So, what is this term racial responsiveness anyways?
Unfortunately, we know a lot what racial responsiveness is NOT — at least in research.
Like most issues, we are better at defining problems better than solutions. Understanding problem in-depth (especially something as complex and illusive as racism) is a good way to target problems and tailor solutions for change.
But, people (especially White people) tend to struggle with tolerating the stress of learning about problematic racial dynamics without learning about solutions. (It’s a bit of a bind)
So, I’m here to say that racially responsiveness does exist, it is not an anomaly or out of your reach in the work you do. There are solutions. But, you can’t skip the part where you don’t learn about racially un-responsiveness. We must learn to tolerate understanding the problems at hand.
Being racially unresponsiveness in people-centered work can include behavior that:
- Ignores or invalidates race and racial dynamics
- Shares racist ideas or remains silent in the face of racism
- Punishes racial identity development/growth of those who hold less power than you
- Tone-polices or jargon-policies communication on race
- Encourages people with less power than you to teach you about privilege
- Justifies maintaining power of White people
Of course, this list is not exhaustive, it will continue to shape and shift with time and across different environments.
So what are the solutions to these problems? There must be many and varied, we don’t just need a toolbox, we need a whole workshop. Racism is a poisonous tool of oppression that has affected all parts of our working society. We must understand what damage has been done in any given area in order to thoughtfully bring it back to health.
As people-centered professionals, who you are is a huge part of what you bring to your role. Your racial identity is no different.
Many professionals I work with understand that their race matters, but they often hit major roadblocks towards learning more about their race or “doing better” when it comes to racism. We must work to grow our racial identity in order to:
- Stop ignoring race and racial dynamics
- Understand how some of the things we say or think are indeed racist
- Advocate for racial justice
- Know what to say when others are verbalizing racism
- Examine our processes in which we hire and promote White people
- Learn about our privilege. Even better, learn our emotional reactions to privilege and how they get in the way of anti-racism
- Get social support and learn how to self-nurture your own emotions in response to learning about race and racism
Again, not exhaustive. But, hopefully more hopeful.
If you are interested in working with me to increase your racial responsiveness or would like me to consult with your organization, please email me to set up a time to talk.