IT'S TIME TO SHIFT FROM BAD BEHAVIORS TO REAL CHANGE
Over the past few weeks, my calendar has become filled with organizations, schools, and corporations responding to the demands from communities of color to make meaningful change. Black, Indigenous, and communities of people of color (BIPOC) have endured racism and white-centered leadership for far too long. While demands for change have been a constant and persistent movement for decades, little change has been made.
Not anymore.
We are done. We are fed up with the slow rate of change that seeks to cater to the least-willing white person on the team.
We are here for the Movement. We are here for the Change.
In the recent weeks, organizations have called me ready to respond to this change with requests for action plans.
I have declined.
I am no longer willing to simply give you action plans without you first interrogating your connection to and your investment in whiteness and white-centered leadership, teaching, management, and curriculum. You want change? You’ve got to work for it.
While organizations want me to start at Step 4, you have to start at Step 1.
Liza A. Talusan, PhD
I caution organizations who want to immediately jump to action planning because, un-interrogated, your work for action will be informed by Whiteness and therefore be White centric. Then, you will simply be perpetuating the problematic structures that led you to this place.
STOP FIXATING ON CHANGING BAD HABITS AND BEHAVIORS - IT’S TIME TO CHANGE IDEOLOGIES
In my work, I draw heavily from John Bell’s Framework of Oppression. I have changed it slightly to provide leaders the opportunity to explore decision making and identity-consciousness.
Most organizations are focused on the internalized and interpersonal because they see evidence of behaviors in their people, students, workers, and peers. They have heard stories of how BIPOC feel excluded, feel left out of the decision making team, and therefore feel tokenized or marginalized. Many organizations are proposing “fixes” to this that include “checking in on our BIPOC peers” or “letting them know they are a part of the community.” That’s important, surely, but that only fixes a bad behavior — a behavior that has contributed to BIPOC’s lack of sense of belonging and lack of agency.
Many organizations are also focused on the human relations aspect of this work. “What words do we need to stop using in our classrooms?” or “How do people treat one another here at our school/organization?” Again, this is only addressing bad behaviors and bad habits.
For real change to occur, we have to address those top two levels: Institutional and Ideological.
INSTITUTIONAL AND IDEOLOGICAL SHIFTS
The bad habits and bad behaviors have developed in ourselves and in our organizations because, for far too long, these habits and behaviors have been reinforced by things like performance plans, rules, programs, policies, practices, and procedures. Bad habits/bad behaviors:
teachers are using the N-word when reading certain books
lack of representation in the curriculum
lack of (or absence of ) people of color in decision making roles
microaggressions about BIPOC’s appearances, names, assumptions about where they went to school
discipline practices that disproportionately impact Black boys and girls
making sure there are adequate faces of color in your marketing material
For example, in schools across the country right now, teachers and leaders are gathering (via Zoom… of course) to determine how they might diversify their curriculum. They are looking to swap out one book that centers White characters for one book that centers Black characters. That is all well and good. And, perhaps you even have a willing English department that supports doing this.
But, likely, as many schools are booking with me, you are having some very challenging and difficult conversations in your English department because some are not willing to swap out the books.
Wny?
Because there is an existing ideology that “these classic books are fundamental to a good education. And, that without these classic books, then we have simply failed to provide a good education to our students.”
Except — “What do you mean by good education? What ideology informs what a good education is?” In order to address the swapping out of books, you have to first address the ideology that books by white writers are classics and that books by BIPOC writers do not fit into that definition of good education. Swapping out the books … (hear me now…) does not mean that your resistant teacher is going to teach it well. Swapping out the books does not mean that your teachers will teach in an anti-racist manner. Swapping out the books does not mean that the conversations will be productive, meaningful, and asset based.
If we just swap out books, we won’t actually fix institutional and ideological racism. We have only just fixed a bad habit (a habit of teaching one book over another).
There needs to be a fundamental shift in WHY we believe what we believe. We need to spend significant time examining why we believe what we believe + how those beliefs are reinforced by policies, practices, procedures and programs. Simply fixing bad habits will get us nowhere.
BEFORE YOU HIRE MORE BIPOC PEOPLE
Many organizations have asked me to help them create plans to diversify their staff and their Boards, realizing that their decision-making and leadership teams are all white.
That’s an action - swap out (or add) people who are white for people of color.
And, additionally, hiring people of color who ascribe to white ideologies and standards of white professionalism will not dismantle problematic systems. Or, as we like to say in our POC circles, “Just because you’re Black or Brown doesn’t actually mean you are believe in or are skilled to lead this work.”
That will NOT fix things.
We have to address the ideology about what you BELIEVE about teachers of color or BIPOC board members. We have to address the ideology that teachers of color are only diversity hires and that Board members should only be those of a certain socioeconomic status. Or that boards, alone, should comprise of people who can donate financially to the school. We have to disrupt that money = power.
Before you can ask for my help to address why there are not BIPOC people in your organization or on your board, you must first answer me this: “Why are you so white? What conditions exist at your school or organization that have created white people as the majority?”
Unless you can address the systemic and institutional practices that have kept you all white, then we cannot address how to diversify your community.
URGENTLY DOING IT RIGHT
No doubt there is urgency to addressing ongoing and systemic racism in our organizations. However, if you do this without addressing whiteness and white ideology, you will simply perpetuate problematic practices.
Take the time to use the two models I have provided above. Your organizations have been steeped in racism for, well, likely since its founding. You can, for sure, take the time to dismantle it properly.
Peace and power,
Liza