Institutional Racism Research Articles

Preparing Anti-Racist Educators through Critical Transformative Emotional Praxis

In settler-colonial countries like Canada, Whiteness—the customs, beliefs, values, and so on that comprise White culture—is the standard to which all others are compared. Whiteness is woven into the very fabric of our society, working to uphold White supremacy and systemic racism. Education, as part of this system, is also fraught with Whiteness, and its deleterious effects are evident in the persistent inequities experienced by students of Colour. Dismantling Whiteness in education is a daunting task, but one promising solution is to develop anti-racist educators capable of embodying and enacting culturally responsive and sustaining pedagogies. However, this requires directly addressing Whiteness in teacher education programs, an endeavour that has proven challenging. As an entry into this topic, this paper explores Whiteness writ large including how it is studied both broadly and within the field of education. Then, approaches to addressing Whiteness in teacher education are reviewed, including what is and is not working. Next, other approaches to teacher education that could ameliorate current efforts to develop anti-racist educators are introduced: transformative learning and critical emotional praxis. Finally, these are woven together in a theory of change to address Whiteness in teacher education and support preservice teachers’ anti-racist development.

The Camden Study-A Pregnancy Cohort Study of Pregnancy Complications and Birth Outcomes in Camden, New Jersey, USA.

Pregnancy is a unique stage of the life course characterized by trade-offs between the nutritional, immune, and metabolic needs of the mother and fetus. The Camden Study was originally initiated to examine nutritional status, growth, and birth outcomes in adolescent pregnancies and expanded to study dietary and molecular predictors of pregnancy complications and birth outcomes in young women. From 1985-2006, 4765 pregnant participants aged 12 years and older were recruited from Camden, NJ, one of the poorest cities in the US. The cohort reflects a population under-represented in perinatal cohort studies (45% Hispanic, 38% non-Hispanic Black, 17% White participants; 98% using Medicaid in pregnancy). Study visits, including questionnaires, dietary assessments, and biospecimen collection, occurred in early and late pregnancy as well as at delivery. Medical records were abstracted, and a subset of mothers and infants participated in a six-week postpartum visit. Findings from the Camden Study have added to the understanding of adolescent and young adult maternal health and perinatal outcomes. These include associations of adolescent linear growth while pregnant with smaller neonatal birth size, low dietary zinc intake in early pregnancy with increased risk of delivery <33 gestational weeks, and higher circulating fatty acid levels with greater insulin resistance. More recent analyses have begun to unpack the biochemical pathways in pregnancy that may be shaped by race as an indicator of systemic racism. The Camden Study data and biorepositories are well-positioned to support future research aimed at better understanding perinatal health in under-represented women and infants. Linkages to subsequent health and administrative records and the potential for recontacting participants over 18-39 years after initial participation may provide key insights into the trajectories of maternal and child health across the life course.

Proposing an Individual-in-Contexts Model for Reimagining Suicide Screening, Assessment, and Intervention in Black Communities

Suicidality affects millions of people in the United States every year. Despite its pervasiveness, suicidality often impacts minoritized communities disproportionately. For example, Black communities, with historically low suicidality rates, have experienced significant increases in deaths by suicide in the last two decades. Such increases have occurred in unique and complex individual and contextual relationships such as historical trauma, racialized ecological injustices, structural and institutional racism, resource-deprived communities, forced family separation through over-incarceration, interpersonal discrimination, and internalized shame. While traditional psychiatric, psychological, and public health approaches have undoubtedly prevented some suicides, these fields of study often overlook or obscure the interconnections between upstream, oppressive systemic dynamics and downstream, individual-level factors that uniquely contribute to suicidality in Black communities. To address these oversights and limitations, and to re-imagine human services professionals’ suicide screening, assessment, and intervention with Black communities, The Individual-in-Contexts Model (ICM) is offered. This model integrates critical, ecological, contextual, and Black feminist scholarship frameworks, and provides rationale for specific human services research, practice, and policy recommendations.

RACISM AGAINST INDIGENOUS PEOPLE AND AFRO-DESCENDANTS IN SWEDEN, BRAZIL, AND MEXICO

This article explores how racism and stigmatizing discourses and practices are articulated and normalized in colonizer and colonized countries. The research compares the cases of Sweden, Brazil, and Mexico from a combination of frameworks -- the Critical Race Theory (Walton, 2019; Ansley, 1997), the neo-Marxist concept of institutional racism and racialization (Cole, 2016 and 2020), and a decolonial framework and methodology (Fanon, 1968; Tynan and Bishop, 2022). Racism has been structural and systemic in Latin American societies since colonization when religious and royal authorities legitimated Indigenous and African slavery in the colonies. After independence, modern free republics converted religious legitimation of racism in pseudoscientific Eugenics and the invention of human races and racism continue oppressing Indigenous and African descendants. Currently structural racism continues to be the normal behavior in Western societies, not an exception. The objective of this research is to identify and compare racism reveled in behaviors and the speeches behind them in two colonized societies – Brazil and Mexico – and Sweden, a colonizing society. The question orienting the comparative research is how and in which ways racism and stigmatizing discourses and practices are articulated and normalized in colonizer and colonized countries. Understanding the main persistent trends in these societies on eugenic somatic characteristics such as hair type, body part sizes (e.g. head), as well as other collective social and religious symbols, behaviors, attitudes and cultural customs, used as discriminatory markers. The qualitative methodology includes 69 interviews and six focus groups in the three countries. Results were analyzed form a critical reflexivity about how colonialism and eugenics impact the lived experiences and realities of both groups in colonized and colonizer countries, through historic and current practices. racism has the same routes of functioning, structuring unequal relationships, distortions in the perception of the other, marginalization and suffering.

Centering Race in Career Development: A Critical Review of Career Scholarship and Practice

In response to calls for more attention to social justice in career development, many career professionals have undertaken equity-driven research and practice. Yet, direct attention to race and racism continues to represent a gap in the work of career vocational scholars and practitioners. This article reviews research on past and present links between race and work, along with the evolution of attention to racial equity. It highlights, in particular, the underrepresentation of Black, Indigenous, and Professionals of Color perspectives in the profession, and the ways in which career scholars and practitioners have evaded direct attention to systemic racism. The concepts of racial capitalism and representative bureaucracy, and their implications for the racial justice aims of the profession, are discussed. We provide recommendations for transforming career development professional associations into anti-racist organizations that can lead racial equity action in career development.

Systemic discrimination and racism mitigation in U.S. health professions graduate education: a scoping review protocol

Objective This protocol describes methods of collecting and analyzing evidence for a Scoping Review, describing effective interventions that redress systemic discrimination and mitigate racism in U.S. health professions graduate education. Introduction Physical Therapy leaders have committed to creating anti-racist and anti-bias policies, programming, and actions that will support equity, diversity, and inclusion in academic programs. Best practices can be informed by an analysis of currently available evidence. Methods The scoping review will follow JBI methodology and the PRISMA-ScR extension. Databases will include MEDLINE PubMed, SportDiscus, Web of Science, PAIS Index, Google Scholar, and Thesis and Dissertations. Data will be organized within a policy framework (i.e. policy, standard, guideline, or procedure), as well as conceptual layer (Culture & Climate, Access & Advancement, Faculty/Clinician Education & Training, and Student/Trainee Education and Training). Dissemination The published Scoping Review will inform best practices to address systemic discrimination and racism within U.S. health professions education.

Adaptive politics, or countering the myth of German transformation after 1945

Abstract International Relations (IR) accounts of the post–World War II international order often claim that after its defeat, Germany ‘transformed’ from a fascist, militaristic, and racist state into a model liberal democracy, facilitating its full rehabilitation and integration into Western institutions and alliances. Yet a closer examination of post-war German domestic and international politics challenges this account: denazification was widely reviled, survivors faced ongoing persecution, and a retooled antisemitism asserted itself in international diplomacy. This article offers the concept of adaptive politics to capture how collectively held beliefs, identities, policies, and conduct travel across incisive political events like defeat in war, occupation, and genocide, outlining the complex concurrence of continuity, adaptation, and change in their aftermath. Drawing on theories of sovereignty, biopolitics, racism, and antisemitism, the article tracks the unfolding of West German adaptive politics in the immediate post-war period, focusing on efforts to exonerate perpetrators, modifications of racism and antisemitism, and the role of the trauma diagnosis in debilitating survivors. By sanitising this history, IR scholarship positions the post-war liberal international order, and the international politics of the West more broadly, as entirely disconnected from the disordered conduct associated with Nazism.

The counternarrative in early Pynchon: Race and power in “The Secret Integration”

AbstractThe issue of race and power in “The Secret Integration” requires re‐examination. Politically oriented readers have characterized the plot as forms of alignment with racism and segregation, whereas readers focusing on the esthetics and development of the authorship have to some degree recognized the role of the counternarrative in this early short story. What is at stake in the debate is the function of Pynchon's textual strategies of ambiguity and unreliable narration, and the significance of the text in relation to the wider authorship. This essay maintains that the story signals counternarratives to systemic racism and power on the plot, discourse, and thematic level. Pynchon's text not only makes resistance to racist and segregationist worldviews a prominent feature of the discourse and the reading process but also locates tension between openness and narrow‐mindedness among the main characters, at the thematic and plot levels. This essay demonstrates how “The Secret Integration” moves from modes of non‐conformism so prevalent in Pynchon's early short stories to a mode of counterhistory of fundamental importance to the later work.

The Influence of Critical Race Theory on the Contemporary Ideological Divide in the USA

The article is devoted to the study of the influence of the academic movement represented by supporters of Critical Race Theory (CRT) on the development of modern American society. The paper examines the ideological origins of CRT, rooted in the legacy of the Frankfurt School. The author pays special attention to the consideration of the most significant concepts of CRT, based on the assertion of systematic discrimination against racial and ethnic minorities in the United States, which can only be overcome with the help of radical sociocultural and legal changes. The paper analyzes the consequences of the influence of CRT on the American education system, as an area that was directly exposed to the practical influence of its concepts. Finally, the article demonstrates the transition of disputes regarding CRT to the political plane, in conditions where the Republican Party views its spread as a vital threat to the traditional foundations of American society.

Communicating and Extending Lessons Learned on Teaching Difficult Topics in a Social Studies Methods Course

ABSTRACT Today’s teachers tend to avoid addressing controversial topics like systemic racism in their classrooms for a variety of reasons, including fear of pushback from parents, and in some states, laws that ban the teaching of certain narratives. Using self-study, I examined how I prepared for, taught, and reflected on race-related topics integrated into my social studies methods class. Beyond my discomfort, challenges included students who were largely disinterested, conservative students, and tokenism. At the 2024 Biennial Castle Conference, I presented my research and engaged in numerous substantive conversations about my research and practice with colleagues from across the globe. Based on peer recommendations from the Castle Conference, I taught my studies methods course in the Fall of 2024 with a greater commitment to fostering my students’ abilities to embrace difficult conversations. Through learning several conversation models and practicing them with their peers, my students learned how to better navigate controversial topics in their own lives, as well as how to teach their future students to engage in difficult conversations to promote civic discourse.

Behavioral interventions for Black male students: A systematic review.

Educators use behavioral interventions to help children with behavioral concerns in school settings. Research on these interventions has shown that they can be effective in reducing concerning behaviors in students of different ages, educational settings, and behavioral topographies. However, Black male students continue to be disproportionately punished in schools. Although various factors (e.g., systemic racism) likely contributed to this issue, a review of the research participants of evidence-based interventions reported by the What Works Clearinghouse found a lack of representation of Black children in the studies. Without research on the effectiveness of interventions for Black male students, educators and researchers may perpetuate the current problem. This necessitates examining their representation in such research to inform effective behavioral interventions at schools. The criteria for inclusion were as follows: (a) journal articles and unpublished dissertations or theses, (b) participants who were children aged 3-18 years, (c) interventions targeting behavioral modification to reduce problem behaviors, (d) studies conducted in school settings, and (e) research utilizing single-subject designs. The results of the review included 15 studies with a total of 34 Black male participants. Of the studies reviewed, the majority were not function-based and did not meet the What Works Clearinghouse's design standards without reservations. Limitations and practical implications within a cultural context are also discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Changes in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Activities of Family Medicine Departments.

Institutional racism causes worse health outcomes for patients of racial/ethnic minority groups via limited access to health care, disparities in quality of care delivered, and lack of physician diversity. Increased attention to racism in 2020 led many medical institutions to examine their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts. In the context of increased national attention to health equity, this study sought to investigate the current status of DEI infrastructure by evaluating leadership and support related to DEI in family medicine departments in 2020 and 2021. We analyzed department and chair characteristics as well as departmental DEI infrastructure (ie, leadership and actions) from Association of Departments of Family Medicine survey data in 2020 (data collected from June to September 2020) and 2021 (data collected from September to December 2021). We performed multiple regression analyses to evaluate whether department characteristics or specific DEI activities were associated with increased DEI infrastructure in 2021 compared to 2020. Of the 165 department chairs sent the survey in both 2020 and 2021, 56 (33.9%) responded both years. Departments with a designated DEI leader increased from 42.9% in 2020 to 60.7% in 2021, but about 40% of departments lacked key supports for this position (ie, funding, staff support, and a pathway for advancement). Regression analysis did not demonstrate associations between independent variables and three measures of departmental DEI activities. This study demonstrates that designated leadership for DEI work increased in family medicine departments between 2020 and 2021.

Human dignity: a framework to understand and respond to COVID’s disproportionate effect on vulnerable populations

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic and the increased emphasis on recognizing and dismantling systemic racism provided an opportunity to use the human dignity framework for a small-group workshop during the 2020 and 2021 UNM School of Medicine orientation. The objective was to see if this framework effectively taught students about Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) and caring for vulnerable populations, locally and globally. Methods: In a small-group setting, we introduced the concept of human dignity and then applied this through two case studies. We surveyed students following the session. Results: Post-session evaluations reflect increased students’ self-reported understanding of social determinants, exposure disparities that may affect one’s risk of contracting COVID-19, and their confidence that students and clinicians can significantly impact addressing SDOH for vulnerable populations. The course was also influential in helping students feel comfortable with their peers and served as a welcome to the medical school. Discussion: The human dignity framework effectively taught students about the social determinants of health and caring for vulnerable populations. This moved us away from politicized realms and into a constructive learning environment useful for medical education and global health education far beyond the pandemic.

“Does My Voice Count?”

The imbrication of depth psychology, textual genealogy, and Postcolonial Studies has not received much attention when healing trauma caused by slavery, colonization, and neocolonialism in the Caribbean. However, the white Trinidadian British author Monique Roffey, who was in Jungian analysis for many years, explores the efficacy of reconfigured myth in recuperating indigenous memory in her novel, The Mermaid of Black Conch (2020). Foregrounding Adrian del Valle’s Cuban version of the oral Taíno (Aycayia) myth from Tradiciones y Leyendas de Cienfuegos (1919), Roffey’s novel re-imagines the representation of patriarchal gender relations by empowering the mermaid through self-determined, conscious sexuality and turning the male gaze through relatedness. At the same time, however, the novel problematizes woman-on-woman envy, jealousy, and implication in androcentric power structures to show the limits of self-realization due to systemic racism. Thus, the novel calls for a reconsideration of psychological growth across gender and color lines in a trans-Caribbean context and beyond.

Second-Class Animals: Systematic Discrimination of Farm Animals in German Biology Textbooks

ABSTRACT Nonhuman animals are perceived differently depending on their relative use for humans. While companion animals are anthropomorphized and assigned a high moral status, farm animals often do not receive such consideration. To investigate the development of these differing perceptions, we evaluated the depiction of farm and companion animals in German biology textbooks to identify and analyze inherent biases across nonhuman animal species. The varying moral considerations and treatment of nonhuman animals are solely determined by their species membership, reflecting a broader collective orientation toward nonhuman animals referred to as speciesism. Analyzing 35 German biology textbooks, we investigated whether the portrayal of companion animals (dogs and cats) versus farm animals (pigs, cows, and chickens) differentiates between them, manifesting in companion animal speciesism and belief in the emotional and cognitive capacities of animals (belief in animal mind). We developed a set of categories and examined differences in the frequencies of sentence allocation between companion animals and farm animals to test whether speciesism is embedded in German educational materials. The results of our tests indicate significant biases in the representation of companion and farm animals in German biology textbooks. Specifically, companion animals are attributed significantly greater intrinsic value (χ 2 = 102.36, p < 0.001, φ = 0.152), concern (χ 2 = 20.91, p < 0.001, φ = 0.069), and belief in animal mind (χ 2 = 351.22, p < 0.001, φ = 0.269) compared with farm animals. These findings expose speciesist bias in textbooks, where companion animals are portrayed more favorably, while farm animals are depicted with indifference or as mere resources. This raises critical questions about perspectives on nonhuman animals and underscores the need to reevaluate their portrayal in educational materials.

JUSTIÇA RESTAURATIVA PARA ADOLESCENTES EM CONFLITO COM A LEI: UMA ANÁLISE DO RACISMO INSTITUCIONAL E O PAPEL TRANSFORMADOR DA EDUCAÇÃO.

This study aims to explore restorative justice as an alternative to the traditional criminal justice system, focusing on the reality of adolescents in conflict with the law. We analyze how social and economic factors such as poverty, lack of access to education, social exclusion, and institutional racism influence the delinquent behavior of these young people. To support the discussion, we draw on the contributions of Silvio Luiz de Almeida, who, in Racismo Estrutural (2020), demonstrates how racism is embedded in institutions and directly impacts the lives of vulnerable youth, and Darcy Ribeiro, whose works reveal how historical and social exclusions have shaped inequalities in Brazil. The research is also based on the guidelines of the Statute of the Child and Adolescent and Law No. 12,594/2012, which established the National SocioEducational Service System (Sinase). Within this context, we explore how restorative justice can offer a more inclusive approach, grounded in collaboration, consensus, and the repair of harm, rather than focusing solely on punishment. We believe that this practice can not only repair the harm caused by young offenders but also deconstruct discriminatory and exclusionary practices, such as institutional racism. Authors like Wilton Bisi Leonel and Leonardo Sica reinforce the idea that it is possible to transform the justice system by shifting from a punitive focus to one of reconciliation and repair. For this transformation to happen, we argue that the implementation of restorative justice should be accompanied by integrated public policies, with an emphasis on education, professional training, and psychosocial support. This proposal aligns with the ideas of Paulo Freire, who stresses the importance of dialogue and awareness as essential tools for transforming social relations and building a more just and equal society.

“They are unpredictable junkies and criminals”: George Floyd’s death and the BLM movement in Czech user discussions

ABSTRACT In this study, I analyze discussions on George Floyd's death and the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement on the Czech news site idnes.cz. Given the cultural and political positioning of the Czech Republic as a post-socialist country, the events are reinterpreted, revealing a blend of admiration for neoliberalism coupled with a conviction of one's ability to see through any form of leftist ideology. The central argument is as follows: despite the “Left and its media” interpret the events as linked with systemic racism, and police brutality, idnes.cz readers assert that they are more about the willingness to respect societal rules – something neither Floyd nor BLM did. Emphases on neoliberal values are intertwined with color-blind racism, mutually confirming each other. The study employs corpus-based Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA).

Day-break or groundhog day?: Pūao-te-Ata-tū and institutional racism in social service provision in Aotearoa New Zealand

This literature review explores the ongoing issue of institutional racism in social service delivery in Aotearoa New Zealand. The Pūao-te-Ata-tū report, first published in 1986, identified the existence of racism within the Department of Social Welfare and made several significant recommendations to address this. A range of literature, including journal articles and grey literature, was consulted to evaluate how social work practices have changed in the context of Pūao-te-Ata-tū and to demonstrate how racism remains embedded in both day-to-day life and social service provision in Aotearoa New Zealand. In discussing recent social and political events, General Election, the review argues that Pūao-te-Ata-tū remains highly relevant in present-day Aotearoa New Zealand and celebrates the consistent determination of Māori to reclaim their tino rangatiratanga. The review advocates for the continued use of kaupapa Māori social work practices within a sector dominated by Western ideology and calls for a renewed focus on implementing the recommendations made in Pūao-te-Ata-tū.

Benefit Versus Risk Deliberations on Revisions, Corrections or Rejections of Manuscript Submissions: Reflections of an African Woman Scholar in Audiology

ABSTRACT The academic landscape is fraught with challenges, particularly for scholars whose identities intersect with marginalised backgrounds. This reflective paper explores the nuanced implications of revisions, corrections or rejections (RCRs) on the academic journey of a Black isiZulu-speaking African woman scholar in Audiology from South Africa. It contends that the effects of RCRs extend beyond the confines of a single manuscript, impacting the scholar’s sense of self, existence within the academic realm, and the deliberate ‘cancelling’ of one’s knowledge. Focusing on the unique challenges faced by African scholars, particularly the perceived emphasis on publishing as a measure of belonging, the paper employs a benefit-risk evaluation lens. This approach delves into the complex interaction between personal and environmental factors, shedding light on the multifaceted considerations that African scholars grapple with to establish their presence within the academic sphere. The paper outlines the well-known ‘publish or perish’ phenomenon, emphasising the hypercompetitive nature of the academic and research environment. Peer review, considered a critical component in the publication process, is explored for its role in quality assurance. However, the paper contends that the peer review process can inadvertently perpetuate inequalities, especially for scholars from underrepresented backgrounds. Thematic analysis of reviewer reports from papers I recently submitted forms the core of the paper. Seven emergent themes, such as the influence of proximity to native English speakers and the dominance of Western narratives, illustrate the challenges I faced in both local and international journals. Notably, the paper provides direct quotes exemplifying each theme, offering a very personalised perspective on the adversities encountered during the publication journey. The paper situates the field of audiology within the broader context of institutional and systemic racism, highlighting the underrepresentation of certain racial groups within the profession. It argues that this underrepresentation extends to knowledge generation and publishing, perpetuating the normalisation of Euro-American-centric norms and the exoticisation of Afrocentric standards. The reflective paper concludes by asserting that epistemological racism, intertwined with individual and institutional racism, stifles my pursuit of decolonisation and Africanisation of speech-language and hearing knowledge and practice. It contends that the peer review process, often Euro-American-centric, contributes to the silencing and exclusion of diverse knowledges, hindering local knowledge development and intellectual practices. In navigating the academic minefield, the paper calls for a re-evaluation of existing norms and practices within the peer review process to create a more inclusive and equitable academic environment for scholars with diverse backgrounds.

Racial Injustice Against Blacks in the American Society as Represented in Wright’s Native Son

Racial injustice refers to the unfair treatment of a specific race in a community, which disadvantages one race. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the social consequences of systemic racism and identify the various types of racial injustices experienced by Black people in the 1930s, as depicted in Wright's Native Son. Qualitative and descriptive methods, as well as Lucien Goldmann's Genetic Structuralism methods, were used. The results showed various forms of racism, including prejudice, negative stereotypes, segregation, and social isolation. These types of injustice have had a severe impact on African Americans, as seen through the protagonist, Bigger Thomas, who represented the constant state of fear, uncertainty, and frustration inflicted upon Black people. By uncovering the different kinds of racial injustice, this study emphasized the importance of societal reflection and action in eliminating long-standing racial biases and injustices.