Anti-racism in the age of White supremacy and backlash

Helena Liu*, Angela Martinez Dy, Sadhvi Dar, Deborah Brewis

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalEditorialResearchpeer-review

12 Citations (Scopus)
290 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

[Extract]
"Racism, “the pervasively malignant and malicious systemic illness” (Yancy, 2018, p. 1), has been an abiding feature of white organisations and societies. Its formation, through a combination of interlaced European racial sciences, philosophy and religious doctrines as the alibi for colonialism and slavery, ultimately left in its wake a normalised racial hierarchy that has produced and protected white power and privilege (Bonilla-Silva, 2006; DuBois, 2007[1920]; Mills, 1997)."

As we wrote these opening words in the original Call for Papers of our special issue in April 2019, we were tuning in to a swelling undercurrent of antagonistic sentiment that simultaneously over-inflated and delegitimised the gains in racial equality made over the past half-century. This so-called “post-racial” political discourse asserted that we were all equal now and that racial equality posed a threat to nations of the Global North. Yet a parallel discourse constructed immigrants and refugees as the scapegoats of wealth disparity. Narratives of nostalgia soothed anxieties by whitewashing history as racially uncomplicated and stoked defensiveness to changes, including the felling of celebratory memorials to colonialists and the election of a democratic presidential candidate.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)105-113
Number of pages9
JournalEquality, Diversity and Inclusion
Volume40
Issue number2
Early online date25 Feb 2021
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 8 Mar 2021
Externally publishedYes

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