Abstract
Becoming a White Antiracist is written for individuals working with primarily white audiences who want to bring awareness to issues of racism and white supremacy and begin the collective work of dismantling them both. Stephen Brookfield, a leader in this space, and co-author Mary Hess use their extensive experience in facilitating antiracism learning opportunities to bolster the ideas presented in this book through use of examples and resources. The first third of the book guides readers through the basics of antiracism, exploring the necessity of antiracism, what it means to develop an antiracist identity, and discussing challenges associated with raising the consciousness of white people who have gone their entire lives not thinking of themselves as having a racial identity. With these important concepts covered, the authors use the middle third of the book to describe methods for delivering learning events to begin the work of becoming antiracist. In the latter third, the authors shift their focus to supporting the reader’s efforts to continue their own work as advocates for and accomplices in antiracism.
The authors note throughout that development of an antiracist identity is an evolution, not a task that can be marked as “complete” on a checklist. This sets realistic expectations for the reader regarding the contents of the book as well as for implementing its strategies. Despite hundreds of years of resistance to recognizing the prevalence of white supremacy, the authors’ optimistic view of humanity is evident. They can envision a world where progress is possible but are realistic enough to recognize that change is slow and requires hard work.
Theoretical Orientation
Brookfield and Hess expertly weave Mezirow’s (1991) transformational learning into the book. The path to antiracism begins with a transformation of one’s understanding of racism from the individual to the structural level, and the authors take care to create opportunities for this shift. First, by suggesting using the concept of fairness as a more neutral starting point for learners then moving to the use of stories to illustrate the role of structures in systematically advantaging white people over others. By progressively adjusting their approach to align with where learners in a particular group find themselves on the spectrum of understanding, educators can facilitate transformational learning.
Ethics and Culture
Antiracism directly challenges cultural norms for many Americans, so the authors stress the importance of meeting participants where they are in their understanding of structural racism. They encourage the reader to collect as much information as possible prior to a learning event to understand the context in which they are presenting, monitoring real-time feedback on the sessions using the “Backchannel chat” platform, and conducting critical incident questionnaires to solicit feedback for incorporation into events that take place over a period of time. Presenting resources that can be used for either one-time learning events or for longitudinal opportunities is a welcome addition to the book, and a strategy that should be used in other texts that seek to similarly guide educators through developing learning events focused on a single topic but without a specific or predetermined format for delivery.
Use of the tools referenced above allows educators to proactively address issues of participant psychological safety and ensure participants are engaged with the material (Vella, 2002). Paramount to maintaining safety in the group are Brookfield and Hess’ steadfast commitment to not debating the existence of structural racism and their explicit statement that participants’ moral equality does not equate to epistemological parity and not all perspectives will be granted equal time or opportunity for discussion. They also discuss the need to swiftly address group ground rules violations or other threats to the safety of the group. Building on the need for safety in groups is the introduction of Arao and Clemens’ (2013) brave spaces, in which participants should expect to be challenged, be prepared to encounter intense emotions, and not expect matters to be resolved at the end of the interaction. This presents a seismic shift from the “safe” spaces typically expected from learning environments that privilege white people’s comfort, shutting down opportunities for authentic conversations that might make them uncomfortable. This is yet another transformation that must occur to participate in the work of antiracism.
Recognizing that implementing antiracism workshops or the like is nearly always met with resistance by predominantly white institutions, Brookfield and Hess devote an entire chapter to addressing and combatting institutional resistance. The authors explicitly reference Bolman and Deal’s (2017) organizational frames as helpful to understanding how to approach potential roadblocks and identify paths to successful implementation. For example, Brookfield and Hess suggest becoming familiar with an institution’s organization chart while planning learning events, referencing the structural frame (Bolman & Deal, 2017). The authors’ suggestion to seek information on the history of antiracist efforts and trainings at the institution will illuminate the context in which planners will be working and facilitate development of a political map that identifies institutional players who may serve as accomplices or roadblocks to implementing antiracist work, referencing Bolman and Deal’s (2017) political frame.
Evaluation
The scenarios described by the authors throughout the book, particularly feeling “failure” after a contentious workshop is likely to resonate with many who have facilitated antiracism workshops. Their reframe of this experience is enlightening and freeing; the event has only failed if participants feel they have accomplished the task of becoming “not-racist” and there are no more issues to resolve. Big feelings should be expected after participating in a learning experience that challenges previously held understandings by highlighting the truth of white people’s disproportionate benefit from systems and structures. As mentioned earlier, if the learning event does not challenge these understandings or create these opportunities for unlearning, the event failed to delve deep enough into the topic to begin the process of transformational learning. Another helpful addition to the reader’s facilitation “toolbox” is the authors’ suggestion to ensure participants never leave a learning event without resources to support their continued learning. The authors provide suggestions to get the reader started, but a skilled facilitator should also tailor resources to the needs of their participants.
An area of challenge for me was the methodological belief exercise wherein the authors suggest having participants who are staunchly opposed to accepting the reality of structural racism pretend that it exists for five minutes and reflect or write down what that would mean for their work, family, friends, and daily life. This is a creative approach but left me wanting more information on how to handle the likely scenario of a participant unable to come up with how anything would change for them. Facilitators meeting participants where they are is important for transformational learning, so suggestions for productively debriefing from an exercise like this would provide critical support for readers to reestablish safety in the group and perhaps create opportunities for continued discussion and spur transformational learning.
Recommendations
As might be expected from a book written by educators steeped in the work of antiracism, there are concrete examples that can be used to implement the suggestions in the book and begin the work of implementing antiracist workshops and stimulating continued conversations around these topics. Organizational leaders may benefit from a compelling resource that identifies antiracist practices organizations can adopt as part of their efforts in this space. The list includes developing processes for holding individuals and institutions accountable for enactments of racism, a task being undertaken by the American Association for the Advancement of Science in their SEA Change initiative and designed to be a sustainable model for transformation of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the sciences. Other examples that may appeal to students, staff, and volunteers include learning how to organize and coalesce around antiracism to challenge existing structures in a more authentic way, and the use of modeling to demonstrate the importance of this change. Building on this list and providing concrete methods for carrying out these events that may appeal to adult educators and human resources professionals, the authors also include information and resources, from shared personal accounts to demonstrate how to establish safety within an educational setting, links to videos that can be used as opportunities for discussion and reflection, even methods for collecting feedback on trainings in real-time and after the fact. These suggestions and resources have broad relevance to individuals interested in antiracism work. Many of these resources are themselves free, breaking down barriers to access and utilization by individuals who might have financial constraints that would prevent them from implementing.
For Researchers
Understanding structural racism and committing to furthering knowledge in this area should be a prerequisite for conducting high quality research. Race impacts all aspects of the research process; participant selection, the kind of questions asked, how responses and other data are interpreted, etc. Turning away from developing an antiracist identity dishonors the trust placed in researchers by participants and violates the safety necessary for them to share their experiences. Brookfield and Hess are not wrong, the journey to an antiracist identity is a difficult one, but they also note that racism harms all people. There is no downside.