Search Results (136)

Gerald Horne’s explication of Cold War-era political history as negotiated white supremacy leads to an enhanced understanding of Japan in the Cold War. Although subject to important qualifications, Japanese anti-racism and solidarity with non-white peoples before, during, and after World War II contextualizes the view held by American intellectual W.E.B. Du Bois—and complicated and in places contested by Horne—that Japan was, in many ways, a champion of anti-white supremacy. The experiences of Black American servicemen and -women who served in Japan during the Cold War provide important historical grounding for Du Bois’ initial, state-centered insights about Japan as an anti-racist power. This modified “Du Bois Thesis” in turn guides the Horne Thesis, on the role of white supremacy in modern global history, into a deeper harmony with the history of Cold War Japan. Full article

Universities have become central arenas in which the terms of racial justice are negotiated, contested, and at times sanctioned. This article examines how decolonial discourse in Belgian higher education navigates the tension between dialogic and authoritative discourse. Decolonial discourse in Belgium tackles racial illiteracy or the lack of institutional capacity to engage with the histories and contemporary realities of race. The study draws on a qualitative analysis of thirteen publicly available documents, including open letters, manifestos, and institutional responses produced between 2017 and 2021, with a dialogic analysis of five key texts within the Ghent University Association. Using Bakhtin’s framework of dialogic and authoritative discourse, operationalised through Matusov and von Duyke’s concept of internally persuasive discourse (IPD), the analysis identifies three modes of responding to racial illiteracy: appeals to personal conviction (IPD1), the formulation of new institutional norms (IPD2), and dialogic inquiry that treats illiteracy as a shared pedagogical problem (IPD3). The findings show that while decolonial movements expose the structural and epistemic conditions that sustain racial illiteracy, institutional responses from students, staff, and governing bodies often address these critiques by enforcing ‘decolonial’ personal convictions and institutional norms, risking the reproduction of the very illiteracy they seek to remedy. The article concludes that decolonial transformation requires cultivating dialogic practices that position racial illiteracy as a collective site of learning within the university’s civic mission. Full article

This paper examines the pervasive yet underrecognized phenomenon of consumer racial profiling (CRP) against Indigenous peoples in Canada. Drawing on sociolegal analysis, public health research, and empirical data, the authors demonstrate how CRP—manifested in routine acts of surveillance, exclusion, and humiliation in retail and service spaces—functions as a contemporary expression of colonialism and systemic racism. The work identifies both individual and collective harms, including racial trauma, internalized inferiority, and civic alienation, while framing CRP as a neglected but critical human rights issue. The authors argue that CRP exacerbates intergenerational trauma and undermines reconciliation efforts, calling for Indigenous-specific remedies such as healing ceremonies, cultural safety training, and systemic data collection reforms. By situating CRP within broader patterns of legal consciousness, systemic discrimination, and access to justice, this report is a much-needed foundational resource for advancing anti-racist practices in commercial settings and fulfilling Canada’s private-sector obligations under the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). Full article

The U.S. was constructed on a Black–white racial hierarchical system to maintain the subjugation of communities of color, of which we understand through racial formation that race continues to adapt and evolve to support structures of anti-Black racism. Our project centers racial formation as our theoretical framing for why race categories exist under a white supremacist, anti-Black system that profits from hierarchical inhuman realities. This critical collaborative autoethnography explores the learning journeys of one biracial Korean faculty member and one Lebanese-American undergraduate in their continued inquiry about erasure/affirmation of mixed-race and MENA identities. We explored the in-between gray spaces that our mindbodyspirits move through, and revealed the systematic impact of violent structures on our racialized mind–body–spirits. Findings allude to the limits of our belonging, in relation to dominant structures that cannot hold our in-between experiences. We urge social justice professions to recenter the literal marginal voices of mixed-race and MENA peoples as essential in the relational racial healing and restorative journeys of our multiracial and intersecting communities of color. Full article

South Asian (SA) communities in Ontario, Canada experienced disproportionately higher rates of COVID-19 infection. Moreover, these communities also faced racism fueled by COVID-19-related misinformation and xenophobic sentiments that placed blame on them for virus transmission. The aim of this research was to understand, from the perspective of local SA communities, the causes behind higher incidences of COVID-19. SA adults (N = 25) participated in a focus group (N = 3) investigating experiences during the early stages of the pandemic. Data, interpreted through the lens of the Public Health Critical Race Praxis, suggest that the structural determinants of health, alongside racism and xenophobia, negatively impacted health outcomes for these communities. By not taking an active anti-racist stance, media, health and government authorities were viewed as perpetuating discriminatory narratives and practices, fueling blame and stigma towards these South Asian communities for COVID-19 transmission. Local public health policies, practices and communications were perceived to be informed by, and best serve, white Anglo-European settlers. This research provides insight into the role that health officials can play in addressing local and regional discrimination and stigma to promote equity-centered disease prevention efforts. Our findings should be integral to current and ongoing research and action related to pandemic preparedness. Full article

Refugees are a growing population in the state of Iowa. Many arrive through the state’s resettlement agencies, yet far more are secondary migrants—those placed elsewhere who voluntarily resettled in Iowa. Even amidst dominant discourses that either vilify immigrants or exclude them from the state narrative, refugees often hold strong claims to their new homeland. Drawing upon two years of ethnographic fieldwork with African refugees, this paper considers how, and under what terms, these new Iowans claim belonging. How are they building satisfying lives for themselves and their families? Where do they place themselves in Iowa’s present and future? Dominant narratives about the American Midwest in general and Iowa in particular, characterize the region as homogenously white and ideologically provincial and insular. I contend that African refugees are producing counternarratives about the region as (1) a place of opportunity, even for Black folks, (2) a place where anti-Black African racism and islamophobia are comparatively less harsh and (3) a place where they have built communities of support. In their responses to the persistent question, “why Iowa” I argue, that African refugees are authoring new narratives for understanding the American Midwest. Full article

Introduction: A considerable body of evidence shows significant racial inequities in health and health care, affecting access, care and treatment for patients, as well as the wellbeing of employees. Many hospitals and health care organizations have committed to anti-racist change within their systems. Still, there is limited systematic knowledge regarding organizational anti-racist practices, the conditions under which they can be implemented successfully and their effectiveness. This research aims to identify anti-racist practices within health care organizations with a special focus on three areas: (1) increasing workforce diversity, (2) reducing racial health disparities and (3) responding to discriminatory behavior. Moreover, the role of different stakeholders in implementing anti-racist change will be analyzed, as well as the challenges organizations have encountered and strategies they have utilized to implement change. Methods: Primary (n = 11) and secondary qualitative data (n = 26) were used to gain insights from anti-racism diversity experts and health equity officers within organizations across the US in the beginning of 2024. A qualitative content analysis was used to identify anti-racist practices in organizations. Results: Findings reveal a broad range of anti-racist practices in use across these organizations. These practices include (1) collecting patient and staff data, (2) actively normalizing and implementing anti-racist work standards and guidelines, (3) developing organizational policies and tools to address racism, (4) creating accountability procedures for addressing racist behavior and (5) building safe and culturally appropriate spaces for racialized communities. By embedding a structural anti-racist lens across these organizations, stakeholders acknowledge their role in (past) harms and commit to addressing disparities in health care and creating a vision for health equity. Conclusion: The identification of anti-racist practices makes solutions visible to a broader audience and identifies the potential influence and responsibility each stakeholder in health care has to address racism. In order to apply these practices to other health care organizations, there is a need to rigorously evaluate the interventions and analyze their effectiveness. Full article

This paper reconceptualizes intellectual safety in mathematics spaces by centering the voices and lived experiences of BIPOC students. The marginalization of BIPOC students is compounded by structural racism, historical exclusion, and deficit narratives that continue to shape academic environments, especially in mathematics contexts. While definitions of intellectual safety reflect white, Eurocentric norms, we argue that for BIPOC students, intellectually safe environments must be anti-racist, culturally responsive, and rooted in belonging. We started with existing definitions of intellectual safety and incorporated a more critical approach to sense of belonging. Through ethnographic research design we gathered student interviews and daily journal entries from a 12-day anti-racist mathematics summer institute for secondary students. Analysis revealed that while existing attributes captured much of the scholar’s joy, cultural affirmation, and belonging, new themes, like pride/confidence, clarity/transparency, and being listened to, emerged directly from how students experienced intellectual safety in practice. This led to a refinement of our initial conceptualization. This study provides insight into how intellectual safety manifests in a space intentionally designed to support BIPOC youth in exploring mathematics in agentic and culturally sustaining ways. Full article

In 2024, the conservative media outlet Daily Wire produced a documentary film entitled Am I Racist? Created by political commentator and author Matt Walsh and director Justin Folk, the film became one of the highest-grossing documentaries of the last decade. Unlike traditional documentaries, Walsh employs a rhetoric of irony against anti-racist adherents to obstruct their influence and inoculate mostly conservative viewers. His method, however, is unusual and even questionable in conservative Christian circles. The film is analyzed using a Bakhtinian analysis of dialogic opposition wherein Walsh embodies three ironic characters—Rogue, Fool, and Clown—in order to expose the monologue of anti-racism. The analysis demonstrates the dialogization of the anti-racist monologue through rhetorical enactments of anacrisis and syncrisis. Through juxtapositions of anti-racist ideologists and their everyday racist opponents, Walsh obstructs the future effectiveness of the ideology. Even more, by becoming a DEI expert himself, he performatively distorts the monologue to victimize opponents and entertain viewers through the public spectacle. Ultimately, Am I Racist? demonstrates a unique modern turn and strategy in conservative and, more importantly, Christian rhetorical strategies that needs more attention in the future. Full article

While often framed as historical or ‘post’colonial, the pervasive legacies of anti-Black racism, rooted in the afterlives of slavery and the dehumanization of African, Caribbean, and Black (ACB) voices, continues to shape the health experiences of young ACB women in Ontario, Canada. Using an intersectional framework, this qualitative study utilized focus groups (n = 24) to understand factors influencing access to sexual and reproductive health services for young ACB women in southern Ontario. The findings reveal that fostering ACB youth engagement in the design and facilitation of healthcare programs will be vital for creating more responsive spaces to fully express sexual health concerns. It also demonstrates that Eurocentric biomedical frameworks continue to obscure young ACB women’s needs, emphasizing the necessity for culturally relevant care. Lastly, the findings indicate that internalized colonial narratives around health practices perpetuate intergenerationally, further complicating young ACB women’s access to adequate sexual and reproductive healthcare. This examination illuminates the need to address the colonial legacies within healthcare systems that continue to pathologize and hypersexualize young ACB women’s bodies. The study concludes by advocating for intersectional, youth-centered, and culturally competent approaches to dismantling the barriers young ACB women face in accessing sexual and reproductive health services. Full article

In the context of today’s neoliberal governance of schooling, the psychological, emotional, cultural, and spiritual costs of internalized racism remain unaddressed. However, when Youth of Color embody internalized racial oppression (IRO), they become “psychologically homeless,” which affects their wellbeing in devastating ways. This article advances an anti-racist research agenda in education, suggesting that education researchers’ implementation of “healing methodologies” in school is key to tackling issues of IRO. To this end, this paper advocates for education researchers to embrace, incorporate, and combine art-based and walking approaches into participatory “healing methodologies” to provide students with embodied practices that can support them in exploring, reconciling, and repairing hidden injuries while re-establishing inner strength and equilibrium for wellbeing and body restoration. Full article

Black Canadians are one of the fastest-growing groups in Canada, with 59% of this population comprising immigrants. Ongoing systemic racism and discrimination have serious consequences for the mental health of Black Canadians. While research and policy efforts to address the mental health needs of this population are ongoing, a greater understanding of the healing practices relevant to this diverse population is needed. This scoping review synthesized and discussed key features of culturally inclusive, affirming, and contextually relevant approaches and practices for mental health care and healing with Black Canadians, as well as identified limitations and gaps in the current research. This study followed the PRISMA guidelines for scoping reviews and conducted a search in PsycINFO, MEDLINE, Embase, SocINDEX, CINAHL, Sociological Abstracts, and Global Health in October 2023. A total of 34 articles met the inclusion criteria. The review identified that most studies were conducted in one Canadian province (i.e., Ontario) and involved diverse perspectives, including service users and providers. The thematic review of articles revealed limited research regarding specific interventions, but identified many commonly reported features of culturally and contextually relevant approaches to mental health care and healing for Black Canadians that broaden the scope of mental health care beyond Euro-Western clinical models, including taking a holistic and empowerment-based approach, engaging in culturally affirming care, a social justice approach, community-centred and collaborative healing, and the necessity of practitioner education. Recommendations for practice, policy, education, and research are provided to support more inclusive and responsive mental health care systems for Black Canadians. Full article

This article explores strategies for integrating anti-racist approaches into university-level study of religion teaching on multiple levels, including curriculum design, selection of teaching materials, self-reflection practices, responses to concrete classroom situations and fostering environments that protect students of colour while encouraging “white” students to critically examine their own privileges. To contextualize this endeavour, the article first outlines the current situation and describes some challenges related to racism and anti-racism efforts within a Swiss university context, drawing on recent empirical studies. This is followed by an examination of the historical development of racial thought, culminating in contemporary discussions of neo-racism and its connection with the classification category religion. A working definition of racism suitable for academic teaching is then proposed. The article further investigates the relationship between racism and the study of religion, arguing that the discipline has a crucial role to play in addressing and combating racist ideologies. This argument is supported by some empirical data from the author’s doctoral research, as well as examples drawn from the author’s teaching experience at the University of Zurich. By combining historical analysis with practical teaching strategies, thearticle aims to provide a coherent framework for embedding anti-racist principles in higher education. Full article

Background: Health equity can only be achieved when every individual has access to quality healthcare without fear of being discriminated against. This study analyzed the sociodemographic characteristics associated with self-reported racial discrimination when receiving medical care in the United States. Methods: This quantitative cross-sectional study utilized the 2022 National Trends Survey 6. We performed a logistic regression analysis using 6102 survey responses from study participants who answered the question about perceived discrimination. Results: Older adults aged 75 years and above had significantly lower odds of reporting perceived discrimination when receiving medical care compared to those aged 18–34 years (AOR = 0.24; 95% CI: 0.10–0.58). The odds of reporting perceived discrimination were significantly higher among non-Hispanic Blacks (AOR = 7.30; 95% CI: 4.48–11.88), Hispanics (AOR = 3.56; 95% CI: 2.45–5.17), non-Hispanic Asians (AOR = 5.95; 95% CI: 2.25–15.73), and individuals identifying as non-Hispanic Other (AOR = 10.91; 95% CI: 5.42–21.98), compared to non-Hispanic Whites. Compared to individuals from households earning less than USD 20,000, the odds of reporting perceived discrimination when receiving medical care were significantly lower among individuals from households earning between USD 50,000 and <USD 75,000 (AOR = 0.42; 95% CI: 0.23–0.78) and those earning USD 75,000 or more (AOR = 0.43; 95% CI: 0.22–0.83). Conclusions: Despite having a multicultural and ethnically diverse population, racial discrimination persists in the United States and has become a barrier to achieving health equity. Health organizations should implement policies that ensure health workers attend mandatory anti-racism training. Full article

The events of 2020 reached a fever pitch with the May 25th murder of George Floyd, but earlier on the same morning, a chance encounter between dogwalker Amy Cooper and birding enthusiast Christian Cooper also laid bare enduring social relations. As video footage of the encounter spread across social media, it sparked both public outrage and discourse regarding Black nature enthusiasts. Employing a historical-interpretive method informed by conversation analysis and guided by “whiteness as property,” I assemble news articles, social media posts, and video footage to analyze the events in Central Park and their aftermath. To unsettle existing paradigms regarding who we imagine are entitled to the great outdoors, I identify potential collaborative partners across scales who can further the goals of education, recruitment, and visibility for Black nature enthusiasts and professionals. I demonstrate how expanding environmental justice to include anti-Black racial violence allows us to recognize that the specter of lynching defies geographic boundaries, diffusing across space and time, occasionally coalescing to defend white privilege and historic racial orders. Full article