What policies could we as a community adopt to make Harvard an antiracist town?
Finding an answer to this question was at the heart of the recent Arm in Arm discussion, the latest in a series of townwide book talks initiated by the group and the second to be held on Zoom. The book this time was the best-selling “How To Be an Antiracist” by Ibram X. Kendi, chosen for its relevance to our current times and to Arm in Arm’s mission to “promote and uphold a safe, inclusive social climate that values diversity and fosters respect for one another.” Mary Jane Ellison and Susan Ostberg moderated the discussion, while Bruce Leicher handled the technical end and also contributed ideas. There were 26 attendees, almost all women.
The book is written as a memoir and is the account of Kendi’s personal journey to becoming an antiracist, starting when he was a Black kid in Queens, New York. As he grows up, he realizes the many ways in which he is racist, and he addresses each one by learning to identify and describe it and then to dismantle it. In addition to his personal experiences with racism, Kendi explores history to show various leaders and movements connected to it: “My research was 500 years of racist ideas.”
The importance of policy
Kendi says he had thought ignorance was the source of racist ideas; instead he concludes that from the beginning it has been economic self-interest. He thought education and moral suasion were the solutions, but he realizes change can come only by changing racist policies that cause racial inequality, which in turn is justified by racist ideas. All policies are either racist or antiracist, says Kendi. To be a racist is to support racial policies; to be an antiracist is to support the idea that racial groups are equal and support policy that reduces racial inequality.
Author Ibram Kendi. (Courtesy photo)
Throughout the evening’s discussion, this idea that changing racism requires changing policy kept recurring. Early on, someone suggested that changes in the exclusionary zoning laws in Harvard would be a step toward antiracism. A policy that states a commitment to hiring teachers of diverse backgrounds would be another. The book forces us to reckon with our systems, noted a participant, recalling how as a kid Kendi asked why there was only one Black teacher at a school where many students were Black. We should go out of our way to hire teachers of diversity, she said. We have no policy and, as Kendi says, “neutrality is racist.” Though not an example of policy in the strictest sense, someone remarked, “Harvard calls the cops on everyone.” When a pest control company was in town recently, and some of the representatives were Black, the police received calls.
Some of the discussion centered on ways in which readers connected with the book. They liked the way Kendi shared his humanity by revealing his own racist ideas and his mistakes in the process of becoming an antiracist. They were touched by how vulnerable he let himself be in talking about his battle with late-stage colon cancer and how it fueled the writing of this book to defeat the cancer of racism.
Despite how discouraging it was to read about the atrocities of racism, most people found the book uplifting. Kendi himself is optimistic. He has shown how he changed and says it is possible for us all to change. Someone commented that you can change in little ways, by being aware of your reactions to people and ideas and “evaluating each one as either racist or antiracist.”
Another talked about how uplifting it is to think about change: If policy made it easier for young Black people to access jobs, it could help erase poverty. We need to think not of dangerous Black neighborhoods but rather dangerous unemployed neighborhoods, added another person.
In a reference to Kendi’s point that white people in power worry about policy change, the speaker suggested that if policy changed, it would help us all, with such issues as health care and disarming the police.
In thinking about Kendi’s point that we need to judge people as individuals, not because they’re part of a group, someone gave the example of the white woman who called 911 to report a Black bird-watcher who was “threatening” her (when he asked her to leash her dog). It seems clear she was responding to him as a Black man, not to him as an individual.
Someone commented that “cops defer to a white woman automatically.” From a different angle, a participant pointed out that focusing on one woman diverted attention from the broad issue. “We can’t be comfortable thinking it’s just one person; we need to not be comfortable,” she said.
Prompted by the question, “What would Harvard look like if it were an antiracist town?” the group talked about the challenges of change. People agreed with Kendi that capitalism breeds racism, all driven by money and power, and one person commented that “white supremacy has given us the privileges we have.” People seemed to concur that in an antiracist town, we would not have the education system that we do. Several teachers who work outside of Harvard pointed out how the virus has revealed the disparities in school districts. In affluent towns, there is good technology and the possibility of creating innovative structures like pods for learning. “There should be one big pot of money for education,” but “are we willing to give up what we have?”
There was consensus that we must speak out against bigotry, but people agreed that can be difficult. Kendi makes it clear that it’s pointless to accuse someone of being a racist. Anyone will deny it, and, furthermore, he says, saying “I’m not a racist” is different from saying “I am an antiracist.”
The good news
The good news, says Kendi, is that racist and antiracist are not fixed identities. A participant suggested that rather than telling someone they’re racist, we should say that comment or that action was racist. Another pointed out that Kendi was never accusatory, and readily admitted he was a racist, too, at different times and in different ways. She suggested responding to a racist comment or action by saying, “I noticed . . .” and “I wonder . . .”.
Partway into the discussion, a woman in New York joined the meeting—the wonders of the internet! At the end, when participants were thanking the hosts and one another, this woman said that she was happy to have found such an open and inspiring conversation with such an honest group of people.
