Racial Inclusion Research Articles

DIVERSIDADE ECONÔMICA E GEOGRAFIA NEGRA

This article results from eighteen months of participatory ethnography research in political spaces of the Movement of Solidarity Economy, and from interviews I conducted with participants of this movement between 2015 and 2017 in the city of Rio de Janeiro. In this work, I shed light on a fundamental contradiction between the discourse the movement puts forth and actual political and organizational practices I observed on the ground. Such contradiction refers to the lack of attention to processes of racialization embedded in socioeconomic and spatial hierarchies in the city, as well as the way that such racialized hierarchies get reproduced within the movement dynamics despite the movement’s discourse around racial inclusion and racial diversity. Looking at racialization within the Movement of Solidarity Economy in Rio, and drawing on decolonial studies, post-development theories and Black geographies, this article addresses issues of race and space in political organizing as axis around which racial capitalism is epistemologically and politically articulated. I argue that in order to decenter capitalocentrism and to create alternatives to racial capitalism it is necessary to change lenses to see, name and make visible not only diverse economies, but also Black geographies. I conclude by offering some suggestions of spatial interventions that might facilitate more inclusive and effective political participation of the bases of the movement, the majority of which are black women residents in favelas and peripheral areas.

#SHAPEsoWhite

ABSTRACT Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the racial/ ethnic diversity of SHAPE America’s teacher of the year program using Critical Race Theory. As such, the goal was to identify and map potential racial biases within the institutional structures of SHAPE America’s teacher of the year program. Research design and methods: This paper used an exploratory research design using online Physical Education Teacher of the Year online profiles, social media requests, emails, and demographic questionnaires. Data collected from the design included the breakdown of nominees and recipients between 2008–2018. Data were analyzed in two different ways. First, the data were inductively analyzed using descriptive statistics, including frequency and percentages of SHAPE America Teachers of the Year. Second, a critical race lens was used to interpret the descriptive statistics in relation to the selection process and larger social issues. Results: The overwhelming number of SHAPE teachers of the year were white women with the second demographic being white men. For this reason, there seems to be a lasting effect of racism on SHAPE America’s institutional structure, as well as dominant groups, in this case white women, benefitting from these racist practices. Conclusions: Teachers of Color are virtually non-existent in SHAPE’s Physical Education Teacher of the Year program. I argue this is problematic for two overarching reasons. From a critical race perspective, SHAPE America’s teacher of the year program is reproducing racial inequities for PE teachers. Second, such racial inequities are tied to larger societal issues. Considering that SHAPE America has recently promoted social justice issues, I finish the paper by making suggestions for the TOY selection process that can promote racial inclusiveness.

Socio-Economic and Racial profile of Medical Students from a Public University in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Abstract: Introduction: There are still many economic and racial barriers for black and indigenous peoples regarding access to a university degree in Brazil. Although Brazil is mistakenly considered a racial democracy, black people, indigenous peoples and those of low social status are the most affected by such difficulties regarding access to the university. Medical schools are traditionally attended by white, wealthy and upper-middle-class groups, although 54% of Brazilians consider themselves to be African descendants. To deal with this scenario, since 2013, 50% of all vacancies in public universities have been reserved for low social classes, indigenous peoples and African descendants. Our objective was to describe the socioeconomic and racial profile of those attending a public medical school in the state of Rio de Janeiro during a five-year period, analyzing the associations between the Brazilian segregationist structure and inclusion policies. Method: A census study was carried out, including all groups that entered the medical school at a public university in the state of Rio de Janeiro between 2013 and 2017. We applied a self-administered questionnaire that addressed social, ethnic, economic and university admission aspects. The data were analyzed by a simple description of the frequencies and by bivariate analysis. Results: The results show that the majority profile is white, with an annual income higher than US$ 8,640, coming from a private school, with financial support from the family, both parents with higher education and no gender difference. As for the inclusion of non-white people into the course, the current quota system has not significantly increased their presence. Conclusion: We conclude that racial inclusion policies subordinated to economic ones seem to be a barrier to the entry of non-whites to medical school, contributing to racial inequality.

Broad-based black economic empowerment and CEO racial representation in South Africa

This paper is an empirical exploration of the effectiveness of racial inclusion policies in South Africa, namely broad-based black economic empowerment (B-BBEE), on the racial composition of corporate leadership in South Africa. Prior perceptions on B-BBEE suggest that the legislation has only benefited a small group of the population which has only led to further economic exclusion across and within racial groupings in South Africa. In this article, the racial composition of corporate leadership among listed entities on the JSE is analysed to establish if employment equity-one of the core elements under B-BBEE has been achieved. The results illustrate that CEO and executive directorship positions are still primarily occupied by white individuals. In addition, the likelihood that a black individual will be a CEO is primarily influenced by whether or not corporate executive directors are white or black. Furthermore, black individuals appear to predominantly occupy non-executive and independent directorship positions, whereas white individuals primarily occupy executive directorship positions. This study therefore contributes to the growing body of research that explores the efficacy of B-BBEE within the corporate sphere in South Africa.

Socio-Economic and Racial profile of Medical Students from a Public University in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Abstract: Introduction: There are still many economic and racial barriers for black and indigenous peoples regarding access to a university degree in Brazil. Although Brazil is mistakenly considered a racial democracy, black people, indigenous peoples and those of low social status are the most affected by such difficulties regarding access to the university. Medical schools are traditionally attended by white, wealthy and upper-middle-class groups, although 54% of Brazilians consider themselves to be African descendants. To deal with this scenario, since 2013, 50% of all vacancies in public universities have been reserved for low social classes, indigenous peoples and African descendants. Our objective was to describe the socioeconomic and racial profile of those attending a public medical school in the state of Rio de Janeiro during a five-year period, analyzing the associations between the Brazilian segregationist structure and inclusion policies. Method: A census study was carried out, including all groups that entered the medical school at a public university in the state of Rio de Janeiro between 2013 and 2017. We applied a self-administered questionnaire that addressed social, ethnic, economic and university admission aspects. The data were analyzed by a simple description of the frequencies and by bivariate analysis. Results: The results show that the majority profile is white, with an annual income higher than US$ 8,640, coming from a private school, with financial support from the family, both parents with higher education and no gender difference. As for the inclusion of non-white people into the course, the current quota system has not significantly increased their presence. Conclusion: We conclude that racial inclusion policies subordinated to economic ones seem to be a barrier to the entry of non-whites to medical school, contributing to racial inequality.

Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) and CEO Racial Representation in South Africa

This paper is an empirical exploration of the effectiveness of racial inclusion policies in South Africa, namely broad-based black economic empowerment (B-BBEE), on the racial composition of corporate leadership in South Africa. Prior perceptions on B-BBEE suggest that the legislation has only benefited a small group of the population which has only led to further economic exclusion across and within racial groupings in South Africa. In this article, the racial composition of corporate leadership among listed entities on the JSE is analysed to establish if employment equity-one of the core elements under B-BBEE has been achieved. The results illustrate that CEO and executive directorship positions are still primarily occupied by white individuals. In addition, the likelihood that a black individual will be a CEO is primarily influenced by whether or not corporate executive directors are white or black. Furthermore, black individuals appear to predominantly occupy non-executive and independent directorship positions, whereas white individuals primarily occupy executive directorship positions. This study therefore contributes to the growing body of research that explores the efficacy of B-BBEE within the corporate sphere in South Africa.

Museumizing Slavery: Living History in Colson Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad

AbstractThis essay examines Colson Whitehead’s novel in relation to the museumizing of slavery that has gained momentum since the 1990s, focusing in particular on the Living History exhibition practice in which the Underground Railroad has played a vital part. Taking as my point of departure Whitehead’s signature move of building narrative worlds based on the logic of literalizing metaphor, I argue that his literal rendering of the Underground Railroad casts the novel as a grotesque tour of the US racial history. Structured as a train ride that transports readers to different historical sites, the novel at once stages and travesties the Living History practice of materializing the past in all its concrete particularity. I argue that Whitehead’s literalizing move also deviates from earlier literary efforts to stage a visceral, affective confrontation with the history of slavery. Responding to the heightened visibility rather than the absence of slavery from public memory, the novel casts into bold relief the historical frameworks (of American freedom stories and up-from-slavery narratives of racial advancement), pedagogical aims (of racial reconciliation and pluralist inclusion), and aesthetic strategies (of affective identification and cathartic confrontation) at play in current commemorations and exhibitions of slavery.

Governing the multicultural city: Europe’s ‘great urban expectations’ facing austerity and resurgent nativism

This article analyses European discourses on ‘optimal’ urban inclusion policies, as they are embodied in EU-sponsored city networking initiatives. Drawing from the scholarships on multiculturalism and urban austerity, it builds an inclusion agendas matrix that identifies four ideal-typical agendas for ethnic and racial inclusion: multicultural, diversity inclusion, community cohesion and neoliberalised diversity. It identifies a shift from group-based to individual-based concerns (mainstreaming) and from a politicised to a depoliticised approach to inclusion (depoliticising). It argues that (a) this double shift should be understood as the result of the mutually reinforcing pressures of nativism and austerity, and (b) inconsistencies in network discourses and policy advice suggest a pragmatic-adaptive logic that challenges simplistic understandings of cities as either (only) sites of resistance or (only) sites of full-blown accommodation of nativist and austerity imperatives.

African Americans in Economics at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Since the Kerner Commission Report of 1968

The campus of the University of Michigan experienced student unrest of the 1960s surrounding the Vietnam war and demands for racial inclusion. How the university, particularly the Department of Economics, responded in the aftermath of the Kerner Commission Report is the focus of this article. Michigan is not unique in producing few Black PhD economists over its history, having graduated 15 Black PhD economists of the more than 1,100 who have graduated from the department to date. Supreme Court decisions and a state ballot initiative halted the progress that was being made by the University to improve student and faculty diversity. Despite this, Michigan is one of only a few economics departments at majority institutions to have been home to several Black economists simultaneously. The fact that this is a notable statistic speaks to the lack of diversity of economics faculties nationwide.

A Culture of Success: Black Alumnae Discussions of the Assets-Based Approach at Spelman College

ABSTRACT Some campuses are exemplars for best practices for racial inclusion in higher education, and they offer a vital opportunity to understand how to better include Black students. This critical life story analysis of Black college alumnae who graduate from a historically Black, women’s institution, Spelman College, demonstrates the importance of fostering success throughout a student’s college experience. The findings suggest that Spelman offered a deliberate and systematic culture of success from the beginning to the end of the women’s experiences offering lessons that could be adapted within other institutional types in order to foster the success of Black students.

Mizzou Missteps

By denying that issues of bias and mistreatment exist and then confronting such issues with disdain, some White Americans enable injustice and abet systems of oppression. Black students at the University of Missouri in fall 2015 had seen this narrative ring true several times. The resulting events, including protests, a hunger strike, and several administrator resignations, cast light on the experience of black students at Mizzou through nationwide media coverage.
 This case study examines three opportunities turned missteps of administrators that exacerbated an already charged, contentious environment: the president’s refusal to acknowledge protestors at a homecoming parade, a too-little-too-late meeting with stakeholders, and the impacts of the football team’s involvement. In a country whose everyday population growth is 90 percent non-white, a greater awareness of the racial inclusion work needed on college campuses today is necessary. I hope my narrative heightens this awareness.

Doing Identity: Power and the Reproduction of Collective Identity in Racially Diverse Congregations

AbstractCongregational identity formation is a challenge for any head clergy. It is particularly challenging for head clergy of racially and ethnically diverse congregations as these leaders occupy positions uniquely situated for destabilizing or instantiating racial hierarchies. Drawing upon the Religious Leadership and Diversity Project (RLDP), this article examines multiracial church pastors’ stories of how they achieve ethnic and racial inclusion in their congregations. We pay particular attention to how these leaders reference and draw upon four contestable cultural worship elements—language, ritual, dance, and music—that operate as primary terrain for collective identity construction. Integrating theories on identity, race, ethnicity, and culture, we take a realistic context-sensitive approach to the nature of how worship works as a bridge, recognizing that cultural markers are not neutral but can simultaneously activate ethno-specific identities in racially and ethnically diverse spaces, instantiating hierarchies of value and thus making worship a potential barrier to the formation of a unified diverse community.

Racial Inclusion in Education: An Australian Context

Racism in various forms exists worldwide. In Australia, racism is inextricably linked to the history of Australian immigrants and early setters. Although the Australian education system has adopted inclusive education, evidence shows several incidents of racial exclusion. With the public education system experiencing an increased cultural diversity in student population, schools are required to develop inclusive education policies. While policies related to disability inclusion have been in practice for many years, only recently has there been an increasing awareness of racial inclusion. This research paper explores the importance of racial inclusion in education by examining the causes and effects of racial exclusion in the Australian education context. This paper considers existing practices at the national level and in schools to explore racial discrimination. It identifies the factors contributing towards racism and proposes a framework employing key strategies at the macro, meso and micro levels to achieve racial inclusion in education. It also suggests opportunities based on research to strengthen the response against racism.

Inequality Versus Inclusion in US Cities

Income inequality is a suboptimal measure of inclusion at the city level. A low level of inequality can reflect the exclusion or displacement of low income residents, or it can reflect a lack of opportunity overall. Using data for 274 U.S. cities for the years 1980, 1990, 2000, and 2010, we create more complete measures of both economic and racial inclusion. We then compare these inclusion measures with the Gini coefficient using a within estimator for cities over time. Results indicate that inequality and inclusion are not highly correlated and often trend in opposite directions. Most concerning is that reductions in income inequality are associated with reductions in the percent and number of residents of color within a city, suggesting that changes in income inequality capture the displacement of residents rather than true improvements to quality of life.

Modest Body Politics: The Commercial and Ideological Intersect of Fat, Black, and Muslim in the Modest Fashion Market and Media

Discrimination and exclusion because of body size and race is endemic in the globalized fashion industry and its media, despite that consumer activism on both fronts has led to some progress in market offer, industry practice, and regimes of representation. That both size and race inequities are present in the Muslim modest fashion industry and media is not surprising; the niche modest fashion industry cross-faith will inevitably reproduce some components of wider societal division and tension. Distinctive is how these often intersecting forms of discrimination are experienced and judged in a fashion industry and media focused on serving—and creating—a multi-ethnic and supra-national consumer demographic defined by Muslim religious identity and cultures. The challenges of fostering size and racial inclusivity demonstrate the extent to which normative modesty ideals are predicated on bodies that are non-“fat” and often non-black. The ways in which large and/or racialized bodies are judged to have failed in achieving preferred versions of modest embodiment reveal wider fault-lines in the affective affiliation to the umma, the imagined global community of Muslim believers.

A BLURRED CASE

AbstractMuch of the pivotal debate concerning the validity of affirmative action is situated in a legal context of defending or challenging claims that there may be broad societal gains from increased diversity. Race-conscious affirmative action policies originally advanced legal sanctions to promote racial equity in the United States. Today, increasingly detached from its historical context, defense or rejection of affirmative action is otherwise upheld to achieve diversity. A “diversity” rationale for affirmative action calls for increasing tolerance of the “other,” reducing negative stereotypes, and moderating prejudice as goals—all objectives that deviate from the former aim of race-targeted inclusion intended to resolve racial discrimination in employment and college admissions. Diversity policy provides a tapered defense for affirmative action, one detached from principles of justice and equity. The current article suggests that, despite the fact that the ostensible benefits of “racial inclusion as diversity” may be the remaining legal prop for affirmative action in the U.S., there is a need to consider whether diversity intrinsically can engender the benefits that affirmative action policy seeks to provide.

Southern Religion and Christian Diversity in the Twentieth Century by Wayne Flynt

Reviewed by: Southern Religion and Christian Diversity in the Twentieth Centuryby Wayne Flynt J. Barry Vaughn Southern Religion and Christian Diversity in the Twentieth Century. By Wayne Flynt. [ Religion and American Culture.] (Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press. 2016. Pp. xiv, 386. $39.95. ISBN 978-0-8173-1908-3.) Southern Religion and Christian Diversity in the Twentieth Centuryis a collection of fifteen essays by Wayne Flynt, distinguished university professor emeritus at Auburn University. Flynt, one of the most important southern historians of the last half of the twentieth century, can boast an impressive collection of honors, including authorship or co-authorship of thirteen books, two nominations for the Pulitzer Prize, and serving as founding editor-in-chief of the online Encyclopedia of Alabama, to mention only a few. Southern Religion and Christian Diversity in the Twentieth Centuryis the fruit of a lifetime of research and thought. Although Flynt asserts that the "thesis" is that "southern religion is more complicated than it seems," this is less a thesis than a theme that runs through these essays. The essays look at southern religion from denominational (Southern Baptists, Methodists, and Presbyterians), geographical (Alabama, Florida, and Appalachia), and topical (social gospel, organized labor, and women) viewpoints. All of these essays are worth reading, pondering, and re-reading, but two stood out even more than the others, illustrate Flynt's theme. The first essay, "Growing up Baptist in Anniston: The Legacy of the Rev. Charles R. Bell, Jr.," is a brief biography of a renegade Baptist pastor. Bell was pastor of Parker Memorial Baptist Church in Anniston, Alabama, from 1932 to 1944. To say the least, Bell exemplified "Christian diversity." During a six-month sabbatical, he met and talked with both Mohandas Gandhi and Japanese Christian leader, Toyohiko Kagawa. Both men profoundly influenced Bell. His visit with Gandhi undoubtedly strengthened Bell's belief in non-violence; from Kagawa Bell acquired a belief in co-operative (some would say socialist) principles. Unlike even many otherwise liberal southern religious leaders, Bell both preached and practiced racial inclusivity. What finally forced Bell to leave Parker Memorial, however, was his refusal to have an American flag in the church's sanctuary. Another essay that stands out is "'A Special Feeling of Closeness:' Mt. Hebron Baptist Church, Leeds, Alabama." This essay (published in 1994) is an exceptionally close study of a small rural church founded in 1819. Like Flynt's essay about the Rev. Charles Bell, this study also usefully "complicates" typical assumptions [End Page 586]about southern religion. The Rev. Fred E. Maxey, a lawyer and former labor negotiator, served as Mt. Hebron's pastor from 1935 to 1945. Maxey "divided men and women into separate groups and talked to them about marriage, relationships, and sex … [teaching them that] God intended sex to be a joyous and wonderful part of life" (p. 229). Maxey "spoke at communist rallies, wrote for the local communist paper, and may have been a party member himself. Older members of the congregation remember Maxey not as a dangerous radical but as a beloved pastor who helped them obtain jobs and ministered to them in their suffering. His efforts for them (and on behalf of unemployed black members of the community) earned him a Ku Klux Klan cross-burning but also rallied his members to a sense of sacred meaning and community" (p. 248). Flynt's scholarship is outstanding, and there is little to criticize in this book. However, because its central concerns are Southern culture and evangelicalism, it would have been helpful to define their main features early in the book. Flynt does offer a definition of evangelicalism in chapter 9 ("One in the Spirit, Many in the Flesh: Southern Evangelicals"), but it is highly idiosyncratic. Flynt identifies five characteristics of evangelicalism: democracy, individualism, the centrality of conversion, emotionalism, and a "preoccupation with original sin and guilt." Most scholars of evangelicalism would add crucicentrism, that is, the centrality of the cross in Christian theology. But most surprising is that Flynt omits the centrality of the Bible. A democratic church polity is by no means universal in evangelical churches, and emotionalism is characteristic of many evangelicals but certainly not all. Flynt might...

Black Lives Matter or All Lives Matter? Color-blindness and Epistemic Injustice*

ABSTRACTThose who take ‘All lives matter’ to oppose ‘Black lives matter’ take the latter to mean something like ‘Only black lives matter.’ Those who regard this exclusionary construal as mistaken hold the error to be due to an ideology of color-blindness. It has further been argued that the ideologically-motivated suppression of racial discourse has resulted in an epistemic injustice, blinding objectors to the fact that ‘Black lives matter’ really means ‘Black lives matter, too’. I will argue that attempts to make sense of this interpretive response in terms of color-blindness are mistaken. As I will discuss, the interpretive debates surrounding the words ‘Black lives matter’ are reminiscent of those surrounding ‘Black Power,’ which unfolded long before color-blindness could be said to have been a prevailing ethos. Critical affirmations such as ‘Black Power’ and ‘Black lives matter’ have proved difficult for many interpreters to understand because of the way that they manifest resistance to white supremacy, eschewing both racial exclusion and racial inclusion (the latter fact being masked by inclusive reconstructions such as ‘Black lives matter, too’). As I argue, however, the critical function of these statements calls into question the applicability of standard accounts of epistemic injustice.

Leadership for Democracy in Challenging Times: Historical Case Studies in the United States and Canada

Purpose: This article focuses on the role of school and district leadership in the development and implementation of reform aimed at increasing racial and religious tolerance. It chronicles the rise of intercultural and democratic citizenship curriculum in three North American sites—Springfield, Massachusetts, Kirkland Lake, Ontario, and San Diego, California—during the 1940s. Research Method: Parallel historical case studies were conducted using traditional historical research methods through the analysis of archival documents, school district memos, school board minutes, and contextualization through relevant secondary source literature. Findings: School and district leaders supported curriculum innovation aimed at prejudice reduction and propaganda analysis, networked and collaborated with community organizations, and used foundation funding to support curriculum and professional development for racial and religious inclusion. Implications: These cases highlight the critical role of leadership to support democracy in the development of partnerships between school and district personnel, community activists, and civic foundations; the establishment of advocacy networks across borders; and the “borrowing” of diversity policies from other school districts, which were adapted to their unique community contexts. This historical study has implications for how current school leaders might “lead for democracy” in challenging times.

College Presidents and Black Student Protests: A Historical Perspective on the Image of Racial Inclusion and the Reality of Exclusion

ABSTRACTThis essay revisits college presidents during the early 1960s to investigate the long history of how academic leaders manage racial unrest on college campuses. Throughout time, the concept of a welcoming and inclusive climate for black students on majority-white campuses has functioned as an illusion alongside the prevailing reality of racism on and off American campuses. In turn, this essay exhibits how political structures, as well as university hierarchy, have shaped academic leaders' approach to social change in higher education. Therefore, this work demonstrates the need to reevaluate higher education history as a lens for understanding the current American sociopolitical context that shapes present-day academic leaders and their challenges of addressing racism on college campuses. In summary, this work renders a richer and more nuanced understanding of the complexities college presidents, students, and campus stakeholders, such as governors and boards of trustees, face to provide equal and meaningful educational opportunities to all students.