What’s It All About: Accounting for the Different Levels of Racism (Room C205)
Racism simultaneously operates on many levels - individual, interpersonal, institutional and structural. Understanding these dynamics helps racial justice advocates sharpen their analysis and strategies, shifting attention from individual intentions to institutional inequities. The workshop will include concepts and tools for developing proactive strategies and racially equitable solutions.
Terry Keleher, Applied Research Center
Saket Soni, New Orleans Workers’ Center for Racial Justice
Notes:
Operating Framework
Micro – personal prejudice: 1) Individual more about how one thinks about others that are not communicated directly / Internalized Racism – attitudes one holds about self; and 2) Interpersonal Racism – occurs between individuals
Systemic Inequities: 1) Institutional Racism - Inequitable impacts created by institutions, intentionality not withstanding; and 2) Structural Racism - Interconnections across institutions that are historical with a culture and ideology that normalizes phenomena of racial inequity. Its effects are compounded, cumulative, and complex.
As the biological determination of race has lost credibility the movement toward color blindness has become the new ideology. And yet when race is ignored racism is further perpetuated. Structural Racism created hierarchies and inequities that privilege whites and disadvantage people of color. Whereas Institutional racism can be located within an institution, Structural racism is more elusive to identify in any one place due to its interconnected, historical, normalizing nature.
Algebra or Pre-Algebra: Interactive skit as case study for group work
Story of an African American student coming from under-served, under-performing school with desires to one day attend college. He is steered to take pre-algebra as opposed to algebra upon entering high school after taking the advanced placement test where most of the white students passed and were placed in algebra. (Handout – two sided)
Unpacking Different Levels of Racism – from group analysis of skit
The groups addressed questions to assess racial inequity in the case study and revealed examples:
• Individualized / Internalized: Mary’s feeling that she is incapable of comprehending math; Tony’s resolution that he has no choice by the end of the day
• Interpersonal: Mr. Perez’s direction of students of color into pre-algebra; the white kids’ statement about being smarter than students of color; Jason’s inaction
• Institutionalized: The school - low quality, non-representative teachers, overcrowding, standardized test system that with racially inequitable impact, policy about advancement, Mr. Perez’s blind adherence to rules as an agent of the institution that disadvantage the students of color
• Structural: Tony attended the worst schools in the area and because of a single standardized test is further disadvantaged in his high school career, compounded by the requirement of science classes for college entry, which in turn stalls his chances to go to college and therefore later in life procure gainful employment and create wealth to pass on to his children
Conscious Strategic Measures for addressing racism on each level: Individual /Internalized – Mentoring, self-esteem coaching etc.; Interpersonal – Cultural sensitivity training, Diversity training etc.; Institutional – Change in policies and practices (i.e. get rid of the testing structure); Structural – Conduct analysis to assist structural changes which can further drive change in all of the other areas.
Racial Justice is not diversity or equality but fairness or equity. The others can be used as a tool to get to equity but are not the end.
Resources:
i am writing a paper about racism i was wondering if you can elaborate some more about the different types of racism