Section 4: Allying, Actions, and Accountability
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Hello friends, we are now entering our final week of the Chancellor's 21-Day Anti-Racism Challenge. In Section 4 we discuss allyship, actions, and accountability--one must be willing to assume all of these to help advance racial justice.
As we learned in Section 1 of the Challenge, to support deep and lasting change, one must not simply be a "non-racist", but an anti-racist. To be an anti-racist is being confronted with various forms of racism--individual, institutional, structural--and choosing to speak out against these injustices rather than choosing to remain silent.
DAY 16 - August 28
In June 2020, the Center for Organizational Responsibility and Advancement (CORA) hosted a special webinar presentation in response to the public statements released by academic institutions regarding the killings of George Floyd, Jr., Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and Tony McDade. Their webinar, "Addressing Anti-Blackness on Campus: Implications for Educators and Institutions," explains how public statements become futile unless accompanied by meaningful action to prevent more harm to Black community members. A panel of experts came together to discuss viable solutions for confronting anti-Blackness in education.
WATCH or LISTEN: Addressing Anti-Blackness on Campus: Implications for Educators and Institutions (June 25, 2020 | 1hr 45min)
DAY 17 - August 31
Our Asian and Asian American communities are experiencing their own unique plight with "otherness", xenophobia, and anti-Asian racism in America. With the release of the George Floyd, Jr. video, many from the Asian community have come to express great disappointment and anger with the Asian American officer who stood by, failing to intervene. In "The George Floyd Protests: A Guide to Practicing Anti-Racism as an Asian Ally," we learn how Asians and Asian Americans can effectively support the Black community with their allyship.
READ: The George Floyd Protests: A Guide to Practicing Anti-Racism as an Asian Ally (June 3, 2020 | 20 min)
Practicing Anti-Racism as an Asian Ally (PDF)
DAY 18 - Sep 1
We've seen the headlines; some celebrity or notable public figure gets "dragged" or is threatened to be "canceled" for falling short of expectations or an offense committed long ago. In her reflective piece, "What Is/Isn’t Transformative Justice?," author and Black feminist Adrienne Maree Brown urges us to be careful with how we direct our energy. We must seek transformative justice, which has long-term impact instead of the short-term gain that comes from seeing the fall of individuals, who are often just a symptom of a much deeper, systemic issue.
READ: What is/isn’t Transformative Justice? (July 9, 2015 | 14 min)
What is/isn’t Transformative Justice? (PDF)
DAY 19 - Sep 2
Many Black people are navigating deep emotional waters right now, with many feeling especially vulnerable and unsafe amid social and mainstream media stories of violence against Black people. Best intentions are assumed of allies, and most understand concern comes from a place of care and desire to help their Black friends and colleagues. But a simple, how are you doing, could rouse more pain than support. In "Some Do's and Don'ts for White People Who Want to Discuss Racism at Work" and "Your Black Colleagues May Look Like They're Okay--Chances Are They're Not," we discuss how to effectively engage with your Black friends or colleagues during these sensitive times.
READ: Some Do's and Don'ts for White People Who Want to Discuss Racism at Work (June 1, 2020 | 4 min)
Some Do's and Don'ts for White People (PDF)
READ: Your Black Colleagues May Look Like They're Okay--Chances Are They're Not (May 2020 | 10 min)
Your Black Colleagues May Look Like They're Okay (PDF)
DAY 20 - Sep 3
Furthering the lessons from Day 19, we share a perspective piece by Kimberly D. Manning, MD. In this piece, Dr. Manning grounds us in an intimate look at how she, personally and as a physician, is experiencing the overwhelming effects of anti-Black racism as well as the devastation of COVID-19 on the Black community. She offers hospitals and leaders a starting point from which we can offer support to Black patients, colleagues, and friends during a time of heightened grief and sustain our support for their well-being.
READ: When Grief and Crises Intersect: Perspectives of a Black Physician in the Time of Two Pandemics (June 5, 2020 | 15 min)
When Grief and Crises Intersect (PDF)
On June 10, 2020, a group of physicists with Particles for Justice led a STEM and academic strike for Black lives in collaboration with ShutDownSTEM and VanguardSTEM. According to Inside Higher Ed, the group amassed over 4,500 pledges from faculty and students to stop research and meetings for one day in support of the issues impacting the Black community8. We link to an exhaustive library of resources, provided by Particles of Justice, for people interested in acting for Black lives and for Black people seeking support with self-care.
READ and EXPLORE: Physicist Strike for BLM Resource List (June 10, 2020)
Physicist Strike for BLM Resource List (PDF)
DAY 21 - Sep 4
In this Harvard Business Review article, "Academia Isn't a Safe Haven for Conversations About Race," we become familiar with terms like “invisible labor”, “inclusion tax” and “racism-evasive rhetoric” to understand how our deflection from problematic behavior perpetuates anti-Blackness and our inability to engage in meaningful dialogue on race and racism.
READ: Academia Isn't a Safe Haven for Conversations About Race (June 25, 2019 | 15 min read)
Academia Isn't a Safe Haven for Conversations About Race (PDF)
Dr. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, assistant professor of physics and astronomy at the University of New Hampshire, shares with us "The Rules of the Diversity and Inclusion Racket." In this article, Dr. Prescod-Weinstein describes her experience as an "only" in the field of physics and astronomy and decodes (from her experience) "what white people really mean when they talk about diversity in higher education."
READ: The Rules of the Diversity and Inclusion Racket (15 min)
The Rules of the Diversity and Inclusion Racket (PDF)