how can i foster racial equity?

How Can I Foster

Racial Equity?

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Agenda

● Introduction

● The Current Moment

● Systemic Racism

● Implicit Bias

● Intersectionality

● Equity vs. Inequity

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● Fostering Racial Equity At Work

● Fostering Racial Equity Outside of Work

● Invitation to Restorative Circles

Ama Karikari-Yawson, Esq.

Founder, Milestales Publishing and Training

Diversity and Inclusion Trainer, Speaker, and Consultant3

Racial Justice Takes Center Stage

-Ahmaud Arbery – 2/23/20

-Beonna Taylor – 3/13/2020

-George Floyd - 5/25/20

-Black Lives Matter Movement

-Special focus on anti-Black racism, institutional racism, and both

explicit and implicit bias.

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Systemic Racism

Definition

“the systematic distribution of resources, power and

opportunity in our society to the benefit of people who are

White and the exclusion of people of color.” Present-day

racism was built on a long history of racially distributed

resources and ideas that shape our view of ourselves and

others. It is a hierarchical system that comes with a broad

range of policies and institutions that keep it in place.

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George Floyd’s Life Tells the Story of

Systemic Racism

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Systemic Racism

7Source: https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/03/politics/black-white-us-financial-inequality/index.html

-George Floyd’s great-great-grandfather

was enslaved on tobacco plantations

until he was 8 years old

-His great-great-grandfather was

defrauded out of 500 acres of land

-The family was forced to engage in

sharecropping thereby falling deeper into

poverty

-Floyd’s mother raised him in a housing

development with a median income of

$20k and a poverty rate of 60%

8Source: https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/03/politics/black-white-us-financial-inequality/index.html

Systemic Racism

Systemic Racism

9Source: https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/03/politics/black-white-us-financial-inequality/index.html

-Attended a school that had not been

integrated

-Underfunded schools did not prepare him

for college

-His athletic gifts could not save him

because he was unable to obtain grades

that would allow him to meet the academic

requirements for playing

-Dreams of the NFL fade

Systemic Racism

Criminal JusticeA drug war policy that deeply affected the Black population was the 100-to-1 disparity in sentencing for crack vs. powder cocaine, in which possession of only five grams of crack cocaine triggered the same mandatory minimum sentence as possession of 500 grams of powder cocaine. There was a strong racial component to the disparity as crack arrestees were far more likely to be Black. On August 3, 2010, President Obama signed the Fair Sentencing Act, legislation that reduces the discriminatory ratio (to 18-1) and eliminates a mandatory minimum sentence—in this case for simple possession of crack cocaine.

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Systemic Racism

-George Floyd was arrested at least 9 times in ten years for mostly low-level drugs and robbery offenses

-A 2018 study published Boston University Law Review revealed that Black suffer twice the misdemeanor arrest rate as White people

-About 1/4 of his life was spent incarcerated and his longest continuous period was at a private prison that contributed 1/3rd of the budget of the town where it was located

-Choices matter, but systems impact outcomes

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12Source: https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/03/politics/black-white-us-financial-inequality/index.html

Systemic Racism

13Source: https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/03/politics/black-white-us-financial-inequality/index.html

Systemic Racism

-George Floyd suffered

from an enlarged heart,

clogged arteries, and

COVID-19 at the time of

his death.

Bias

White Supremacy - the belief that White people constitute a superior race and

should therefore dominate society, typically to the exclusion or detriment of other

racial and ethnic groups, in particular Black or Jewish people.

Bias – “unreasonably hostile feelings or opinions about a social group;

prejudice”.

Implicit Bias – Subtle and unconscious attitudes and beliefs that a person,

organization, or institution holds toward an individual or a group.

Implicit beliefs and underlying beliefs in stereotypes often DO NOT coincide with

declared or conscious beliefs.

Implicit bias is often revealed through actions or behavior rather than words.14

Ahmaud Arbery

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Chased and then tragically

gunned down by a White father and

son while jogging. The perpetrators

claim that they thought that he was a

burglary suspect.

Police Phone Call

Dispatcher: I’ll get (police) out there. I

just need to know what he was doing

wrong. Was he just on the premises

and not supposed to be?

Caller: “White T-shirt,” the man said.

“Black guy, white T-shirt. He’s done run

into the neighborhood again.

Christian Cooper

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Christian Cooper, a Black male bird-

watcher, was the victim of a false

police report after he asked a White

woman to abide by Central Park’s rules

by putting a leash on her dog in the

Ramble.

Police Phone Call

Amy Cooper: There's a man, African

American, he has a bicycle helmet,"

she says. "He is recording me and

threatening me and my dog."

Intersectionality

Intersectionality - the complex, cumulative way in which the effects of multiple forms of

discrimination (such as racism, sexism, and classism) combine, overlap, or intersect

especially in the experiences of historically marginalized individuals

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Race

Gender

Breonna Taylor

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Shot and killed in the middle of the

night as she was trying to sleep as a

result of a botched police raid.

-No officer was charged for her death

-One officer was indicted for wanton

endangerment

-Very few Black women who are

murdered by police garner national

attention

Equity

The state of fairness and similar opportunity for distinctly positioned individuals. This

presupposes natural justice, fair conduct, and impartiality with respect to outcomes

for individuals with unique backgrounds.

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Power to Foster Equity

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● E + R = O by Jack Canfield

I

Ally

One that is associated with another as a helper : a person or group that provides

assistance and support in an ongoing effort, activity, or struggle

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Fostering Racial Equity at Work

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1. Phantom Job Openings (Share)

“Companies and institutions will interview people ... to pad out a candidate roster only in

order to get approval to hire someone they've already chosen for the role. They don't

mind wasting job-seekers' time on fake interviews just to satisfy a policy.”

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Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/lizryan/2016/07/26/five-signs-your-interview-is-fake-because-theyve-already-hired-

someone/#faf40f9168ab

● Whitened Resume Study by Katherine DeCelles and Co.: Employer callbacks for

resumes that were whitened fared much better in the application pile than those that

included ethnic information, even though the qualifications listed were identical.

○ 25% of Black candidates received callbacks from their whitened resumes, while

only 10% got calls when they left ethnic details intact.

○ Among candidates of Asian ancestry, 21% got calls if they used whitened

resumes, whereas only 11.5% heard back if they sent resumes with racial

references.

● Job Callback Study by Devah Pager: 34% of White candidates without criminal record,

17% of White candidates with a criminal record, 14% of Black candidates without a

criminal record, and 5% of Black candidates with a criminal record.

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2. Implicit Bias in Recruiting (Share)

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● Beer Test

● Elevator Test

● Airport Test

“When you're hiring someone, you need to consider how they'll fit into corporate

culture. Sometimes you'll have trouble figuring that out. Try imagining if you'd like to

have a beer with them after work.” – Dave Greenbaum of LifeHacker.com

Three-quarters of White people do not have a single non-White Facebook friend,

according to The Washington Post. That said, White people and people of color are

often having separate conversations and engaging in separate activities. People of

color will often flunk “fit tests” with White interviewers, which demonstrates that this

requirement undermines firms’ explicit diversity goals.

3. “Fit” Tests (Share)

4. Biased Performance Reviews (Share)

● Leadership consulting firm Nextion engaged in a study at a law firm. All of the

partners received the same memorandum.

● 50% of partners received a memorandum that stated the attorney was a third-

year African American associate who had attended NYU.

● 50% received a memorandum that stated the attorney was a third-year

Caucasian associate who had attended NYU.

● The exact same memorandum averaged a 3.2/5.0 rating under our hypothetical

“African American” Thomas Meyer and a 4.1/5.0 rating under our hypothetical

“Caucasian” Thomas Meyer. The qualitative comments on the memoranda,

consistently, were also more positive for the “Caucasian” Thomas Meyer than

the “African American” Thomas Meyer.

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Fostering Racial Equity at Outside of Work

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Everyday Acts To Promote Equity

Political Engagement

Community Involvement

Purchasing and Investing

Education Advocacy

Recruiting and Mentorship

Social Education and Resistance

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Questions and Answers

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Conclusion and Closing

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Contact me for a follow-up session (Share)

Ama Karikari-Yawson

347-886-2026

Ama at milestales dot com

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