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What does it mean to be an antiracist organization?
In 2020, George Floyd, an African American man, was brutally murdered in public by a police officer. Among the witnesses to this tragedy, Donald Williams II, also an African American man, made the following statement: “I don’t think most of America understands, they kind of see it and hear it, but I don’t think they fully understand.” What is often overlooked when these tragedies happen, is the reality that people who have suffered the secondary trauma are left to move on, likely without the right support or resources, in a world that does not afford them the time, respect or empathy to heal.
Being an antiracist organization means that throughout the institution, there is deep understanding of the effects of racism, not just the events that are overtly racist but the ideologies and views that lead to those actions and the lingering trauma as a result of them. Being antiracist is not just an acknowledgement that racism exists as much as it is a commitment to understanding its effects deeply. To be antiracist is to be empathetic and action-oriented, thereby adopting values, practices and policies that take into account the lived experiences of those who experience the debilitating effects of racism, whether firsthand or through the secondary trauma.
