Where are the
opportunities
to act?
Even when you understand the systemic role of race in your issue space, it can be overwhelming to know where to start to make change. We find that unpacking what we mean when we say “let’s work on race” can spark inspiration for action.
The social construct put in place to classify and control people of color. With colonial roots, “race” is still often ascribed to a person by others based on the culture and geography they’re in.
Change Perception Take on the prevailing narratives about race in our issue space and change common understanding of its legitimacy.
QUESTIONS TO ASK- How are people of color regarded when it comes to our issue space?
- Are there unhelpful beliefs that need to be challenged?
- Who are the people whose minds we have to change?
Institutionalized practices that lead to harmful racial outcomes in an issue space, organization or society, intentional or not.
Change Perception Build understanding of how racial inequities are embedded in many systems we take for granted in our issue spaces
QUESTIONS TO ASK- How do the systems in our issue space currently impact people of color?
- What checkpoints can we create — via diverse partnerships, community relationships, research, or more — to ensure that we understand its implications?
Change Policy Explore how to dismantle and redraw any harmful laws and practices to correct racial inequities and protect against bias
QUESTIONS TO ASK- Who had the decision-making power to set policies in the past and how can we disrupt that now?
- How can we create opportunities for people of color to lead in proposing new policies so that their perspectives and experiences are included?
- How can we make input opportunities as open and accessible as possible?
Change Infrastructure Examine the spread and flow of resources in your issue area. How can they be redistributed for better racial outcomes? How can new funds, tools, or processes be innovated to help?
QUESTIONS TO ASK- What collaborative opportunities can we initiate to co-design solutions with the communities of color who have been impacted by the systems in our issue space?
- Where do communities of color already have resources — knowledge, people, relationships, space — that position them to innovate solutions with us as partners?
- Do community members have the power and capacity to own and manage the new resources we’ve unlocked or created?
Observable practices and trends of treating groups and individuals inequitably on the basis of their race. Often reinforced by policies that are inequitable or lacking in their protections for people of color.
Change Perception Build understanding of what racial discrimination looks like and how it impacts society and people of color
QUESTIONS TO ASK- How could we create safe and constructive spaces for people of color to share their stories of encounters with discrimination?
- What are the opportunities and risks people of color could face in sharing their stories?
- How will we avoid disempowering narratives or exploiting our storytellers?
- How could we compensate for the emotional labor spent by those who share their experiences?
Change Behavior Encourage people to abandon individual acts of discrimination (e.g. microaggressions) and institutional acts of discrimination (e.g. hiring practices)
QUESTIONS TO ASK- How could we model the type of equitable, non-discriminatory behavior we’d like others to adopt?
- Have these behaviors been developed with or approved by the communities impacted by racial discrimination?
- How could we uplift the shared benefits of these changed behaviors?
Change Policy Create guidelines, incentives, and consequences connected to practicing discrimination in our issue space or organization.
QUESTIONS TO ASK- How do the people of color in our issue space currently encounter discrimination through policy?
- How can we ensure any new policy proposals address how that discrimination plays out in real lived experiences?
- Who are the allies who can help spread and uphold the standards set by new policies?
Negative perceptions about people on the basis of their race. Can often be observed directly in interpersonal behaviors and abstractly through broader social and political views.
Change Perception Spread understanding of how racial bias manifests, consciously and unconsciously
QUESTIONS TO ASK- Do we have accounts of racial bias from people of color to build our own understanding?
- What are the opportunities and risks people of color could face in sharing their stories?
- How will we avoid disempowering narratives or exploiting our storytellers?
- How could we compensate for the emotional labor spent by those who share their experiences?
Change Behavior Influence the choices people make so that they don’t act from a place of racial bias
QUESTIONS TO ASK- How could we call out what bias looks like and model the type of equitable, unbiased behavior we’d like others to adopt?
- Have these behaviors been developed with or approved by the communities impacted by racial bias?
- How could we uplift the shared benefits of these changed behaviors?
The universal experience of living in a world that sees and treats people, including white people, according to their race. This is the most authentic source of insight about racial experiences within and between communities and issue spaces.
Change Perception Build awareness and empathy around the life experiences of people of color
QUESTIONS TO ASK- How can we model curiosity, sensitivity, and belief in different racial experiences — rather than defensiveness or assumption?
- How can we amplify lived experiences that have been ignored, dismissed, or repressed?
- How could we compensate for the emotional labor spent by those who share their experiences?
Change Behavior Influence how people treat one another through policies built on the life experiences of people of color
QUESTIONS TO ASK- How can we create safe spaces for white and power-holding institutions, individuals, and organizations to admit harmful past behaviors and commit to new, equitable ones?
Change Policy Institutionalize ways to ensure better lived experiences for people of color
QUESTIONS TO ASK- Do current policies you uphold or support default to the white person’s lived experience?
- How can we ensure new policy proposals reflect a range of lived racial and intersectional experiences?
Change Infrastructure Commit resources and innovation that drive better lived experience for people of color
QUESTIONS TO ASK- Are our infrastructural ideas human-centered — meaning, do they result from active partnerships with community residents and institutions who can vet that new solutions will improve people of color’s quality of life?
- Are the people of color whose lives we are seeking to improve empowered as decision-makers and stewards of new resources and innovations?
Are you ready to act?
Before we act, it’s important to orient in our true credibility on race .
When working in this area, we are entering a shared and established space that will want to know:
Does it include relevant racial representation (ideal!) or people who are committed to work on racial justice?
Do you have relationships with trusted thought leaders and mobilizers on racial justice issues? Have you gathered insights and community access that you could leverage now?
Does your company reflect racial diversity? Do your practices promote inclusion? Do your policies ensure equitable treatment for employees of color?
Does your landscape of partners, vendors, served communities, and target audiences reflect a commitment to racial equity?
Have you demonstrated commitment to racial justice outcomes through your investments, campaigning, and track record as an organization?