Antiracist scholars Ibram Kendi and Robin DiAngelo urge RWU community to focus on outcomes of policies and to think of racism as a structure, not an event

Fitzpatrick, Edward

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DOCS@RWU

Roger Williams UniversityDOCS@RWUFeatured News Story The Week at Roger4-11-2018Overcoming the Obstacles to Addressing RacismEdward FitzpatrickRoger Williams UniversityFollow this and additional works at: https://docs.rwu.edu/weekatroger_featured_newsPart of the Higher Education CommonsThis News Article is brought to you for free and open access by the The Week at Roger at DOCS@RWU. It has been accepted for inclusion in FeaturedNews Story by an authorized administrator of DOCS@RWU. For more information, please contact mwu@rwu.edu.Recommended CitationFitzpatrick, Edward, "Overcoming the Obstacles to Addressing Racism" (2018). Featured News Story. 40.https://docs.rwu.edu/weekatroger_featured_news/405/15/2018 Overcoming the Obstacles to Addressing Racism | Roger Williams Universityhttps://www.rwu.edu/news/news-archive/overcoming-obstacles-addressing-racism 1/3 News ArchiveOvercoming the Obstacles to Addressing RacismAntiracist scholars Ibram Kendi and Robin DiAngelo urge RWU community to focus onoutcomes of policies and to think of racism as a structure, not an eventAntiracist scholars Ibram Kendi (right) and RobinDiAngelo (center) discuss the challenges abouttalking about racism during Roger WilliamsUniversity's capstone event in the year-long series,“Talking About Race, Gender and Power.” ImageCredit: Oggi PhotographyApril 11, 2018 Edward FitzpatrickBRISTOL, R.I. – Talking about racism can be incredibly di cult because so many Americans deny any racial intentbehind policies that punish certain racial groups and because “white fragility” prompts so many people to lash out orshut down when confronted with even minimal amounts of racial stress.Those were some of the ideas discussed on April 4 when antiracist scholars Ibram Kendi and Robin DiAngelo came toRoger Williams University as the capstone event in RWU’s year-long series, “Talking About Race, Gender and Power,”and as part of the President’s Distinguished Speaker Series.Kendi, a professor and director of the Antiracist Research and Policy Center at American University, said it can be hardto de ne what a racist idea or policy is because everyone denies that their ideas and polices are racist.“When they are charged with racism, they typically say things like: ‘I’m the least racist person you’ve everinterviewed, I’m the least racist person you’ve ever met,’ ” Kendi said. “So denial is sort of baked into the fabric ofracism itself.”He de nes a racist idea as “any idea that suggests that a racial group is superior or inferior to another racial group inany way.” These days, he said, most people won’t come right out and say that a racial group is inferior, but they willtalk about “what’s wrong with” a certain racial group and that amounts to saying the group is inferior.He de nes a racist policy as any policy that yields a racially unequal outcome. He noted that the de nition hinges noton the stated intention – but on the quanti able result.5/15/2018 Overcoming the Obstacles to Addressing Racism | Roger Williams Universityhttps://www.rwu.edu/news/news-archive/overcoming-obstacles-addressing-racism 2/3“With every racist policy in American history, those who bene ted or created those policies denied that those policeswere racist,” Kendi said. “It’s quite easy to hide intention.”For example, those who advanced the mass enslavement of black people rationalized the policy as “God’s law” or“nature law,” saying it was bene cial for black people or bene cial for America, he said.Those who enacted and enforced Jim Crow laws made the case that those policies created “separate but equal”conditions – despite all evidence to the contrary, he said.“And, of course, today those who are supporting mass-incarcerating or mass-deporting policies are denying thatthose policies are in any way racist,” Kendi said. “They are denying that they are trying to create a white ethno-state –from the White House to those who are marching in places like Charlottesville – because, of course, they state there’sthis huge problem that these policies are solving.”DiAngelo – who has written a book due out this summer titled “White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard to Talk to WhitePeople About Racism” – emphasized that racism is a structure, not an event.“The dominant culture presents it as an event: Was he or wasn’t he a racist? Discuss,” DiAngelo said. “It’s a binaryquestion: Only some people participate in racism and those are bad people. But if you understand racism as astructure, you ask di erent questions.”She showed a slide with a long list of “state-sanctioned institutional racism” against African-Americans during U.S.history. It began with “Kidnapping and 246 years of enslavement, torture, rape and brutality.” It included “medicalexperimentation,” “lynching and mob violence” and “bans on marriage of interracial couples.” It included“employment discrimination,” “mass incarceration” and “testing/tracking/school funding.”“African-Americans are not and have never been in position to do this to white people,” she said, referring the list.“White people have been and continue to be in a position to do this to African-Americans. So we can remove theword ‘reverse’ from this discussion. There is no such thing as ‘reverse racism.’ Racism by de nition includes theweight of historical and institutional power behind it. It is a structure – not an event. It is a structure we are in, andnone of us could be or have been exempt from its forces.”Living in this structure, white people can react with a range of defensive behaviors when faced with the racial stress ofhaving their positions, perspectives or advantages challenges, DiAngelo said, describing that as “white fragility.”“So I will lash out, do whatever it takes to get you to stop doing that – burst into tears, withdraw, isolate, close down,be defensive, argue, explain, push back,” she said. “So it’s fragile in the sense we can barely handle the slightestchallenge, but it’s not fragile at all in its impact. And I think white fragility actually functions as a kind of white racialbullying.”So what can white people do next? DiAngelo showed another slide that, among other things, urged people to“Strive for humility. Listen! An opinion and informed knowledge are not the same.” It said, “There is no quick  x orsolution to racism. It is complex, messy and requires a life-long commitment to continually identify and challenge.”ACADEMICS LIFE @ RWUShare This: REQUEST INFO VISIT CAMPUS5/15/2018 Overcoming the Obstacles to Addressing Racism | Roger Williams Universityhttps://www.rwu.edu/news/news-archive/overcoming-obstacles-addressing-racism 3/3 APPLY MAKE A GIFTMap & DirectionsContact UsDirectoryNewsEventsAthleticsrwu.eduUndergraduate SiteGraduate SiteSchool of LawSchool of Continuing Studies    © 2018 Roger Williams University. All rights reserved.GMAIL AT RWU BRIDGES MY RWU IT HELP SITE POLICIES WORK AT RWUOne Old Ferry Road, Bristol, RI 028091-800-458-7144

Overcoming the Obstacles to Addressing Racism

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Overcoming the Obstacles to Addressing Racism

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