It’s Time to Recommit to Antiracism
Over two years ago, the US and much of the world faced a “racial reckoning.”
In the wake of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor’s murder, amongst many others, people went to the streets to protest police brutality and put up "Black Lives Matter" signs in their yards. People posted black squares, companies hosted implicit bias trainings, and bookstores were sold out of “How To Be Antiracist” by Ibram X. Kendi and “White Fragility” by Robin DiAngelo.
It seemed as if America was really confronting the impacts of White supremacy. However, just a year later, studies showed that Black Lives Matter was no longer trending, and support for the Black Lives Matter movement had fallen to pre-June 2020 levels. It seems that this racial reckoning was temporary. But now more than ever–especially in the wake of Roe v. Wade and the many recent incidents including the brutal murder of Jaylin Walker by police in Akron, Ohio–advocating, listening to and supporting the lives of Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) needs to be at the center and this is no more true than by integrating components of antiracism into your professional environment.
However, the implicit bias training your organization may have had two years ago is not enough. So what can you do to go beyond book clubs and into action? Here are some simple steps you and your organization can take to commit and/or re-commit to antiracism in the workplace:
Break the Silence
Have the hard conversations. It’s easy to read and absorb information. It’s easy to speak up on social media. However, it’s much harder to speak up in a meeting space with colleagues, or at a dinner table with friends. It is imperative that as an ally to move from saying that you support someone in private to supporting in public.
It’s messy, and you may not say the right thing. But as Brene Brown says, “I’m not here to be right, I’m here to get it right.” Fumbling through words is normal, and mistakes will be made. Working through the messiness makes us human, and attempting to break the silence speaks volumes for BIPOC communities.
For tips on how to talk about microaggressions, check out this article from NPR: Life Kit or listen to this podcast episode, Microaggressions are a big deal: How to talk them out and when to walk away.
Listen to BIPOC and Marginalized Communities and Focus on the Intersectionality of Issues
We often listen to the loudest voice in the room because it’s the most vocal and the easiest to pay attention to. However, take the time to listen to BIPOC and marginalized communities.
How do policies, procedures, literature and conversations that you’re having in your professional environment impact BIPOC communities? How about trans communities or communities with disabilities? Take the time to reach out to people in marginalized communities to hear their feedback. It’s important they feel seen, heard and valued in your space, even if they are not the loudest voice in the room.
In some cultures and communities, there’s a protocol for the order of who gets to speak first, starting with People of Color, White women, and lastly, White men. This allows space for marginalized communities and members of the global majority to have the opportunity to share their thoughts first.
Celebrate BIPOC and Marginalized Communities
Make sure to center joy. Oftentimes implicit bias trainings focus on recognizing and interrupting microaggressions, and how we have formed racial biases and stereotypes. While it is essential for White colleagues to understand and learn about these topics, but this often puts BIPOC painful experiences on display to educate White people. Because of this, it's important to create a counter narrative to interrupt racial biases and stereotypes by focusing on joy and celebrating the community and cultural wealth of BIPOC and marginalized communities. Focusing on joy is a humanizing experience that builds community and can strengthen relationships within an organization. Find ways for members of your community to feel celebrated and acknowledge their humanity beyond the workplace.
Don't Rely on BIPOC Colleagues to Explain Racism
Oftentimes, White colleagues want BIPOC colleagues to explain why a moment was racist, or share their own racist experiences in an effort to understand racism. However, it should not be up to BIPOC colleagues to explain racist situations. Reach out to other White colleagues to unpack the situation, and learn with each other. Better yet, find a Showing Up For Racial Justice group near you.
Beyond learning from BIPOC scholars and authors about racism and their experiences, it is important to learn about the history of Whiteness and the ideologies of White Supremacy Culture. Understanding these can deepen an understanding of racism and examine ways it shows up in the organization in invisible ways.
Know that Implicit Bias Trainings Are Not Enough.
These types of workplace trainings can be an excellent way to get everyone in the workplace on the same page if they're led by experienced BIPOC anti-bias/anti-racism trainers. However, they cannot be the sole action at a workplace to take antiracism steps, it is a starting-point.
Other steps you can take include looking at all functionings of the organization to investigate how all practices from hiring, promotion, and facilities are inclusive as well as to look at whether your vision and mission and how you carry them out are aligned with the antiracism goals. To do this in a robust way, you can hire workplace diversity, equity, justice, and inclusion (DEJI) consultants to do an audit of the inclusivity of the workplace.
These are all starting points to refocus and recenter racial justice work within the workplace. Antiracism is an ongoing process, is always challenging, but in the end, your organization and your work will be better aligned with your values as an inclusive organization.
For those organizations looking into how to recommit to antiracism, here are some helpful resources:
Detour Spotting for White Anti-Racist from Cultural Bridges to Justice
Why Every Workplace Needs Affinity Groups from iMentor.com
Guide to Building an Anti-Racist Workplace from Times Up