Between Diversity, Inclusion, and Anti-Racism
Diversity is who is in the room. Inclusion is who has influence in that room. Anti-racism is a mindset, way of being, and goal for a group of people in a room.
These are not interchangeable terms.
You can have a multicultural room with zero inclusion and zero focus on anti-racism. It is why having diversity alone does not automatically lead to justice.
You can also have an anti-racism approach in a room with not as much diversity. It is why affinity groups, caucus work, etc. and teaching a different way of being that is customized to a specific cultural group can be so powerful.
Every single person can be anti-racist, no matter what your background. It means knowing yourself — your ancestors, your people, your identity development — and then knowing others. (For Muslims, God tells us He created us “in nations & tribes so we may know one another.” 49:13)
An anti-racism mindset is one that sees the importance of knowing and healing one’s self, empowering those who are most impacted by harmful systems, and persistently striving for changing the oppressive structures around us that lead to disparate outcomes based on identity. White dominant culture — white supremacist traits — shape the world. Oppressive systems built around caste and other methods of creating…
