Has the Anti-Racism Movement Reduced Racism? (JLI Essay, High Commendation)
- periginal
- Aug 4
- 9 min read
“I didn’t see colour as a young boy and I honestly don’t see colour now,” Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks, proudly proclaimed when he joined the presidential race in 2020 (Sullivan 2019). In his 2019 study, Boston University professor Rob Eschmann addresses such “colour-blindness” as racism that is hidden and masked by microaggressions and systematic barriers (Eschmann, 2019). Confronting modern racism in America, it seems, is rooted in revealing its varied forms through anti-racism. When considering whether anti-racist movements have reduced racism, the question arises as to how effective attempts at “unmasking” racism really are. While measuring the “reduction” of racism is difficult, anti-racism calls attention to existing forms of racism that are often minimised by post-Civil Rights practices, which falsely promise that the “evils” of America’s past are now over (Eschmann, 2019). Moreover, data suggests certain anti-racism strategies are more effective than others. Although the impacts of “unmasking” racism are challenging to assess through a quantifiable analysis, raising awareness of the fact that racism is a part of American culture does the most to reduce it.
To assess the effects of anti-racism, this essay defines “anti-racism” and the concept of “reduction” by utilising comparative assessments. Ibram Kendi (2019), in How to Be an Antiracist, argues that we must consider anti-racism by contrasting it with being “not racist.” He writes, “What’s the difference [between the two]? …One either believes problems are rooted in groups of people, as a racist, or locates the roots of the problems in power and policies as an antiracist” (Kendi, 2019, p. 9). In other words, individuals who claim they are “not being racist” approach racism passively or inattentively, while “anti-racism” seeks to address racism from a proactive standpoint. Thus, anti-racism itself is “active” and presumes that modern racism is “systemic,” that is, not only expressed by the actions of individuals, but expressed by society’s institutions and policies. “Reduction,” for the purpose of this essay, does not mean a quantifiable or numerical reduction, but a qualitative reduction in the sense that society has taken a step in the right direction toward gradually eliminating elements of racism.
Further complicating this issue, modern notions of racism have evolved from the
overt racist overtures of previous Jim Crow era racism. Modern racism is more insidiously
pervasive in society as a masked systemic and societal form known as “white privilege,”
which tends to place those who benefit from racism in a defensive posture. Peggy McIntosh
(1990) describes white privilege as “an invisible package of unearned assets which I can
count on cashing in each day, but about which I was ‘meant’ to remain oblivious” (p. 1). As
Judith Katz (2003), the author of White Awareness: Handbook for Anti-Racism Training,
argues, “White privilege, white power, and white ownership… are what we have to uncover to raise our awareness—our white awareness—of racism and how it functions in our
communities, our institutions, and ourselves” (p. vii). One of the core goals of anti-racism is
raising awareness of the forms it takes. It seeks to highlight how racism hides in society.
Anti-racism is essentially “understanding how racism functions at personal, ideological and
institutional levels” (Anti-Racism, 2021). It presupposes that at the core of institutions and
societies, certain racist structures are unreflectively embedded and go unnoticed. McIntosh
(1990) points out that obliviousness to this unnoticed nature fosters the belief that advantages gained through white privilege are based on meritocracy. Thus, to attack this aspect of unearned privilege could be perceived by those enjoying social dominance as an attack on the system of meritocracy, and on the “myth that democratic choice is equally available to all” (McIntosh, 1990, pp. 7-8).
The task of anti-racism, then, is to help people acknowledge these structures. A study
by Dunivin et al. seems to suggest that anti-racism has been successful in this area. A
quantitative assessment of the online usage of anti-racism terminology following the Black
Lives Matter (BLM) protests of 2020 finds that the protests resulted in an amplification ofterms associated with the BLM agenda, resulting in a “notable impact beyond intense, or
‘viral’ periods of nationwide protest” (Dunivin et al., 2022, p. 1). By analysing Google,
Wikipedia, and social media keywords for anti-racist terminology markers, Dunivin et al.
find that interest in such terms spikes during BLM protests—but then continues to trend
upward. By inciting discourse surrounding systemic racism and raising awareness, anti-
racism is more effective than being “not racist,” or remaining passive. While reducing racism is a long process, anti-racist movements such as BLM, successfully create conversations that enact change.
Raising awareness of racism is only the first step; the anti-racism movement still has
much to accomplish to reduce racism completely. Following certain studied principles, in
both broad messaging campaigns and workshop efforts, can be effective. In their exhaustive
study of anti-racism strategies in the early 2000s, Donovan and Vlais (2006) identify two
psychological principles that anti-racism campaigns must be aware of: the “categorization
process” and the “attribution error” (p. 113). The “categorization process” is a dynamic in
which categorizations like “us” and “them” automatically cause negative feelings toward
“them.” Thus, in the presentation of different groups in messaging, highlighting positive
similarities rather than focusing on differences can help prevent the categorization process.
“Attribution error” means that members of a group will tend to name internal factors as the
cause of positive outcomes for their group and circumstantial factors as the cause of negative outcomes. Likewise, that same group, when considering other groups, will name external circumstances as the cause of positive outcomes, and internal factors as the cause of negative outcomes (Donovan & Vlais, 2006, pp. 133–114). In other words, the good things about my group are a result of our inner merit, while the good things about the “other” group are caused by their lucky circumstances. Furthermore, the bad things about my group are merely caused by our circumstances, but the bad things about the group of another are caused by their innerlack of character. To counter the “attribution error,” Donovan and Vlais (2006) recommend using factual information about individuals presented in anti-racism campaigns that cannot simply be attributed to “external factors.” In a similar vein, psychologist Paul Bloom (2012) designates this “us” versus “them” mentality as based on ‘Selective Empathy,’ which means that individuals express empathy with those they are close to or more similar to and that this then leads to group-based prejudices (pp. 179-199). In his book Against Empathy, Bloom (2016) expands the point to say that natural prejudices based on any such group empathy can and should be overcome, by subjecting it to reason, and by extending empathy beyond the limited group of ‘us.’
Along with conscientious language and inclusive identity, another successful anti- racism strategy is the use of anti-racism workshops. These workshops have increased greatly in popularity over the last few years. Wang et al. (2024) point out that after the BLM movement in 2020, the amount of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI)-related job positions “increased by 60% in the USA and 86% of large financial companies surveyed stated intention to increase investments in DEI training” (p. 156). Another study, Villavicencio et al. (2022), examined the effects of anti-racism training for teachers in schools. In this study, researchers found that after a year of workshops and training, educators “demonstrated a deeper understanding of their own racial biases, developed a shared language to identify and name different forms of racism, and reported greater confidence to disrupt racist incidents in their schools” (Villavicencio et al., 2022, p. 1). The success of the training was limited by resistance from a vocal white minority who viewed anti-racism training as divisive. Nevertheless, committed and courageous leadership helped to address these concerns and preserved a high degree of success for such training practices (Villavicencio et al., 2022). At an institutional level, strong leadership and support for anti-racism is essential to the success of anti-racism workshops. Additionally, the study of these yearlong workshops and thefindings of Wang et al. (2024) suggest that longer, more sustained training programs tend to be more successful than one-time workshops. In both broad messaging campaigns and more locally focused workshops, emphasising methods and principles that disrupt static racist policies can help anti-racism efforts become more effective.
Critics of anti-racism movements may argue that anti-racism is fundamentally flawed in that it assumes that racism is systemic and exists where it does not. One such critic, Joanna Williams (2012), writes, “By almost all statistical measures, society is less racist today than at any other point in the past century…Despite there being less racism today, rarely has there been more discussion about racism” (p. vii). Williams (2012) argues that anti-racism efforts increase racism, as they focus on divisive issues. She argues that anti-racism training has become an industry that promotes divisive critical race theory rhetoric for profit. However, Williams (2012) does not offer any specific evidence to support her claim of “statistical measures,” and in fact, in a well-sourced review of statistics about racism in the United States, dosomething.org reports numerous statistics that show racism is alive and well in the United States. Black students, for instance, are more likely to be suspended or expelled from school than their white counterparts. In New York City in 2018, 88 per cent of police stops involved Blacks or Latinos, 70 per cent of whom were proven innocent, but just 10 per cent of police stops involved whites. Black women of similar wealth and education are three to four times more likely to die because of childbirth complications than whites are. Black Americans use drugs at similar rates to white Americans but are six times more likely to be arrested for it. Black Americans are also more likely to be arrested, convicted, and receive longer sentences than whites. One study indicates that Black Americans receive 19.1 per cent longer sentences for the same crimes than whites (11 Facts About Racial Discrimination, 2018). There are numerous other statistics revealing the prevalence of racism in America (De Witte, 2022). Furthermore, logically speaking, to say that America is “less racist than ever” isa relative reference and is not indicative of the amount of racism in the U.S. today. Even if society saw negligible improvement from the past, but is still rather racist, one could agree with Williams (2012) that racism is “less than ever.” Moreover, one hopes she would agree that any racism at all is problematic. Finally, her attempt to discredit racial training advocates because they charge fees for their services can be considered a circumstantial ad hominem fallacy. Whether or not anti-racist advocates earn a living from their advocacy is a circumstance that is irrelevant to arguments about whether or not racism exists in America.
McIntosh (1990) points out that “many, perhaps most, of our white students in the
United States think that racism doesn't affect them because they are not people of colour; they do not see ‘whiteness’ as a racial identity” (p. 7). Thus, “I do not see colour” becomes a
denial. As Kendi (2019) believes, “Denial is the heartbeat of racism, beating across
ideologies, races, and nations” (p. 9). By raising awareness of systemic racism, the anti-racist movement helps Americans actively “unmask” racism. It keeps a conversation alive that continues to give life to more effective strategies and methods for addressing the inequalities that stratify America. To say that society is “less racist” today than it was before still implies some degree of complacency. It suggests that “less racism” means we do not need to talk about race, even if statistics suggest “less” is still way too much. Hopefully, rather than “not seeing colour,” America will recognise the role racism plays in its daily affairs and will continue to remove the mask that clouds it so that anti-racism will result in no racism.
References
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