Anti-racist actions and accountability: not more empty promises

Abstract

Purpose

The current piece summarizes five critical points about racism from the point of view of Black scholars and allies: (1) Black people are experiencing exhaustion from and physiological effects of racism, (2) racism extends far beyond police brutality and into most societal structures, (3) despite being the targets of racism, Black people are often blamed for their oppression and retaliated against for their response to it, (4) everyone must improve their awareness and knowledge (through both formal education and individual motivation) to fight racism and (5) anti-racist policies and accountability are key to enact structural reformation.

Findings

The first three of these points detail the depths of the problem from the perspectives of the authors and the final two lay out a call to action.

Practical implications

This viewpoint is the joint effort of 14 authors who provided a unified perspective.

Originality/value

This was one of the most original experiences the authors have had – working with 13 former/current students on joint perspectives about police brutality and racism more generally. The authors thank for the opportunity.

Citation

Boykin, C.M., Brown, N.D., Carter, J.T., Dukes, K., Green, D.J., Harrison, T., Hebl, M., McCleary-Gaddy, A., Membere, A., McJunkins, C.A., Simmons, C., Singletary Walker, S., Smith, A.N. and Williams, A.D. (2020), "Anti-racist actions and accountability: not more empty promises", Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, Vol. 39 No. 7, pp. 775-786. https://doi.org/10.1108/EDI-06-2020-0158