AFL - CIO How to Have a Convo on Race without Everyone Running Out of the Room.
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This document outlines a training on having conversations about race for the labor movement. It introduces the trainers and discusses why talking about race is challenging but necessary for the labor movement. It then covers different types of racism like malicious, coded, routine, and strategic racism. It also discusses implicit bias and ways to combat it. The training concludes with instructions for small group discussions about how racism shows up in unions, engaging communities of color, and addressing racial appeals.
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AFL - CIO How to Have a Convo on Race without Everyone Running Out of the Room.
- 1. How to Have a Convo on Race without Everyone Running Out of the Room
- 2. Meet Your Trainers Racial and Economic Justice Carmen Berkley Civil, Human and Women’s Rights Director, AFL-CIO Tiffany Dena Loftin Senior Civil & Human Rights Program Coordinator, AFL-CIO
- 3. Racial and Economic Justice
- 4. DEBRIEF THE VIDEO • Why is talking about race and racism so challenging in the labor movement? • Why do we need to have discussions about race in the labor movement? Racial and Economic Justice
- 5. ADDRESSING RACISM IN SOCIETY
- 6. MALICIOUS RACISM Racial and Economic Justice Many see racism as malicious racism. Malicious racism is ugly, violent and socially destructive. Most people will deny or condemn this form of racism.
- 7. MALICIOUS RACISM Racial and Economic Justice Insisting that racism can only take this one form is political strategy. This allows the right to claim that racism is largely in the past, and whatever they are saying and doing cannot possibly be racist because they don’t regularly use racial swear words.
- 8. CODED RACISM Racial and Economic Justice Both of these photos invokes ones rights to own a firearm. Whites are seen as innocent, hardworking, endangered, and the “real” Americans who deserve guns for their protection. People of color are predatory, lazy, dangerous, and perpetual foreigners. Undeserving of guns because they are a threat to society.
- 9. CODED RACISM Racial and Economic Justice Coded racism works by invoking racial stereotypes. The coded part comes in when people deploy these stereotypes without expressly mentioning race. They seem race-neutral, but they incite powerful (often unconscious) Racial reactions. Coded Terms Welfare Queen and Food Stamps Anchor Baby Illegal Alien Silent Majority Hard Working American Inner City/Thug States Rights Law and Order
- 10. ROUTINE RACISM Racial and Economic Justice For most of us racism is routine. This may sound as if racism is no big deal, but the point is rather that racism is commonsense, forming part of our everyday understanding of the world, even for people who mean well, and even for people of color. Example: All Black people <3 Orange Soda
- 11. STRATEGIC RACISM Racial and Economic Justice Strategic racism: the decision to manipulate the racial fears and hatreds of others for selfish ends. The “strategy” in strategic racism is to divide and conquer, and it has been at the core of American politics for the last half- century. We typically think of racism in terms of intentional harm to people of color, and certainly that’s a huge element. But we lose sight of racism’s full power when we focus only on how it injures people of color, strategic racism uses race to structure the basic rules of government and the marketplace.
- 12. STRATEGIC RACISM Racial and Economic Justice Of all the language twisting political slogans, few have had as long an impact as Right to Work Laws. RTW laws are rooted in the quest for super-exploited labor. Used to justify racial exclusion, destroy collective bargaining and derail workers'’ rights to organize. RTW has a history of going after unions and communities of color. In 19 of the 26 RTW states, Jim Crow once ruled.
- 13. Awareness Test
- 14. IMPLICIT BIAS Racial and Economic Justice Attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions, and decisions in an unconscious manner. These biases, which encompass both favorable and unfavorable assessments, are activated involuntarily and without an individual’s awareness or intentional control. Residing in the subconscious, these biases are different from known biases that individual may choose to conceal for the purposes of social and/or political correctness.
- 15. IMPLICIT BIAS Racial and Economic Justice
- 16. COMBATTING IMPLICIT BIAS Racial and Economic Justice Expose yourself to counter- stereotypic examples of group members. Consciously contr ast negative stereotypes with specific counter- examples. Rather than aim to be color-blind, the goal should be to “individuate” by seeking specific information about members of other racial groups Make more of an effort to encounter and engage in positive interactions with people of different racial and ethnic groups. Assume the perspective. Ask yourself what your perspective might be if you were in the other’s persons situation you can develop a better appreciation for what their concerns are.
- 17. SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION Racial and Economic Justice Ground Rules: Step Up, Step Back Assume Best Intentions W.A.I.T = Wait! Why am I talking Oops, Ouch Speak from “I” Statements Respect each other What is said here, stays here, what is learned here, leaves here
- 18. SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION Racial and Economic Justice Timekeeper: 10 minutes Note taker: Big Themes Facilitator asks: How does routine racism and implicit bias show up among union members and in leadership? What can we do to help workers and union leaders to see the shared interests among white workers and workers of color? Ground Rules: Step Up, Step Back Assume Best Intentions W.A.I.T = Wait! Why am I talking Oops, Ouch Speak from “I” Statements Respect each other What is said here, stays here, what is learned here, leaves here
- 19. SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION Racial and Economic Justice Timekeeper: 10 minutes Note taker: Big Themes Facilitator asks: Is there an effort to use malicious, strategic or routine racial appeals to win support from union members in local or national politics? How can we talk to union members about racial appeals and how it divides worker solidarity? Ground Rules: Step Up, Step Back Assume Best Intentions W.A.I.T = Wait! Why am I talking Oops, Ouch Speak from “I” Statements Respect each other What is said here, stays here, what is learned here, leaves here
- 20. SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION Racial and Economic Justice Timekeeper: 10 minutes Note taker: Big Themes Facilitator asks: If non-union communities of color are essential to protecting legislative battles and political fights, how do we engage them in the labor movement? How do we foster a non-transactional relationship with communities of color around issues that are beneficial to us and issues beneficial to them? Ground Rules: Step Up, Step Back Assume Best Intentions W.A.I.T = Wait! Why am I talking Oops, Ouch Speak from “I” Statements Respect each other What is said here, stays here, what is learned here, leaves here
- 21. Racial and Economic Justice Carmen Berkley cberkley@aflcio.org Tiffany Dena Loftin tloftin@aflcio.org
Editor's Notes
- Debrief questions: Why is talking about race and racism so challenging in the labor movement? Why do we need to have discussions about race in the labor movement?
- Many see racism as malicious racism. Malicious racism is ugly, violent and socially destructive. Most people will deny or condemn this form of racism.
- Insisting that racism can only take this one form is political strategy. This allows the right to claim that racism is largely in the past, and whatever they are saying and doing cannot possibly be racist because they don’t regularly use racial swear words.
- When you look at these families what do you see? What are the words that come to mind?
- When you hear the term welfare queen what do you think? What about the term anchor baby?
- Insisting that racism can only take this one form is political strategy. This allows the right to claim that racism is largely in the past, and whatever they are saying and doing cannot possibly be racist because they don’t regularly use racial swear words.
- Insisting that racism can only take this one form is political strategy. This allows the right to claim that racism is largely in the past, and whatever they are saying and doing cannot possibly be racist because they don’t regularly use racial swear words.
- A Few Key Characteristics of Implicit Biases Implicit biases are pervasive. Everyone possesses them, even people with avowed commitments to impartiality such as judges. Implicit and explicit biases are related but distinct mental constructs. They are not mutually exclusive and may even reinforce each other. The implicit associations we hold do not necessarily align with our declared beliefs or even reflect stances we would explicitly endorse. We generally tend to hold implicit biases that favor our own ingroup, though research has shown that we can still hold implicit biases against our ingroup. Implicit biases are malleable. Our brains are incredibly complex, and the implicit associations that we have formed can be gradually unlearned through a variety of debiasing techniques.
- Insisting that racism can only take this one form is political strategy. This allows the right to claim that racism is largely in the past, and whatever they are saying and doing cannot possibly be racist because they don’t regularly use racial swear words.
- Insisting that racism can only take this one form is political strategy. This allows the right to claim that racism is largely in the past, and whatever they are saying and doing cannot possibly be racist because they don’t regularly use racial swear words.
- Insisting that racism can only take this one form is political strategy. This allows the right to claim that racism is largely in the past, and whatever they are saying and doing cannot possibly be racist because they don’t regularly use racial swear words.
- Insisting that racism can only take this one form is political strategy. This allows the right to claim that racism is largely in the past, and whatever they are saying and doing cannot possibly be racist because they don’t regularly use racial swear words.
- Insisting that racism can only take this one form is political strategy. This allows the right to claim that racism is largely in the past, and whatever they are saying and doing cannot possibly be racist because they don’t regularly use racial swear words.