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After Ibram X. Kendi, PhD, MA, spoke to an audience at the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) about his book How to Be an Anti-Racist in February, UMB leaders decided to continue the conversation. by sponsoring discussions about the book and its topic. Four of the discussion facilitators took turns talking about their sessions and the feedback they received from participants during the June 17 edition of Virtual Face to Face with President Bruce Jarrell.
Among the key takeaways, the UMB should continue its discussions on diversity, equity and inclusion (DCI) and anti-racism, while striving to be proactive in assessing and addressing these issues in University policies and practices of the past, present, and future.
(clockwise from top left) Tyrone Roper, Roger Ward, Diane Forbes Berthoud, Rosemary Ferreira, Cherita Adams and Elisa Medina
We are an action-oriented institution, and we absolutely want to be more of an action-oriented institution on the topic of diversity, equity and inclusion, said Roger J. Ward, EdD, JD , MSL, MPA, Acting Marshal, Executive Vice President and Dean of the University of Maryland Graduate School, who was the guest host in place of UMB President Bruce E. Jarrell, MD, FACS. We’ve had some great conversations on this topic, and those conversations should continue after today’s schedule, as we’re on this journey together.
The Book Club Discussions were hosted by Nicole Palmore, MSW, Director of Diversity and Inclusion at the University of Maryland School of Nursing, and brought together approximately 150 UMB students, staff and employees, including 19 animators (see list below). Each facilitator met their group at least twice to discuss the Kendis book and generate ideas for the UMB to fight racism.
The four facilitators for Virtual Face to Face were Cherita Adams, MBA, MS, Assistant Dean for Administration and Policy Initiatives, University of Maryland School of Social Work; Rosemary Ferreira, MEd, Program Coordinator, Intercultural Center, UMB; Elisa Medina, MSW, LCSW-C, Career Development Manager, Human Resources Services, UMB; and Tyrone Roper, MSW, director, Community Engagement Center, UMB. They were joined by Diane Forbes Berthoud, PhD, MA, who will become the senior Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer and Vice President of UMB when she joins the University on July 1.
This is an important conversation to have, and the experience has been great, said Adams when asked what motivated her to volunteer as a host. It was great to see people change and evolve and also struggle, because I think we learn best when we struggle a bit in some of our thoughts.
Medina said she felt compelled to contribute and was honored to do so. As a white woman, I think it’s important to put on my weight, to do whatever I can to move this business forward and be a more anti-racist person, to be a role model and to really listen, did she declared. Our greatest learning, I believe, often happens when we are pushed into our discomfort zone.
In February, Kendi said that being anti-racist involved more than just saying I’m not a racist that in order to be anti-racist you have to work to change policies and practices that are harmful and create disparities between racial groups. Ward noted this as he steered the discussion toward the definition of anti-racism and how people can keep abreast of the language surrounding it.
To define anti-racism, we first need to know what racism is, Ferreira said. So within the Intercultural Center we define racism as a hierarchy of racial inequity, where one racial group is seen as superior and is granted power, privileges and resources, and another group is seen as inferior and is denied. access to resources, opportunities and privileges.
And so we have to name white supremacy and anti-darkness, and we have to use that language to really fight racism, because these are the foundations of racism.
Said Forbes Berthoud: What is really important is to use language to validate, understand and communicate the experiences of those most affected and marginalized by our social and historical conditions. What worries me the most is: are we paying attention to the structures, policies, decisions, processes and outcomes that have affected and marginalized people of color, disabled people, members of the LGBT community, etc.
Regarding actions the UMB can take to support anti-racism and DCI efforts, Roper said one area of potential improvement would involve the University revising its admissions process.
Do we have a process that excludes people who have gone through schools and / or colleges in the city of Baltimore that may not have the grading scale for admission to college? He asked. It’s things like that where I think we have to have a very intentional focus on how we look at policies across the University.
While praising the Kendis Fellowship, Forbes Berthoud helped wrap up the program by recommending members of the UMB community to also explore the work of Beverly Tatum, author, educator, psychologist and expert on the subject of racism, and sharing the Tatums treadmill analogy.
Dr Tatum says she sometimes visualizes the continuing cycle of racism like a treadmill at the airport, Forbes Berthoud said. Active racist behavior is like walking fast on the treadmill. Passive racist behavior is like standing still, so you just sit there and do nothing. But the conveyor belt moves passers-by to the same destination as those who are actively walking.
Some spectators may feel the movement of the treadmill, see active racists walking in front of them, and choose to turn around. But unless they are actively walking, in reverse, at a speed faster than the treadmill, unless they are actively anti-racist, they will get carried away with the others.
It is therefore really important to reflect on our collective commitment with regard to anti-racism, but also with regard to all other forms of oppression within the institution, in our communities, and more generally in the society that will require all of us to actively turn around on the conveyor belt and go in the opposite direction.
Watch the Virtual Face to Face program by accessing the link at the top of this page.
How to become an anti-racist book club host
Cherita Adams, School of Social Work
Jeffrey Ash, School of Nursing
Gregory Brightbill, UMB
Hannah Buc, School of Nursing
Courtney Jones Carney, UMB
Rosemary Ferreira, UMB
Shani Fleming, Graduate School
Colleen Landrum, Faculty of Medicine
Flavius Lilly, Doctoral School / UMB
Elisa Medina, UMB
Andrea Morgan, School of Dentistry
Tricia ONeill, UMB
Ginger Pritchett, School of Nursing
Sandra Quezada, Faculty of Medicine
Isabel Rambob, School of Dentistry
Tyrone Roper, UMB
Mshawn Smith, School of Nursing
Brian Sturdivant, UMB
Ashley Valis, UMB
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