Before we can talk about what antiracism is, we must first get a brief explanation about what racism is. According to the Oxford dictionary, racism is
“prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism by an individual, community, or institution against a person or people on the basis of their membership in a particular racial or ethnic group, typically one that is a minority or marginalized.”
In simpler terms it is treating a person or people differently (in a negative way) because they are a part of a different ethnic group.
This article states that “Being antiracist is fighting against racism.” Prior to reading this article, my definition of antiracism was different, I would’ve defined it as, “someone who doesn’t agree with racist ideas.” The difference between these two definitions is that someone who is an anti-racist is actively fighting against racism.
I coined the term “nonracist” to describe someone who is against racism but isn’t necessarily fighting against it. I would say that a lot of people, myself included, consider themselves nonracist. They don’t agree with the ideas and practices of a racist but they also kind of just live their life and don’t push back against racism. This is not what we are told to be. We aren’t told to just sit back and let other people, who may be more passionate about this topic, fight back against racism and we just sit back and relax.
We are told to actively fight against this injustice. This is what stood out to me the most. How often people think that by sitting out and not supporting racism, they are helping to fight it, but they aren’t. The only way to fight against racism is well, to fight against it.
1.) How the current structure of power influences the creation and perpetuation of racist policies
When someone thinks of the typical “American Boss”, almost all the time they picture a white male. Why is this? Well, according to a survey done by the Scientific Amercian magazine,
“Only 19 Fortune 500 firms (companies who are the top 500 largest United States businesses of the year according to Fortune Magazine) are led by people of color, and only 21 of these companies are led by women, according to recent data. And almost 75% of Fortune 500 boards are mainly comprised of white men.”
I think that this is the main issue, when we don’t have people in these leadership positions who care about this issue or who think with this mindset, then they won’t be as driven to make sure that people are treated equally.
I think that the reason why white men are mainly the demographic of business owners/leaders goes back to the history of racism. White men were given the better education, jobs, and more opportunities to showcase their skills. This allowed them to grow into leaders, owners, and businessmen while the lesser fortunate worked under them. Women were also treated as lesser and didn’t have many opportunities in the work environment which is why we don’t see many females leading large business.
2.) How antiracist work seeks to not only challenge these policies but also the very foundation of power that allows them to persist
I would say that one way to challenge these policies would be to include an antiracist activist on the board or a committee of a business. They can hear the proposed policies and see if they would negatively affect minorities. They would have a different perspective on things and see some potential issues that others might miss. They also would be there to keep the leaders of the business accountable. This would eliminate the racism (whether intentional or unintentional) that affects a lot of workers.
3.) How This Affects Me
This article and topic in general affects me because I believe that treating others in a negative way, simply because they look different is wrong. It doesn’t even make sense; someone might be a better fit for a job and have better skills and qualities but gets turned down because of their skin color? How is that making the best choice for the business?
Personally, this impacts my life because as a Christian, I believe that there is only one race, the human race. I believe that all humans are special and created in the image of God. The Bible says that God does not show any partiality (Romans 2:9-11) and as Christians we are supposed to act like God. Part of that means treating everyone the way that God would want them to be treated regardless of what they’ve done or what they believe.
When fighting against racism, we need to be careful of our motives. Often it is so easy to hate the racist and think less of them as a person because of their actions. I’m not saying we should tolerate their behavior, but we should still treat them as a human, with love. We can’t let someone’s actions define who they are as a person.
We still need to stand up for what is right and make a difference, but we need to be sure we’re doing it for the right reasons.
4.) Social Work and the NASW
One of the tools we have to keep our motives and actions in check is the NASW Code of Ethics. This article relates to the NASW Code of Ethics because one of the Ethical Principles of a social worker is to challenge social injustices.
As social workers we shouldn’t be content just letting people treat others worse just because they’re different. If we don’t think this is a problem, if we aren’t infuriated by this injustice, if we are fine sitting back and letting others do all the work, then we truly need to think to ourselves if we truly are anti-racist social workers.
Abbigale Delight Wheeler
Hey Brendon! I liked reading your blog this week, I always like to learn different peoples perspectives on anti racism, especially as someone who does not know as much about anti racism and I feel I sometimes should. It can be hard to speak out and be an anti racist at times, it can feel easier to just let things slide. But I am trying to get better at standing up and making a difference where I can.
Brendon Mowery
Hey Abbigale,
I also love hearing other people’s views and opinions to topics such as racism. It reminds me of the story of the six blind men and the elephant. None of them had ever come across or learned what an elephant was before. As they felt it, they all touched different parts of it, they each came to their own conclusion on what it was. The one who touched the trunk thought it was some large snake, the one who touched it’s ear thought it was a fan of some sorts, the one who touched the leg of the elephant thought it was a tree, the one who touched the side thought it just be some kind of wall, the one who felt its tail thought it was a rope, and lastly the one who touched the tusk thought it must be a spear of some kind. They all had unique, different experiences but only when they all get put together can we see the whole picture. That is one of the reasons why I appreciate this class so much, all of the blogs, comments, and interactions, allow us to see a new perspective through someone else’s point of view.
Danelle Shellikoff
Hi Brendon, great job on your blog.
I dealt with racism and stereotypes my entire life, but I have never distinguished between anti-racist and nonracist. So, thank you for teaching me something today! How would one be labeled as an anti-racist? Would you need to be actively fighting for a legislative action or change? When I see or hear racist things happening around me, I try to do my best to educate those involved to the best of my knowledge. Does this make me nonracist or anti-racist?
I can agree with you that white supremacy goes far back in history. We are moving in the right direction of changing this. Continuing to bring awareness to these needed changes is crucial. The Critical Social Worker podcast stated how technology is getting us away from the connection to nature and our inner selves. But technology is beneficial when we think of bringing awareness to a subject. We can use social media, send e-mail information, and collaborate with people from far away.
There are two areas that I am interested in advocating. One is to support and teach individuals how to advocate for their health. Some people may follow what a provider says, which is not necessarily the right thing to do. I also want to advocate more for cultural activities and teachings to be taught in substance abuse treatments for Indigenous populations. The biggest roadblock with advocacy is “Where do I start?” I know it begins with us questioning how things are done, but then what?
Brendon Mowery
Hey Danelle,
I would label someone as an anti-racist if they are actively making an effort, however big/small it may seem, to fight against racism. I would say that they would have to be making a consistent effort. If you did one thing, one-time, years ago and since then you haven’t contributed to the cause or anything, I would consider you nonracist. I also agree that we are moving forward in a good direction to stop white supremacy. I think it’s great that you were able to tie this in with the podcast.
Rayanne Alick
Hey Brendon, I just want to point out the title of your blog had caught my interest. We still seen a lot of racism to this day and it is actually really infuriating if I were being honest. A person who has the stereotypical image for people of color instilled in them is not okay. Also, your take on being a non racist vs anti racist was educational for me. I have not given it enough thought so I did not know there was a difference. You are right about how we social workers should not be content with how people are being treated to this day. There is a lot of change that still needs to be made. People of all races should be treated equally and given the same amount of care, support and opportunity from the next person. Everyone deserves a fair chance so thank you for your advocacy.
Brendon Mowery
Hey Rayanne,
I think that the most stressful part of a blog post is coming up with a title that will capture people’s attention, so I’m glad it worked. I agree with the fact that there is still racism and injustice going on is frustrating. One thing to keep in mind is that it is a constant, ongoing battle. Racism and prejudice won’t vanish overnight. Like you said, there are a lot of changes to be made, this is why it is so very important to make sure we are actively fighting against it and aren’t content being stagnant.
Kaylana Nations
Hello Brendon,
I learned about the difference between anti-racist and non-racist last week and it was interesting seeing your thought process throughout this all as well. I had a very similar thought process to you. I believed that anti-racism was just not supporting racism as well. Now I understand that doing nothing is also holding up these racist systems as well. I also like that you brought up treating people equally even if they may be racist. I think it ties back into what a lot of people were talking about last week “dignity”. Everyone deserves to be treated as humans. As social workers, we will be working with people who may have differing beliefs from ours and different backgrounds. It’s important that we provide everyone with the same services no matter what. That could be a future dilemma for social workers working with the NASW code of ethics while also battling what they feel is right.
Brendon Mowery
Hey Kaylana,
It’s good to know that I’m not the only one who didn’t know the difference between an anti-racist and a nonracist. I totally agree with you that it goes back to dignity. We shouldn’t treat people how we personally think they should be treated, we should treat them better than that, we should treat them how we would want to be treated.