The Path to Transformation: Building a Multiracial Movement

1
The Path to Transformation Building a
Multiracial Movement

• john a. powell
• Director, Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race
  and Ethnicity
• Williams Chair in Civil Rights Civil Liberties,
  Moritz College of Law

ISAIAHApril 16-18, 2009
2
Presentation Contents

• Analyzing how we think, talk, and act on race
• Talking about race
• Identity and the self
• Framing, implicit bias, priming
• The role of whiteness
• Space and institutional arrangements
• Recognizing our interconnectedness
• Targeted universalism
• Coalition building

3
Analyzing How We Think, Talk, and Act on Race
Source Lester, Julius. Lets Talk About Race
4
The Social Construction of Race

• People talk about race as though it is essential,
  even though it is socially constructed
• This provokes some important questions
• How is race constructed?
• By whom?
• For what purpose?
• The fact that race is constructed implies that it
  has a history and that it is constantly changing.
• How does our perception of race change? What
  forces are causing these changes?

5
Analyzing How We Talk About Race

• We often think about and talk about race within
  false dichotomies.
• 1) Black / White
• The public has generally not adopted the notion
  of a continuum
• 2) Civil Rights / Post-Racialism
• Older Americans often look at race from a Civil
  Rights angle
• Younger Americans tend to use a post-racial
  perspective
• Whites tend to be absent from this discussion
• 3) Affirmative Action, School Integration
  Race / Class
• Race and class are both multidimensional

6
Hesitancy to Talk about Race

• Most people do not know how to talk about race in
  constructive and transformative ways.
• Reasons for the hesitancy include
• Fear of stigmatizing groups and creating
  self-fulfilling prophecies
• Concern about reinforcing negative stereotypes
• Fear of stimulating frames that create resistance
  to social-justice policy and encourage
  inter-group conflict
• Ignoring similar stresses of whites

7
Why We Need to Talk about Race

• To not talk about race is to talk about race.
• Race plays a critical role in the creation and
  perpetuation of many social, political, and
  organizational structures that control the
  distribution of opportunities.
• Race affects all aspects of our lives.
• Where we live, who our childrens friends are,
  what social programs we support, how we vote,
  etc.
• We must address race to understand the history of
  our nations democracy and the future well-being
  of its people.

8
Consequences of Not Talking about Race

• Racial disparities are masked
• Misperceptions about equality are reinforced
• Support for equitable interventions is decreased
• Diversity becomes less valued
• Color-blindness gains salience
• Inadequate proxies, such as class, become more
  visible
• Understanding of linked fate is weakened (we
  fail to see that institutional arrangements are
  functioning poorly for everyone)

9
Framing

• How messages are framed affects how they are
  perceived.
• Conversations about race and diversity must be
  honed to ensure that messages are effective.
• We need to start from the assumption that an
  awareness of racial disparities is fundamental to
  fostering race-conscious approaches to social
  justice policy.
• This is the first step in proactively achieving
  and maintaining diversity in our public
  institutions.

10
Another Example Binary Frames Shaping How We
Think About Race

• False Dichotomy Civil Rights / Post-Racialism
• Civil Rights mindset We have yet to entirely
  overcome historical challenges.
• Post-Racialism mindset Racial problems were
  more notable in the past.
• Implications What should we do?
• Civil Rights mindset Nothing. We are stuck in
  the past.
• Post-Racialism mindset Nothing. Our problems
  are largely solved.
• Both perspectives yield racial apathy. These are
  the dominant frames in our society.

11
Implicit Bias

• We unconsciously think about race even when we do
  not explicitly discuss it.
• Implicit thoughts can overpower our explicit
  positions.
• People have multiple networks that may be
  activated without our awareness.
• Depending on the situation, one network becomes
  dominant over the others.
• Race is part of how we process information.
• Research indicates that we categorize people we
  see by their race in less than a tenth of a
  second.

Nicholas D. Kristof. Our Racist, Sexist
Selves. New York Times 6 April 2008
Barbara Reskin. Unconsciousness Raising.
Regional Review, 2005 Drew Westens The
Political Brain (2007)
12
Priming

• Our environment affects our unconscious networks.
• Priming activates mental associations.
• Telling someone a scary story activates a frame
  of fear
• Claude Steeles stereotype threat
• For example, tell students about to take a test
  that Asian students tend to do better than
  whites, the whites will perform significantly
  worse than if they had not been primed to think
  of themselves as less capable than Asians.

http//www.eaop.ucla.edu/0405/Ed18520-Spring05/We
ek_6_May9_2005.pdf
13
Identity

• Identities can be multiple and conflicted
• The British did not become white until Africans
  became black
• Both internal and external pluralism is supported
  by a healthy society
• We may experience an uncomfortable awareness of
  our own multiplicity
• W.E.B. DuBois double consciousness

14
Identity, Groups, Structures

• Identity reflects group positioning rather than
  actual group identity.
• Groups are often seen as possessing some distinct
  personal or social attributes that differentiate
  group members from non-group members.
• Considered relationally, a social group is a
  collective of persons differentiated from others
  by cultural forms, practices, special needs or
  capacities, structures of power or privilege.
  (p. 90)
• a structural social group is a collection of
  persons who are similarly positioned in
  interactive and institutional relations that
  condition their opportunities and life
  prospects. (p. 97)

Inclusion and Democracy by Iris Marion Young
(2000) chapter 3
15
The Self Hobbesian View

• Current paradigm Hobbesian, isolated
• Perceives individuals as autonomous-independent
  selves
• Egoistic, possessive, separate, isolated,
  rational
• This has led to increasing isolation and fear of
  the other
• This framework creates and marginalizes the
  racialized other
• Racial disparities are seen as a subjective,
  personal experience
• Creates false separations negates shared
  humanity
• Whiteness is a social category that has been
  inscribed in the separate Hobbesian self.

16
The Self A New Paradigm

• What is the alternative vision?
• A model of connectedness
• Individuals as part of something bigger
• Inter-being, unified, not egoistically separate
• Individualism and interconnectivity are not
  mutually excusive
• When a linked correctly, interconnectivity
  supports individuality

17
The Role of Whiteness

18
Whiteness and the Continuum

• There is a perception that minority populations
  are surpassing white populations.
• When considering racial identities, we must
  address the role of whiteness and white space.
• The fluidity of other races locations in the
  continuum depend on how we think about whiteness.
• This continuum is becoming more
• complicated, yet it is stable.

19
Defining Racial Categories

• The Census has been a tool for defining
  whiteness
• Whiteness is not a stable category
• i.e., Irish Americans were once considered
  non-white
• Are Hispanics/Latinos considered white (yet)?
• Given that racial categories are dynamic, there
  is no way to know whether whites will be a
  numerical minority

20
Deconstructing Racial Categories

• Our collective failure to deconstruct racial
  categories, especially the white category, has
  two main ramifications
• The racial hierarchy is maintained
• Whites who want to reject the white category need
  an alternate identity
• What is the meaning of being in these categories?
• These categories are constructed, sorted, and
  policed

21
Not Just a Typology

• These categories of racial identity are more than
  just a typology.
• They give social meaning and social significance
  to race.
• These categories are reflected in institutional
  arrangements.
• Ex Privilege is sorted through institutional
  arrangements, which are never neutral
• There is a tendency to favor one group over
  another
• Ex U.S. holidays arranged around Christian
  beliefs

22
Space Institutional Arrangements

23
The Arrangement of Structures

• How we arrange structures matters
• The order of the structures
• The timing of the interaction between them
• The relationships that exist between them
• We must be aware of how structures are arranged
  in order to fully understand social phenomena

24
Transformational vs. Transactional

• Transformational Institutions need to be
  rearranged to support individual and collective
  values of (mutuality, equity, and democracy)
• vs. Transactional Institutions are arranged
  appropriately individuals just need to negotiate
  them better

25
The Process of Transformation

• Moving people to a transformative place is not
  just an internal project.
• It is both interpersonal and institutional.
• One may be easier than the other at times.
• You may be able to change the interpersonal but
  not institutional policies, or vice versa.
• Be hard on structures but easier on people.

26
Individuals as Social Actors

• Often individuals are regarded as inert entities
  separate from society
• This should not be our view
• Questions of agency
• One perspective I am acting on the world. If I
  become part of the world, do I lose my agency?

27
Relationships with Institutions

• We have relationships with institutions and
  responsibilities to them. This responsibility is
  shared with others.
• We adapt to institutions as they adapt to us.
• Co-created
• Co-constituted
• Q Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
• A The farm

28
Recognizing Our Interconnectedness

• We are all caught up in an inescapable network
  of mutuality, tied in a single garment of
  destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects
  all indirectly.
• -The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

29
Creating Empathetic Space

• Everyone needs help now and then we all want to
  do better
• We share deep values, concerns, and hopes
• Addressing the problems that have a racial
  footprint has implications and benefits for all
  members of society, not just marginalized groups
  linked fate
• Its not robbing Peter to pay Paul instead,
  everyone benefits

http//www.equaljusticesociety.org/2008/12/talking
-about-race-in-the-obama-era/
30
Targeted Universalism

• Targeted Universalism recognizes racial
  disparities and the importance of eradicating
  them, while acknowledging their presence within a
  larger inequitable, institutional framework
• Targeted universalism is a common framework
  through which to pursue justice.
• A model which recognizes our linked fate
• A model where we all grow together
• A model where we embrace collective solutions

31
Interconnectedness

• Recognize the interconnectedness of our being and
  our fate
• Develop and implement solutions that benefit ALL
  members of society
• Reject the myth of scarcity
• Strengthen our democracy
• Collaborate and focus on coalition building

Interconnectedness provokes both political and
spiritual questions.
32
Coalition Building

• We need to move from transactional level to a
  deeper transformative level
• What would this look like?
• What are the costs and consequences of this
  transition?
• Coalition across groups, space, ideology
• Ethics of connectedness and linked fate
• Structures, policies, institutions actively
  disconnect us whereas they could proactively
  connect us

33
The Path to Transformation

• Moving from a transactional to a transformational
  paradigm requires redefining the self in relation
  to others
• Moving beyond the self In every major
  religious tradition the ideal is unity, and
  separation leads to suffering.
• What interferes with building these
  transformational relationships?
• What kind of leadership is required of us?

34
Transactional v. Transformational Leadership

• Transactional Leadership
• The approach emphasizes getting things done
  within the umbrella of the status quo almost in
  opposition to the goals of the transformational
  leadership.
• It is considered to be a "by the book" approach
  in which the person works within the rules.
• As such, it's commonly seen in large,
  bureaucratic organizations.

35
Transactional v. Transformational Leadership

• Transformational Leadership
• Transformational leadership is about implementing
  new ideas
• These individuals continually change themselves
• They stay flexible and adaptable
• They continually improve those around them
• Transformational leaders have been written about
  for thousands of years--being both praised
  (Christ and Buddha) and cursed (Attila the Hun
  and Genghis Khan)

36
A Transformative Agenda

• Transformative change in the racial paradigm in
  the U.S. requires substantive efforts in three
  areas
• Talking about race Understanding how language
  and messages shape reality and the perception of
  reality
• Thinking about race Understanding how framing
  and priming impact information processing in both
  the explicit and the implicit mind
• Linking these understandings to the way that we
  act on race and how we arrange our institutions
  and policies

37
Linked FatesTransformative Change

• Our fates are linked, yet our fates have been
  socially constructed as disconnected, especially
  through the categories of class, race, gender,
  nationality, region

38
Questions or Comments? For More Information,
Visit Us On-Linewww.KirwanInstitute.org