Racial Equality Research Articles

The role of White identity in anti‐racist allyship

AbstractAlthough White allies attempt to support racial justice movements, their behaviors can be interpreted as performative rather than genuine by racially minoritized individuals. In the current work, I discuss how White individuals' personal connection to their racial identity and the power it confers—White identity form—shapes their allyship behaviors. Specifically, moving beyond conceptualizations of White identity as centrality, I call for a study of White identity that incorporates power‐relevant ideologies, understanding how White individuals make meaning of their unearned privilege and incorporate it into their self‐concept. I suggest that a power‐cognizant identity form, which involves personally connecting the self to Whiteness and unearned power, is necessary for White individuals to engage in genuine anti‐racist allyship. I discuss White identity measurement issues as well as potential interventions for promoting a power‐cognizant identity form.

Abolitionist Twilights: History, Meaning, and the Fate of Racial Egalitarianism, 1865–1909 by Raymond James Krohn (review)

Abolitionist Twilights: History, Meaning, and the Fate of Racial Egalitarianism, 1865–1909 by Raymond James Krohn (review)

Research as Healing: Reflections of a Teacher Educator of Color on Critical Race Praxis

Framed through the four tenets of Jayakumar and Adamian’s critical race praxis as educational research, this article explores how the Institute for Teachers of Color Committed to Racial Justice, a critical race professional development space, was supportive of the racial literacy growth and well-being of K-12 teachers of Color. The author additionally engages in a process of autoethnographic reflection to show how engaging in research and praxis in this way was also healing to her as a teacher educator of Color, helping her to mitigate the overwhelming whiteness of teacher education and advance racial justice in policy and practice.

A Research-Practice Partnership to Develop the R-CITY Multi-Component, Equity-Focused Social–Emotional Learning Intervention

There is growing interest in the integration of social–emotional learning (SEL) and equity approaches in schools, yet systematic research on how to blend these two frameworks is limited. In this article, we describe the process by which a research-practice partnership (RPP) collaborated to iteratively co-create a multi-component equity-focused SEL preventive intervention in the context of a politically charged landscape related to the ‘dual pandemics’ of racial injustice and COVID-19 in the early 2020s. We conducted a document review of informal data sources (e.g., meeting minutes, correspondence) and analyses of formal data sources (i.e., teacher interviews, student focus groups) to describe how we overcame challenges to form an RPP, to demonstrate our collaborative intervention development efforts, and to assess feedback on the contextual appropriateness of the intervention. We discuss lessons learned from our partnership efforts and reflect on future directions for RPP-driven work to advance equity-focused SEL in K-12 public schools.

Black racial identity and engagement during Black Lives Matter 2020: The role of age and multiracial status.

The social category of race plays an important role in how people navigate their identities and social worlds, especially in societies where racial injustice is salient. The present study considers the racial identity experiences of Multiracial and monoracial Black adults in the United States during a race-salient moment: the 2020 Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement. Using survey data collected in the fall of 2020, our study seeks to understand racial identity and activism experiences among age-diverse monoracial and Multiracial Black people during BLM 2020. Participants were 183 Black adults in the United States (73 Multiracial, 110 monoracial). Regressions were conducted to examine (a) how identity exploration and commitment differed by age and by Multiracial status during a time of heightened racial salience, and (b) how identity exploration and commitment was associated with BLM engagement. We found that Multiracial and monoracial individuals engage with racial identity differently across age groups, reflecting their different relationships with dominant societal narratives of race. We also found positive associations between racial identity and BLM engagement regardless of participants' Multiracial status or age. While our findings did underscore several commonalities across Multiracial and monoracial Black people, they also indicated a need to revisit the relevance of established (mono)racial identity development models for Multiracial individuals, especially outside of adolescence and young adulthood. Revisiting previous models is critical to engage with the m(ai)cro process of racial identity and how the cultural context of anti-Blackness and monoracism shapes individual development across the life course. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Heart on a Sleeve: An Examination of Emotions on Race Subjects in Anti-Oppressive Educational Leadership and Policy Studies

ABSTRACT Attention to leadership matters because leaders often set the tone and agenda for how academic learning occurs, is viewed, and gets valued. These agendas are influenced by social matters that turn political in conflict involving anger and sadness. Yet, emotions are not analyzed in educational leadership scholarship concerning anti-oppression and specifically race and racism subjects. As such, concerns about racial justice leadership in the current political and policy milieu warrants closely examining the role of emotion in leadership. Inspired by critical theoretical methodologies, this essay brings narrative and emotion theories in education to bear on political and policy subjects in leadership and policy, particularly those on race. The objective is to address emotion as it happens in a narrative about political and policy subjects generally, and particularly that of race and racism. This theoretical analysis demonstrates that emotions related to race matters in leadership and policy are a key. Based on this reality, advancing anti-oppressive educational leadership and policy necessitates bringing attention to a grossly neglected subject—emotion. This documentation and theoretical emotion analysis is a novel shift in how to mitigate the occupational burnout that happens during anti-oppressive education in educational leadership and policy on race subjects.

Community-engaged randomised controlled trial to disseminate COVID-19 vaccine-related information and increase uptake among Black individuals in two US cities with rheumatic conditions.

Inequities in COVID-19 infection and vaccine uptake among historically marginalised racial and ethnic groups in the USA persist. Individuals with rheumatic conditions, especially those who are immunocompromised, are especially vulnerable to severe infection, with significant racialised inequities in infection outcomes and in vaccine uptake. Structural racism, historical injustices and misinformation engender racial and ethnic inequities in vaccine uptake. The Popular Opinion Lleader (POL) model, a community-based intervention that trains trusted community leaders to disseminate health information to their social network members (eg, friends, family and neighbours), has been shown to reduce stigma and improve care-seeking behaviours. This is a community-based cluster randomised controlled trial led by a team of community and academic partners to compare the efficacy of training POLs with rheumatic or musculoskeletal conditions using a curriculum embedded with a racial justice vs a biomedical framework to increase COVID-19 vaccine uptake and reduce vaccine hesitancy. This trial began recruitment in February 2024 in Boston, Massachusetts and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Eligible POLs are English-speaking adults who identify as Black and/or of African descent, have a diagnosis of a rheumatic or musculoskeletal condition and have received >=1 COVID-19 vaccine after 31 August 2022. POLs will be randomised to a 6-module virtual educational training; the COVID-19 and vaccine-related content will be the same for both groups however the framing for arm 1 will be with a racial justice lens and for arm 2, a biomedical preventative care-focused lens. Following the training, POLs will disseminate the information they learned to 12-16 social network members who have not received the most recent COVID-19 vaccine, over 4 weeks. The trial's primary outcome is social network member COVID-19 vaccine uptake, which will be compared between intervention arms. This trial has ethical approval in the USA. This has been approved by the Mass General Brigham Institutional Review Board (IRB, 2023P000686), the Northwestern University IRB (STU00219053), the Boston University/Boston Medical Center IRB (H-43857) and the Boston Children's Hospital IRB (P00045404). Results will be published in a publicly accessible peer-reviewed journal. NCT05822219.

Influence of Historical Events on American Literature of the 21st Century

Purpose: The aim of the study was to assess the influence of historical events on American literature of the 21st century. Materials and Methods: This study adopted a desk methodology. A desk study research design is commonly known as secondary data collection. This is basically collecting data from existing resources preferably because of its low cost advantage as compared to a field research. Our current study looked into already published studies and reports as the data was easily accessed through online journals and libraries. Findings: The terrorist attacks marked a significant turning point, inspiring a wave of literature that grapples with themes of loss, trauma, and the complexities of patriotism. This era saw the rise of novels, memoirs, and poems that explore the personal and collective impact of the event, such as Don DeLillo's "Falling Man" and Jonathan Safran Foer's "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close." Additionally, the economic downturn of 2008 influenced a body of work that critiques capitalism and explores themes of financial instability and inequality, exemplified by novels like John Lanchester's "Capital" and Jess Walter's "The Financial Lives of the Poets." The rise of social movements, such as Black Lives Matter and #MeToo, has significantly shaped contemporary American literature, prompting a surge in works addressing racial injustice, gender equality, and social activism. Authors like Ta-Nehisi Coates with "Between the World and Me" and Angie Thomas with "The Hate U Give" provide powerful narratives that reflect the ongoing struggle for civil rights and social justice. Implications to Theory, Practice and Policy: Historical materialism, trauma theory and cultural theory may be used to anchor future studies on assessing the influence of historical events on American literature of the 21st century. Encouraging the inclusion of diverse voices and perspectives in literary production and academic studies is essential. Government and private institutions should provide funding and grants specifically aimed at supporting literary works that address significant historical events.

Indonesian Education Policy and Management in Resolving Social Disaster

Indonesia, an archipelagic nation rich in natural resources, religious variety, and ethnic diversity, faces social complexities due to these diversities. Social disputes often arise from racial, religious, and social justice disparities, as well as resource competition. This research employs a descriptive qualitative approach to explore how education can prevent and resolve conflicts by promoting diversity, tolerance, and peace. By analyzing community dynamics through literature studies and theories such as the Explanatory Theory and Peace Education Theory, the study aims to provide new insights into educational management techniques and policies for conflict prevention and resolution. Findings indicate that politics, religion, and ethnicity often lead to social strife in Indonesia. Peace education, through inclusive curricula and teacher training, is recommended as an effective solution. Effective educational management requires community involvement, continual assessment, cross-sector cooperation, and adaptability to regional challenges. Thus, education is posited as a primary tool for fostering a just and peaceful society in Indonesia.

Understanding Racism and the Role of Identity Politics in Anti-Racism Movements in America

The matter of racism is a complex issue concerning various humanities problems such as inequality in human rights, unfair treatment and unequal access to material resources. This dilemma has existed in various multicultural communities, for example America, where racial diversity is directly proportional to racist crime, which is among the highest in the world. According to The FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program, the number of hate crimes with racial or ethnic-related motivation accounts for 60 percent of incidents occured in 2020 in Ameria. The fight against racial injustice is a challenging battle that demands long-term involvement and systematic change, starting from both the advocates and the community. Therefore, strategic goals and methods are essential to providing effective campaigns against racial discrimination. In this case, advocates and leaders must be aware of the challenges that lead to the ineffectiveness of current anti-racism movements and increase the quality of those advocating campaigns. Using qualitative methods, this research study seeks to answer that problem through the investigation of the origin and definition of racism with the aim of further understanding the issue and defining the cause of ethnic inequality. Moreover, analysis of different types of racism and colour-blind theories is also provided, which helps determine the outcome and long-term strategy for improved campaign organization. Combating against racism is a complex process that can only be influential if campaign leaders, politicians and activists come up with a productive and sustainable strategy that can oversee the ultimate goal of promoting race equality.

Anti-racist beauty micro-enterprises: Black women’s subversive entrepreneurship in Cali, Colombia

ABSTRACT This paper explores how Black women entrepreneurs in Cali, Colombia confront racism and sexism, as they engage in the expanding neoliberal beauty market. We argue that anti-racist entrepreneurial experiences in Cali are shaped by four interconnected processes: First, changes in gender and development policies, aligned with inclusive neoliberal development projects. Second, the limitations of state neoliberal multicultural policies, which has made activists aware of the need to address racism and sexism. Third, activist’s appropriation of the intersectional turn, allowing them to recognize articulations between racism, classism and sexism. Fourth, the adoption of anti-neoliberal discourses supporting distributive and solidarity practices. Our analysis suggests that while entrepreneurial anti-racist actions do not generate radical or permanent changes in the beauty industry, they do have material and symbolic effects in Black women’s experiences of racial justice.

#SouthAsians4BlackLives: racial positionality in digital allyship and the prospects for cross-racial solidarity for racial justice in the USA

ABSTRACT The presence of multiple racial groups was a key feature of Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests in 2020. This study investigates racial positionalities embedded in expressions of digital allyship with BLM on Instagram by South Asians in the U.S.A. and the prospects for cross-racial solidarity for racial justice. Our computational network analysis of Instagram posts using variations of the hashtag #sa4bl over a six-month period reveals that South Asian activists, influencers and everyday users expressed allyship; however, they formed distinct Instagram communities signalling multiple constructions of allyship. Qualitative analysis indicates two distinct repertoires of allyship; one focussed on consciousness-raising within South Asian communities, and the other on direct expression of allyship with BLM. These repertoires point to the presence of both ethnic and racial positionalities in South Asian digital allyship, reflecting divergent interests based on intersecting identities. Our findings complicate recent evaluations of cross-racial allyship for racial justice amongst South Asian Americans.

An Analysis of the Time Travel Device for Exploring Black-White Race Relations in Octavia E. Butler’s Kindred

The thesis focuses on Octavia E. Butler’s novel Kindred and employs close reading and textual analysis to explore the depiction of black-white race relations through the time travel device. It points out that Butler cleverly uses the method of temporal rescue to break the “grandmother paradox.” The dual-time setting allows Dana, while saving her white ancestors, to witness the harsh realities faced by her African American ancestors in American history. On this basis, the thesis reveals and critiques the historical roots of racial issues, highlighting the physiological and psychological experiences of racial injustice endured by African Americans, as well as the persistence and improvement of the legacy of slavery. It emphasizes the importance of African Americans confronting history to break the cycle of oppression and shape a more equitable future.

Substance Use Among African American College Students: Testing the Theory of African American Offending

Background: General criminological theories contend that African Americans’ substance use is due to overexposure to criminological risk factors. However, some scholars suggest that racial injustices (i.e., racial discrimination and criminal justice injustices) and racial socialization practices, which includes religiosity (church involvement), impact African American substance use. Objective: Drawing on Unnever and Gabbidon’s theory of African American offending, which considers racial injustices and racial socialization when explaining African American offending, the current research examined African American college students’ substance use behavior. Methods: African American college students (n = 131) completed an online and anonymous survey measuring substance use, criminal justice injustices, racial discrimination, racial socialization, religiosity, negative emotions, and school bonds. Results: African American college students who reported marijuana use had less confidence in the police and those who engaged in heavy/binge drinking reported more negative emotions and negative encounters with the police. Additionally, negative police encounters and racial socialization practices increased the odds of heavy/binge drinking, whereas religiosity decreased the odds of heavy/binge drinking. Conclusion: These results suggest that a relationship exists among criminal justice injustices, perceived racial bias, racial socialization, religiosity, and African American college students’ substance use. As such, the current research provides partial support for the Theory of African American Offending while demonstrating the need to consider racial experiences when examining African American substance use.

A Path Toward Racial Justice in Education: Anti-Racist Policy Decision Making in School Districts

The U.S. education system has been a critical site in the nation’s ongoing fight for racial equity. Yet, despite many attempts to promote equity within and across schools, efforts fall short in a system designed to uphold norms rooted in whiteness and white supremacy. We need anti-racist educational leaders who can identify and push back at the racial bias embedded in educational policies. Through a research-practice partnership with a Midwestern high school, we sought to understand how an anti-racist policy decision-making protocol can be used to redress inequitable policies to be racially just. The anti-racist policy decision-making protocol promotes social justice by empowering school practitioners to become policy agents. Implications from our findings point to the need for school practitioners to be critically introspective and identify and directly address the politics of whiteness that can ensue when working in partnership to do anti-racist policy change.

Making Space for the Maritorio: Raizal Dispossession and the Geopoetic Imagination in the San Andrés Archipelago

AbstractDrawing in part on the work of Édouard Glissant, this article explores how the Raizal population of the San Andrés Archipelago in the Caribbean mobilises the concept of maritorio as an archipelagic geopoetic vessel with emancipatory potential. This concept disrupts dominant land/sea binaries that result from and are rooted in geopolitical mechanisms and colonial fantasies. The San Andrés Archipelago is administratively and politically part of Colombia, but the Raizal people of the Archipelago share a long colonial and postcolonial history with Black Creole people elsewhere in the Anglophone Caribbean, especially the Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua, based on diverse forms of economic, familial, and cultural exchange and marine mobilities. For many years, the status of the Archipelago was the basis of a dispute between Nicaragua and Colombia at the International Court of Justice, who ruled in 2012 that the islands were in fact Colombian while Nicaragua gained 75,000 km2 of sea. This ruling was devastating for the Raizales, fragmenting their maritorio and further thwarting Black mobilities and cultural exchange across the region. Legal‐geopolitical dislocations applied to the islands and the sea exacerbated structural conditions of racial and environmental injustice, while geopoetic responses by Raizal people to this state of affairs serve to confront colonial dispossession, ecological damage, and the ideological fixities of the Eurocentric nation‐state.

Democracy’s End: Far-Right Fundamentalism and the Rhetoric of R. J. Rushdoony

ABSTRACT R. J. Rushdoony was the founder of the “Christian Reconstructionist” movement. This movement combines Neo-Calvinism, economic libertarianism, and optimistic apocalypticism, envisioning the collapse of democratic society paving the way for a Christian theocratic order. Beginning in the 1960s, Rushdoony’s work helped shape White Christian conservative political activism and postdesegregation school-choice rhetoric. His rhetoric sheds light on the strategies of fundamentalists, Christian nationalists, and far-right activists today. As attacks on reproductive and racial justice; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, intersex, asexual or ally, and other sexual and gender minorities (LGBTQIA+) equality; voting rights; and public education become normalized, it is crucial for scholars to examine Rushdoony’s impact on current political discourse and confront the implications of his arguments.

Motherhood, Trauma and Justice: A Critical Look at Black Women's Reentry Pathways

Objectives: This article seeks to investigate the particular problems that Black mothers with justice involvement experience upon reentry and to offer a more effective framework for their assistance. Hypothesis: Traditional reentry frameworks fail to address the complexity that emerges from the combination of race, gender, and trauma experienced by Black mothers. Methods: The article conducts a critical intersectional analysis using Critical Race Theory (CRT), Black Feminist Theory (BFT), and Trauma-Informed Care (TIC). This study analyzes previous research and combines the findings from each framework. Results: The research demonstrates three essential things: that systemic racism in the criminal justice system disproportionately imprisons Black women, contributing to unfavorable reentry experiences; that Black women show perseverance and opposition to carceral regimes, but their unique perspectives and agency are frequently left unattended; and that trauma is common among Black women and has an immense impact on their reentry experiences. The requirement for trauma-informed support programs is vital. Conclusion: Based on the findings, a re-conceptualized reintegration support framework is presented, focusing on racial justice, gender equality, and the well-being of Black women and their families.

“We are a part of the problem they protest”: judges, representation and racial justice statements

ABSTRACT In the wake of George Floyd’s murder in May 2020, some state supreme courts decided to issue public comments to address disparities in racial justice, while others did not. We explain the decision to issue these voluntary statements as a strategic choice by state supreme court justices motivated by their retention audience and state demography. We demonstrate that state supreme courts appear responsive to their state audience when deciding to issue statements, specifically based on the number of racial justice protests by state residents and the liberalism of their state. Furthermore, state judicial retention systems and race identity in the public and on the state supreme court appear to influence word choice and sentiment in the racial justice statements issued. This extends understanding of motivations behind judges’ decisions and behavior in extra-judicial settings beyond the courtroom.

Anti-Racism, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Perspectives Across the Explicit Curriculum: Insights and Efforts from a School of Social Work

ABSTRACT Principles of diversity and difference are and have historically been, essential to social work education. However, preparing students with the knowledge, awareness, and skills of anti-racist and anti-oppressive practices has been less central in social work education until recently. In June 2022, the Council on Social Work Education issued new Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards (EPAS) guidelines. Most notable was the addition of EPAS 2.0, requiring social work programs to integrate anti-racism, diversity, equity, and inclusion (ADEI) approaches throughout social work programs’ context and learning environment. Responding to EPAS 2022 and our program’s commitment to social and racial justice, this article presents our school’s process for critically assessing and revising how our explicit curriculum integrates critical ADEI perspectives. We highlight the findings from a rapid scoping review of ADEI content in the social work literature. Additionally, we discuss the revisions and recommendations used in our school to ensure the intentional integration of ADEI critical perspectives in our curriculum and the future efforts our school is making to support ADEI perspectives.