Dear White Deans, Chairs, Directors and Faculty: Juneteenth is Not Just "A Day Off"

Inspired by the author’s prior article, “Dear White Friends: We Really Need to Talk About This”, featured in The TalentHack on May 31, 2020.

With yesterday’s news that the senate unanimously approved a bill to make Juneteenth a public and paid holiday, America is taking another small step towards a more educated, inclusive and reflective world. While this is certainly progress, what is disheartening is that schools all over the country continue to misstep with key messaging around these observances, and are omitting talk about acting and systemic change.

Observing Juneteenth should be an opportunity to further cement your institution into antiracist education and share progress in this space. It’s also an opportunity to recommit to conversations and teaching about Black history, and how the past continues to affect our future. More importantly, it’s an opportunity to recommit to being honest with ourselves about our own ignorance, biases, microaggressions, and stereotypes and do the hard work to change ourselves, as well as our environment.

Tomorrow is not “a day off”. It's a day to audit yourself and what you aren’t doing in this space. Or, elaborate and expand on the small wins.

Here are some questions to orient your thinking and help with future planning at your school:

Am I Doing My Part?

At your school, it’s critical to frame Juneteenth not as a day off for general “reflection”, but as a day the school will use to plan for a better future and become stronger, together. In this, it’s not enough to simply “talk” about Juneteenth in a mass email, or to put up a post on social media. It is an opportunity to communicate growth and progress in this space; what has changed and what is to come. The time is now to be accountable and transparent.

I continue to see preventable missteps from institutions of higher education when it comes to promoting and supporting an antiracist agenda. Mostly, I’m seeing a lot of action before thought, and it’s causing irreversible reputational damage or – even worse – propelling a school backwards instead of forwards.

If you’re in higher education leadership, use this day to make yourself uncomfortable, learn about topics you don’t know, and put steps in place to apply what you’ve learned. Ask yourself: What can I do better? What haven’t I done?

Here are some ideas to get you started, as you reflect on your own power and privilege to make a difference:

·      Integrate Black history into lesson plans and curricular activities. Help faculty and students understand how the past continues to hinder and influence the future. Focusing on the day is one thing; working to integrate content organically throughout the school year is another.

·      Have conversations with your Black faculty and students, and ask them to give you an honest assessment of the current environment and inequities. Fix those issues.

·      Use class time or departmental meetings to write reflective pieces on biases, stereotypes, microaggressions, privilege, and assumptions. Enter into an open, safe discussion about how, as a team, we will commit to helping ourselves – and others – learn and grow.

·      Encourage open conversations in class around systemic racism. Establish psychological safety by setting expectations for the conversation.

·      Be open and honest about your own biases, microaggressions, stereotypes, assumptions, and privilege. Help those you lead and influence understand that you’re still learning, and that you hope they’ll help you learn.

·      Envision a different future with your students, staff, and faculty: What needs to be prioritized and when does it need to be accomplished by?

·      Support bills and legislature to change laws that inhibit equality and social justice. Or, have student clubs or activities dedicated to grassroots initiatives to make a difference.

·      Announce long-term initiatives for anti-racist education training for faculty and staff, and how they will be held accountable.

·      Make changes to curriculum and syllabi that reflect a funds of knowledge approach to teaching. Every student should see themselves reflected in course content.

·      Stop focusing on hitting diversity hiring “quotas.” Challenge those who hand them down to you. It disregards everything we know about diverse hiring practices, and instead, propels racism and bias by looking at the Black community as a numbers game for your school. That is not only degrading, but ineffective. You need to go out and find the best talent; not wait for it to come to you. If you do not start seeking different talent and proactively reaching out because they are the best fit for the job, you will continue getting the same pool of people in your organization.

·      Help confront your school’s racist legacy and instances of racism. If you’re in a leadership role, put it on a committee agenda or discuss in a faculty meeting. You set the tone for action. Set the tone.

·      Encourage the sharing of Black stories, and celebrate them. Help faculty navigate these conversations by co-creating content and seeking help from experts.

·      Support Black businesses. Schools use so many supplies, and much of it comes from large corporations because of contracts and discounts. Push to change this.

·      Highlight Black influencers in the community through panels, workshops, and awards. Celebrate Black alumni and their accomplishments in their industry.

·      Make it a point to recognize and value your staff, and do your part for equal compensation and benefits. There is still a large discrepancy between Black and white salaries. It’s not OK.

·      Invest in mentorship and alumni programs for Black students. Black students have different challenges getting employment than white counterparts. We need to provide additional support and resources. Just because everyone has the same degree does not mean everyone has access to the same opportunities.

This list is not exhaustive by any means. In fact, it’s gravely inadequate. I challenge you to work with your team on ideas and initiatives that prioritize the most pressing issues in your school. And, if you still do not understand the pressing issues at your school, I would start there.

Do I Understand Key Terms and Concepts?

There are too many higher education leaders throwing around terms like microaggressions, systemic racism, bias, stereotypes, and white privilege, without taking the time to truly learn what these terms mean, or how using them with ignorance may detrimentally affect others. As a DEI advocate at my own school - and a constant learner, listener, and action taker - I am constantly disappointed to read about deans or directors who either ignore issues or wrongfully accuse students, staff, and faculty of any or all of the above without truly understanding the historical, theoretical, and societal implications around these terms. Or, sometimes worse, develop “solutionitis” for social injustice, and overcommit to initiatives and then under deliver. Combatting systemic racism is a team effort, and it takes a village. If you’re not the best person to work through a situation or provide solutions, be honest about it and find someone who can. Or, check with others before acting or sending communication; get clarification and feedback from expert knowledge. Take the time to truly understand what these terms mean, and study examples. This way, when you are brought into a conflict or difficult conversation, you can be sure to ask the right questions, listen actively, and respond appropriately.

Real talk: Many white individuals in higher education leadership roles believe they know more than they do about racial issues, history, or terminology. Unless they’ve gone through specific programming or training, not many are “well-versed”. That said, it’s critical to not create messaging or initiatives in a silo, and instead, ensure Black voices are prominent in continuous improvement. Otherwise, you can almost guarantee a poor reception, social media backlash, or – in the worst cases – legal problems.

Am I Doing the Work?

Every day, you should be professionally developing in the social justice and antiracist education space. Simply, you can’t use the terms, send the emails, or solve systemic issues if you’re not taking the time to continuously educate yourself on these issues and how they affect your stakeholders. For example, over the past year and a half, I've been reading as much as I can about Brown vs. the Board of Education, as well as its subsets, to understand how education in America got to such an inequitable place. I’ve also taken classes on protests and uprising, having difficult conversations in the classroom, and inclusive pedagogy. I seek no praise for any of this. It’s not something “additional”; it is a necessary and important part of my job if I’m going to serve my population, and lead others in doing so.

To do meaningful work in this space, I need to be educated. I need to be able to speak intelligently about issues affecting the Black community, manage conversations around race in the classroom and during faculty meetings, and – honestly – be able to “check” others who haven’t done the work. If you're in education – and in charge of educating others - you need to take the time to educate yourself. Otherwise, you can’t say you’re doing the work. Instead, you’re simply acting the part.

Have I Listened?

No, I don’t mean just had a town hall and took notes. I don’t mean repeated email communication detailing how the school is “listening and learning”, either. What I do mean is taking all the information you gathered last year right after George Floyd’s murder (when everyone was “listening”), and the actionable and measurable steps taken to address stated issues. Have you received feedback on current initiatives? Have you invited your community to have honest, unfiltered conversations about what’s working and what’s not? If you have, what have you done with that information? Have you made necessary changes? Or are you waiting for approvals up the hierarchy? Spoiler: Academia is uncomfortable with changes to the system. The system has been in place forever. It’s too hard to change. There are not enough resources. There is no money. None of these things are an excuse to not put initiatives into place to make your school a better place to learn. Find the resources and the money; press on approvals. This is worth it. The longer you sit on information that could change someone’s experience for the better, the less likely you will gain trust and credibility with your key publics.

Have I Apologized?

Words matter. Sentiments matter. Tone matters. Genuine apologies matter. Every day, there are stories all over the internet with emails that go public, videos that are shared, and blogs and news articles covering the “non-apology” for past conduct or grievances. The main reason for this backlash includes a lack of sensitivity for words chosen in the communication, ignorance that the communication would not be shared with the masses, and not having the right people in the room to help craft and approve the messaging. A combination of all three of these strategies are imperative to address any hurt, anger, or confusion and start making amends. 

If you misstepped, or if there was negative feedback about your actions or messaging, you need to understand the “why” behind the failure and acknowledge it. This takes a genuine apology and an openness to honest reactions. A genuine apology requires humbleness and specifics on how the behavior or issue will be addressed, to prevent it from happening in the future. You also need to share the plan with those affected and give them a chance to weigh in. Examples of non-apologies include “I’m sorry we made you feel” (takes the responsibility off you), “This is a stressful time” (no excuse for insensitivity and mistakes that cause damage to others), or “We won’t get it perfect, but; we’ll keep trying” (trying is lukewarm; don’t give excuses on why you won’t get this right. Take the time and effort to get it right).

Additionally, issuing a genuine apology requires taking ownership. For example, “We got it wrong,” “We realized our error and are correcting it in the following way,” or to individually reach out to those harmed and ask for a conversation. Yes, this is uncomfortable and takes on risk, but it’s necessary. A non-apology will do more harm than good, so be sure you are truly sorry and have an action plan to correct. Many schools are hesitant to admit fault for legal reasons. While this is understandable, it should not prevent owning up to mistakes. Continuous improvement is critical to long-term success.

In Closing

While these ideas may seem radical for academia, it’s only because bureaucracy and hierarchy typically get in the way. To make systemic change, we need to change the system. And we can’t do that if we do not identify what is broken and do the work to fix it. In this, we need to push and challenge each other to do and be better in this space. Start now.