult. If you want to start a dialogue about racial prejudice, these 15 kid-friendly movies about race may help.

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An alliance of trainers, organizers, and institutional leaders devoted to the work of creating racially equitable organizations and systems.

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We work with communities to build the collective power necessary to counter structural racism. Connected and aligned individuals, organizations, and movements standing together to inspire positive change can build a just, multiracial, democratic society.

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Advancing racial justice in our policies, institutions and culture.

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We work with communities to build the collective power necessary to counter structural racism. Connected and aligned individuals, organizations, and movements standing together to inspire positive change can build a just, multiracial, democratic society.

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Implicit Bias | Lesson 6: Countermeasures

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Implicit Bias | Lesson 4: Explicit v. Implicit Bias

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Implicit Bias | Lesson 2: Attitudes and Stereotypes

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Implicit Bias | Preface: Biases and Heuristics

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Implicit Bias | Preface: Biases and Heuristics

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Implicit Bias | Preface: Biases and Heuristics

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Avoiding racial bias in letter of reference writing 

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Avoiding racial bias in letter of reference writing 

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BLACK LIVES MATTER, An American Muslim Community Statement Against Police Violence

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BLACK LIVES MATTER, An American Muslim Community Statement Against Police Violence

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We, the undersigned American Muslim civil rights, advocacy, community and faith organizations, echo the calls being made nationwide for meaningful reforms to discriminatory law enforcement practices and violence against Black people in the United States.

Black lives matter. Yet, the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor are just the latest high-profile acts of violence against Black people at the hands of police. This disregard for Black lives is not new, it is woven into our country's very existence and dates back centuries.

Black people are often marginalized within the broader Muslim community. And when they fall victim to police violence, non-Black Muslims are too often silent, which leads to complicity.

Evans County, Georgia police gunned down Yassin Mohamed - a Black Muslim and Sudanese-American immigrant - during a mental health crisis. His killing came after police had several encounters with Mohamed within a 24-hour period, with one requiring him to be sent to a local hospital for mental health care.

Shukri Ali Said, a 36-year-old Black Muslim woman and Somali-American immigrant who lived with bipolar disorder and schizoprenia, told her sister she was hearing voices and needed to run away. In response, her sister called 911 asking for help only for the Johns Creek Georgia police to shoot and kill Shukri. The officers were all cleared of wrongdoing by internal affairs and all are still employed as officers.

Stephon Clark, a Black Muslim and father of two children, was shot eight times by Sacramento police - three times in the back - in his grandparents' backyard. Upon learning that the officers would face no charges, Clark's friend Jamilia Land said "Stephon was unarmed and in no way a threat. Instead, they shot 20 times and hit Stephon at least eight times. Even then, they did not call for medical care even though he was bleeding profusely. Now the Sacramento district attorney says it's unjust to charge these officers with Stephon's murder. Where is Stephon's justice?"

The victimization of unarmed Black Muslims has a long and troubling history. In 1962, Malcolm X described a police shooting at a Los Angeles mosque that took the life of Ronald Stokes and injured six others that sounds strikingly familiar to the stories we hear today. "None of them were armed. None of them were struggling. None of them were fighting," Brother Malcolm said. "None of them were trying to defend themselves at all.

In 1999, New York police murdered Amadou Diallo - an unarmed Black man, a Muslim, and recent immigrant - outside of his own apartment. Police fired 41 shots at Diallo without warning and without cause. None were convicted. One of the officers involved, Kenneth Boss, had previously killed a Black man who witnesses say was unarmed and, in 2015, Boss was promoted to sergeant.

Today, we are committing to take action in support of Black-led organizations on the front lines of this work. This is our fight. We join together to call for reform to our nation's policing practices. We demand that actions be taken to:

Establish a federal standard that use of force be reserved as a last resort, only when absolutely necessary, after exhausting all other reasonable options;

Prohibit maneuvers that restrict the flow of blood or oxygen to the brain - including neck holds, chokeholds, and similar excessive force;

Prohibit racial profiling, and require robust data collection on police-community encounters and law enforcement activities;

Eliminate government programs that provide military equipment to law enforcement;

Prohibit the use of no-knock warrants;

Lower the legal standard to make it easier for prosecutors to successfully hold law enforcement accountable;

Develop a national public database that would cover all police agencies which would compile the names of officers who have had their licenses revoked due to misconduct;

End the "qualified immunity doctrine" which prevents police from being held legally accountable when they break the law;

End foreign military training for law enforcement;

Terminate violent extremism programs and grants, and

Redirect police funding into community health, education, employment and housing programs.

We recognize that discrimination pervades our entire justice system - from policing to trials to prisons to re-entry barriers for returning citizens - and that these demands only represent a down payment on the reforms that are needed. If this deep-seated discrimination cannot be done away with through reform, then these systems will need to be abolished and reimagined entirely.

As American Muslims, we will draw on our diversity, our strength, and our resilience to demand these reforms because Black lives matter.

We cannot, and will not, accept anything less.

***

NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
Muslim Advocates, Co-Organizer
Muslim Wellness Foundation, Co-Organizer
America Indivisible
American Muslim Bar Association
American Muslim Community Foundation
American Muslim Empowerment Network (AMEN)
American Muslim Health Professionals (AMHP)
Association of Muslim Chaplains
Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)
Emgage Action
Family & Youth Institute
FITNA (Feminist Islamic Troublemakers of North America)
ICNA Council for Social Justice
Imamia Medics International
Iranian Muslim Community
Islamophobia Studies Center
Justice For All
KARAMAH: Muslim Women Lawyers for Human Rights
Khalil Center
Latino American Dawah Organization
Life in My Days
MUPPIES
Muslim American Society (MAS)
Muslim American Society-Public Affairs and Civic Engagement
Muslim Caucus of America
Muslim Legal Fund of America
Muslim Youth Leadership Council of Advocates for Youth
Muslims Allied for Sexual and Gender Diversity (MASGD)
Muslims for Progressive Values
National Association of Muslim Lawyers
North American Islamic Foundation Inc
Stanford Muslim Mental Health Lab
Universal Muslims Association of America
Women's Islamic Initiative In Spirituality and Equality
Yemeni American Merchants Association
Young Leaders Institute

CALIFORNIA
Brentwood Muslim Community Center
California Muslim Women's Collective
ICNA Council for Social Justice, California
Islamic Shura Council of Southern California
M2E2 Inc.
Masjid As-Sabur
Memon Organization of North America
MSA West
Muslim Bar Association of Southern California
Muslim Leadership Council of San Diego
San Francisco Muslim Community Center (SFMCC)
San Ramon Valley Islamic Center
UC Berkeley Muslim Student Association
Yemeni Alliance Committee

COLORADO
Colorado Muslim Society
Colorado Muslim Speakers Bureaa

CONNECTICUT
Farmington Valley American Muslim Center (FVAMC)

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Capital Area Muslim Bar Association
Muslim Institute - Interfaith Studies & Understanding

DELAWARE
Islamic Society of Delaware

FLORIDA
Friends of Humanity International
Muslim American Society of South Florida
Muslim Women's Organization

GEORGIA
MIST Atlanta

IOWA
Darul Arqum Islamic Center

ILLINOIS
Council of Islamic Organization of Greater Chicago CIOGC
Dar-us Sunnah Masjid & Community Center
Masjid Al-Taqwa
Muslim Bar Association of Chicago
Muslim Community Center, Chicago

INDIANA
Indiana Muslim Advocacy Network
Indianapolis Muslim Community Association
Muslim Alliance of Indiana
Zainabia

KENTUCKY
ASK Center

MARYLAND
Al Hadi Learning Organization
Islamic Community Center of Potomac

MASSACHUSETTS
Muslims for Progressive Values, Boston Chapter

MICHIGAN
The Islamic Society of Greater Lansing

MINNESOTA
Sisters Need A Place

MONTANA
Billings Islamic Community

NEW JERSEY
Al-Tawheed Islamic Center
Council of Imams in New Jersey
Husayn Center for Social Justice
Masjid Muhammad Jersey City
Masjid Salahuddin
Muslim Federation of New Jersey

NEW YORK
Majlis Ash-Shura: Islamic Leadership Council of New York
Muslim Bar Association of New York
Muslim Community Network

OHIO
Islamic Center of Greater Cincinnati

PUERTO RICO
Islamic Council of Puerto Rico

SOUTH DAKOTA
South Dakota Voices for Peace

TENNESSEE
American Muslim Advisory Council

TEXAS
MSA at UT Arlington
MSA Lone Star Council
SMU MSA (Southern Methodist University)

VIRGINIA
Islamic Center of Culpeper
Muslim Community Center of Chesterfield

WASHINGTON
Somali Health Board
MAPS-AMEN (American Muslim Empowerment Network)

WISCONSIN
Wisconsin Muslim Civic Alliance

WEST VIRGINIA
Islamic Center of Morgantown

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BLACK LIVES MATTER, An American Muslim Community Statement Against Police Violence - Muslim Advocates

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We, the undersigned American Muslim civil rights, advocacy, community and faith organizations, echo the calls being made nationwide for meaningful reforms to discriminatory law enforcement practices and violence against Black people in the United States. Black lives matter.

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Why Asian Americans should care about Black Lives Matter

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Why Asian Americans should care about Black Lives Matter

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In the wake of the killings of George Floyd, Tony McDade, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and other Black victims at the hands of the police and racist perpetrators, NYU's Lambda Phi Epsilon, the Asian-interest community, has shown complete disdain for the Black community through its racist GroupMe messages that leaked to Twitter. At the same time, some of my upper-middle class Asian neighbors in my town on Long Island, N.Y., have expressed anti-Black sentiment as they feared the local luxury boutiques and their own businesses would get looted. Their concerns about the repairable property damage and financial losses had morphed into racist hate speech and a complete disregard of the lost and irreplaceable Black lives that prompted these protests and riots.

Similarly insensitive and racist remarks by members of the Asian/American community have also permeated into social media and the Internet, including Asians in the Duke community. These individuals don't represent the entire Asian American community, but it is undeniable that these indignities resulted from preexisting racism and colorism in the Asian American community.

While I commend my fellow Asian Americans who have been supporting the Black Lives Matter movement, it is clear that we still have some work to do to address the anti-Blackness within our community-in our families, friends and even ourselves. I am not denying that we still face discrimination today for being Asian in the United States, in apparently causing the "Chinese coronavirus," lacking personality, et cetera.

Most of us, however, don't need to be afraid of getting gunned down or choked to death when we walk down the streets, jog outside, sleep in our beds at home, go shopping, et cetera. This is the case for our Black friends and neighbors, who make up 24% of police killings despite being only 13% of the United States population. As Asian Americans, we need to stand up for our Black friends, classmates and neighbors, not only out of basic human decency but also because the Black community helped us obtain our civil rights that continue to benefit us today.

Much of the foundation of America was built from the slave labor of Black people who were brought to this country against their will and used for profit, including our profit. After the abolition of slavery, Black Americans continued to struggle as they built up their community on their own while dealing with institutional racism and constant threats that have continued through to today. In our own history as Asian Americans, we have also struggled in the face of the Chinese Exclusion Act, the Chinese Massacre of 1871, Japanese internment and countless other crimes against us that we will never forget.

Since then, Black activists have started movements and fought for rights that have benefited not only Black Americans but also Asian Americans, Latinx people, Native Americans, women and LGBTQ people as well. For instance, the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, led by African American civil rights groups, had inspired Asian Americans to take action in their struggle for equality. Black and Asian American figures such as Malcolm X and Yuri Kochiyama, and James and Grace Lee Boggs worked side-by-side to pave the way for the rights we enjoy today. Because of this Black activist-led action, we saw the passing of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which lifted restrictions on immigrants to the United States, benefitting Asians such as my parents. The civil rights movement also overturned anti-miscegenation laws and later led to open admissions at institutions for higher education that benefit Asians today. As a result of this legacy, I have the incredible privilege of being a 1.5-generation Korean American attending Duke University.

As Asian Americans, we owe the Black community for leading the way and fighting alongside us to allow us the rights we have today. We must support Black Lives Matter and spread the word to other Asian Americans in order to combat the anti-Black racism that is prevalent in our country and communities. We should start from home and confront our communities about how our anti-blackness and colorism harms the Black community and why we should support the Black Lives Matter movement. For some of us, convincing those closest to us might be harder than donating money and protesting. But if we cannot convince our parents, no one can, and we will perpetuate the racism and colorism that is prevalent in our homes and communities. The Letters for Black Lives and Resources for non-Black Asians on Anti-Blackness are excellent resources to get started, which have educational resources and template letters translated in 26 languages, including Bangla, Burmese, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Farsi, Hmong, Indonesian, Japanese, Khmer, Korean, Lao, Nepali and Tagalog.

Besides talking to our communities, we should donate to organizations dedicated to Black community empowerment and criminal justice reform, get involved with political activism such as calling our local representatives and protesting, and call out the skin whitening, Black cultural appropriation, anti-affirmative action attitudes and other racist and colorist practices within our community. If we do not take action, we will be complicit with the racist policies that suppressed us decades ago and continue to suppress Black Americans today.
Christine Yoon is a Trinity senior.
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Why Asian Americans should care about Black Lives Matter

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In the wake of the killings of George Floyd, Tony McDade, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and other Black victims at the hands of the police and racist perpetrators, NYU's Lambda Phi Epsilon, the Asian-interest community, has shown complete disdain for the Black community through its racist GroupMe messages that leaked to Twitter.

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For South Asians committed to ending state violence against Black people, it has always been clear that our work goes further, that we must also work to undo anti-Blackness within our own communities. The hard conversations with our parents and our uncles and aunties about white supremacy, anti-Black racism, and solidarity are not usually easy or fruitful.

But there are moments of clarity and windows of possibility.

Many people have now heard the story of the Gandhi Mahal Restaurant, located just three doors down from the 3rd precinct which was burned down on May 28th in Minneapolis (read the NY Times story here). The restaurant owners are Bangladeshi immigrants and they turned the Gandhi Mahal into a staging area for medics and a resting place for protesters dealing with tear gas during the uprising. According to the New York Times: "As wounds were bandaged and hands were held in the front room, [Ruhel Islam] was in the kitchen, preparing daal, basmati rice and naan" for the protesters. Overnight, the fire from the 3rd precinct reached the Gandhi Mahal and it was severely damaged. Still, Mr. Islam said: "Let my building burn. Justice needs to be served."

From Gandhi Mahal Restaurant's Facebook post

When I heard about the Gandhi Mahal restaurant, it reminded me of a conversation I had in 2014 with employees at the Ferguson Market & Liquor where 18-year-old Michael Brown stopped before his murder at the hands of Darren Wilson, a police officer. An Indian worker I spoke with there expressed similar support for protesters and criticized the discriminatory policing he regularly observed, noting that "the real problem is with cops who stop African-Americans." In an interview with India Abroad, Anil Gopal, the president of the St. Louis Asian Indian Business Association and a 21-year resident of Ferguson said that "a lot of black people came to help the (desi) community. They came out in droves to help clean up the neighborhood, and helped the victims clean up their stores. Some of them even kept vigil outside the store as long as they could to protect the stores."

These may be small and rare parts of the bigger story around police brutality targeting Black people in this country, but for South Asians, they are meaningful and significant. These stories remind us that it is possible to build bridges, to understand the systemic failures of policing in this country, and to fight for justice for Black lives. While these stories don't reflect the experiences of every desi shop owner in this country, they do provide an alternative to the narrative we often hear: that South Asians and Black communities do not have common cause and that immigrant business owners do not care about Black customers and residents. Mr. Islam, who said he grew up in a "traumatic police state" in Bangladesh, understood the anger and frustrations of Black people. The Indian store clerk I spoke with in Ferguson understood the class and race connections between communities of color.

More broadly, these stories, even with the complexities underlying them, reflect the foundations of solidarity practice: centering those most affected by inequality, understanding that the systems, institutions, and policies of white supremacy target us all, and taking steps to support and co-conspire for shared liberation.

For those South Asians who are privileged by virtue of class, caste, or immigration status, the stories of South Asian shop owners in Minneapolis and Ferguson may not resonate. Many South Asians take the "racial bribe" and climb the racial ladder in a futile attempt to reach the status of whiteness. They are the ones calling protesters "looters" and differentiating themselves as model minorities. Still others remain indifferent to understanding the history of Black liberation struggles that paved the way for their own families to immigrate and enjoy benefits in America. Some are silent and apathetic, seemingly oblivious to the civil unrest happening around them. Getting more South Asians to understand the importance of dismantling the systems of white supremacy is not easy, especially when we see images of Indians filling up a stadium in Houston in support of a Hindu nationalist leader or recognize that there are people from our own communities who actively support the current Administration despite its anti-immigrant policies.

June 2018 Rally for Black Lives (Silver Spring, MD)

But that doesn't mean we can stop. We must continue to amplify the importance of solidarity with Black communities and undo anti-Blackness within our own people. That means explaining how white supremacy and racism are devastating all people of color including South Asians. It means acknowledging that the full liberation of Black communities leads to the freedom of all people. It means explaining that when we perpetuate anti-Blackness, that we are being complicit ourselves in reinforcing systems of oppression that harm our own people too. And it means coming from a place of love and compassion.

We must keep trying, and we can look to the stories of Minneapolis and Ferguson shop owners as starting points and inspiration.

Below are 10 action steps that South Asians can take:

Step 1: Donate to help protesters get out of jail around the country with bail funds > https://www.communityjusticeexchange.org/national-bail-fund-network. Then, donate to Black-led organizations in your area and to South Asian and Asian American organizations with an explicit commitment to be in solidarity with Black communities. Every dollar does count.

Step 2: Show up safely on real streets or coordinate South Asian solidarity actions on digital streets. With digital conversations, plan an agenda to discuss: "How can South Asians show up for Black lives?" Discuss using the guides in Step 4, and then come up with a plan of action with 1 individual action + 3 collective steps (examples: deepen my own analysis and share it; support a local group; commit to 2 community conversations; ask a place of worship or cultural group to make a statement of solidarity).

Step 3. Sign a letter of solidarity (for Asian American groups and individuals) organized by the Coalition of Asian American Leaders (CAAL) in Minnesota > https://caalmn.org/api4georgefloyd/.

Step 4: Learn about South Asian communities and the imperative for building solidarity with Black communities.

>For a starting point: read Vijay Prashad's Karma of Brown Folk.

>For post 9/11 analysis on solidarity with Black communities: read a chapter from my book, We Too Sing America, called "Ferguson is Everywhere" that provides community stories along a framework for discussions and political education ( link).

> Check out Anirvan Chatterjee's The Secret History of South Asian and African American Solidarity for historical examples of cross-racial solidarity.

>For courageous conversations with family, use this guide with exercises developed by the Queer South Asian National Network ( link).

Step 5. Take a stand. Share your commitment to dismantling anti-Black racism and the demands of Black communities (step 7) with friends, networks, and on social media.

Step 6. Then ask others to take a stand. Ask your networks, organizations, places of worship, and campus groups to make solidarity statements. Check out @SouthAsians4BlackLives on Instagram for visuals and messages.

Step 7: Understand and Support the Demands from Black Communities. Insist on investments in communities and divestment from law enforcement. Here's a report from MPD_150 ( link) and a mini-syllabus on prison & police abolition ( link). You can take an Abolition in Policing workshop from Critical Resistance here, and see demands from Color of Change ( link) that address use-of-force, profit motives in policing and more in the wake of the murders of Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, Tony McDade, Sean Reed, and Breonna Taylor.

Step 8: Support the Gandhi Mahal in Minneapolis > https://www.facebook.com/donate/624114434980787

Step 9. Ensure that South Asian solidarity struggles also include confronting casteism, Hindutva, and Islamophobia. Learn more from South Asian groups here and read about caste abolition from Equality Labs here. In fact, in communities advocated for the passage of a city council resolution in St. Paul against the human rights violations in India ( link).

Step 10. When the urgency stops, don't stop acting: Dismantling white supremacy is a long-term commitment. Even when it's not on the news, we need to show up for each other. Practice self-care and community care, and build your daily plan for transformative solidarity.

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For South Asians committed to ending state violence against Black people, it has always been clear that our work goes further, that we must also work to undo anti-Blackness within our own communities. The hard conversations with our parents and our uncles and aunties about white supremacy, anti-Black racism, and solidarity are not usually easy or fruitful.

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How Latinx People Can Fight Anti-Black Racism in Our Own Culture

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How Latinx People Can Fight Anti-Black Racism in Our Own Culture

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Lucky for us, we are working on a foundation of a wealth of scholars, activists, and even everyday people, who have done this work for decades, that we might turn to for guidance. This is a great compilation resource to start with, which covers topics from ways to speak to children about anti-Black racism to lists of suggested films to watch and organizations with further readings. This set of tips is also a great place to start, especially when addressing racism in private contexts.

When engaging with Black art, music, and culture, understand its history and context

The lines between Latinx culture and Black culture, in the modern imagination are blurry at best, partially because of our shared modern experience, but also because of a rich history of artistic, musical, and cultural flow and collaboration. But there is a moment at which our shared experiences diverge, put plainly, because of the lasting impact of colonial era slavery, and modern-day prejudices against dark-skinned Black people which white and even brown Latinos do not contend with. While it's true, many Latinos do carry Afro-Latino and Black heritage, the lived experience of walking around the modern world in a Black body drastically changes the nature of the art and culture made by Black people.

Once again, this is a moment to do your homework, and to ask yourself tough questions that you can begin to ask of others. Learn about why it is NOT OK to say the n-word, even while rapping along with songs you love, if you don't present as Black or Afro-Latino. Or, for example, talk to your family about the importance of hair in Black communities, and why it's not OK for your aunts to tell your cousin she has pelo malo, bad hair, because it's curly and textured-or any other Black (or Indigenous)-presenting feature for that matter. These moments of internalized colorism, outward insensitivity, and cultural appropriation, while they may seem small, matter, and correcting them adds up to an easing of Black pain in everyday life.

When you can, center and elevate Black voices

This is probably the most straightforward point but it's at the heart of addressing anti-Black racism wherever you might encounter it. As you do the important work of educating yourself on the Black experience, and helping to address anti-Black racism you may feel the urge to speak on behalf of Black people amongst your Latino peers. While it's important to help shoulder the burden of this work on behalf of our Black friends, relatives, and community members, understand that Black humans are at the heart of this experience, and we must listen to them about how best to address their needs; learn from and amplify the scholarly research, grassroots activist work, and daily experiences they have with racism, first and foremost.

Remember that while our experiences are linked, anti-Black racism is an urgent crisis

While the Latinx experience is one that is also shaped by the horrors of colonial violence, slavery, genocide and exploitation of natural resources, and while the Indigenous and Black experience is, in America, closely linked by the project of colonialism, this project took on many forms in many countries where Latinidad and the diaspora now exists and, while we grapple with this experience we must also hold in our hearts and minds that this experience was and is drastically different for Black Americans. The relationship between the two is inextricable and is a product of shared pain, but now is a moment to shift focus to the experience of our Black relatives. This does not mean stomping down the needs and voices of the former to prioritize the latter, but it does mean knowing the state sanctioned violence and systemic racism against Black people in America is a crisis that urgently must be addressed, and that we can begin by addressing within our own communities.

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How Latinx People Can Fight Anti-Black Racism

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Lucky for us, we are working on a foundation of a wealth of scholars, activists, and even everyday people, who have done this work for decades, that we might turn to for guidance. This is a great compilation resource to start with, which covers topics from ways to speak to children about anti-Black racism to lists of suggested films to watch and organizations with further readings.

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Non-Black People of Color Need to Start Having Conversations About the Anti-Blackness in Our Communities 

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Non-Black People of Color Need to Start Having Conversations About the Anti-Blackness in Our Communities 

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Non-Black People of Color Need to Start Having Conversations About the Anti-Blackness in Our Communities

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A guide to starting anti-racist conversations with friends and family.

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University of Colorado Denver Office of Diversity & Inclusion 

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University of Colorado Denver Office of Diversity & Inclusion 

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We offer services, resources and guidance to enhance diversity university-wide and foster a culture of inclusion. We oversee these diversity-focused offices:

​ DENVER ANSCHUTZ
​

DENVER

​​

​ DENVER | ANSCHUTZ

​

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Home | Office of Diversity and Inclusion | Office of Diversity and Inclusion | University of Colorado Denver

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We offer services, resources and guidance to enhance diversity university-wide and foster a culture of inclusion. We oversee these diversity-focused offices: ​ DENVER ANSCHUTZ ​ DENVER ​​ ​ DENVER | ANSCHUTZ ​

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I have privilege as a white person because I can do all of these things without thinking twice:

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I have privilege as a white person because I can do all of these things without thinking twice:

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Some contact may contain graphic images: viewer discretion advised.

I can go birding (#ChristianCooper)

Oh, when Karens take a walk with their dogs off leash in the famous Bramble in NY's Central Park, where it is clearly posted on signs that dogs MUST be leashed at all times, and someone like my brother (an avid birder) politely asks her to put her dog on the leash. pic.twitter.com/3YnzuATsDm
- Melody Cooper (@melodyMcooper) May 25, 2020

I can go jogging (#AmaudArbery)

I can relax in the comfort of my own home (#BothemSean and #AtatianaJefferson)

I can ask for help after being in a car crash (#JonathanFerrell and #RenishaMcBride)

I can have a cellphone (#StephonClark)

I can leave a party to get to safety (#JordanEdwards)

I can play loud music (#JordanDavis)

Music turned up for #JordanDavis: The shooting of Jordan Davis occurred on November 23, 2012, at a gas station in Jacksonville, Florida, over loud music.

His father & others gathered at that same gas station today to play loud music. Today would have been Jordan's 21st Birthday pic.twitter.com/SCVXAMz06O
- HĪPMAGAZINE.ORG 📓 (@HIPWEEKLY) November 23, 2018

I can sell CDs (#AltonSterling)

I can sleep (#AiyanaJones)

I can walk from the corner store (#MikeBrown)

I can play cops and robbers (#TamirRice)

I can go to church (#Charleston9)

I can walk home with Skittles (# TrayvonMartin)

I can hold a hair brush while leaving my own bachelor party (#SeanBell)

I can party on New Years (#OscarGrant)

I can get a normal traffic ticket (#SandraBland)

I can lawfully carry a weapon (#PhilandoCastile)

I can break down on a public road with car problems (#CoreyJones)

I can shop at Walmart (#JohnCrawford)

I can have a disabled vehicle (#TerrenceCrutcher)

I can read a book in my own car (#KeithScott)

I can be a 10yr old walking with our grandfather (#CliffordGlover)

I can decorate for a party (#ClaudeReese)

I can ask a cop a question (#RandyEvans)

I can cash a check in peace (#YvonneSmallwood)

I can take out my wallet (#AmadouDiallo)

I can run (#WalterScott)

I can breathe (#EricGarner)

I can live (#FreddieGray)

I can sleep in my own bed (#BreonnaTaylor)

I CAN BE ARRESTED WITHOUT THE FEAR OF BEING MURDERED(#GeorgeFloyd)

'I can't get my brother back' - George Floyd's family is speaking out and calling for the officers involved to be charged with murder pic.twitter.com/RrkqJvRyLo
- NowThis (@nowthisnews) May 28, 2020

White privilege is real. Take a minute to consider a Black person's experience today."

We live in two Americas.

One where armed white protestors storm government buildings without fear - and one where peaceful people of color face tear gas for standing up against racism.

When Trump says 'Make America Great Again,' we know which America he's talking about. pic.twitter.com/EYxofkjzOx
- Sherrod Brown (@SenSherrodBrown) May 29, 2020

#BlackLivesMatter

#SayTheirNames

Ways you can help:

The extrajudicial execution of George Floyd on Monday night at the hands of the Minneapolis police has sparked an uprising.Things are moving quickly on the ground, but here are ways you can help right now:

Contact Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and demand he call off the National Guard.
Phone: 651-201-3400
Twitter: @GovTimWalz

Contact Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and demand he call off the National Guard and push for charges for all four officers who were involved.
Phone: 612-673-2100
Twitter: @MayorFrey, @jacobwarman_Frey

Contact County Attorney Mike Freeman and demand he charge all four officers with murder.
Phone: 612-348-5550
Email: citizeninfo@hennepin.us
George Floyd's murder falls into the deeply entrenched pattern of violence, anti-Blackness, and oppression upheld by policing in this country. And we recognize that as we fight for a better world, it will be the police who threaten our protests, the police who will break up our picket lines, the police who selectively wield their monopoly on violence against Black people and working-class people to protect those with power and privilege.Strong and well-resourced communities do not require repression, and by extension, repressive institutions to keep peace when there is justice. We will fight for a world where Black people can breathe freely and challenge ourselves to take greater responsibility for abolition, and the courage to pursue a just and liberated future.
Donate to the official George Floyd Memorial Fund (As a measure of the international outrage sparked by this brutal killing, the George Floyd Memorial Fund has raised nearly $2.5 MILLION.)
https://www.gofundme.com/f/georgefloyd

Author Unknown.

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I have privilege as a white person because I can do all of these things without thinking twice:

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Some contact may contain graphic images: viewer discretion advised.

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Dr. Kevin Nadal (quoted by NPR): Microaggressions are defined as the everyday, subtle, intentional — and oftentimes unintentional — interactions or behaviors that communicate some sort of bias toward historically marginalized groups.

The difference between microaggressions and overt discrimination or macroaggressions, is that people who commit microagressions might not even be aware of them.

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Two colleagues-one Asian-American, the other African-American-board a small plane. A flight attendant tells them they can sit anywhere, so they choose seats near the front of the plane and across the aisle from each another so they can talk.

At the last minute, three white men enter the plane and take the seats in front of them. Just before takeoff, the flight attendant, who is white, asks the two colleagues if they would mind moving to the back of the plane to better balance the plane's load. Both react with anger, sharing the same sense that they are being singled out to symbolically "sit at the back of the bus." When they express these feelings to the attendant, she indignantly denies the charge, saying she was merely trying to ensure the flight's safety and give the two some privacy.

Were the colleagues being overly sensitive, or was the flight attendant being racist?

For Teachers College, Columbia University psychologist Derald Wing Sue, PhD-the Asian-American colleague on the plane, incidentally-the onus falls on the flight attendant. In his view, she was guilty of a "racial microaggression"-one of the "everyday insults, indignities and demeaning messages sent to people of color by well-intentioned white people who are unaware of the hidden messages being sent to them," in Sue's definition.

In other words, she was acting with bias-she just didn't know it, he says.

Sue and his team are developing a theory and classification system to describe and measure the phenomenon to help people of color understand what is going on and perhaps to educate white people as well, Sue says.

"It's a monumental task to get white people to realize that they are delivering microaggressions, because it's scary to them," he contends. "It assails their self-image of being good, moral, decent human beings to realize that maybe at an unconscious level they have biased thoughts, attitudes and feelings that harm people of color."

To better understand the type and range of these incidents, Sue and other researchers are also exploring the concept among specific groups and documenting how a regular dose of these psychological slings and arrows may erode people's mental health, job performance and the quality of social experience.
Aversive racism
The term racial microaggressions was first proposed by psychiatrist Chester M. Pierce, MD, in the 1970s, but psychologists have significantly amplified the concept in recent years.

In his landmark work on stereotype threat, for instance, Stanford University psychology professor Claude Steele, PhD, has shown that African-Americans and women perform worse on academic tests when primed with stereotypes about race or gender. Women who were primed with stereotypes about women's poor math performance do worse on math tests. Blacks' intelligence test scores plunge when they're primed with stereotypes about blacks' inferior intelligence.

Meanwhile, social psychologists Jack Dovidio, PhD, of Yale University, and Samuel L. Gaertner, PhD, of the University of Delaware, have demonstrated across several studies that many well-intentioned whites who consciously believe in and profess equality unconsciously act in a racist manner, particularly in ambiguous circumstances. In experimental job interviews, for example, whites tend not to discriminate against black candidates when their qualifications are as strong or as weak as whites'. But when candidates' qualifications are similarly ambiguous, whites tend to favor white over black candidates, the team has found. The team calls this pattern "aversive racism," referring in part to whites' aversion to being seen as prejudiced, given their conscious adherence to egalitarian principles.

Sue adds to these findings by naming, detailing and classifying the actual manifestations of aversive racism. His work illuminates the internal experiences of people affected by microaggressions-a new direction, since past research on prejudice and discrimination has focused on whites' attitudes and behaviors, notes Dovidio.

"The study of microaggressions looks at the impact of these subtle racial expressions from the perspective of the people being victimized, so it adds to our psychological understanding of the whole process of stigmatization and bias," Dovidio says.

Research shows that uncertainty is very distressing to people, Dovidio adds. "It's the uncertainty of microaggressions that can have such a tremendous impact on people of color," including on the job, in academic performance and even in therapy, he and others find.
Creating a vocabulary
Sue first proposed a classification of racial microaggressions in a 2007 article on how they manifest in clinical practice in the American Psychologist (Vol. 2, No. 4). There, he notes three types of current racial transgressions:

Microassaults: Conscious and intentional actions or slurs, such as using racial epithets, displaying swastikas or deliberately serving a white person before a person of color in a restaurant.

Microinsults: Verbal and nonverbal communications that subtly convey rudeness and insensitivity and demean a person's racial heritage or identity. An example is an employee who asks a colleague of color how she got her job, implying she may have landed it through an affirmative action or quota system.

Microinvalidations: Communications that subtly exclude, negate or nullify the thoughts, feelings or experiential reality of a person of color. For instance, white people often ask Asian-Americans where they were born, conveying the message that they are perpetual foreigners in their own land.

Sue focuses on microinsults and microinvalidiations because of their less obvious nature, which puts people of color in a psychological bind, he asserts: While the person may feel insulted, she is not sure exactly why, and the perpetrator doesn't acknowledge that anything has happened because he is not aware he has been offensive.

"The person of color is caught in a Catch-22: If she confronts the perpetrator, the perpetrator will deny it," Sue says.

In turn, that leaves the person of color to question what actually happened. The result is confusion, anger and an overall sapping of energy, he says.
Refining the concept
While Sue's 2007 American Psychologist article mainly laid out his theory and an initial taxonomy of microaggressions, his team is now examining how these subtle communications vary among different populations. In a qualitative study in the June Professional Psychology: Research and Practice (Vol. 39, No. 3), Sue and his colleagues conducted focus groups with 13 African-Americans who discussed their perceptions of, reactions to and interpretations of microaggressions, as well as the emotional toll they take. Participants, age 22 to 32, all lived in the New York metropolitan area and were either graduate students or worked in higher education.

Respondents agreed that these backhanded communications can make them feel as if they don't belong, that they are abnormal or that they are untrustworthy. Some described the terrible feeling of being watched suspiciously in stores as if they were about to steal something, for instance. Some reported anticipating the impact of their race by acting preemptively: One man noted how he deliberately relaxes his body while in close quarters with white women so he doesn't frighten them.

Others cited the pressure to represent their group in a positive way. One woman said she was constantly vigilant about her work performance because she was worried that any slipups would negatively affect every black person who came after her.

A similar study in the January 2007 Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology (Vol. 13, No. 1) found that many Asian-Americans cited the experience of people asking them where they were born or telling them they "spoke good English," which gave them the message that they are "aliens." Others described classroom experiences where teachers or students assumed they were great in math, which led to feelings of being trapped in a stereotype that wasn't necessarily true. Female participants complained that white men interested in dating them assumed they would be subservient sexual partners who would take care of their every need.

"These incidents may appear small, banal and trivial, but we're beginning to find they assail the mental health of recipients," Sue says.

Other researchers are showing the harm of racial microaggressions in a variety of arenas, though research in the area is still sparse, Sue acknowledges. For instance, in a 2007 article in American Behavioral Scientist (Vol. 51, No. 4), University of Utah social psychologist William A. Smith, PhD, and colleagues conducted focus groups with 36 black male students on five elite campuses, including Harvard and the University of Michigan.

Participants reported experiencing racial microaggressions in academic, social and public settings. For instance, some participants reported that when they went to their school's computer lab to do schoolwork, white students would call security to make sure they weren't there to cause trouble. When security arrived, they would check the students' IDs, sometimes asking them to provide a second one to prove the first was valid.

In another case, fraternity students who had gathered for practice found themselves surrounded by police vehicles, the result of someone calling in a concern about gang activity, Smith notes.

Meanwhile, in therapy, the more likely black people are to perceive their therapist using racial microaggressions, the weaker the therapeutic bond and the lower their reported satisfaction, finds a 2007 study in the Journal of Counseling Psychology (Vol. 54, No. 1). Sue and other researchers are beginning to study the impact of racial microaggressions on other groups as well, including people of various ethnic groups, people with disabilities, and gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered individuals.
Mountain or mole hill?
Not everyone agrees that microaggressions are as rampant or destructive as Sue says they are. In rebuttal letters to the 2007 American Psychologist article, respondents accuse Sue of blowing the phenomenon out of proportion and advancing an unnecessarily negative agenda.

"Implementing his theory would restrict rather than promote candid interaction between members of different racial groups," maintains Kenneth R. Thomas, PhD, of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, one of the critics. In the therapy relationship, for example, having to watch every word "potentially discourages therapist genuineness and spontaneity," says Thomas, who is white.

Likewise, aspects of Sue's theory enforce a victim mentality by creating problems where none exist, Thomas asserts. "The theory, in general, characterizes people of color as weak and vulnerable, and reinforces a culture of victimization instead of a culture of opportunity," he says.

Kenneth Sole, PhD, whose consulting firm Sole & Associates Inc., trains employees on team communication, agrees with Sue that microaggressions are pervasive and potentially damaging. Indeed, clients talk about them all of the time, he says. But instead of encouraging their anger, he works with them on ways to frame the incidents so they feel empowered rather than victimized, he notes.

"My own view is that we don't serve ourselves well in the hundreds of ambiguous situations we experience by latching onto the definition of the experience that gives us the greatest pain"-particularly in one-time encounters where one can't take more systemic action, he says.

For instance, if a white person makes a potentially offensive remark to a person of color, the person could choose either to get angry and see the person as a bigot or to perceive the person as ignorant and move on, he says.

For Sue's part, he believes it's important to keep shining a light on the harm these encounters can inflict, no matter how the person of color decides to handle a given encounter.

"My hope is to make the invisible visible," he says. "Microaggressions hold their power because they are invisible, and therefore they don't allow us to see that our actions and attitudes may be discriminatory."
Tori DeAngelis is a writer in Syracuse, N.Y.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Two colleagues-one Asian-American, the other African-American-board a small plane. A flight attendant tells them they can sit anywhere, so they choose seats near the front of the plane and across the aisle from each another so they can talk. At the last minute, three white men enter the plane and take the seats in front of them.