Definitions as a Starting Point – Equitable Teaching

Before productive and constructive dialogue can occur around Anti-Racism, it is necessary to be on common ground regarding definitions. The following are definitions from the LSA Anti-Racism Task Force.

Racism

The fusion of institutional and systemic discrimination, personal bias, bigotry, and social prejudice against Black people, Indigenous people and People of Color in a complex web of relationships and structures that shade most aspects of life, and serves the function of upholding White supremacy. Racism limits the life chances and opportunities of BIPOC people, creates and maintains the hierarchical structure of Whiteness, and supports the internalization of beliefs of group dominance of White people and subordination of BIPOC people.

Anti-Racism

The awareness of and active rejection of institutional, systemic and structural policies, practices, and behaviors that create and maintain white supremacy. It is also the creation of new structures, policies, practices, behaviors, and relationships that undo their racist predecessors and the conditions that make them possible. As racist policies, practices, biases and behaviors exist in a complex web of relations, the work of anti-racism can be taken up by all, but is informed by group and individual power, status and context, and prioritizes futures in which Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) thrive. Anti-Racism is inextricable from efforts to dismantle ableism, classism, sexism, transphobia, and homophobia, as these structures are intricately connected in the maintenance of white supremacy and its attendant systems of hierarchies organized by the “normal,” the “normative,” and of course, the “superior.”

Whiteness and White Privilege

Whiteness does not refer to specific individuals within a particular racial group. Instead, is is the socially constructed idea of a White Race and a positionality in society by virtue of perceived color (White) at the top of the racial hierarchy, which positions white people as the standard for what is normal and valuable and nonwhites as lacking morally, socially, culturally, and/or physically desirable characteristics associated with whiteness. The central positionality of whiteness produces white privilege, entitlement, superiority, and the ensuing effects of structural racism, interpersonal mistreatment, and internalized stigma.

White privilege refers to the collective unearned advantages, both historical and current, given to people based solely on their racial identification as white. These unearned advantages undergird White peoples’ access to a range of rights, benefits, favor, and immunity, which results in their preferential treatment over People of Color.

Structural/Institutional Racism

In the U.S., this is the normalization and legitimization of an array of dynamics – historical, cultural, institutional and interpersonal – that routinely advantage whites while producing cumulative and chronic adverse outcomes for people of color. It is a system of hierarchy and inequity, primarily characterized by white supremacy – the preferential treatment, privilege and power for white people at the expense of Black, Latinx, Asian, Pacific Islander, Native American, Middle Eastern/North African and other racially oppressed people.

The university as an institution has its own political geographies that are interconnected with other political geographies and wherein we must work to see structural racism as the legitimation and codification of white supremacist ideas and behaviors into a system of network of policies, practices, and norms that work to routinely advantage White people and disadvantage BIPOC.

Culture

Includes the values, norms, and assumptions of our College organization; they are more often top-down (set by leaders via communications and reward structures, based on historical structures and influenced by the broader societal context) but continually reinforced at all levels of the organization.

Micro-Aggression

A comment or action that subtly and often unconsciously or unintentionally expresses a prejudiced or hostile attitude toward a member of a marginalized group.

Levels of Racism: A Theoretic Framework

Before engaging in anti-racist practices, it is important to develop the proper framework for understanding the different levels of racism. Oftentimes when one thinks of racism, they first think of the interpersonal level – individual prejudice and discriminatory acts exhibited toward targeted marginalized groups or individuals. Additionally, when we think of ways to address this level of racism, we focus our attention on individual level solutions such as addressing implicit bias or offering a DEI training. Although the interpersonal level of racism is typically the most thought of or depicted in the media, it is not the root cause of racism. Rather, the interpersonal level can be seen as a result of the institutionalized racism that creates differential access and opportunity in society, leading to cultural beliefs and norms about different groups. Because of this, there needs to be a more acute focus on the institutional/structural level as we strive for racial equity. If our solutions do not include the institutional/structural level or racism, the results can be reformative rather than disruptive. Connecting this framework to anti-racist pedagogical practices, we are called to think about approaches within and beyond our individual classrooms and contexts. The Key Principles presented on the Home Page emphasize the need to take this holistic approach to anti-racist practices.

The following definitions are taken from Dr. Camara Phyllis Jones’s piece, Levels of Racism: A Theoretic Framework and a Gardener’s Tale.

institutionalized/Structural

Institutionalized racism is both structural and normative. Through its codification in different systems, there is no identifiable perpetrator in its functioning. Institutionalized racism is made manifest in material conditions and in access to power. Examples of material conditions include, “differential access to quality education, sound housing, gainful employment, appropriate medical facilities, and a clean environment.” Examples of access to power include, “differential access to information (including one’s own history), resources (including wealth and organizational infrastructure, and voice (including voting rights, representation in government, and control of the media.”

Personally Mediated/Interpersonal

When most people think of racism, they think about personally mediated racism. This level of racism includes prejudice and discrimination. Personally mediated racism includes intentional and unintentional acts such as micro-aggressions. Personally mediated racism is made manifest through a lack of respect, suspicion, devaluation, scapegoating, and dehumanization. An example of the dehumanization of personally mediated racism is found in the ongoing police brutality against Black individuals and communities.

Internalized

The Gardener’s Tale

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