Antiracism is not an end goal. It is an ongoing set of actions the help improve persons and systems for everyone. Here are some recommended best practices for antiracism.
Be Intentional - Antiracism is an action. Be conscious of your actions and in pursuit of a goal. Be aware of what is happening in the moment.
Have Courage - Do not be afraid to call out racism and white supremacy. Have courage to name racism in the moment and within systems. Do not become defensive or deflect when your racism or white privilege is acknowledged. You need courage to sit in your discomfort and have the compassion to improve.
Continuing Education - Stay informed and continue to read the work of anti-racist educators and scholars. Educate yourself on the experiences of minoritized groups to better understand systematic racism and oppression.
Listen More Than You Speak - Do not be the loudest voice in the room. Support and promote those whose voices are marginalized or ignored.
Do Not Be Colorblind - Being "colorblind" actively negates the lived experiences of people of color. See everyone as an individual whose live experiences matter.
Support - Support the activities, work, and business of people of color. This can include monetary or vocal support. Use your privilege to promote and share the work of marginalized people.
Avoid Stereotypes and Microaggressions - Be intentional with your words and actions to see people as individuals. Avoid words and actions which classify and marginalize others.
Be an Ally - Use you inherent privilege to help support and promote marginalized voices.
Inclusivity should be a feature and goal of all antiracist work. Inclusivity is the practice and policies of providing equal access and opportunities to all persons. Some best practices of inclusivity include:
Inclusive Language - Use inclusive language that supports and acknowledges all persons.
Center and promote marginalized voices - Ensure that everyone's story and experiences are included, not just those of groups with privilege.
Decenter whiteness and decolonize studies - Traditional work and education defaults to sharing and promoting whiteness. Actively decenter the white experience and expand to include the work, stories, and histories or minoritized groups.
Avoid tokenism - Do not use inclusivity as an act of tokenism to meet requirements or support an event.
Avoid "fit" - Adding a team member who "fits" is not inclusive. "Fit" is an active of oppression that reinforces systematic racism. In work and hiring, add members who enhance and grow an organization.
A land acknowledgement recognizes and respects Indigenous Peoples as the originals stewards of the land on which an event is happening. It affirms the traditional and lasting relationship between Indigenous Peoples and their traditional territories.
Land acknowledges are formal statements which recognize Indigenous Peoples and can provide a call to action to support specific organizations which provide monetary or political empowerment.
We provide land acknowledgements in gratitude for those on whose traditional territory we reside or work.
Sample Land Acknowledgement
The current city of Washington, DC and the University of the District of Columbia are on land from which European settlers forcibly removed the Nacotchtank people, as well as the land of the Piscataway people. In the DC area, the Piscataway Land Trust is beginning the process of “rematriat[ing] ancestral land to the Piscataway and other Indigenous peoples of the Chesapeake region.” The trust’s website is still in development, but we are including links to their Instagram and Paypal: www.instagram.com/piscatawaylandtrust
Those who are antiracist can explicitly acknowledge the privilege their race and socio-economic status grant them. A privilege acknowledgment can provide context for how a person gained or were granted their status or expertise in a specific organization or area of work.
Privilege acknowledgements should only be used when they will not be an act of self-veneration or congratulations.
Sample Privilege Acknowledgement
This privilege acknowledgement was given by Meghan Kowalski, the UDC Library's Outreach and Reference Librarian, at her presentation to the Conference on Academic Library Management (CALM). Her session discussed bad management techniques and how to improve as a library manager.
I want to call out my privilege as a white, cis-gendered woman working in a profession that is also mostly white, cis-gendered women. I can speak about these things without fear of retribution, that is not the case for many others in our profession. Bad management hurts everyone but especially harms those who are already marginalized.
The Implicit Association Test (IAT) measures attitudes and beliefs that people may be unwilling or unable to report. The IAT may be especially interesting if it shows that you have an implicit attitude that you did not know about. For example, you may believe that women and men should be equally associated with science, but your automatic associations could show that you (like many others) associate men with science more than you associate women with science.
Below are links to material and workbooks to help you engage with antiracist learning and work.
