11 Suggested Actions Toward Anti-Racism

Strengthen your department through broad outreach and inclusive practices. Recruit broadly so qualified people. Broad outreach alone is not sufficient; fair consideration, consistent practices and an inclusive working environment are also essential. For additional research on the contributions of varied perspectives and experiences to effective teams. see Mannix and Neale, “What Differences Make a Difference?” (2005).

Understand merit and excellence in context. No single metric, credential or characteristic fully defines merit or excellence. Achievement reflects talent, effort and accomplishment, as well as access to opportunity, information, mentorship, resources and well-built networks of support. Bias can influence which opportunities are available and how achievement is recognized. An equitable environment therefore depends on transparent processes, thoughtful evaluation and networks of support that enable every person to develop and demonstrate their abilities

Use holistic review where appropriate. Consider the full range of relevant evidence rather than relying on a single measure. Establish criteria in advance, relate them directly to the opportunity and apply them consistently. For additional research on holistic reviews and their effectiveness, see Artinian, Drees, Glazer, Harris, Kaufman, Lopez, and Michaels, “Holistic Admissions in the Health Professions” (2017).

Participate in structured anti-racism and anti-discrimination learning as a department. Select credible resources relevant to your organization’s responsibilities, create time for reflection and discussion, and identify practical ways to apply what participants learn.

Integrate anti-racism and anti-discrimination into your organizational culture and plans. Consider how policies, leadership expectations, professional development, communications and everyday practices can reinforce fairness, respect and belonging. Establish clear goals, identify responsibility for carrying them forward and determine how progress will be assessed.

Engage the appropriate committees, working groups and leaders and get involved in them! Ensure that responsibility for implementation is shared across the organization.

Initiate a lecture and discussion series for your organization and make it available to all eligible participants. Topics might include anti-racism, anti-discrimination, bias, accessibility, respectful communication, civil discourse and working effectively across differences.

Provide educational seminars and workshops for all members of the organization. Choose learning opportunities that are relevant to participants’ roles and connect them to the organization’s responsibilities, culture and goals.

Support sustained learning and development. Whenever appropriate, connect education to individual development plans and provide opportunities to apply new knowledge and skills. A single workshop can introduce a subject, but reflection, practice and continued conversation help learning become part of everyday work. Carter’s “Restructure Your Organization to Actually Advance Racial Justice” (2020) emphasizes the importance of combining employee education with community building and the examination of organizational practices.

Share responsibility for learning. Do not assume that particular individuals should educate others because of their identity, background or personal experiences. Use qualified facilitators, distribute responsibilities thoughtfully and recognize the time and expertise contributed by participants.

Allocate time for faculty and staff to participate. When schedules or other barriers limit participation, consider bringing a facilitator to the department, offering multiple formats or incorporating learning into an existing meeting or retreat.

Create opportunities for community building. Lectures, facilitated discussions, book conversations, retreats and other shared experiences can help participants develop relationships, explore differing perspectives and connect learning to their work. The National Museum of African American History and Culture’s Let’s Talk! initiative offers additional guidance for fostering open dialogue about race, racism and other challenging topics.

Broaden and recognize leadership opportunities. Invite people throughout the organization to facilitate discussions, organize programs, serve on committees and contribute to community-building efforts based on their interests, expertise and roles. Make opportunities broadly available and recognize meaningful contributions through workload planning, university service and professional development. For staff, these contributions may also be documented in self-evaluations and reflected in annual performance goals, including goals focused on advancing and upholding the UC Davis Principles of Community.

Leaders should learn and model participation. Attending educational programs alongside other members of the organization demonstrates that anti-racism, anti-discrimination and respectful workplace practices are shared institutional responsibilities.

Support clearly defined leadership roles. Identify positions or responsibilities that can coordinate anti-racism, anti-discrimination and organizational culture initiatives. Provide these roles with an appropriate scope, authority, resources and accountability, while ensuring that responsibility for the work is shared across the organization.

Establish a working group or advisory committee to advance organizational culture and values. Charge the group with examining organizational culture and practices, identifying opportunities to address racism and discrimination, recommending actions and monitoring progress. Give faculty with relevant scholarly expertise a meaningful role in shaping the work, while remaining mindful of workloads and providing appropriate time, resources and recognition. Ensure that the group is supported by and works in partnership with organizational leadership.

Addressing racism and discrimination must also take place outside of our workplaces for real change to be effective.

Build reciprocal community partnerships. Focus on your organization’s role and relationships in the local community and higher education. Work with schools, colleges, public agencies, nonprofit organizations, businesses and community members to identify shared priorities, ask what forms of support would be useful and develop sustained partnerships. Use your organization’s expertise and public presence to improve understanding of racism, discrimination, violence, food insecurity, poverty and other barriers affecting communities.

Participate in anchor-institution and regional coalitions. Collaborate with educational institutions, government agencies, community organizations and other partners to coordinate hiring, purchasing, investment, education, research and service in support of long-term regional well-being.

Create ongoing channels for community guidance. Establish or join a community advisory board or another regular means of gathering input from people with relevant knowledge of the neighborhoods, communities and issues affected by your work. Involve community partners early, explain how their input will be used and report back on decisions and outcomes.

Direct and track resources invested in the community. Establish or participate in a sponsorship review process that publicizes opportunities and applies clear, consistent, mission-related criteria. Work with procurement staff to broaden outreach to qualified local vendors. Align professional development, community events and volunteer activities with needs identified by community partners. Track sponsorships, purchasing, funding, workforce development, staff time, volunteer hours and other support, and review the results annually to identify gaps and guide future investment.

Support community-engaged research. Build community partnerships into research from the beginning. Work together to define questions, roles and measures of success; recognize each partner’s contributions; and share findings in accessible forms. (More detailed guidance appears in Action 6.)

Value community experience in hiring. Bringing members from adjacent communities can improve the understanding of local needs. When relevant to a position, include local community experience among job-related qualifications and recruit broadly.

Reflect the community’s cultural breadth in events and shared spaces. When purchasing options allow, consider qualified local vendors, artists and makers whose products, services or creative work represent a range of cultural traditions and perspectives. Invite local businesses and creators to showcases and other opportunities to share their work, increase visibility and build community connections.

Participate in community-sponsored events and volunteer initiatives. Ask community partners where organizational participation would be useful, then support, promote or attend events that advance shared priorities, including greater understanding of racism, discrimination and other barriers affecting communities. Share volunteer opportunities, provide appropriate time and resources for participation and coordinate activities with community partners so that they respond to identified needs and strengthen ongoing relationships.

Learn more about racism, discrimination and related forms of injustice. Use credible scholarship, institutional resources, historical accounts and firsthand perspectives to deepen your understanding. Treat learning as an ongoing responsibility rather than waiting for others to explain these issues.

Continue to reflect on your experiences, identity, assumptions and influence. Give courageous attention to the history of racism and discrimination, the ways they can shape present-day interactions and examples of constructive allyship, advocacy and solidarity. Consider how your role and decision-making authority affect your interactions with others.

Interrupt acts of bias and discrimination. Learn and practice constructive intervention strategies such as responding directly, distracting, delegating, delaying or documenting. Choose an approach appropriate to the situation, support those affected and use institutional processes when needed.

Familiarize yourself with available resources. Know where to find learning opportunities, community connections, consultation and confidential support. Share accurate information about these resources while allowing each person to determine what support is useful to them.

Report discrimination and harassment. If you experience or witness discrimination or harassment, use your organization’s reporting resources or another appropriate channel. Understand any reporting responsibilities associated with your role and seek emergency assistance when there is an immediate safety concern.

Be an Upstanding Aggie. It takes courage to speak up…but know that you’re not alone. Be ready to be an ally – we all can be an ally! Be the next voice to speak up against hate, bias and bigotry. Be vigilant and responsive – small steps are important steps. Keep practicing how to interrupt acts of hate and discrimination. —Renetta G. Tull, vice chancellor for Inclusive Excellence

Adopt the Principles of Community Engagement in your research projects (NIH 2011, Principles of Community Engagement 2nd edition). As stated in pages 58-62:

Before starting a community engagement effort…

Be clear about the purposes or goals of the engagement effort and the populations and/or communities you want to engage.

Become knowledgeable about the community’s culture, economic conditions, social networks, political and power structures, norms and values, demographic trends, history, and experience with efforts by outside groups to engage it in various programs. Learn about the community’s perceptions of those initiating the engagement activities.

For engagement to occur, we recommend you to…

Go to the community, establish relationships, build trust, work with the formal and informal leadership, and seek commitment from community organizations and leaders to create processes for mobilizing the community.

Remember and accept that collective self-determination is the responsibility and right of all people in a community. No external entity should assume it can bestow on a community the power to act in its own self-interest.

For engagement to succeed…

Partnering with the community is necessary to create change and improve health.

All aspects of community engagement must recognize and respect the identities of the community. Awareness of the various cultures of a community and other factors affecting a group’s experience must be paramount in planning, designing, and implementing approaches to engaging a community.

Community engagement can only be sustained by identifying and mobilizing community assets and strengths and by developing the community’s capacity and resources to make decisions and take action.

Organizations that wish to engage a community as well as individuals seeking to effect change must be prepared to release control of actions or interventions to the community and be flexible enough to meet its changing needs.

Community collaboration requires long-term commitment by the engaging organization and its partners.

Build partnerships with diverse community stakeholders and maintain it over time. 

Periodically assess how the partnerships are functioning and use the findings to strengthen the work.

Register to vote and encourage others to do the same. Voting is one way to participate in decisions that shape public policy and community life, including responses to racism, discrimination and social inequity. State and local officials and ballot measures often influence education, public safety, housing, health care and other areas of daily life, so participate in every election for which you are eligible.

Remember that not everyone affected by public policy has access to the ballot. Some people impacted by the criminal justice system, as well as people who are not U.S. citizens—including undocumented community members—cannot vote. If you are eligible, recognize the importance of that opportunity. Learn how immigration and criminal justice systems operate, whom they affect and how candidates and ballot measures could shape them so that you can make informed decisions that consider the experiences of people who cannot vote.

Fundraise online, donate business proceeds or create events for organizations working to address racism, discrimination, community safety, public accountability and inequities in the criminal justice system. Learn about an organization’s mission, community relationships and use of funds before deciding how to contribute.

Spread the word about ways to participate. Share verified information about events, public actions, volunteer opportunities, educational programs and requests for support through social media, text, email, phone and in-person conversations. Provide enough context for others to make informed decisions about whether and how they would like to participate.

Look beyond your usual networks when deciding where to spend. Seek out businesses rooted in diverse communities and regions, including economically disadvantaged and rural communities. Intentional purchasing can broaden your understanding of different communities, sustain a wider range of products, foods, arts and services and direct economic activity toward places that may receive less investment. Use business directories, community events and local recommendations to discover businesses you might not otherwise encounter.

Attend, support or organize healing-centered and community-building events. Create opportunities for people to process difficult experiences, strengthen relationships and learn practices that support individual and community well-being. Work with facilitators or community organizations that have relevant expertise, and make participation voluntary, accessible and open to all eligible participants.

Participate in community planning and accountability efforts. Attend public meetings, listening sessions, workshops or strategy discussions addressing racism, discrimination, violence, public safety and institutional accountability. Listen to community priorities, learn how decisions are made and identify a specific way to contribute.

Showing up matters. Your presence demonstrates your commitment. 

Engage in discussions about racism, discrimination and related issues. Talk with family, friends, colleagues and community members, including people whose perspectives differ from your own. Get curious, ask questions, listen to understand and avoid judgment.

Encourage your workplace and the businesses and organizations you engage with to take actions that address racism and discrimination, as outlined above.

Play a leadership role in bringing educational opportunities that promote anti-racism, anti-discrimination, inclusion and respectful dialogue to your organization.