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Anti-racist actions and accountability: not more empty promises

C. Malik Boykin (Department of Cognitive Linguistic and Psychological Sciences, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA)
N. Derek Brown (Haas School of Business, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA)
James T. Carter (Columbia Business School, New York, New York, USA)
Kristin Dukes (Allegheny College, Meadville, Pennsylvania, USA)
Dorainne J. Green (Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University Bloomington, Bloomington, Indiana, USA)
Timothy Harrison (Department of Psychological Sciences, Rice University, Houston, Texas, USA)
Mikki Hebl (Department of Psychological Sciences, Rice University, Houston, Texas, USA)
Asia McCleary-Gaddy (University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, Texas, USA)
Ashley Membere (Department of Psychology, California State University Dominguez Hills, Carson, California, USA)
Cordy A. McJunkins (Department of Psychological Sciences, Rice University, Houston, Texas, USA)
Cortney Simmons (Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA)
Sarah Singletary Walker (Creighton University Heider College of Business, Omaha, Nebraska, USA)
Alexis Nicole Smith (Department of Management, Oklahoma State University Stillwater, Stillwater, Oklahoma, USA)
Amber D. Williams (Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, San Luis Obispo, California, USA)

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

ISSN: 2040-7149

Article publication date: 16 July 2020

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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.

Keywords

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

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited

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