module 2: Working to understand Race & Racism
Part 2: Defining racism & antiracism
This section will help to establish some key definitions as we move forward in understanding the connections of socialization and identity to racism.
Suggested Goals:
1. To understand definitions of racism and antiracism.
2. To consider how these ideas relate to socialization, identity, and the systems experienced throughout society.
Suggested Goals:
1. To understand definitions of racism and antiracism.
2. To consider how these ideas relate to socialization, identity, and the systems experienced throughout society.
&1: Racism & antiracism
Racism can be thought of in different ways. One common perception of racism is an individual act of a person being racist. This view can be narrowed to an individual’s words or actions. This view may lead to defensive exclamations of, “I’m not racist!”
Broadening the view of racism beyond the individual allows for understanding racism at systemic or institutional levels. In this broader view, the individual is influenced by racist systems. While the individual may engage in the systems and be complicitly racist.
Whether considering individual or systemic racism, it is not enough to be “not racist.” As summarized in the reading below, Ibram X. Kendi (2019) presents the opposite of racist as “antiracist.” Antiracism requires action against or to change racist policies, words, and actions.
In the following reading, racism and antiracism are defined.
Read:
Franklin & Marshall College Library: Black Lives Matter Antiracist Resources
https://library.fandm.edu/c.php?g=1045768&p=7588278
Structural Racism
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1niSBHRjR8pXJov_lWU_1-Nd8uox0Fl10/view
Broadening the view of racism beyond the individual allows for understanding racism at systemic or institutional levels. In this broader view, the individual is influenced by racist systems. While the individual may engage in the systems and be complicitly racist.
Whether considering individual or systemic racism, it is not enough to be “not racist.” As summarized in the reading below, Ibram X. Kendi (2019) presents the opposite of racist as “antiracist.” Antiracism requires action against or to change racist policies, words, and actions.
In the following reading, racism and antiracism are defined.
Read:
Franklin & Marshall College Library: Black Lives Matter Antiracist Resources
https://library.fandm.edu/c.php?g=1045768&p=7588278
Structural Racism
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1niSBHRjR8pXJov_lWU_1-Nd8uox0Fl10/view
| structural-racism_definitions.pdf |
Reflect:
Victoria Lynn Alexander also offers an overview of racism that is based on prejudice and power. When these elements combine, they can result in systems of oppression. These ideas are presented in her document linked below or found in the Google Classroom as a pdf document.
Read:
Antiracist Resource Guide: Racism, Defined
https://4566682b-d3b6-46de-80c5-2bb20127befe.filesusr.com/ugd/c273c7_ddd587e1ba714928b164b98089b2d756.pdf
- How do the definitions of racism and antiracism align with your prior definitions or beliefs?
- How does the idea of being an antiracist change your view about responding to racism?
Victoria Lynn Alexander also offers an overview of racism that is based on prejudice and power. When these elements combine, they can result in systems of oppression. These ideas are presented in her document linked below or found in the Google Classroom as a pdf document.
Read:
Antiracist Resource Guide: Racism, Defined
https://4566682b-d3b6-46de-80c5-2bb20127befe.filesusr.com/ugd/c273c7_ddd587e1ba714928b164b98089b2d756.pdf
| racism_defined_victoria_alexander.pdf |
Ibram X. Kendi is a leading voice on the actions of antiracism. The view of racism and antiracism as opposites leads to Kendi’s statement in The Aspen Institute’s 2019 podcast that, “We’re engaged in this struggle between two forces: racial progress and racist process.” You can learn more from the resources below, including the podcast from The Aspen Institute.
Read/Listen (You can read the article or listen to the article being read.):
The Fight to Redefine Racism
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/08/19/the-fight-to-redefine-racism
Listen:
What Is Antiracism and Can It Save Society? (The Aspen Institute podcast)
https://www.aspenideas.org/podcasts/what-is-antiracism-and-can-it-save-society-rebroadcast
Considering racism from a systemic or institutional level does not absolve individuals of being racist. However, it can serve to reframe some conversations and direct attention to underlying policies or issues that maintain racism in order to move to antiracism.
Reflect:
We are going back to the reflection questions from earlier to further consider antiracism and the need for action with an additional question about identity.
The next section will take a deeper look at the idea of race, its origins, and the implications of socialization and race.
Check:
To gain a more in-depth understanding of antiracism, consider the following books by Ibram X. Kendi.
More in-depth reading:
Kendi, I. X. (2019). How to be an antiracist. New York: One World.
Kendi, I. X. (2017). Stamped from the beginning: The definitive history of racist ideas in America. Random House.
The next part will use the three-episode documentary Race: The Power of an Illusion to explore the construction of race and its impacts throughout history.
Read/Listen (You can read the article or listen to the article being read.):
The Fight to Redefine Racism
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/08/19/the-fight-to-redefine-racism
Listen:
What Is Antiracism and Can It Save Society? (The Aspen Institute podcast)
https://www.aspenideas.org/podcasts/what-is-antiracism-and-can-it-save-society-rebroadcast
Considering racism from a systemic or institutional level does not absolve individuals of being racist. However, it can serve to reframe some conversations and direct attention to underlying policies or issues that maintain racism in order to move to antiracism.
Reflect:
We are going back to the reflection questions from earlier to further consider antiracism and the need for action with an additional question about identity.
- How do the definitions of racism and antiracism align with your prior definitions or beliefs?
- How does the idea of being an antiracist change your view about responding to racism?
- How can your ideas or beliefs about racism and antiracism impact your identity of self and/or your social identity?
The next section will take a deeper look at the idea of race, its origins, and the implications of socialization and race.
Check:
- What are racism and antiracism?
- How do racism and antiracism relate to socialization, identity, and the systems experienced throughout society?
To gain a more in-depth understanding of antiracism, consider the following books by Ibram X. Kendi.
More in-depth reading:
Kendi, I. X. (2019). How to be an antiracist. New York: One World.
Kendi, I. X. (2017). Stamped from the beginning: The definitive history of racist ideas in America. Random House.
The next part will use the three-episode documentary Race: The Power of an Illusion to explore the construction of race and its impacts throughout history.
