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.
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
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited