I’m going to be honest; I am starting to feel a decent
amount of anxiety as I begin to write this bog post. What if I say something wrong? What if I offend someone? Who am I to offer any sort of insight? My task is to discuss what we as leaders can
do to address issues around diversity here in our community.
Across the nation as well as right here in Madison, WI,
there is a high amount of tension surrounding the topic of race. While the issues are not new, they have been
brought to the forefront of our nation’s and community’s minds following the
tragic deaths of Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Tony Robinson and too many others. The use of excessive force by law enforcement
resulting in the deaths of African American men is a pattern that can no longer
be ignored. Furthermore, the racial
disparities right here in Dane County brought to light by the 2013 Race to
Equity Report can also not be ignored.
These tragedies and disparities cannot be acceptable to us
as a society. First, this oppression and
institutionalized racism violates people’s basic human rights. In Dane County in 2011, 75% of black children
compared with 5% of Non-Hispanic White children lived in poverty and in 2012
African American adults were arrested at a rate eight times higher than White
adults (Race to Equity, 2013). These
disparities have come about from years of oppression and discrimination.
Second, retaining the status quo hinders our community from
actually thriving. Madison has been
rated as one of the best places to live in the nation but Wisconsin has been rated
as the worst state for African American children. This is not to say that Madison as a city is
superior to the rest of Wisconsin; in fact, the disparities in Dane County are
greater than those in the rest of the state (Race to Equity, 2013). Our community is not actually thriving.
So, what can we as leaders do in order to help address these
issues in our communities? This brings
me back to the fears I presented in the beginning of this blog: What if I say
something wrong? What if I offend
someone? Who am I to offer insight?
It is evident in our community that there is understandably a
large amount of sadness, anger, fear, resentment, frustration and mistrust
among a variety of people. In light of this
and the importance and intensity of these issues, fear creeps in and I often choose
to be silent.
On Monday April 13th I attended a conference here
on campus hosted by the School of Social Work entitled, “Confronting Racial
Injustice: Social Workers Moving Beyond Neutrality.” Here, community leaders working to address
these issues discussed the concept of neutrality and the ways in which being
neutral perpetuates oppression.
This was my main takeaway: my neutrality and complacency in
keeping the status quo has perpetuated oppression.
As a social worker and a student, I have been aware of
institutionalized racism, oppression, and discrimination. However, in this I have been very neutral. I have merely continued to do the work that I
do, complete what needs to get done, and let those with more knowledge, skill
and experience address these issues. I
have let the feelings of fear and being uncomfortable keep me from actually
working against injustice. However, in
this stagnation, I have allowed oppression to continue, and I imagine that I am
not alone in this. How many of us choose
a hands-off approach to avoid uncomfortableness?
While there are many necessary steps to take and systems to
change, from reforming our education system to addressing policing and
incarceration issues, I believe that the first step for some of us is to move
from a place of neutrality to action; to engage with people who are different
from us, to have conversations, ask questions, and seek to understand other’s
points of view. I also believe that the
primary action we must take is to listen.
It is only when we actually listen to others that we are able to gain understanding,
and from understanding we are able to move towards trust and collaboration, and
from trust and collaboration our community can begin to change.
“Confronting
Racial Injustice: Social Workers Moving Beyond Neutrality” (2015). University of Wisconsin-Madison School of
Social Work
“Race to Equity”
(2013). Wisconsin Council on Children and Families. Received from http://racetoequity.net/dev/wp-content/uploads/WCCF-R2E-Report.pdf
Vetterkind, Riley
(2015). “MPD Employs Implicit Bias
Training to Combat Racism in Force.” The Badger Herald. Retrieved from https://badgerherald.com/news/2015/03/23/mpd-employs-unconscious-bias-training-to-combat-racism-in-force/
