反种族主义工作从国内开始

反种族主义工作从国内开始: A Community Courageous Conversation & 对盟友的一次宣讲

正规博彩十大网站排名学院’s Gay Johnson McDougall Center for Global Diversity and Inclusion recently hosted the first of a series of panels seeking to engage community members in courageous conversations about race and racism. 今年春天, the college joined 23 other colleges and universities around the country in a national effort to eradicate racial hierarchies and eliminate social inequities through the AAC&U 真相，种族愈合 and 转换 project. 作为THRT的校园, 正规博彩十大网站排名学院 plans to partner with local and community groups as well as the campus community to undertake projects that advance transformational racial change, 促进种族和解, and erase structural barriers to equity and equal opportunity.

The first-panel discussion featured Beth Hackett, 女学院主席兼副教授, 性别, and sexuality studies at 正规博彩十大网站排名学院 and Jacinta Williams `07, head of equity and inclusion at Atlanta International School. It was moderated by Yves-Rose Porcena, Agnes Scott’s vice-president for equity and inclusion.

Porcena opened the discussion with a question for Hackett, “why is it so hard for white people to talk about racism?”. 哈克特提到了罗宾·迪安吉洛的书， 白色的脆弱性, which defines white fragility as “a state in which even a minimum amount of racial stress becomes intolerable and triggers a range of defensive moves.”  These “defensive moves” can shift a conversation from one about race to one that centers the white person’s feelings instead.  哈科特描述, 在其他白人脆弱的动态中, how suggesting to a  white person that they perpetuate racism or benefit from a system of white supremacy can be deeply threatening to their identity as a good person.  威廉姆斯同意, saying that all people have a desire to be good, but our need to see ourselves as good people can really get in the way of us becoming better people. She then referred to the stress-induced responses of “fight, 飞行, or freeze” that often kick in when we are in the uncomfortable situation of confronting our own implicit biases and how these might play out in a discussion around racism. 引用多莉·丘格的作品, Williams suggested that we might strive to be “goodish” rather than good, allowing room for growth rather than condemnation.

波尔塞纳引用J. Kēhaulani Kauanui’s assertion that racism is a “structure, not an event” and asked Williams to elaborate on what this means. Williams identified the three components of structural racism as: policies (and how they are implemented and enforced by the government and institutions), (刑事司法制度的)惯例, 教育系统, 住房市场, 例如), and culture (as in how stereotypes and perspectives are portrayed and reinforced). Williams theorized that individual racism is a product of structural racism, and so we must address racism at the structural level to create real change.

When asked what parents and educators can do to teach anti-racism to their students and children, 威廉姆斯提出了几点建议, encouraging adults to serve as models and never to ignore moments of opportunity to speak out against racism, 然而, 这些机会出现了.  “Be explicit about where you stand” she urged. “Consistency is important and the one time that we don’t speak up will send a message that (racism) is okay.”  She described the anti-bias training and framework that her institution, 亚特兰大国际学校使用, and encouraged age-appropriate education and training for all children and their families.

The panelists also discussed the importance of bringing an intersectional lens to issues of race (i.e., recognizing that systems of oppression such as racism, sexism, ableism, classism, etc., are co-constituting and mutually reinforcing) and reflected on the importance of centering the voices of Black and Brown people as we strive to envision what racial justice would look like.

在关闭, Porcena took a poll of the 336 participants and asked them the number of actions towards allyship they would commit to during the month of June.  She encouraged everyone to review the resources and list of actions that can be found on the 中心的网页, and reminded them to hold themselves accountable for their chosen actions and commitment. Hackett encouraged the listeners to get educated, take action (while following the lead of people of color), and recognize that “shame is not productive” as we all have work to do and should invite others to allyship in a way that does not condemn, 而是鼓励问责.  Williams reiterated that we all have work to do and quoted Arthur Ashe, 谁曾经说过, “从你所在的地方开始, 利用你所拥有的, 尽你所能.”

The Center will hold other conversations in this series involving local leaders, 在第一时间作出回应, 社区组织者, and invites the campus community and public to participate in the next conversation titled “地方领导采取行动 to Combat Racism”, 星期三举行哪一场, 6月24日.