reflective essay on racial discrimination

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Reflections on Race and Racism

Ala affiliate and division leaders speak out.

June 5, 2020

After an earth-shifting week that has brought into stark relief the experiences of racism and racial violence that many of us and our communities navigate every day as people of color, it is even more clear that the work of dismantling racism is overdue. It is overdue in our society, in library and information services, and at the American Library Association (ALA), which exists to ensure that libraries, learning, and information access are available to all.

Because the presence of racism, bias, and bigotry in any of our LIS institutions limits our reach and the possibility of realizing the full promise and potential of an equitably informed public, we must go beyond hashtags, statements, and committees and do the hands-on work needed to systemically uproot racism. This requires that we be willing to confront racism in our communities and in our own homes. We must get our own houses in order. At ALA that means our internal operations and decision making, as well as our external structure and engagement with membership, must bear out the goal of true racial equity and inclusion. To that end, I invited several ALA staffers and member leaders to reflect on this moment. You’ll find their responses below.

The future of libraries rests on the ability to stem racism and the divides it creates and exacerbates. ALA’s future, then, rests on its ability to guide the field in the building of institutions and policies that promote racial equity, confront racism, and fully recognize that the future of our nation rests in the fundamental truth that Black Lives Matter. Only then can we truly honor and atone the memory of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery—and the far too many names that follow theirs.

—Tracie D. Hall, executive director of the American Library Association

From Richard E. Ashby Jr., president of the Black Caucus of the American Library Association (BCALA):

As a Black librarian, I know I have a calling and that I am not just a librarian. I realize my professional title has meaning. It means that I stand on the shoulders of my ancestors and have crossed barriers that many believed could never be crossed. I serve as a leader to the community at large, and especially to children. I am a proud African American and culture keeper. I realize society looks to me and to my colleagues for information and guidance to empower their lives. We stand together as professional librarians and children of the diaspora.

Today, I stand alongside fellow librarians from all over the world addressing the injustices plaguing our society. We have been held down by systemic racism far too long. We are sacrificed and assassinated daily. The senseless murders of countless Black men and women, with the most recent being George Floyd, will not be tolerated. We need unity now more than ever before. Mental, physical, and spiritual acumen is needed to address the aftermath of disease, violence, and rioting, as we prepare to open our libraries.

The time has come to galvanize our profession and our organizations for the betterment of our communities. The time has come for us to unify in accordance with the dreams and hopes of pioneers and contemporaries of this calling. I am a product of soldiers of equality: Dr. E. J. Josey was a soldier, Pura Belpré was a soldier, Loida Garcia-Febo is a soldier, Wanda Kay Brown is a soldier, Dr. Carla Hayden is a soldier, Kenneth Yamashita is a soldier, Julius C. Jefferson Jr. is a soldier, Dora Ho is a soldier, I am a soldier! We are all soldiers. We are fighting the good fight to ensure America stays true to its pledge, “With liberty and justice for all.”

From ALA President Wanda Kay Brown:

Representation matters. That’s what I keep coming back to as I grieve with the nation and mourn the deaths of George Floyd and countless other Black Americans. Would they still be alive if Black people were better represented in positions of power? If there was diversity in our legislatures and statehouses? If more Black voices were lifted up in publishing? If Black history—before enslavement and beyond the civil rights movement—was really taught in our schools? If the ranks of librarianship were more representative of our nation?

As a librarian, I always come back to the idea that library users need to see themselves reflected in the people who work there. What would be the impact if there were more Black faces in the libraries? In library leadership positions? As a Black woman, and someone who has benefited from the mentorship of other Black librarians, I believe redoubling our efforts to diversify our profession is necessary and urgent. Representation matters—on police forces, in hospitals, in government, in libraries. By supporting school persistence and engaging young people after and outside of school, I believe libraries can also play a role in stopping the school-to-prison pipeline that disproportionately impacts Black youth. We must employ the right folks and pay them equitably for the work they do—work that is instrumental to a community’s ability to thrive and advance together. Our communities benefit greatly when our health care, education, and police professionals are people who have love and genuine care for the people of the community first and, secondly but equally, love for the work they do.

Having librarians committed to social justice who come from the communities they serve would be a big step forward. It won’t bring back any of those who we’ve tragically lost, but it might begin the process of healing and move us toward justice.

From Tammy Dillard-Steels, executive director of the Young Adult Library Services Association:

I want to say that I am shocked by the live broadcast of the killing of George Floyd, and all of the events that have led to civil unrest, but I am not.

I am frustrated. I am frustrated by the plague of racism in the US, which leads to injustice. I am frustrated with the actions of the police toward African Americans like George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, as well as countless others in America. I am frustrated as a Black woman, who is three times as likely to contract and die from COVID-19. All I can think is, “ Wow, even this virus is targeting African Americans.” I am frustrated with racism and the white supremacy that has been infectiously spreading for hundreds of years. Yet when we encounter or fight against racism, we are counteracted faster than any response to a viral disease that has killed more than 100,000 Americans in less than four months.

I am frustrated that I have to have a campaign, Black Lives Matter, to convince the world that I am just as human as the next person. I am frustrated that the young people who want to make a difference have no clear leadership to help them navigate and make sustainable change.

As the executive director of the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), I want to contribute to the lives of young adults by infusing equity, diversity, and inclusion into all of our programs, products, and services. I stand with the young adults fighting for their rights for true freedom and equality. They need resources and support, and I want to contribute to the changes they are bringing to their communities.

YALSA is making a short-term strategic plan to serve our members, so that they are stronger together during this time of unrest. YALSA wants to empower our youth by offering virtual opportunities that create partnerships with communities to advocate for youth services. This will happen as we foster better communication with our members and learn their needs, so that they are successful in their endeavors and the next generation is not as frustrated as I am.

From Kenny Garcia, president of Reforma: the National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish Speaking:

As we live through another day of protests and rebellions, I’m having trouble reflecting on how we can act against racism and what work we need to do within a library association and profession. As we say their names—George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade, Jamel Floyd—it will not bring these people back, it will not stop police brutality, it will not stop state violence, it will not stop them from being murdered, it will not stop white supremacy. We need to move beyond statements and do the work to be actively antiracist at a personal level, build with one another to be accomplices in our day-to-day lives, and work collectively to transform policies and procedures at our workplaces and library associations.

This work does not end after the protests end. This work does not end with initial reforms. This work must continue until it transforms the current missions and visions held by our communities, our profession, and our associations into missions and visions that center, promote, and value our community members and library professionals who are black, indigenous, and other people of color.

This work also needs to be done within Latinx communities, regarding how we are discussing and dealing with antiblackness as well as the ways in which blackness intersects with gender, class, sexuality, and religiosity. I believe it is something we can accomplish, and I’m heartened by the changes that have already taken shape since the protests and rebellions started. We need to keep pushing to ensure that we address racism at the systemic level and continue to hope that we can all work together to make sure this happens.

From George Gottschalk, president of the American Indian Library Association (AILA):

In the wake of the senseless and tragic death of George Floyd, perhaps it is time to be more selfish.

Why would this be a time for selfishness? Morality should make a compelling case to end racism and discrimination. Respect for the fundamental dignity for any life should be to end racism and discrimination.

So far, these have not been enough. Maybe what we need is more selfishness.

If we were all more selfish, we would want the economic benefits of a society that empowers every life and every voice. If we were all more selfish, we would want the increased advancements that empowered people and communities can achieve.

There is something different about the death of George Floyd. What is it? What is different is that those of us who embrace the dignity of every life understand that we have failed thus far.

We have failed to explain that no person, no community should be asked to justify their very existence. We have failed to explain the dignity of each and every life.

So, let’s try being selfish. Whether you want more money, more power, more safety—whatever you want more of, a society that does not burn resources on division will give you more.

Let us find out how much more of everything we will all have if we spend more time being selfish and less time trying to marginalize those whom we have chosen to “other.” Let’s find out how much more selfishness-directed creation can achieve than other-directed destruction.

Let’s try being selfish enough together that we manage to create a better society as an unanticipated benefit.

Thank you for your sacrifice and blessings, George Floyd. Thank you and all others who have had to die so we can all know that Black Lives Matter.

From Amber Hayes, outreach and communications program officer in the Office for Diversity, Literacy, and Outreach Services:

The idea of racism has always been coupled with extreme violence, which we have deemed Very Bad. But even then, the idea persists that a Black person must have done something to receive that sort of treatment. A young Black boy walking in a gated community wearing a hoodie was most likely up to no good—that’s why he was targeted. Black people are always responsible for proving their humanity and worth to a white society.

Even on a smaller scale, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) experience racism daily. From patrons specifically requesting to have the white library worker assist them, to security targeting Black students at a campus library, Black people are always expected to prove why they deserve to exist in a space.

As an association, we can influence the profession and ensure that BIPOC voices are heard. This is a time for ALA to reaffirm its commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion; make space for BIPOC library workers at the table; and critically examine why so many leave the profession or report low morale. We must all work collectively on identifying, challenging, and changing the values, structures, and behaviors that perpetuate systemic racism.

We can provide more leadership opportunities for BIPOC, and more opportunities for BIPOC to become librarians, so that their patrons can see someone who looks like them. We can take a stand to aggressively combat racism through both actions and words. We can educate white library workers so that the emotional burden does not fall on their BIPOC colleagues. We can examine the ways in which library policies and actions contribute to systemic racism. We can hold each other accountable, and we can move this association to a place where all library workers feel that they belong, they have a voice, and they are a part of an association that reflects the profession they want to see.

From Mary Keeling, president of the American Association of School Librarians (AASL):

I am the same age as Ruby Bridges, the first African-American child to attend an all-white school in the South. When I entered 1st grade in my own neighborhood school, I knew that I belonged. I did not need an escort of four federal marshals to protect me.

Much has changed. Yet challenges remain.

How do school librarians lead equity, diversity, and inclusion? We read and provide access to the stories of all people, create welcoming spaces that validate all learners and their cultures, and use instructional strategies to engage all learners in academic conversation. To do this effectively we must recognize that systemic racism is a real barrier experienced by many of our colleagues, neighbors, and students, and we must strive to become culturally competent.

One of the Shared Foundations of the AASL National School Library Standards, “Include,” describes our commitment to inclusiveness and respect for diversity. This shared foundation calls us to develop our own cultural competence so we can engage in difficult conversations and recognize and oppose oppression. Through cultivating the ability to interact effectively with people of different cultures, we can lead learners to value diversity, engage in informed debate, and embrace friendships with peers from other backgrounds. Each of us must strive to stretch beyond our own personal comfort zones to create a future free of racial oppression.

From Bill Ladewski, executive director of the Reference and User Services Association (RUSA):

Racist actions and influence in our civilian police forces must be addressed. Police brutality against any person that is not addressed and punished is a reflection of us and is our failure. Black and brown people have disproportionately suffered from these abuses of authority. Correcting this will require that we acknowledge the problem: that unacceptable and unchecked policing exists and we must fight to change it.

I have been asked recently when things will get back to “normal.” Normal for who? This discomfort and uncertainty should stay with us until we are motivated to act. Those unwilling or unable to acknowledge the sin of racism in this country and its influence on our institutions will likely find normal soon. The rest of us must make it our life’s work to ensure equity and fairness for all is established and maintained, so that the hateful forces within our society do not ultimately destroy us.

From Alanna Aiko Moore, president of the Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA):

Another Black death hits the news and non-Black folk express outrage at the overt violence of the police. Seeing disbelief and anger on social media, what is often missing is a commitment to take action. To pledge to do painful self-reflection, learn history, and to work for justice for the long haul—not just for this moment in time.

As members of the Asian and Asian Pacific American community we have a responsibility to address anti-Blackness in our own communities, which may mean having difficult and uncomfortable conversations with our family members. White supremacy has historically pitted Asian communities against Black communities as a way to maintain control and power. We need to follow the example of Asian activists who organized with and supported Black activists. We must unequivocally support the right to protest without fear of a violent police response. We must listen to Black voices, donate to Black causes, and follow Black-led organizations and leaders.

White supremacy is insidious and multifaceted. While Black people are dying at the hands of police, migrant children are housed in cages, anti-Asian scapegoating and harassment are on the rise, trans folks of color are being murdered, and indigenous peoples fight for their land and resources.

Within our library organizations, we must interrupt the silent and pervasive culture of white supremacy. We must acknowledge the white, segregationist history of libraries; the culture of exclusion; and the persistent racial inequality and commit to doing better. We must confront our discomfort with talking about race and we must take action.

I stand with Black people everywhere demanding justice. I believe more than ever in the power of building bridges, in the capacity for a broad cross-racial movement based on true solidarity, in an intersectional analysis, and in centering the voices and demands of those suffering the most oppression. As a queer, cisgender, mixed-race Asian American woman, I pledge to fight the systemic, institutionalized racism and unchecked violence that’s led to the countless murders of Black people in our country. I commit to addressing anti-Blackness both inside and outside of my community and to support and love our Black and Blasian siblings. I promise to use my skills, power, and privilege to dismantle oppressive systems in our library institutions and the wider community.

Don’t let your outrage fade with the next news cycle.  What will you do to actively work for racial justice and to support Black people?

From Ninah Moore, training and events coordinator of the Association of Specialized, Government, and Cooperative Library Agencies (ASGCLA):

As I reflect on the civic unrest that has encompassed my country, state, city, and community, I find myself filled with worry and concern for the America my two black grandsons will grow up in.

I recall that in 1995, when my dad and brothers drove to Washington, D.C., to participate in the Million Man March, they were stopped and questioned by police. I think of my husband as a black man working in law enforcement, and the fine line he must walk. I think of my son who had just graduated from the University of Missouri before the 2015 protests on race relations came to campus and was living near Ferguson during the protests after the killing of Michael Brown in 2014.

Today I also think of how my dad and mother marched in the 1960s with Dr. King for racial equality and fair education and housing for black and brown people. They marched against police brutality and for those disenfranchised by systemic and institutionalized racism, and 50-plus years later we are still marching and fighting against these same societal ills.

I think of how, as the daughter, wife, sister, mother, and grandmother of black males, I fear for the target that is on their backs. While a lot of these battles need to be fought on a national level, we have the power to effect change in our communities by getting or staying involved. As a member of the board for the South Deering Manor (Ill.) Community Association, I remain committed to doing “something simple that will have a positive impact on my block,” in the words of Jahmal Cole, founder of My Block, My Hood, My City .

From Jeannette Smithee, interim executive director of ASGCLA:

Though I do not experience the isolation of racism firsthand, I cannot ignore the inequalities, injustice, and constant pressure of societal racism that is a daily reality for people of color. I try to understand the reasons behind images, including the horrific video of George Floyd’s death, that appear daily in the media. Awareness of racism has not always been part of my world. I came up in a different time and place—the segregated South. Awareness has come gradually with years of conscious learning, observing, listening, and yes, reading. And still the awareness of the sting of discrimination and the devaluation of fellow human beings is a sadness I process in my mind rather than my heart.

As a protected white person, I have not experienced the hurt and anger that is carried (and often buried) in colleagues and neighbors of color. Even as we communicate on professional or neutral topics, there is a layer of protective reticence. I know there is more to say and feel, but I have not yet earned the trust to share these feelings from the heart. At this stage of my life, the next steps to break down racism are probably small and personal, beginning with truly listening and trusting what colleagues and neighbors have to say.

These words are not meant as an apology or an excuse. Rather they are an admission of my shortcomings, my journey, and my hope to make a difference one person at a time.

From Shuntai Sykes, membership and programs specialist for RUSA and ASGCLA:

I CAN’T BREATHE!

Three words that are painful to hear, see, and feel. As a black woman with a black son and a black grandson, hearing George Floyd say those words was horrific. When he asked for his mother, it was gut-wrenching. I cried because at that moment George Floyd was my son. He was killed by the hands of another human being who felt his life did not matter—a human being who displayed such painful hate.

I have seen and known all too well what racism looks like. Whether it is institutional, systemic, or blatant, it exists. We can no longer sit and pretend that it does not.

We are living in a time of serious political, civil, and social unrest. We are existing in a socioeconomic panic. We are even still coping with a pandemic. My heart is heavy, but unfortunately we are left with no other recourse. I never support criminal acts to make a statement, but I understand there is anger and built-up self-hatred from more than 400 years of oppression. WE ARE ANGRY, UPSET, BROKEN AND JUST TIRED!

Black people have a knee on our necks and haven’t been able to breathe for 400 years. But this is just one battle. We won’t solve 400 years of oppression in a day, but it is my prayer that individually and collectively we can work to establish equal and equitable peace. SO WE ALL CAN BREATHE!

From Kenneth A. Yamashita, president of the board of directors of the Joint Council of Librarians of Color:

As one of the last babies born in the Topaz, Utah, concentration camp on September 11, 1945, I stand in solidarity with BCALA in condemning increased violence and racism toward Black Americans and people of color.

My parents and 18-month-old baby sister were forcibly removed from their Berkeley, California, home, detained in a horse stall at a racetrack, and incarcerated in a concentration camp in the Utah desert from April 1942 to October 1945. This was the result of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942, but was due in large measure to the historic anti-Asian racism that prevailed predominantly on the West Coast of the US, which was heightened to hysteria after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

My family—parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins—all suffered extreme racism, such as detention and incarceration without due process, solely based on our Japanese ethnicity and Asian race. Even the two-thirds of American-born citizens of Japanese ancestry out of the 120,000 people who were incarcerated were stripped of their Constitutional civil rights.

This experience has informed my career as a librarian in providing library services to communities of color, specifically unserved and underserved communities in general. It has also made me more attuned to racist, discriminatory, and microaggressive speech, acts, and incidents, and to call them out whenever needed.

On behalf of the board of directors of the Joint Council of Librarians of Color, I would like to suggest ways to address racism in our profession, institutions, and at ALA:

• Interact with member and nonmember librarians of color and ALA/institutional staff of color.
• Actively listen to librarians and staff of color about their experiences and concerns.
• Hear, read, learn, understand, and appreciate the history of systemic racism, bigotry, and discrimination against Black Americans, Indigenous Peoples, and people/communities of color.
• Provide training in identifying racist, discriminatory, and microaggressive speech, actions, and incidents and calling them out for all ALA members and staff.
• Fill out Jane Elliott’s Commitment to Combat Racism questionnaire. Self-reflect and discuss responses.
• Provide training in cultural competency for all ALA members and staff.

From Hong Yao, president-elect of the Chinese American Librarians Association (CALA):

During a pandemic that forced the closure of our communities, our cities, and our country, we all suffered a great deal as more than 100,000 lives were lost, millions of jobs disappeared, and people’s financial hardship deepened. Even though the virus attacks people indiscriminately, minority communities were hit hardest because of chronic poverty, lack of access to health care and education, and other factors that are ultimately byproducts of pervasive racism in one of the wealthiest countries in the world. And then the brutal and senseless killing of George Floyd by a white police officer in Minneapolis last week enraged us and created an outcry to end racial injustice in any way, shape, or form!

As the president-elect of CALA, I am writing on behalf of our organization in condemning violence and racism toward Black people and all People of Color. It is time for us to unite behind one voice to end racial discrimination, which is toxic in our society and sickens and kills in a more devastating way than any virus on earth. It is time for us to call out racist behavior so that it doesn’t have the oxygen to grow. It is time for us to demand equal rights and equal access for everyone, especially those who have been marginalized in this society for too long.

As information professionals with Chinese backgrounds, we understand the feelings of despair many of our African-American colleagues are experiencing. We stand with you all! We will use what we are most familiar with—information—to arm ourselves in any form of activism we engage in. We will take any opportunity to educate our members, colleagues, public, and families and friends on equity, diversity, and inclusion. We will challenge our fellow Chinese not to stay silent when any racist behaviors are displayed, whether toward Black, Brown, or any other People of Color.

I am hopeful that when we all stand united, we will see progress toward the end of racism.

The Association for Library Service to Children opted to share the comments of its board of directors.

Tagged Under

• Black Lives Matter
• equity diversity and inclusion

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A Personal Reflection on Racism and Inequality

Authored by Sydney Reed, M.S.W.

In these turbulent times of an unending struggle with a deadly virus and a growing awareness of social injustice and systemic racism, many in our country are supporting Black Lives Matter and reading books on racism.  There is a growing consensus that some fundamental changes need to be made to address racial and economic inequities.  Change at a personal level will not come about easily as it involves examining long standing beliefs related to basic personal identity.  The split in our country over issues of race shows that change will also not be easy on a societal level. Changes on both levels must be addressed before the policy issues that maintain the inequalities will be changed.  The broad-based support for civil rights for the LGBTQ community demonstrates that after enough marches, enough education, enough open conversation and airing of differences change can come about.  Some believe we are at a “tipping” point regarding race relations in our country.  I believe we are at the stage of opening communication with each other and sharing of facts, thoughts, and opinions.  This blog is my effort to contribute to the conversation.  I recognize that this is a complicated and complex issue and I most certainly do not pretend to cover it thoroughly.  Rather, I will share my journey with the expectation and the readiness to listen to the experiences and opinions of others to continue the conversation.

I have been thinking a lot about where I stand on these important issues and how I got here.  It is interesting to look at the choices one has made over a lifetime to discover how one has lived one’s life.  Considering myself quite liberal, I have been humbled by the moments of implicit bias and White supremacy I have seen in myself.  Over my lifetime there have been many people, books, articles, movies, classes, and experiences that have informed my quest to become “anti-racist”. I will reference only two of the most recent books.  Although I will not make many direct references to Bowen theory, the systems perspective of the theory provides me with a foundational understanding of the emotional process in society and in self.

Montana, where I grew up, does not have many Afro-Americans.  There are, however, seven Native American reservations in the state.  The town I grew up in from 9 years to 18 years, Hardin, was just outside two reservations, Crow and Cheyenne.   It was not until I left home in 1960 and was engaged in thinking about the condition of civil rights in our country that I began to recognize the systemic racism in Montana.

On a visit home, I listened to a White longtime family friend angry that the lease price on his Indian land had been raised, and frustrated that the native land owner would not sell him this land that he had farmed for years.  The intense interdependence of the wheat farmer and the Crow landowner was a shock to me.  These groups had truly little to do with each other as far as I could see.  Yet, the farmer and, I suspect, the Native landowner were locked in a very intense emotional and economic relationship that determined both their livelihoods.

The moment had some similarities to the economic interdependence of slavery and Jim Crow in the south.  I observed little awareness or appreciation on the rancher’s part of the history of persecution and oppression that Natives have endured as the American government conquered the tribes, broke treaties, confined them to reservations, worked to destroy their families and culture with  forced boarding schooling and in some cases adoption of Native children in attempts to assimilate the younger children into a White culture.  Even as recently as a few years ago, a South Dakota state child welfare agency headed by the deputy governor was removing children from Indian homes placing them for adoption in White families against the will of the Indian parents.   I was shocked once again as I saw the results of institutional racism played out.

After I left Montana, I became more interested in the Crow culture. My family and I would frequently attend the Crow fair and rodeo on the reservation 14 miles from my hometown.  We were among the handful of White people attending, dipping our toes into the Native traditions: interesting dances, drumming, and competitions.  I was an outsider living far away in the Chicago area wondering why more local Montana White people would not avail themselves of this cultural enrichment.  The institutional racism and the interdependence of the relationships help explain the reactive distance in these relationships (A note to those in Chicago:  The Field Museum is opening an exhibit on the “Warriors and Women” of the Crow Tribe.)  Novels by Louise Erdrich and other native writers provided me with a greater understanding of relationships between Native Americans and White Americans.

Considering myself a progressive, I was privileged to choose a college that had a strong reputation for social justice.  I marched for civil rights in the 1960’s, lived in East Harlem upon graduation, spent time in India in the Peace Corps, and finally settled in Evanston, Illinois, identifying it as a progressive integrated city.  For the last 20 years I have been attending Lake Street Church, (LSC), because of its strong commitment to social justice and peace.  This church, labeled progressive American Baptist, originally had Black and White members.  The Black members sat in the large balcony.  About 148 years ago they decided to form their own church, Second Baptist Church (SBC) in Evanston.  For the last five years our two churches have been working to repair this cutoff that occurred in 1882. Three years ago, the two congregations made a more serious commitment:  We became Sister churches by a vote in each congregation.  A former White pastor of LSC admonished us that if we were to succeed, LSC members would have to examine their White privilege.  The bar had been raised.

In one meeting several years ago the lay leadership of each church gathered to share leadership experiences in our respective churches.  I was surprised by remarks of several people from SBC that they wanted us to know they had forgiven us for the way our two churches had come apart.  Since it happened 148 years ago, I had given that history little thought.  Now Black history, local and national, is an important anchor for the work LSC and SBC are doing to address this historical cut-off. Efforts to get to know members of SBC meant sometimes putting myself in uncomfortable spaces: Second Baptist’s  annual church picnic sitting with Black Evanston residents I’d not known in the 49 years I’ve lived in Evanston, singing gospel hymns in a very different choral tradition, sometimes sitting through services that were much longer and coming out of a different theological tradition, finding areas of common interest with SBC choir members who came to our choir picnic.

I would like to describe one weekend that was a turning point for me.  On a Thursday night I attended a play called “Niceties”, which was a dramatization of an intense debate between a White history professor and a Black student about the contributions that Black slaves had made to the economic development of this country.  The professor wanted published written documentation in the paper.  The student used more recent articles from the internet citing the lack of published material on the subject. There was a powerful, at times thoughtful and at times emotional, debate about Black history and White privilege.  I was very moved and conflicted by the dramatic and personalized portrayal of each side of this complex issue.

The next night our choir sang at a rally sponsored by SBC to address racism in Evanston.  What was most interesting to me was the number of times I noted the difference AND SUPERIORITY of our White hymns, our choir, our manner of dressing for the evening.  I felt critical of the militant attitude of some of the Black speakers.  Of course, I was aware of my reactive thoughts and embarrassed to see them coming from an attitude of White superiority.  That did not prevent these thoughts from repeating themselves throughout the evening.

The next night some LSC members attended the NAACP banquet at the invitation of SBC pastor.  The main speaker was Reverend Moss, the pastor of Trinity Church on the south side of Chicago who has become a principle spokesman on issues of racism for national progressive churches.  Moved by his presentation and the experience of having my consciousness raised three nights in a row, I asked my youth minister dining companion about the book, “White Fragility”, recommended to me by a CFC faculty friend.

She wanted to read it as well and so we decided to sponsor a book group at church to discuss the book.  It became more and more impossible to avoid looking at my own implicit bias.  I was becoming more uncomfortable, but I felt that I was moving in the right direction.

Within the last year I have read an abundance of factual material about racism.  The New York Times publication of “1619” provides the scholarship by academics from leading American colleges focused on Black history including how the economic foundation and wealth accumulation of our country was built on the backs of unpaid slave labor.  T.V. and news commentary set in motion by the killing of George Floyd has provided multiple perspectives and opinions.  The graphic portrayal of Floyd’s murder left me horrified and dismayed as it did many in the country.

Our church discussion group is now reading Ibram X. Kendi’s, “How to be an Anti-racist”.   Kendi documents how the practice of slavery and ongoing discrimination served the economic self-interests of the slave dealers and now serves current policy makers. These practices have been rationalized as resulting from the inferiority and lack of humanity of Black people.  “Racial inequality is when two or more racial groups are not standing on approximate equal footing”, Kendi writes.  The book reports his personal journey growing up and becoming a professor of Afro-American history. He reflects on the many times his own attitude and behavior could have been considered racist as he has now come to understand racism.

Kendi’s work reminded me of two of my core beliefs based on Bowen theory; 1.) if a problem persists over time, everyone is playing a part in keeping it going, and 2.) when a person can enter a room of many people and can find a way not to put herself above or put herself beneath any other person, she is operating in a manner that respects self and other. Bowen theory states that healthy mature relationships are determined by a practice of standing up for one’s beliefs while staying in good connection to important others, listening to their beliefs and allowing them to be themselves.   Easier said than done but essential at this time when our country appears to have an opportunity to redefine itself as a nation of equal opportunity for all its members.

I believe that there are positive changes happening in me and in our country. Heightened self-awareness and more careful viewing of the context and consequences of long-standing racism in our county has pushed me to learn how to be anti-racist, and how to make contributions and actions to change policies toward creating a more equitable society.

This morning my brother sent me a copy of the Big Horn Country News, a weekly paper from my hometown of Hardin.  I was delighted to see what I could consider evidence of real change.  Wayne Hare, a Black writer from Colorado in article called “Ain’t None of Us Can Breathe” about racial injustice toward black people (with no reference to the racism in the West toward Native Americans) raises the question, “How do you explain racism when it is so subtle and ingrained that it became invisible to white people generations ago?”  I hope the article prompted good conversations in Hardin.

How to be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi

Interview with Ibram X. Kendi on NPR

The 1619 Project published by the New York Times

White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism  by Robin DeAngelo

Bowen Theory’s Secrets: Revealing the Hidden Life of Families by Michael E. Kerr

16 Comments on "A Personal Reflection on Racism and Inequality"

Thank you, Sydney, for sharing your racial autobiography with us – something all of us should try to write as we grapple with our White privilege. Many of us, myself included, are only dimly aware of that status which we have not had to be conscious of every day of our lives. In 1997 I met my husband, Don, in Evanston where he attended Lake Street Church and soon joined him on Sunday mornings. Before we left Evanston in 2006, LSC tried to reconcile with the Second Baptist Church but made little progress. SBC was a thriving, active church and had little reason to reconcile on LSC terms. It was gratifying to read your comments about how a reconciliation has begun to happen between two churches, equal in value, culture, and contribution to the community. We are all trying to understand our White privilege by reading the books you mentioned and by listening to others who are different, but not less than, ourselves. Thank you for reminding us that becoming an anti-racist is not always easy and is a long process that we have to do ourselves.

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Home — Essay Samples — Social Issues — Racial Discrimination — Reflective On Race

Reflective on Race

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Published: Mar 19, 2024

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Poverty And Human Rights: Reflections On Racism and Discrimination

About the author, roberto cuéllar.

Currently, in both the international system and the inter-American system for the protection of human rights, there are instruments which emphasize the obligation of States to guarantee the observance of the rights of all human beings, without distinction as to race, gender, religion or political stance. However, although a considerable body of treaties, declarations and conventions exists to safeguard such equality in law, as yet there is no effective equality in practice. In our opinion, poverty is inseparably linked to human rights, acting as both cause and effect of human rights violations, and must be tackled if de facto equality is to be achieved. Excluded groups and persons will then be able to claim their rights from States and obtain prompt and appropriate responses at a reasonable cost, thereby ensuring that social well-being spreads to all parts of society. While our subcontinent has moved on from the authoritarianism and flagrant assaults on life and liberty of the 1980s, and the majority of countries in the hemisphere now model their political relations on representative democracy and their economic thinking on market forces (the criterion for the allocation of resources), poverty and social exclusion are still widespread. This situation means that vast segments of the population experience a high degree of economic insecurity and despair about the future. Economic growth was 4.5 per cent on average during the period 2003-2006, showing an exceptional performance over the past 25 years, and the poverty rate, according to the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, dipped slightly below the 1980 level for the first time, from 40.5 per cent of the population in that year to 39.8 per cent in 2005. However, the Commission states (Panorama Social de America Latina 2006) that the recent encouraging progress should not obscure the fact that poverty levels continue to be very high, and the region still faces enormous challenges. It adds that historically one of the chief features of Latin America has been the marked inequity of income distribution and its inflexibility to change, and that this inequity not only exceeds that of other regions, but also remained invariable throughout the 1990s and even worsened at the beginning of the current decade. 1 By "social exclusion" we mean social discrimination processes engaged in by human groups on the grounds of sex, ethnicity, religion, political or ideological belief, social origin or socio-economic status and practices that fail to respect differences or value diversity. Excluded individuals and communities suffer distinct disadvantages by comparison with the rest of the population. First, they are deprived of the legitimate aspirations to which they are entitled, such as an adequate standard of living, labour force participation and social integration. Unable to attain these conditions, they are barred from the life style that a person expects to enjoy in a democratic society, including the exercise of human rights, whether civil and political or social, cultural and economic. For these reasons, such individuals and communities cannot be considered full members of society. In Latin America and the Caribbean, racism and discrimination have historical, economic, social and cultural features which have kept specific groups, including indigenous populations, Afro-descendants and women, in a state of marginalization, exclusion and extreme poverty. In this sense, discrimination is a crime, not only because it conflicts with international law but also because it lays the ground for the violation of basic human rights. 2 Moreover, when discrimination stems from prejudice based on race, ethnic identity, nationality or culture, it also affects collective subjects (populations and communities) that have rights as a group, deriving from their identity and culture, but do not always have the necessary legal or political status (a particular citizenship) to be able to defend themselves and claim rights. And the situation can be even worse when the population encountering discrimination is especially vulnerable, as in the case of the prison population. 3 The majority of victims of racial discrimination in the region are communities (and members of communities) with specific identities based on such factors as ethnicity, culture, nationality, language and territory; the common factor is that they look, and are perceived as, different from the dominant identity understood as the national one.4 Those who persist in being different and demand to be treated as such are stigmatized in highly diverse ways, in which the attribution of race as a stereotype and of a set of prejudices that devalues them is still prevalent. In this situation, discrimination is based on denial of the right to be different and hence denial of the diversity (multi-ethnic, multicultural) of the society and State as a whole.Recently, Louise Arbour, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, stated that, together with poverty, discrimination constituted another recurring source of disqualification and deprivation of rights, freedom and dignity and that, despite the many efforts undertaken by the international community, racism and racist practices continued to spread in subtle, vicious and insidious ways and were internalized in everyday life through a variety of processes of socialization. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has also referred to racial discrimination as a dangerous obstacle to national development. However, some of the global advances made to date deserve to be highlighted. The Preparatory Conference of the Americas against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance (Santiago, Chile, 2000) was significant in that the States of the region recognized that the identity of the Americas could not be separated from its multiracial, pluriethnic, multicultural, multilingual and pluralistic character, and that this social diversity provided an input to human coexistence and the building of mutually respected cultures and democratic political systems. It also recognized, for the first time, the existence of institutionalized discrimination and the possibility of reparations for suffering and injury caused by institutionalized discrimination. Similarly, the World Conference held in Durban, with its Declaration and Programme of Action, was instrumental in prevailing on a number of countries in the region to establish individual State bodies to implement its recommendations. 5 In July 2006, the Regional Conference of the Americas against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance was held in Brazil. This forum, organized with the support of the United Nations, in particular the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, brought together civil society, Governments and international institutions, with a view to promoting dialogue on advances and challenges in the implementation of the Programme of Action of the Durban Conference. The discussion focused on:

• the need to give new momentum to the implementation of the commitments assumed by States under the declarations and programmes of action of the Santiago Conference (2000) and the Durban Conference (2001), it being agreed that their content represented a substantive advance in the fight against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, especially in the recognition of the rights of victims of slavery and colonialism or victims of multiple or aggravated discrimination;
• the need for the United Nations system to re-evaluate the agreements reached in Durban in a process similar to that held in the case of all other international conferences and summit meetings;
• equal treatment on the part of the Organization of American States and the subregional multilateral bodies;
• the need to develop an international equality index for the adjustment, standardization and regulation of the review and quantification of the current forms of discrimination and racism, together with the formulation of indicators and the implementation of specific measures for their modification;
• the alignment of the Millennium Goals and the objectives established by the Regional Conference of the Americas and the Durban Conference, so that the Goals can be used as benchmarks to measure the progress achieved in the political, economic and social development of indigenous and Afro-descendant populations;
• the conclusion and adoption of an inter-American convention against racism and discrimination; and
• ways of increasing technical and financial support from Governments and international agencies for the implementation of programmes of action, the generation of indicators, the attainment of the MDGs, and the fostering and strengthening of State bodies for the promotion of ethnic and racial equity in the region. 6

For the above reasons, it is evident that the eradication of discrimination requires, among the most important and urgent measures, the development of a State policy which both combats racism and racial discrimination and promotes diversity as a condition for development with equity and the effective exercise of human rights. This policy is of particular importance in the areas of human rights education, access to justice, political participation of the Afro-descendant population and the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights. It is also necessary to develop a set of indicators for the objective assessment of the degree to which public policies perform this dual role, establish mechanisms for the monitoring of progress, and identify deficits where a greater effort is called for, as required in the work strategy of the Inter-American Institute of Human Rights, especially since the year 2000. 7 The emphasis in this strategy is on the need to remedy the shortcomings of democracy in the region, without abandoning the concept of the comprehensiveness of basic rights and the need to employ a multidisciplinary approach. The application of the cross-cutting perspectives already mentioned signifies a grasp of reality in the region and the official adoption of a position which for a number of years now has permeated various initiatives within the Institute that have as their guiding principle building universality from specificity and promoting equality from diversity. Notes 1 For its part, the Inter-American Development Bank states that the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean have one of the highest inequity indices in the developing world. It is a region where income, resources and opportunities are systematically and disproportionately concentrated in one segment of the population, the elite of society. For a long time, the poverty and social degradation resulting from the inequity in the region were considered merely economic problems. Only in recent years have increased attention and analysis been focused on a complex series of social, economic and cultural practices leading to social exclusion: limited access to the benefits of development for certain populations on the basis of their race, ethnicity, gender and/or physical capabilities (IDB, Sobre la exclusión social: declaración de la Misión, 2003). 2 The connection between racism and racial discrimination, understood as the deprivation of human rights for reasons of race or ethnicity (and even on other similar grounds) can be seen in the Yean and Bosico case, recently settled by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, which deals with an aspect of the situation familiar to many Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian origin in the Dominican Republic. The case shows how the deprivation of the right to a nationality, name and legal personality can subsequently affect girls as they try to gain access to the formal education system (see Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Dilcia Yean and Violeta Bosico v. The Dominican Republic, Series C No. 130, paras. 125-207). 3 The Inter-American Court of Human Rights has again had the opportunity to consider a situation in which the rights of persons who do not conform to the "dominant type" are restricted. Accordingly, the López Álvarez case expressly invokes the situation of detainees of Garifuna origin who have been denied the possibility of expressing themselves in their own language (see Inter-American Court of Human Rights, López Álvarez v. Honduras, Series C No. 141, paras. 160-174). 4 Consequently, it is stated that discrimination in our subregion constitutes a perverse practice or conduct based on stereotyping and prejudice outside the legislative framework and difficult to prosecute and eradicate from society. On the contrary, discrimination is closely correlated with inequality, which intensifies its effects and seems to suggest that it is a means of economic and political marginalization. 5 The bodies established included governmental committees for the development of public policies to combat racism and racial discrimination. 6 Additional information can be obtained from www.santiagomascinco.cl . 7 In another article, I intend to develop a set of suggestions on possible policy measures for adoption by Governments to promote multiculturalism in the thematic areas referred to, in the light of the experience acquired by the Inter-American Institute of Human Rights, which, in 27 years of work, especially since 2000, has consolidated a strategy of active promotion of human rights based on the prioritization of four thematic areas and three cross-cutting perspectives. The four thematic areas are: human rights education, justice and security, political involvement and effective exercise of economic, social and cultural rights; and the three cross-cutting perspectives are: gender equity, recognition and preservation of ethnic and cultural diversity, and the development of opportunities for the involvement of civil society and its interaction with the State.

The UN Chronicle  is not an official record. It is privileged to host senior United Nations officials as well as distinguished contributors from outside the United Nations system whose views are not necessarily those of the United Nations. Similarly, the boundaries and names shown, and the designations used, in maps or articles do not necessarily imply endorsement or acceptance by the United Nations.

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Reflection on Racism: An Important Message from Fr. James J. Greenfield, OSFS

Dear University Community,

I write in response to the national evil that burns our hearts and stains our souls: racism.

The evil and sin of racism continue to kill, divide, enrage, disfigure, diminish, and impoverish.  We see this in the murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and David McAtee, who was killed in a police shooting yesterday in Kentucky; the false arrest of Omar Jimenez; and the wrongful accusation of Christian Cooper.  And, tragically, many of us do not see it when this happens countless times to people of color in our classes, residence halls, departments, churches, zip codes, and communities.

I join with the President of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities who reminds us, in the words of Jill Lepore, that “racism is America’s original sin” and “continues to complicate all our attempts to create a truly human civil society.”  I realize that as a white man, I do not know the depth of pain and suffering black people have experienced and still experience daily.  Yet, as the leader of our school, I assert that DeSales University is proud to stand with the black community and all people of color in the peaceful pursuit of racial justice.  Furthermore, we denounce racism in any form and will seek healing when we encounter such evil.

Having just celebrated the Feast of Pentecost, two images rivet our attention.  St. Luke paints a vivid scene in the Acts of the Apostles where the disciples were “all in one place together” when a loud noise like a driving wind filled that place and rested on them as tongues of fire.  I am always intrigued by Luke’s description of those disciples as being all together in the same place.  Maybe they were physically together, but I am sure they were not emotionally or spiritually in the same place.  Likewise, we ourselves are having different reactions to the loud noise and fires, rampant across our nation, as we wrestle with the civil unrest we see.  We also heard in John’s Gospel how Jesus breathed on the disciples to give them the gift of the Holy Spirit.  This Pentecost, how can we not hear the desperate words of George Floyd saying, “I cannot breathe?”

We have been self-quarantined for ten weeks by the coronavirus, and many of us now see the pain of the pandemic of racism in a stunning way.  We know that communities of color have been more greatly impacted than white communities due to inadequate access to healthcare, the lack of affordable housing, chronic unemployment, and poverty.

As we re-emerge from our homes, how will we change?  Will our hearts be stretched, souls softened, and hands strengthened to work for societal justice?

I share the words of South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu from his book,  No Future Without Forgiveness .  He uses a word,  ubuntu , that is difficult to translate into English. Referring to the essence of what it is to be human, the word reflects the interdependence and interrelatedness of humanity, sentiments eloquently expressed by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in his prophetic “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.”  Tutu writes:

A person with  ubuntu  is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she has a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured and oppressed, or treated as if they were less than who they are (Tutu, 1999, 31).

The parallel between  ubuntu  and our Salesian mission impresses me.  Gentleness, a DeSales University core value, impels us to honor others so that they can be who they are and be that well.  Otherwise, humanity suffers, and we could be the cause of it.  The gentleness that can quell racism requires a conversion of heart.  In this moment and up against such insidious and pervasive racism, gentleness could easily be dismissed as mere niceness or sappy kindness.  However, Salesian gentleness calls us to a Gospel-centered justice that seeks to redress the sins of racial injustice and correct systems that perpetuate racism.

Here at DeSales we will take more action by building upon experiential learning in our courses and service trips, promote our new Center for Faith and Justice, and underscore the core value of Salesian gentleness.  Upon our return to campus, we will host training workshops for our police and student life staffs on unconscious bias, and the orientation program for new students will include presentations on racial diversity and sensitivity.  Additionally, LaShara Davis, assistant professor of communication, will serve as the coordinator for diversity, equity, and inclusion. Advancing the work of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Task Force, Professor Davis will help the University community deepen and develop its commitment to, among other matters, racial sensitivity.  We thank her for her willingness to serve us, receiving some course relief, while we search for a full-time coordinator.

If we were on campus in the midst of this racial crisis, faculty would be leading lectures and conversations.  Students in residence halls would be listening to each other.  Athletes and artists would share relevant experiences.  And many of us would gather to pray and reflect on our identity as sisters and brothers.  In the days ahead, I hope to arrange zoom discussions for community members to talk with each other about their experiences, thoughts, and feelings around this present moment.

In the spirit of Pentecost, let us be women and men on fire with a passion to end racism.  Let us be a calming, life-giving breath for all those impacted by racism.  Let us engage in the necessary conversion of our hearts to be people of justice and gentleness.  Please pray for the happy repose of the souls of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and David McAtee; their families and friends who mourn their loss; and for peace, justice, and understanding in our nation.

James J. Greenfield, OSFS, ‘84 President

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Historical Archives

Reflections on race: essays from the archives.

Dan Gediman

Gediman explores the 'This I Believe' archives.

Dan Gediman, executive producer of the current This I Believe series, says listening to essays from the 1950s helped him "understand the courage required for blacks and whites to follow the moral compass in their souls." Nubar Alexanian hide caption

1950s Essays on Race

I was born in 1961 and raised in suburban Boston. For me, racism and segregation were stories in the news but not something I had any direct experience with. In my neighborhood, there were two black families, and I went to a largely integrated school all the way through high school. I don't recall hearing any of my friends, nor indeed any of the other kids at school, refer to any of the black kids in a demeaning or insulting way.

Years later, as an adult, I moved to Louisville, Ky., where I still live. Like many American cities, Louisville had its urban race riots in the 1960s and protests over forced busing in the 1970s. But by the time I moved there in the mid-1980s, that unrest was largely a thing of the past.

So racism isn't something I've had much direct contact with in my life — until I encountered a dusty, old book called This I Believe, which was an anthology of essays from a popular program on CBS radio in the 1950s. The book, and audio recordings I found later, featured the stories of people, black and white, who had lived through dramatically different times than I had. There was an essayist who told of his grandfather, who was a slave. Another mentioned his grandfather fighting for the Confederacy in the Civil War.

And I realized that even with all the history books I had read and all the documentaries I had seen, I really had no idea what it had been like to live in America during the Jim Crow era. Yet in listening to these powerful statements of belief, I heard history come to life: people living in segregation talking about segregation.

"Forty-six years ago, I was born a Negro in America," Harry McAlpin begins. "For this, of course, I was not responsible, though I am proud of it."

When he wrote his essay, McAlpin was an attorney in Louisville. He had been a distinguished newspaperman and the first African-American journalist to attend a White House press conference during the Franklin Roosevelt administration. McAlpin continues:

It takes a great deal of patience to accept the customs of some sections and communities, to try to fit into the crossword puzzle of living the illogic of a practice that will permit me to ride on the public buses without segregation in seating but deny me the right to rent a private room to myself in a hotel ... or the illogic of a practice which will accept me and require me to fight on the same battlefield, but deny me the right to ride in the same coach on a train.

The stories McAlpin and other This I Believe essayists told gave me a much better understanding — at a visceral, gut level — of what it was like to be an African-American in the 1950s. Even though life for many blacks hadn't changed much since Reconstruction, there was hope that the burgeoning civil rights movement would improve race relations in the United States — maybe not immediately, but in the years to come.

"I look at my children now and know that I must still prepare them to meet obstacles and prejudices," says Jackie Robison, the first black to play Major League Baseball:

But I can tell them, too, that they will never face some of these prejudices because other people have gone before them. And to myself I can say that, because progress is unalterable, many of today's dogmas will have vanished by the time they grow into adults. I can say to my children: There is a chance for you. No guarantee, but a chance.

Even with the day-to-day indignities of racism, some black Americans saw the occasional sign of progress. Billy Eckstine was a popular jazz and pop vocalist in the 1940s and '50s. His big band nurtured the early careers of Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis. Eckstine explains:

Recently, I made my first tour of the deep South in many years. As a Negro entertainer, I had some misgivings about the tour. But instead of supporting the wholesale segregation and bigotry of the past, I found people were genuinely interested in bettering their attitudes. They recognized the errors of the past and were anxious to correct them. A policeman in Alabama stopped me on the street one day and asked, "How they treating you down here?" When I told him I had no complaints, he replied, "That's good, we're trying hard." ... It proved to me once again that there is a basic goodness in all people. Warmth and decency don't belong to any one race. ... I don't kid myself that it's easy to accept everyone as a friend. My faith in people has been shaken at times by the cruelty and thoughtlessness of some individuals. ... But human dignity has never failed to win whenever it came to a showdown. That's why I have unfailing faith in the future.

Not all African-Americans in this period were as hopeful as Billy Eckstine and Jackie Robinson, whose fame gave them advantages other blacks likely didn't share. The experiences of Will Thomas may have been more common to the times. Born in Kansas City, Thomas traveled the country earning money at jobs ranging from newspaper writing to boxing. By 1946, though, Thomas had become so disgusted with how he had been treated that he decided to renounce his citizenship and move his family to Haiti, where he hoped they would escape racial prejudice. Thomas admits:

When I reached this point, I had become an unbeliever in both God and country, for it seemed to me that racial segregation, and all that it implied, was as rigid on the spiritual as on the temporal plane. ... I had condemned my country and my religion because I had only viewed what seemed wrong in both. ... But when I was able to remove the blinds of my own prejudice, it became clear that these failures, these flaws in church and state, were human failures, human flaws, and not mere self-willed bigotry. And that within each, there were and always had been many who had worked and fought for what was right. I think the core of my earlier bitterness had been the conviction that I had been denied my birthright of human dignity. But I know now that is something which cannot be given or taken away by man.

Blacks weren't the only people considering their place in society. There are quite a few This I Believe essays from the 1950s that feature white Americans talking about race relations. One story came from Amy Vanderbilt, the author of the bestseller Amy Vanderbilt's Complete Book of Etiquette. Vanderbilt recalls:

When my eldest son was a little boy, we were on a Fifth Avenue bus. He kept turning around to smile at someone I couldn't see. When we got off, this person did, too, and I saw that she was an elderly Negro. "Your little boy likes me," she said with some surprise. "He don't seem to notice any difference in me at all, like I was his own grandmother. How's that?" "Because," I replied, "he's never been taught by the grown-ups around him that there is a difference." Children uncoached in prejudice and class-consciousness enjoy people for what they are. As they mature, our society soon sets them right as to their place in it. More often than not, they accept this place without question, and thereby shut themselves off from warm human contact with many of their fellows.

In listening to these essays, it became clear that many white people — or at least the ones Murrow invited to appear on his "This I Believe" series — sincerely wished that circumstances would improve for African-Americans. But few whites had as much power to actually effect change as President Harry S. Truman. The grandson of slave owners, Truman desegregated the armed services in 1948. Many people believe that to be one of the first major successes of the civil rights movement. He recorded his "This I Believe" essay in 1953 shortly after leaving office, and he used his statement to call Americans to action:

I believe that our Bill of Rights must be implemented in fact. It is the duty of every government — state, local or federal — to preserve the rights of the individual. I believe that a civil rights program, as we must practice it today, involves not so much the protection of the people against the government, but the protection of the people by the government. And for this reason we must make the federal government a friendly, vigilant defender of the rights and equalities of all Americans. I believe that we should remove the last barriers which stand between millions of our people and their birthright. There can be no justifiable reason for discrimination because of ancestry, or religion, or race or color. I believe that to inspire the people of the world whose freedom is in jeopardy, and to restore hope to those who have already lost their civil liberties, we must correct the remaining imperfections in our own democracy. We know the way — we only need the will.

The period when these essays first aired was a time of tremendous fear and upheaval for whites and blacks alike. The Supreme Court was releasing its decision in the Brown v. Board of Education case, and a black teenager named Emmett Till was murdered in Mississippi for whistling at a white woman. It was a time that challenged people to walk the talk of their supposed religious and political beliefs, rather than continue to accept the status quo they were born into. This was part of the history lesson that Louisvillian Harry McAlpin taught me in the conclusion of his essay for This I Believe :

It takes a great deal of courage to put principals of right and justice ahead of economic welfare and well being, to stand up and challenge established and accepted practices, which amount to arbitrary exercise of power by petty politicians in office or by the police. Trying to live up to my beliefs often has subjected me to both praise and criticism. How wise I have been in my choices may be known only to God. I shall continue to pray, therefore, a prayer I learned in the distant past, which I now count as my own: "God, give me serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference."

By airing essays like this on national radio, Edward R. Murrow and his producers were encouraging Americans to reconsider long-held laws and social customs. By bravely stating their beliefs in such a public forum, the essayists were giving voice to a growing movement for civil rights in the country. Listening back to these old This I Believe programs more than 50 years later has helped me understand the courage required for blacks and whites to follow the moral compass in their souls.

Dan Gediman is executive producer of This I Believe.

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Colorful Reflections: Skin Tone, Reflected Race, and Perceived Discrimination among Blacks, Latinxs, and Whites

• Published: 20 April 2020
• Volume 12 , pages 246–264, ( 2020 )

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• Vanessa Gonlin   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-3030-721X 1  

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A Correction to this article was published on 15 May 2020

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How do Black, Latinx, and White people who believe they are mistaken as a member of another racial group perceive the amount of racial discrimination they experience, and what role does skin tone play? Using the Texas Diversity Survey (TDS), I analyze the amount of discrimination Black people, Latinxs, and Whites report when they believe others do not see them as their self-identified race. The data show that skin tone is connected to racial identity mismatch for all aforementioned groups. In addition, Latinxs with lighter- or darker-skin who believe others see them as Latinx report more  racial discrimination than medium-skinned Latinxs who believe strangers do not see them as Latinx; Whites with darker-skin who believe others see them as White report less  discrimination; and age is one of the most significant predictors of discrimination for Black and White respondents. I suggest that the Black-White binary continues to divide Black and White people across identity measures and emphasizes how racial identity is quite complex for Latinxs. The inter-related nature of these concepts means that if we better understand one aspect, we have a more accurate conceptualization of race in the twenty-first century and are closer to exposing the various factors connected to racial discrimination, particularly as the percentage of racial minorities in the USA increases. This timely work has implications for racial discrimination among relatively stable groups (Black and White people) and the largest and fastest growing minority group in the USA (Latinxs).

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Social media effects on young women’s body image concerns: theoretical perspectives and an agenda for research.

Asian American Women’s Racial Dating Preferences: An Investigation of Internalized Racism, Resistance and Empowerment against Racism, and Desire for Status

Change history, 15 may 2020.

A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12552-020-09292-2

Throughout this paper, I describe Hispanics and Latina/o/xs as a racial group and use the term “Latinx” because this word is gender neutral and refers to largely the same population as “Hispanic” while allowing the focus to be on people of Latin American ancestry. I refer to Black people in the U.S. as “Black” rather than “Black American” or “African American” in order to be inclusive of Black immigrants, who are a small but important portion of the Black population in the U.S. In addition, I use the phrase “Black people” to emphasize the humanity of a group that has historically been denied this recognition.

Since racial misclassification is the way others categorize a person that does not correspond with how that person would categorize themselves, it may unintentionally lead to the assertion that there is one “true” racial categorization, when in fact racial identity is fluid and may change over time and social context.

Though largely similar, there are important differences in the histories of colonialism of African and Latin American peoples and the use of colorism. Namely, the promotion of mestizaje to encourage race mixing in Latin America which is used to deny colorism (Chavez-Dueñas et al. 2014 ), and the more fluid understanding of race in many Latin American countries compared to the U.S. (Telles 2018 ).

I use “Hispanic” here to remain consistent with the language used by Hannon ( 2014 ), given that “Latinx” and “Hispanic” refer to groups that are not perfectly overlapping.

The number of self-identified Black respondents who believe others see them as White (N = 3) is too small for reliable analyses.

To access the Texas Diversity Survey, researchers can email Mary Campbell ([email protected]) requesting a copy of the data set.

14.1 percent of respondents completed the survey. Cell phone surveys have relatively low response rates (recent averages are about 9 percent), but are more effective at reaching hard-to-survey populations, such as people of color, young people, and working people (Keeter et al. 2017 ; Link et al. 2007 ). The Pew Research Center finds cell phone survey responses are generally similar to traditional surveys, except that they have more civically-engaged respondents with higher average levels of education (Keeter et al. 2017 ).

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Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank researchers at the Race and Ethnic Studies Institute at Texas A&M University for their innovative work on the Texas Diversity Survey and Nicole Jones for her assistance in creating the Zip Code Tabulation Area variables.

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Gonlin, V. Colorful Reflections: Skin Tone, Reflected Race, and Perceived Discrimination among Blacks, Latinxs, and Whites. Race Soc Probl 12 , 246–264 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12552-020-09290-4

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Published : 20 April 2020

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DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s12552-020-09290-4

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A reflection on Black Lives Matter and racial inequality

As we continue to cope with the challenges of a global pandemic, I turn my attention this week to another issue that has impacted people across the world – that is the problem of racial inequality. I am sure that readers will share my sorrow, anguish and disgust at the video of George Floyd’s death, […]

12 June 2020

As we continue to cope with the challenges of a global pandemic, I turn my attention this week to another issue that has impacted people across the world – that is the problem of racial inequality.

I am sure that readers will share my sorrow, anguish and disgust at the video of George Floyd’s death, which has sparked protests and action here in the UK and elsewhere.

It is perhaps a cliché to quote Martin Luther King at this point, but as an organisation that works daily to promote equality and inclusion for the people we support, his famous statement that ‘injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere’ does truly resonate.

Now is the time to reflect, listen and learn and I would like to start by giving an honest appraisal of an issue Dimensions must continue to address. In writing a blog on the events of the past few weeks, I recognise that I have very few senior colleagues from BAME backgrounds to whom I can turn for advice and input. At Board level, Executive level and across the senior management at Dimensions, there is an absence of people from ethnically diverse backgrounds. The uncomfortable but unavoidable consequence is that there are shortcomings in our response to the issues at hand.

Dimensions is not blind to this issue and we have been taking steps to address the lack of diversity at the highest levels of the organisation. All colleagues have access to in depth unconscious bias training and we are soon to launch a reverse mentoring scheme so that myself and other senior leaders in the organisation can learn from colleagues from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds better understand the barriers they confront. Dimensions’ zero tolerance of bullying and discrimination is set out in clear policies and we scrutinise and advance our progress through our organisational Equality and Diversity Strategy. Our Diversity Matters group champions who are from diverse backgrounds support the organisation in understanding the diverse needs of our colleagues and people we support.  We are also proud signatories of the Race at Work Charter .

This work is ongoing, it has helped us to make progress over the years and it will support us to continue to effect change across our organisation. There is, of course, still a long way to go. We will have succeeded when people of any background find role models at all levels within the organisation when they consider working for us and when the strategic thinking of the organisation is informed by more people who have a diversity of experience.

In the here and now, I would like to acknowledge those who are finding the present moment difficult to cope with – either because they see their experiences reflected in the national discourse or because they find it intolerable that such acts of violence can be inflicted on someone on the basis of race or any other characteristic.

I reflect on those people we support who may be finding this time very difficult and, worse still because of the pandemic, may have only limited contact with family members who best understand and share in this difficulty.

Last week Public Health England published a report that highlighted the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on BAME communities, in particular, BAME health workers and potentially BAME social care workers. We have undertaken work to understand how we can address this and how best to support our colleagues. This is something the whole sector must engage with and I for one look forward to more detailed analysis and recommendations from government on this issue.

We all have a part to play in making change happen and to stand alongside those who experience inequality. So I would like to share this Guide to Allyship . It has been put together to address racial discrimination and it offers sage advice on how to be part of positive change for equality more broadly. As the leader of an organisation that exists to support people to have good lives, to be valued and equal members of their communities, it is incumbent on me to apply these values universally. I hope this guide will help individuals who work with and support Dimensions to join me in acting for change.

I will conclude by saying, very simply, black lives matter.

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Conclusion: Race, racism and social work today: some concluding thoughts

• Published: December 2013
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The aim of the book has been to re-open debates about issues of ‘race’ and racism in modern Britain, and the relevance for those of us involved in social work education, training and practice. Racism is a deeply entrenched social problem, built into the structure of modern capitalist societies, but this does not mean that it is static and unchanging. At different moments in time the rhetoric of racism targets specific minority ethnic groups in particular ways: black and Asian communities, (white) East European migrants, members of the Roma community, Asylum seekers or members of the Muslim community, for example. Over the last 10–15 years the most visible form of racism has been the rise of Islamophobia, with increasing levels of racism directed against the Muslim community in Britain and across Europe. To say this, is not to deny or denigrate the racism felt by other minority communities, but it is to recognise the particular forms of institutional racism and violence that manifests itself in the form of physical and verbal attacks on Muslims and in the nature of political and media debates that are increasingly framed in terms of a perceived ‘problematic Muslim presence’ in Britain and Europe that demands some form of political action. What that action should be remains open to contestation.

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Essay About Racial Discrimination

Racial discrimination has been ranked as one the most pervasive issue in the world around today. Anyone judged by the skin colour, nationality, religion rather than by the content of character can be very dehumanizing experience that can have lasting effects on an individual’s life (Fischer 2008). Racism disturbs both individual and the learning environment in schools. It generates tension that alter cultural understanding and narrow the educational experiences of all students. According to (Berlak 2009) discrimination occurs in any stage of education from preschool through college and can be practiced by teachers or students. Racism occur in various forms such as teasing, name calling, teasing, verbal abuse and bullying. Therefore this literature review, discusses the types, effects and solution to this unstoppable issue in education system.

Types of Racial Discrimination

Racism is frequently thought of as individual demonstrations of inclination. While discrimination is still particularly a reality, concentrating on individual demonstrations of prejudice can darken the substances that make and keep up racial disparity all the more comprehensively. According to De la luz, there are three types of racial discrimination which are individual racism, instituinal racism and systematic racism. To completely address the effects of racism it is essential to address all parts of racial disparity. Individual racism, likewise called personal racism, is the sort of prejudice that a great many people consider when they consider “racism.” Individual prejudice happens when a man’s convictions, states of mind, and activities depend on inclinations, generalizations, or preferences against another race. Institutional racism refers to an establishment settling on decisions that deliberately single out or hurt ethnic minorities. Systematic racism, is maybe the most upsetting and slightest examined type of racism. It systematizes individual, social, and different sorts of prejudice in ceaseless frameworks. Like institutional prejudice, basic racism centre around associations instead of individuals. However, while institutional racism may intentionally attempt to single out a specific gathering, auxiliary bigotry is unbiased all over. This impartiality makes basic prejudice hard to gauge and significantly more hard to end.

Effects of Racial Discrimination

It is believed that racism is one term that describes the whole issue, however it is a complex system that describes many types of biased behaviours and systems (Jonnes 2018).According to the Human Rights Commission (2017), racism as an act that humiliates human behaviour and affects the life of an individual physically, mentally and socially. It takes various forms such as name calling, comments, jokes, verbal abuse, harassment, bullying or commentary in the media that inflames hostility towards certain groups. In serious case, it results in physical abuse and violence. Racial discrimination is a deadly virus that affects all, individual, families, communities and the learning and working environment. Racism can unpleasantly affect the educational outcomes, individual happiness and self-confidence, cultural identity, school and community relations and most commonly is the student’s behaviour and academic achievements (Kohli, 2017). Hence if it is unaddressed than racism can generate tensions within the school communities and these will affect the educational experiences of all students. It can demoralise students self -confidence and can result in students displaying a range of negative behaviours Students who are disaffected with school are less likely to attend school regularly and more likely to drop out of school earlier than other groups of students. The increase rate of the incidence of absenteeism and stress is due to racism been link to diminished morale and lower productivity (Fields 2014),The presence of racism in schools affects the educational outcomes due to lower participation rates, behavioural problems and feelings of alienation. Hence the educational success depends on the regular sustained attendance of each students and the ability to participate in the classroom. With racism in the learning environment, the balance is disrupted and educational outcomes maybe limited as a result (Triaki 2017).

Moreover, racism could be minimised even though it will decade to erase it from our beautiful world. Advancing positive ethnic and racial character decreases sentiments of detachment or prohibition and enhance students capacity to focus in the classroom. Teachers can enable students to create positive opinions about their ethnic and racial personality by presenting them to assorted good examples, and making a sheltered space for them to commend their disparities. A definitive answer for this issue is diminishing understudy introduction to racial separation and enhancing race relations in the U.S. In the interim, there are ways minding and concerned grown-ups can enable understudies to manage the pressure be minimised even though it will take time to prevent it from being practiced in schools. (Collins 2015).Racism has been around everlastingly however it can be diminished, just with a lot of exertion. Education is the key for some muddled issues we look in this world. Education can change the manner in which people think and lead us to a superior world. We can battle racism with education (Hwang 2008). On the off chance that we instruct and show sympathy, at that point there will be less need to discuss how we can stop racism. It will be difficult to stop racism if racist considerations are still with us. It is dependent upon us to get ready for the future by teaching our family and others on the difficulties of racial discrimination. At exactly that point will we overcome racial discrimination in our societies and schools.

Racial discrimination could be described as a weapon that destroys the society and the education system as whole. It affects the students in various ways that hinder their academic achievement and also affects them mentally, physically and socially. It was also stated that racial discrimination can occur at any stage either preschool, high schools or even tertiary institution. Hence there are possible ways where racism could be minimized even though it will take time to be erased. Therefore education is an important tool in everyone’s life since it can change the world and every individual.        

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Example Of Reflections On Racial Discrimination Essay

Type of paper: Essay

Topic: Discrimination , Race , Social Issues , Racism , Racial Discrimination , People , White , Color

Published: 12/02/2021

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Racial discrimination is a problem that has been in the society for a long time. It is the worst discrimination present in the world today. Racial discrimination is where an individual is unfairly treated because of their color, descent, race, and ethnicity. According to Broman, Mavaddat, and Hsu, racial discrimination in an unlawful act that should be confronted (2000).

Racial Discrimination in the family

We are African American; therefore, we had a black maid in our house whom we loved so much because she took good care of us. Everything was okay until we got a white neighbor. She never liked us plus our maid. Every day, we could hear her shout, “I don’t want these black people to touch anything that belongs to us.” I was still very young, and it was worse for me because she even forbid her children from playing with me. She never liked us because our skin color. Life became so complicated for us because of the racial discrimination we received from our racial neighbor. This is discrimination because all people are equal and need to be treated in a fair manner. If our neighbor was racial, then why did she move in a neighborhood where the black people lived? She made the African American people in the neighborhood feel inferior, especially the maids because of how she humiliated them. According to Massey and Lundy, discrimination makes people feel inferior (2001). I felt inferior and unwanted as a child because of how our neighbor treated the black people.

Racial Discrimination in the Workplace

While I was in junior school, I took a part-time job in a restaurant. While working in this restaurant, I witnessed many incidences of racial discrimination. The place served people of both races, but the service was different. For instance, when a white person walked in, the waiters could run to him/her and serve them what they need immediately. Nevertheless, when the people of color walked in, they could be assumed as the whites are being served. I once witnessed the manager (white) calling one of the waiters to stop giving service to a black woman and attend to a white woman who had just walked into the restaurant. The black woman complained, and she was told to leave the place immediately. I believe this is racial discrimination because all people are equal and deserve to be served equally. In any hotel or restaurant, all people pay for the services regardless of their race or color. Therefore, the black woman was discriminated and treated unfairly because of the color of her skin. The best way to clear with such a state is by making sure all customers are served and dealt with in an equal way without any prejudice. In this scenario, the manager could have avoided racial discrimination by letting the waitress serve the black woman first, then later on attend to the white lady who had just walked in. The black customer at the restaurant was treated less favorably because of her color, and race.

Racial Discrimination in the Community

I grew up in a strangely contradictory community where racial discrimination has been at its best. I have had regular contact with the white people but have never had an equal relationship with them. Racism exists in the community where the whites are seen to have a lot of prestige, wealth, power, and privileges compared to the African Americans who are the minorities. I once saw discrimination in an apartment next to where we used to stay some few years back. It was during the rainy season, and the walls were severely damaged by the floods. Unfortunately, only the apartments where the whites lived were repaired, and when the blacks made a formal complaint about the issue, they were ignored. In fact, the property owner insisted that they were so demanding and challenging, and they should understand they are blacks, and the other tenants are whites. I believe this is racial discrimination because both the blacks and whites paid rent, and so, they deserved equal treatment. The issue could have been solved by repairing all the apartments without any prejudice. It is unfair for a house owner to treat tenants differently because of their race. Everyone has a right to be free from racial discrimination.

Broman, C. L., Mavaddat, R., & Hsu, S. Y. (2000). The experience and consequences of perceived racial discrimination: A study of African Americans. Journal of Black Psychology, 26(2), 165-180. Massey, D. S., & Lundy, G. (2001). Use of Black English and Racial Discrimination in Urban Housing Markets New Methods and Findings. Urban Affairs Review, 36(4), 452-469.

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