Will we ever get anti-racism right?
I was recently involved in a meeting to discuss how education and training should rise to the challenges of promoting anti-racist practice. It was encouraging and reassuring to see so many people there, people in positions of influence. However, what was quite disheartening was to find that we were discussing the same issues I was involved in discussing more than thirty years ago. Of course, we have moved on in some ways, but some of the core issues clearly remain to be effectively tackled.
Based on the comments made by participants about discussions they had been involved in at their various workplaces, I could discern three key themes that echoed my own experiences:
1. The effectiveness of education and training Even staff and managers who have had extensive education and training in relation to discrimination and oppression seem to be struggling to incorporate anti-racist principles into their practice in a consistent and sustained way. I am fairly convinced that a key part of this is the classic problem of the gap between theory and practice: what gets taught in the classroom does not necessarily manifest itself in practice.
This is why, in my published work and my teaching and training, I have consistently challenged the traditional notion of ‘applying theory to practice’. This assumes that we begin with the square peg of theory and try to fit it into the round hole of practice. What I have proposed in its place is the idea of ‘theorising practice’. This involves beginning with practice — a real-life concrete situation — and then looking at how theory (our professional knowledge base) can help us make sense of the issues involved and plot a way forward (Thompson, 2017). While such a large gap persists between theory and practice because of this flawed conception of ‘applying theory to practice’, we will continue to struggle to make a reality of anti-racist practice.
2. The role of organisational culture Cultures — the sets of habits, unwritten rules and taken-for-granted assumptions within an organisation — are often characterised as ‘the way we do things round here’. They are very powerful in shaping people’s thoughts, feelings and actions.
It is not unusual across a wide range of organisations for the culture (the unofficial ‘voice’ of the organisation) to contradict the official line and, for the most part, to speak more loudly and insistently than the official ‘voice’. This applies as much to anti-racism as it does to any other aspect of organisational life. Consequently, if a commitment to anti-racist practice is not firmly embedded in the culture, then our efforts are likely to have limited impact. This can amount to (to put it politely) ‘passing water in the air turbulence’.
This is why leadership is so important, as a key duty for leaders is to shape a positive, helpful culture that is supportive of the organisation’s aims and values (Thompson, 2022). A rhetorical commitment is not enough. It has to be authentically embedded in the culture,
3. Oversimplification The issues involved in anti-racism — as in anti-discriminatory practice more broadly — are complex and sensitive. They need to be handled judiciously in a spirit of critically reflective practice, As I argue in my Anti-racism for Beginners book (Thompson, 2021), an approach that does not do justice to the complexities involved risks doing more harm than good. In particular, there is a danger that a simplistic approach will feed a ‘culture of fear’ that creates unnecessary tensions, shuts down discussion and debate, blocks learning, undermines confidence and hampers the development of a much-needed anti-oppressive alliance.
If we are not able to address these obstacles to progress effectively, we will surely struggle to achieve our goal of developing genuinely emancipatory forms of practice.
References
Thompson, N. (2017) Theorizing Practice, 2nd edn, London, Bloomsbury. Thompson, N. (2021) Anti-racism for Beginners, Wrexham, Avenue Media Solutions.
Thompson, N. (2022) The Managing People Practice Manual, Wrexham, Avenue Media Solutions.
Dr Neil Thompson is an independent writer, educator, a visiting professor at the Open University and an adviser to the Vigoroom workplace wellbeing platform (www.vigoroom.co.uk). His Academy at www.NeilThompson.info offers an annual subscription service giving access to 60 of his online courses. This is available to individuals for less than £2 per course or a corporate subscription for up to 300 staff at just £3,000 +VAT.
