Insights from working in Race and Public Policy - to the Decision- maker:
We have all seen ‘Anti-Racist’/DEI/Race Equity work come into fashion and slowly fade back out of fashion within organisations - yet inequality persists. Some key lessons from my work across these spaces - asking (and helping to answer) the practical question - “how do we make the work we do truly equitable in the context of Race and Racism?”
To local, regional and national governments:
Regard systemic racism and inequalities as a human rights issue - elevate the significance with which people understand the issues/data – commit against seeing this as people moaning, personal and “political”
The organisation must commit to creating conditions for its change within the organisation – change is ineffective if the policymakers don’t commit to anti-racism within themselves – be the change and reflect on practice - how am I exhibiting these behaviours in my work, language or decision-making.
Recognise the nuanced distinction between the practical expressions of the ‘symptoms’ and ‘root-causes’ of racism and the impact this has on your approach within your strategy – think about the biases implicit in our system which communicate/bestow greater worth on some lives than others and then the fact this this means schools exclude Black boys at a and young men at a higher rate or that Black Mothers are more likely to die in childbirth – these are separate but naturally related concerns – the latter requires the former as a pre-condition whereas the former doesn’t necessarily instantiate the specific outcomes of the latter - there might be limited statistical evidence of specific outcomes or other undetected outcomes within your organisation. We should not build strategies geared toward the outcomes or ‘symptoms’ without simultaneously solving the pre-condition or ‘root-cause’.
Accept that the only effective measure for seeing a shift is to coerce/force action from others within a fixed period
- As an executive or policymaker, the desire should be to ensure follow-through once the decision is made. There must be consistent monitoring and evaluation and consequences/accountability where things fall short.
- Coercive action should have the intended outcome of shifting behaviour and/or forcing re-prioritisation
- Find the most influential lever for change and lean against this - departments and individuals with convening power and/or tacit influence across the organisation, appraisals and review processes - use these as means for coercing collective behaviour.
- Culture change is crucial but only part of the solution – it is often an undervalued aspect and requires time and willingness from leadership and the capacity to inspire others into action.
Accept that change is unlikely in the short/medium-term – especially because the goals are not both clear and shared
- This is where people like to focus on quick wins as a means of maintaining good favour with leadership and the rest of the organisation.
- requires accepting that nobody knows how to solve the goal and that nobody has a vision/understanding of successful change (what an anti-racist organisation looks like in practice – what the goal/desired outcome/realised vision of anti-oppression and resistance movements is – what liberation means) beyond quick wins
Accept that healing/liberation/the journey to whatever the goal is will cause significant harm to those within and upholding the systems which are racist – progress is deeply painful for those invested in the system - Navigating this field will cause harm – “having uncomfortable conversations” is the gentlest way of putting this. It will be a tiring slog that takes a lot out of you.