Building an Antiracist Society

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Antiracism for White Scholars

  • 1.  Antiracism for White Scholars

    Posted 06-25-2020 08:43
    Edited by Staff SRCD 06-30-2020 15:28

    This thread is a conversation about how White scholars can critically self-reflect and work to effectively address their own Whiteness and White privileges so that they can develop some of the skills necessary to dismantle systems of structural racism in academia, in science, and in society.  In addition to suggesting strategies and sharing resources, we hope to use this thread to plan future actions.

    In particular, what structures, groups, or resources can SRCD provide to support groups of White scholars committed to confronting their own racism and incorporating an antiracist perspective into their work? How can we create a safe and effective space to do this difficult work? 


    #ConfrontingRacism
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    SrcdStaff
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  • 2.  RE: Antiracism for White Scholars

    Posted 06-30-2020 14:51
    I would really like to part of this Antiracist Work Group that was mentioned on the webinar 6/30.

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    Holli Tonyan
    Dr.
    Northridge CA
    818-677-4970
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  • 3.  RE: Antiracism for White Scholars

    Posted 06-30-2020 17:58
    Thank  you, Holli! Margaret and I will be reaching out soon.
    SRCD Members: another great way to make sure we don't miss volunteers is to complete the post-webinar survey. There is a place in that survey to indicate your interest in being a member of the working group and to provide us with your email and contact information. Can't wait to get to work!
    RMBW

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    Rebecca White
    Dr.
    Arizona State University
    Tempe AZ
    480-965-0511
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  • 4.  RE: Antiracism for White Scholars

    Posted 06-30-2020 18:50
    Hi Rebecca - I think I missed that.  How do I find it?  It would be helpful to know about when I would find out about it because it might end up in "clutter" and be hard to find.

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    Holli Tonyan
    Dr.
    Northridge CA
    818-677-4970
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  • 5.  RE: Antiracism for White Scholars

    Posted 06-30-2020 19:51
    I was prompted with the survey in a new window when the webinar ended. Not sure if it will also be sent via email?

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    Betsy Blackard
    Claremont CA
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  • 6.  RE: Antiracism for White Scholars

    Posted 07-01-2020 11:29
    Thanks Holli and Betsy for your messages! For attendees that may have missed the post-webinar survey when exiting the webinar, SRCD will be sending an email next week to all registrants with links to the survey and the recording of the event.

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    Anna Kimura
    Policy Assistant, SRCD
    Washington DC
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  • 7.  RE: Antiracism for White Scholars

    Posted 07-02-2020 12:22
    Edited by Rebecca White 07-03-2020 19:21

    Thanks Betsy and Anna for providing this valuable information!
    I have also recently realized that we cannot access email addresses from your commons comments. So, responding to the survey will be key to making sure we can contact everyone efficiently and via their preferred email addresses. Thanks!


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    Rebecca White
    Dr.
    Arizona State University

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  • 8.  RE: Antiracism for White Scholars

    Posted 06-30-2020 16:19
    Not sure if this is the right place to post this question, but it seemed like the most closely-aligned thread. Please let me know if there is another, better place for this discussion!

    In today's webinar (6/30) about creating an anti-racist research agenda, the topic of explicitly naming race in publications was discussed. I understand the importance of eradicating the assumption of whiteness as neutral/default, and I love the idea of requiring all researchers to name population demographics in titles and abstracts (e.g., "The effects of neighborhood characteristics on white adolescents"). I also really appreciated the discussion about intentionally setting research questions that consider ethnicity, rather than using race as a covariate. This discussion had me reflecting on the research my lab conducts and the makeup of our populations.

    I am a grad student in a research lab that studies families. Our studies are usually conducted with community samples, recruited from the surrounding area. Due to our location, we end up with a heterogeneous sample that is a reflection of the local population, including several ethnicities as well as those who identify as multiple ethnicities. What are your suggestions for publication language in studies with a heterogeneous sample? I think it was Dr. White who mentioned the importance of contextualizing your sample in the methods section, and noting as a limitation the lack of explicitly addressing race/ethnicity in heterogeneous samples. I guess I'm wondering, when working with heterogeneous samples, what else can/should we do to highlight this in our write-ups? For example, although our samples are heterogeneous, they are often roughly 60% white and 40% non-white. So even though it is a heterogeneous sample, it is still majority white, and that seems important to mention. We always include a breakdown of demographics in our methods sections, but is there anything else we can do at the write-up phase? What about creating a norm around including the demographic breakdown in the abstract?

    I understand that there are also larger steps that can be taken (intentional recruitment, etc.) but this question concerns those who are working with already collected data and/or don't have the power to set the research agenda (e.g., undergrad or grad students).

    Thank you!

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    Betsy Blackard
    Claremont CA
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  • 9.  RE: Antiracism for White Scholars

    Posted 06-30-2020 17:44

    Hi Betsy and thanks for your question! This is my first time trying out this method of replying to a commons conversation in this way - so I hope it works. 

     

    Before I address your question, however, I want to give a quick shout-out to the webinar participant who invited us to be more specific about our language (I do not have access to that participant's name).  I was recently working on a manuscript and realized that – because of the way we have often, in the developmental sciences, used "diverse" to mean non-White  – any reference to "diverse samples" could imply that we are referring to non-White samples. But, in this conversation, we actually mean to refer to samples that are heterogeneous on race and ethnicity. That heterogeneity may nor may not be "representative" of the population of children in a given study area. This is such an important distinction and I am thankful to the webinar participant who spoke up and encouraged us to address it!

     

    Yes – Betsy – it sounds like the research you are referencing involves samples that are heterogeneous on race and ethnicity and, in your case, it sounds like those samples may be representative of the target geographic population. So, in light of that work, how can we, as developmental scholars, begin to advance beyond a colorblind lens when working with samples that are heterogeneous on race and ethnicity (and we should also probably be thinking about other aspects of intersectionality that are often overlooked, as Eleanor mentioned, like sexual and gender minority status, ability, documentation status and others). Going from the list that you already started in your post, I'm going to brainstorm and welcome others to react and contribute, please!

    1. Contextualize our sample
    2. Note the lack of explicit scholarly attention to social positions in our limitations sections
    3. Note the overrepresentation of White youth/families as a limitation
    4. Include reference to the population in our title. Maybe this looks like: "Predictors of prosocial behavior among adolescents heterogeneous on race and ethnicity" or maybe this looks like "Predictors of prosocial behavior among ethnically and racially heterogeneous adolescents." (I am terrible at titles!)
    5. Inclusion, for example in the literature review, of extant literature that studied the developmental phenomenon (e.g., prosocial behavior) specifically in groups that are represented in our sample. So, instead of only reviewing research that was conducted with White samples or other heterogeneous samples, attend to literature that examined/theorized the development of prosocial behaviors specifically in subgroups that are represented in our sample (e.g., the development of prosocial behavior among Black youth). Including this kind of information in our literature reviews would force us to be a lot more transparent about the state of the extant literature and the true scope of our current contribution.
    6.  Acknowledge whether we have good evidence that our measures work in the groups included in our sample – or if we just have evidence that the measures work in heterogeneous samples. If we only have evidence that a measure works in a heterogeneous sample – that also had an overrepresentation of White youth – then we need to acknowledge that we have not yet addressed whether the instrumentation works well within specific subsamples within our study.
    7. .... What else SRCD?

     







  • 10.  RE: Antiracism for White Scholars

    Posted 06-30-2020 18:15
    Thanks so much for these great ideas! I'll keep brainstorming as well.

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    Betsy Blackard
    Claremont CA
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  • 11.  RE: Antiracism for White Scholars

    Posted 07-03-2020 19:31
    I just got an off-commons question about number 6. Number 6 involves evidence of psychometric equivalence of measures across groups. This could be across groups defined by race or ethncity (or by any other social positions, incluidng immigrant vs. non-immigrant). Knight, Roosa, and Umaña-Taylor (2009; ISBN: 978-1-4338-0474-8) is one of the primary resources I have used to think about psychometric equivalence of developmental instrumentation across groups.

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    Rebecca White
    Dr.
    Arizona State University
    Tempe AZ
    480-965-0511
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  • 12.  RE: Antiracism for White Scholars

    Posted 06-30-2020 18:57
    I mentioned Dr. Kim Crayton in the webinar. Dr. Crayton is an educator who runs antiracism workshops. Her target audience is White Folx. I enrolled in her introductory course last weekend and I believe you can purchase access to it @ https://vi.to/hubs/introduction-to-being-an-antiracist. It is a recommended prerequisite for two additional upcoming workshops Dr. Crayton is hosting, one focused on being antiracist at work @ https://ti.to/kim.crayton.llc/being-an-antiracist-at-work and the other focuses on being an antiracist at home @ https://ti.to/kim.crayton.llc/being-an-antiracist-at-home. ​​​

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    Rebecca White
    Dr.
    Arizona State University
    Tempe AZ
    480-965-0511
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  • 13.  RE: Antiracism for White Scholars

    Posted 07-02-2020 13:18

    As a part of my anti-racist work, I am trying to commit to regular engagement with this community by answering questions that came up in the webinar. One question that came up that we did not get to answer during the webinar was: Could you give examples for what bystanders to racist interactions can say?

    I can begin a conversation about this, by thinking about regular interactions that happen in the academy and at least one strategy – with vary effectiveness and consistency – I have tried to use to intervene. Intervening in real time can be challenging. We have to build our facility with intervening because these interactions are happening all the time. Intervening hopefully halts the trauma-in-process at the moment. Additionally, intervening is important for expressing solidarity with your colleagues and letting them know they can count on you engage in anti-racist practices.

    Some of the harms we do, as White scholars, is in the way we respond to being exposed to knowledge that is new to us (but not new). This knowledge may be, for example, about policing, or other aspects of systemic racism. We commonly fail to respond with humility. Instead, we respond with questions or comments that have the effect of undervaluing the knowledge, thinking of exceptions to it, or centering (either directly or indirectly) White experiences in reaction to the information. So, perhaps in a faculty or committee meeting, a colleague educates us about racism on our campuses and we have additional questions – but our questions inherently invalidate the information, or invalidate the lived experiences of members of our (in this particular case, scholarly) community.

    I strive to interrupt and disrupt this line of questioning because I see this as an example of how unpacking White ignorance = Black and Indigenous trauma. That being said, I do think addressing some of these questions is important for helping Whites to see racism and see how and why expressing doubts about racism and racism's effects is harmful. So, I have tried to create informal/safe spaces in my unit where we can address some of these questions – but not harm our Black, Indigenous and POC colleagues. I have created informal readings groups and working groups as places where members of my unit can come to tackle these conversations. I invite the full community to these spaces, but I am explicit that these are spaces to do work on dismantling White community members' roles in maintaining racism (e.g., in our school or at our university). I say that all are welcome, but I especially encourage my White colleagues to join me. This way, if Black, Indigenous or other colleagues of color choose to come, they know that they may encounter White victim, White savior, colorblind, or similar narratives.

    With those spaces in my back pocket, I respond to these racist interactions by saying something like "Pam I think these are questions we can address in working group discussion on such and such date." Or, if I don't want to address "Pam" directly, I might say something like the following to the person who shared the information and to the full group: "Thank you for sharing the information about this example of racism on campus. I definitely have more to learn about this topic. I don't want my lack of knowledge about this topic to be harmful to my colleagues, so I am going to work on creating a reading list.  I'd be happy to share that list with everyone and maybe the readings are something we can discuss in our upcoming antiracist reading group."

    These are small acts – just temporary disruptions really – but I find they often at least halt the trauma-in-process. The real work comes afterwards.

    I'd like to acknowledge that this example is very academy focused and welcome additional examples and suggestions. I'd like to point out that there are far more overt types of racist interactions, like the one Eleanor shared from twitter of the older White woman draped in the confederate flag – that likely require different strategies. Finally, I am always open to hearing that I have not done enough to disrupt racism and welcome that feedback too.



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    Rebecca White
    Dr.
    Arizona State University
    Tempe AZ
    480-965-0511
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  • 14.  RE: Antiracism for White Scholars

    Posted 07-03-2020 19:19
    Thanks for addressing these questions. I love having specific phrases for moments when I feel caught short so your examples of what exactly you can say are very helpful!

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    Betsy Blackard
    Claremont CA
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  • 15.  RE: Antiracism for White Scholars

    Posted 07-30-2020 17:44

    Hi SRCD Antiracism for White Scholars Group: Thanks for participating in SRCD's Becoming an Antiracist Society webinar last month and additional thanks to those of you who participated in the debriefing sessions on SRCD Commons.

     

    Margaret Caughy, Barbara Rogoff, and I are convening a zoom meeting to continue the conversation we started in the webinar and we are writing to invite you to join us for this "next steps" conversation.

     

    The purpose of the conversation is twofold: to (a) share antiracist tools and strategies with one another, and (b) generate next steps for the Antiracist White Working Group. Establishing this working group as a subcommittee of SRCD's Ethnic and Racial Issues (ERI) committee was one of the action items from the webinar. We anticipate this subcommittee will support ERI's efforts to address racialized, white power structures in the developmental sciences, including in developmental research, teaching, and service. Some of this work may involve creating opportunities to support our continued development as antiracists. Some of this work may involve direct actions related to being reliable allies or accomplices. 

     

    What: SRCD Antiracists White Working Group Next Steps Conversation

    When: Tuesday August 25th at 10:30 – 12:00 Pacific/1:30-3:00 Eastern

    How: Register in advance for this meeting @ https://asu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJEqf-qvqjMsHtckI73C8u9pGl6o1KtTmK-z

    After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. Registration will be closed after 8/14/2020.

     

    We are asking you to register immediately if you are planning to join this conversation, but no later than 8/14/2020. This will help us plan for break-out rooms to support sharing and brainstorming.

     

    Best,

    Rebecca, Margaret and Barbara



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    Rebecca White
    Arizona State University
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  • 16.  RE: Antiracism for White Scholars

    Posted 08-09-2020 11:48
    Thank you all for convening our action-focused meeting. Looking forward to being a part of this next step!
    -Alaina

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    Alaina Brenick
    Dr.
    University of Connecticut
    Hartford CT
    9592003767
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