The replacement of language used to describe racial identity and the way society sees a group of people by using purportedly unbiased terms that conceal explicit or implicit racial acrimony. Fostering fear and anxiety by further dehumanizing and criminalizing a group of people, typically people of color, without the use of words that are overtly racist or biased.
Published in Chapter:
Black, White, and Everything in Between: Trials of a Black DEI Professional in PWIs
Stephanie Reed (Aspire2Higher Personal and Professional Development, Inc., USA)
Copyright: © 2023
|Pages: 21
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-6684-3564-9.ch010
Abstract
With this chapter, the author sheds light on the experiences of a Black woman hired to create, administer, and manage the day-to-day needs of diversity offices at two small, white private liberal arts universities. The chapter will include insights on the very racism and implicit bias the author experienced, reported, and helped diminish. The chapter also describes the seemingly impossible task of managing change and transformation on private institutions rooted in white supremacist traditions and built upon a history of exclusion. To do this, the author shares personal narratives from colleagues collected via online surveys. The author describes the personal angst experienced while collecting, reporting, and managing the many micro-aggressions, experiences with racism, transphobia, and other reported biases. The author considers the mental gymnastics necessary to serve the needs of the institution and attempt to protect personal integrity and sanity.