how can i foster racial equity?
Post on 10-Apr-2022
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How Can I Foster
Racial Equity?
1
Agenda
● Introduction
● The Current Moment
● Systemic Racism
● Implicit Bias
● Intersectionality
● Equity vs. Inequity
2
● Fostering Racial Equity At Work
● Fostering Racial Equity Outside of Work
● Invitation to Restorative Circles
Ama Karikari-Yawson, Esq.
Founder, Milestales Publishing and Training
Diversity and Inclusion Trainer, Speaker, and Consultant3
Racial Justice Takes Center Stage
-Ahmaud Arbery – 2/23/20
-Beonna Taylor – 3/13/2020
-George Floyd - 5/25/20
-Black Lives Matter Movement
-Special focus on anti-Black racism, institutional racism, and both
explicit and implicit bias.
4
Systemic Racism
Definition
“the systematic distribution of resources, power and
opportunity in our society to the benefit of people who are
White and the exclusion of people of color.” Present-day
racism was built on a long history of racially distributed
resources and ideas that shape our view of ourselves and
others. It is a hierarchical system that comes with a broad
range of policies and institutions that keep it in place.
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George Floyd’s Life Tells the Story of
Systemic Racism
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Systemic Racism
7Source: https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/03/politics/black-white-us-financial-inequality/index.html
-George Floyd’s great-great-grandfather
was enslaved on tobacco plantations
until he was 8 years old
-His great-great-grandfather was
defrauded out of 500 acres of land
-The family was forced to engage in
sharecropping thereby falling deeper into
poverty
-Floyd’s mother raised him in a housing
development with a median income of
$20k and a poverty rate of 60%
8Source: https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/03/politics/black-white-us-financial-inequality/index.html
Systemic Racism
Systemic Racism
9Source: https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/03/politics/black-white-us-financial-inequality/index.html
-Attended a school that had not been
integrated
-Underfunded schools did not prepare him
for college
-His athletic gifts could not save him
because he was unable to obtain grades
that would allow him to meet the academic
requirements for playing
-Dreams of the NFL fade
Systemic Racism
Criminal JusticeA drug war policy that deeply affected the Black population was the 100-to-1 disparity in sentencing for crack vs. powder cocaine, in which possession of only five grams of crack cocaine triggered the same mandatory minimum sentence as possession of 500 grams of powder cocaine. There was a strong racial component to the disparity as crack arrestees were far more likely to be Black. On August 3, 2010, President Obama signed the Fair Sentencing Act, legislation that reduces the discriminatory ratio (to 18-1) and eliminates a mandatory minimum sentence—in this case for simple possession of crack cocaine.
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Systemic Racism
-George Floyd was arrested at least 9 times in ten years for mostly low-level drugs and robbery offenses
-A 2018 study published Boston University Law Review revealed that Black suffer twice the misdemeanor arrest rate as White people
-About 1/4 of his life was spent incarcerated and his longest continuous period was at a private prison that contributed 1/3rd of the budget of the town where it was located
-Choices matter, but systems impact outcomes
11
12Source: https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/03/politics/black-white-us-financial-inequality/index.html
Systemic Racism
13Source: https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/03/politics/black-white-us-financial-inequality/index.html
Systemic Racism
-George Floyd suffered
from an enlarged heart,
clogged arteries, and
COVID-19 at the time of
his death.
Bias
White Supremacy - the belief that White people constitute a superior race and
should therefore dominate society, typically to the exclusion or detriment of other
racial and ethnic groups, in particular Black or Jewish people.
Bias – “unreasonably hostile feelings or opinions about a social group;
prejudice”.
Implicit Bias – Subtle and unconscious attitudes and beliefs that a person,
organization, or institution holds toward an individual or a group.
Implicit beliefs and underlying beliefs in stereotypes often DO NOT coincide with
declared or conscious beliefs.
Implicit bias is often revealed through actions or behavior rather than words.14
Ahmaud Arbery
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Chased and then tragically
gunned down by a White father and
son while jogging. The perpetrators
claim that they thought that he was a
burglary suspect.
Police Phone Call
Dispatcher: I’ll get (police) out there. I
just need to know what he was doing
wrong. Was he just on the premises
and not supposed to be?
Caller: “White T-shirt,” the man said.
“Black guy, white T-shirt. He’s done run
into the neighborhood again.
Christian Cooper
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Christian Cooper, a Black male bird-
watcher, was the victim of a false
police report after he asked a White
woman to abide by Central Park’s rules
by putting a leash on her dog in the
Ramble.
Police Phone Call
Amy Cooper: There's a man, African
American, he has a bicycle helmet,"
she says. "He is recording me and
threatening me and my dog."
Intersectionality
Intersectionality - the complex, cumulative way in which the effects of multiple forms of
discrimination (such as racism, sexism, and classism) combine, overlap, or intersect
especially in the experiences of historically marginalized individuals
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Race
Gender
Breonna Taylor
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Shot and killed in the middle of the
night as she was trying to sleep as a
result of a botched police raid.
-No officer was charged for her death
-One officer was indicted for wanton
endangerment
-Very few Black women who are
murdered by police garner national
attention
Equity
The state of fairness and similar opportunity for distinctly positioned individuals. This
presupposes natural justice, fair conduct, and impartiality with respect to outcomes
for individuals with unique backgrounds.
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Power to Foster Equity
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● E + R = O by Jack Canfield
I
Ally
One that is associated with another as a helper : a person or group that provides
assistance and support in an ongoing effort, activity, or struggle
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Fostering Racial Equity at Work
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1. Phantom Job Openings (Share)
“Companies and institutions will interview people ... to pad out a candidate roster only in
order to get approval to hire someone they've already chosen for the role. They don't
mind wasting job-seekers' time on fake interviews just to satisfy a policy.”
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Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/lizryan/2016/07/26/five-signs-your-interview-is-fake-because-theyve-already-hired-
someone/#faf40f9168ab
● Whitened Resume Study by Katherine DeCelles and Co.: Employer callbacks for
resumes that were whitened fared much better in the application pile than those that
included ethnic information, even though the qualifications listed were identical.
○ 25% of Black candidates received callbacks from their whitened resumes, while
only 10% got calls when they left ethnic details intact.
○ Among candidates of Asian ancestry, 21% got calls if they used whitened
resumes, whereas only 11.5% heard back if they sent resumes with racial
references.
● Job Callback Study by Devah Pager: 34% of White candidates without criminal record,
17% of White candidates with a criminal record, 14% of Black candidates without a
criminal record, and 5% of Black candidates with a criminal record.
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2. Implicit Bias in Recruiting (Share)
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● Beer Test
● Elevator Test
● Airport Test
“When you're hiring someone, you need to consider how they'll fit into corporate
culture. Sometimes you'll have trouble figuring that out. Try imagining if you'd like to
have a beer with them after work.” – Dave Greenbaum of LifeHacker.com
Three-quarters of White people do not have a single non-White Facebook friend,
according to The Washington Post. That said, White people and people of color are
often having separate conversations and engaging in separate activities. People of
color will often flunk “fit tests” with White interviewers, which demonstrates that this
requirement undermines firms’ explicit diversity goals.
3. “Fit” Tests (Share)
4. Biased Performance Reviews (Share)
● Leadership consulting firm Nextion engaged in a study at a law firm. All of the
partners received the same memorandum.
● 50% of partners received a memorandum that stated the attorney was a third-
year African American associate who had attended NYU.
● 50% received a memorandum that stated the attorney was a third-year
Caucasian associate who had attended NYU.
● The exact same memorandum averaged a 3.2/5.0 rating under our hypothetical
“African American” Thomas Meyer and a 4.1/5.0 rating under our hypothetical
“Caucasian” Thomas Meyer. The qualitative comments on the memoranda,
consistently, were also more positive for the “Caucasian” Thomas Meyer than
the “African American” Thomas Meyer.
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Fostering Racial Equity at Outside of Work
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Everyday Acts To Promote Equity
Political Engagement
Community Involvement
Purchasing and Investing
Education Advocacy
Recruiting and Mentorship
Social Education and Resistance
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Questions and Answers
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Conclusion and Closing
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Contact me for a follow-up session (Share)
Ama Karikari-Yawson
347-886-2026
Ama at milestales dot com
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Copyright © 2020 by Ama Karikari-Yawson
All rights reserved
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