tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/blm-32914/articlesBLM – The Conversation2023-08-04T19:22:47Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2109592023-08-04T19:22:47Z2023-08-04T19:22:47ZToronto Caribbean Carnival should bring attention to anti-Black racism affecting communities<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541161/original/file-20230804-15-wejf60.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=10%2C0%2C7114%2C4743&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A dancer with Tribal Carnival is helped into her costume ahead of the King and Queen Show, part of Toronto Caribbean Carnival, on Aug. 3, 2023.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/toronto-caribbean-carnival-should-bring-attention-to-anti-black-racism-affecting-communities" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Every summer Toronto plays host to revellers and spectators, visitors and locals, for one of the biggest events of the season: the <a href="https://www.torontocarnival.ca/">Toronto Caribbean Carnival (TCC)</a>. Last year’s carnival brought almost two million people and <a href="https://www.torontocarnival.ca/_files/ugd/08adeb_c1c4596d9016436d886b6809be94dc14.pdf">just under half a billion dollars to the city</a>, and similar if not greater numbers are expected this year.</p>
<p>Under the theme of “Diversity and Culture Live Here,” the Festival Management Committee that oversees carnival events is encouraging everyone to join in the fun. Many see TCC activities, especially the culminating <a href="https://www.torontocarnival.ca/event-details/the-grand-parade">Grand Parade</a>, as an opportunity to go full throttle with the bacchanal. And carnival is about play and pleasure and partying.</p>
<p>But beyond the fun and sparkly costumes are some real problems around the exploitation of the culture of a community that usually doesn’t receive positive play in the media and elsewhere at other times of the year.</p>
<p>Heavy commercialization of the TCC also results in a significant amount of money coming into the city with not much of it bringing any benefit to Caribbean communities.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541162/original/file-20230804-27-22wyvj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A dancer in a large costume on stage during a Caribbean carnival." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541162/original/file-20230804-27-22wyvj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541162/original/file-20230804-27-22wyvj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541162/original/file-20230804-27-22wyvj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541162/original/file-20230804-27-22wyvj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541162/original/file-20230804-27-22wyvj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541162/original/file-20230804-27-22wyvj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541162/original/file-20230804-27-22wyvj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Tribal Carnival’s front Princess, Caneisha Edwards, takes part in the King and Queen Show, part of the Toronto Caribbean Carnival, on Aug. 3, 2023.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Carnivals and protest</h2>
<p>In the post George Floyd era, it is even more important that these issues are acknowledged and tackled head on. One would hope, for example, that event organizers would consider explicitly framing at least some of the main events through the lens of what the world learned about anti-Black racism from the Black Lives Matter protests.</p>
<p>On the official <a href="https://www.torontocarnival.ca/donate">TCC website</a>, organizers ask for donations so that the “community and festival” can “continue to celebrate, raise awareness and to resist discrimination and oppression through our original music, masquerade performances, culinary experiences, and other expressions of our Caribbean culture.”</p>
<p>This suggests they understand the TCC can amplify and build on conversations and actions initiated during the protests. Perhaps, too, that phrasing on the website could mean an openness to embracing social critique and protest, which are hallmarks of Caribbean carnivals in other locations, such as in Trinidad and Tobago.</p>
<p>Carnival celebrations <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/arts/exhibitionists/mas-protest-how-traditional-carnival-was-born-out-of-resistance-1.4773816">born out of resistance</a> to, and which mark emancipation from, chattel slavery have long been part of the cultural experience of Caribbean peoples. Carnival traditions in the Caribbean have also long found a balance between creating a spectacle and being socially responsive, between being celebratory while also unafraid of challenging the status quo.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541182/original/file-20230804-27-2amatg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A woman in a large multicolored costume on a stage." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541182/original/file-20230804-27-2amatg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541182/original/file-20230804-27-2amatg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541182/original/file-20230804-27-2amatg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541182/original/file-20230804-27-2amatg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541182/original/file-20230804-27-2amatg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541182/original/file-20230804-27-2amatg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541182/original/file-20230804-27-2amatg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A participant parades a costume during the King and Queen Show, part of the Toronto Caribbean Carnival, on Aug. 3, 2023.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>If the carnival’s organizers used its visibility to bring attention to structural and institutional anti-Black racism affecting communities, it would more fully embrace that Caribbean tradition.</p>
<p>So far, though, there’s not much evidence of such explicit framing. It would be a seriously missed opportunity if the 2023 festivities came to an end without engaging with the ways the community is affected by anti-Black racism.</p>
<h2>Raising awareness</h2>
<p>This 56th year of the TCC is kicking off on the <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/newsinteractives/features/BLM-tenth-anniversary?fbclid=IwAR0HJmw252qzvtb-NU6cw3s2xtmu2tNR4T6zr6Yi_IAVLShnFegZWCwTZsI">10th anniversary of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement</a>. This is only the second year, too, that the TCC’s main events overlap with Emancipation Day.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/campaigns/emancipation-day.html">Emancipation Day</a>, observed on August 1, was made official in Canada in March 2021 in the wake of the BLM protests. The day offers Canadians an occasion to learn about <a href="https://www.vehiculepress.com/q.php?EAN=9781550653274">Canada’s history of enslaving Black and Indigenous Peoples</a> and better understand how racism continues to impact communities today.</p>
<p>TCC dates also coincide with <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/simcoe-day-canada-s-roots-in-slavery-and-the-historic-abolition-1.1303678">Simcoe Day</a>, which is observed in <a href="https://www.heritagetrust.on.ca/pages/programs/provincial-plaque-program/provincial-plaque-background-papers/chloe-cooley">remembrance of the 1793 anti-slavery act</a>.</p>
<p>So, if there was ever a time for the TCC to lean into its social commentary and protest roots, that time is now.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541164/original/file-20230804-23-ygrmno.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A woman at a demonstration carrying a Black Lives Matter flag." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541164/original/file-20230804-23-ygrmno.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541164/original/file-20230804-23-ygrmno.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541164/original/file-20230804-23-ygrmno.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541164/original/file-20230804-23-ygrmno.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541164/original/file-20230804-23-ygrmno.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541164/original/file-20230804-23-ygrmno.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541164/original/file-20230804-23-ygrmno.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">People attend the #BLM Turns 10 People’s Justice Festival on July 15, 2023 in Los Angeles. The Black Lives Matter movement was founded in 2013 in response to the acquittal of the man who fatally shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Florida.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As someone who belongs to the Caribbean diaspora in Toronto, something I would like to see happen with the TCC is more overt critical engagement on the part of organizers, <a href="https://artsandculture.google.com/story/the-history-of-mas-notting-hill-carnival/owVRsWygiT1m0g?hl=en">mas bands</a>, masqueraders and performers with anti-Black racism and other types of social injustice and inequity in Canada.</p>
<p>For masqueraders, that could mean choosing to play mas in ways that are more reminiscent of what people in the Caribbean call ‘ole mas.’ Bands could facilitate this socially- and politically-engaged mas by creating appropriate costumes and play scenarios for their band members.</p>
<p>Organizers could program events that promote greater awareness about the history of Caribbean carnivals. These could be public lectures, workshops and exhibits that take advantage of the reach and accessibility of virtual forums. Organizers could encourage greater engagement by artists and content producers with social events and topics, especially ones that concern Black and Caribbean Canadian communities.</p>
<p>They could also be more proactive about how corporate sponsorships and the growing commercialization of TCC events can be harnessed to benefit Caribbean and Black communities in Toronto.</p>
<p>The spotlight this summer on a post-pandemic, post-BLM iteration of the TCC could also help reignite productive public discussion about the policing of Black communities in Toronto. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/frustration-over-police-presence-at-caribbean-carnival-reflects-debate-over-anti-black-racism/article31149670/">TCC’s history with the police has not always been comfortable</a>. Toronto’s police force has repeatedly demonstrated over the years that it makes a problematic association between large gatherings of Black and other people of colour and public acts of violence.</p>
<p>Efforts have been made in recent years to address this, especially at the Grand Parade. <a href="https://thecaribbeancamera.com/toronto-caribbean-carnival-kicks-off-with-a-blazing-hot-launch/">News coverage</a> of the 2023 carnival observed that “In a departure from previous years, the Toronto Police chief was notably absent from the launch event, with only Black auxiliary officers seen near the stage.” But there is still a lot of work to do around changing how police interact with Black communities.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541163/original/file-20230804-19-77kck2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A large group of people in costumes at a carnival" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541163/original/file-20230804-19-77kck2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541163/original/file-20230804-19-77kck2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541163/original/file-20230804-19-77kck2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541163/original/file-20230804-19-77kck2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541163/original/file-20230804-19-77kck2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541163/original/file-20230804-19-77kck2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541163/original/file-20230804-19-77kck2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Masqueraders attend the Caribbean Carnival parade in Toronto on July 30, 2022. The 55th annual parade returned after the COVID-19 pandemic postponed it for two years.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Helping Black businesses</h2>
<p>The TCC is arguably Toronto’s biggest and most visible Black-owned business. But while various businesses in the city — hotels, restaurants, entertainment venues, cultural attractions and landmarks — benefit financially, that has not been the case for many Black businesses, especially small ones.</p>
<p>The increasing commercialization of the TCC, such as big brand sponsorship of the bands and the trucks that accompany them along the Grand Parade route, is a significant part of this problem.</p>
<p>Current funding structures, and “business as usual” approaches exemplify how Blackness can be co-opted to serve corporate interests while Black communities are shut out of the benefits and profits. It’s Blackness on display — and only when such display is profitable — with little to none of this profit going to Black communities.</p>
<p>The City of Toronto and the TCC could demonstrate commitment to addressing anti-Black racism by rethinking the carnival’s financial participation and profit distribution models to benefit Black-owned businesses and communities.</p>
<p>There are already organizational structures in place for facilitating this. For example, the Festival Management Committee’s <a href="https://www.bbep.ca/about">Building Black Entrepreneurs Program</a> which has received funding from the federal government’s <a href="https://www.pm.gc.ca/en/news/news-releases/2020/09/09/prime-minister-announces-support-black-entrepreneurs-and-business">Black Entrepreneurship Program</a>. There’s also the City of Toronto’s <a href="https://www.toronto.ca/community-people/get-involved/community/confronting-anti-black-racism/">Confronting Anti-Black Racism unit</a>.</p>
<p>The Festival Management Committee, the City, TCC community stakeholders, partners and sponsors as well as the larger public need to have these conversations. Until then, simply focusing on jumping, waving, wining, feting and playing does a disservice to the true spirit of Caribbean carnivals.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210959/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hyacinth Simpson receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. </span></em></p>Toronto’s Caribbean Carnival brings festivities and fun to the city every summer. But beyond the dances and parades, carnivals are and should be places to protest and raise awareness of injustices.Hyacinth Simpson, Associate Professor, Department of English and Interim Director, Dimensions Program, Toronto Metropolitan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2009892023-03-26T12:51:08Z2023-03-26T12:51:08ZHow can we maximize woke’s potential while minimizing the culture war’s divisiveness?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/516511/original/file-20230320-2155-az4ckj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=26%2C0%2C8682%2C3377&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The word 'woke' has become a politically potent term used to define and discredit a host of social issues.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The recent collapse of <a href="https://theconversation.com/silicon-valley-bank-biggest-us-lender-to-fail-since-2008-financial-crisis-a-finance-expert-explains-the-impact-201626">Silicon Valley Bank (SVB)</a> and <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/ubs-mulls-credit-suisse-takeover-amid-us-bank-fallout-what-you-need-know-2023-03-19/">other major banks</a> has raised fears about <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2023-03-16/fears-of-a-repeat-of-the-2008-financial-crisis-haunt-governments">a potential 2008-style banking crisis</a>. While this <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/joe-biden-silicon-valley-bank-collapse-watch-live-stream-today-2023-03-13/">seems unlikely</a>, like so many events these days, SVB’s failure has also been caught in the sticky rhetorical web of the culture war. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/home-depot-co-founder-torches-woke-silicon-valley-bank-collapse-warns-recession-here-already">Right-wing media outlets</a> and pundits have blamed SVB’s collapse on its <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11848705/Woke-head-risk-assessment-Silicon-Valley-Bank-accused-prioritizing-diversity-issues.html">so-called woke practices</a>.</p>
<p>In other news, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/vivek-ramaswamy-antiwoke-entrepreneur-challenging-trump-for-president-gop-2023-2">Vivek Ramaswamy</a>, author of the anti-woke book <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/12/19/the-ceo-of-anti-woke-inc"><em>Woke, Inc.</em></a>, recently became the <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/02/13/anti-woke-ramaswamy-2024-election-00082414">latest entrant in the U.S. Republican Party’s presidential primary</a>. The entry of Vivek Ramaswamy and <a href="https://poll.qu.edu/poll-release?releaseid=3866">other potential candidates</a> indicates that battles over wokeness <a href="https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/national-politics/article273310700.html">will likely spill over into the next U.S. presidential election</a>.</p>
<h2>Old term meets new movements</h2>
<p>The term woke is not new, and its history is lengthy and tragic.</p>
<p>The idea was first popularized by legendary folk singer <a href="https://www.leadbelly.org/leadbelly.html">Lead Belly</a> in his 1938 song <a href="https://20thcenturyhistorysongbook.com/song-book/race-relations/the-scottsboro-boys/"><em>Scottsboro Boys</em></a>. It alludes to <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/great-depression/scottsboro-boys">nine black teenagers who were falsely accused of raping two white women</a> in Alabama in 1931. In relation to the song, Lead Belly warned, “<a href="https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/lifestyle/2022/04/14/wokeness-how-meaning-woke-evolved-and-where-its-going-next/7287343001/">I advise everybody, be a little careful when they go along through there — best stay woke, keep their eyes open</a>.”</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VrXfkPViFIE?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">‘Scottsboro Boys’ by American musician Lead Belly.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://language-and-innovation.com/about/">Linguist Tony Thorne</a> suggests that Black Americans started using the term in the 1940s to “<a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/woke-meaning-word-history-b1790787.html">mean becoming woken up or sensitized to issues of justice</a>.”</p>
<p>From this, wokeness initially focused on raising awareness among Black Americans of important issues impacting their community. But over time, its use expanded to encompass other social justice concerns, often in new and sometimes highly inconsistent ways.</p>
<p>In the wake of 2013’s <a href="https://blacklivesmatter.com/about/">Black Lives Matter movement</a>, woke’s meaning quickly expanded. Part of this has to do with its social media origins. The movement subsequently became diffuse <a href="https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-6684-7472-3.ch002">due to its unique organizational structure and social media use</a>. </p>
<p>A term that was once focused on the challenges facing Black Americans within a complex political landscape expanded rapidly. Now it is used as a <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/21437879/stay-woke-wokeness-history-origin-evolution-controversy">shorthand for a host of progressive ideas</a>.</p>
<p>As a result, woke quickly became a broad rallying cry for social justice.</p>
<p>However, the swift spread of the term among advocates and allies was not universally welcomed. Instead, woke continued to wildly transition in opposition to the rapid expansion of social justice movements.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513950/original/file-20230307-14-rcopdl.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Tug of war between two hands with words 'WOKE' on left-hand and 'ANTI-WOKE' on right" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513950/original/file-20230307-14-rcopdl.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513950/original/file-20230307-14-rcopdl.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513950/original/file-20230307-14-rcopdl.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513950/original/file-20230307-14-rcopdl.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513950/original/file-20230307-14-rcopdl.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=548&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513950/original/file-20230307-14-rcopdl.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=548&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513950/original/file-20230307-14-rcopdl.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=548&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘Woke’ has become a rallying cry for many progressive causes. But it has also triggered anti-woke reactionism.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">zijunnyc/flickr</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Waking the anti-woke</h2>
<p>Right-wing politicians routinely rail against perceptions of wokeness. For example, Canadian opposition leader <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/09/12/canada-conservative-leader-poilievre-00056205">Pierre Poilievre</a> has characterized himself as “<a href="https://xtramagazine.com/power/politics/pierre-poilievre-brand-populism-236084">anti-woke</a>.”</p>
<p>In 2022, former U.S. president Donald Trump criticized banks, believing they had “<a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/donald-trump-banks-woke-penalised-b2197367.html">gone woke</a>” and should be penalized. As such, SVB and <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11860445/Signature-Bank-boss-hosted-company-seminar-gender-neutral-pronouns-prior-bank-failure.html">Signature Bank</a> are not the first banks to be caught up in the widespread hysteria over wokeness. </p>
<p>Congressman Matt Gaetz said that the <a href="https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2022/04/05/argument-over-woke-ism-in-the-military-erupts-in-house-hearing/">U.S. military is too focused on wokeism</a>. And Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has repeatedly made headlines over his government’s <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/01/23/ron-desantis-defends-fla-rejection-of-woke-black-history-course/">ban on teaching certain subjects deemed woke</a> and his rejection of <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/02/27/disney-ex-ceo-chapek-called-desantis-over-dont-say-gay-book.html">corporate social advocacy</a>.</p>
<p>Business executives like Ramaswamy have criticized <a href="https://www.chicagobooth.edu/review/capitalisnt-is-woke-capitalism-threat-democracy">woke capitalism</a> and Elon Musk has recently criticized ChatGPT which <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/02/28/elon-musk-to-develop-ai-rival-to-woke-chatgpt-report/">he believes has gone woke</a>.</p>
<p>Comedian <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/bill-maher-shares-definition-of-woke-during-jake-tapper-cnn-interview">Bill Maher</a> frequently <a href="https://www.cnn.com/videos/media/2023/02/28/bill-maher-jake-tapper-woke-liberal-lead-contd-vpx.cnn">complains</a> about woke’s impact.</p>
<p>Personalities like Joe Rogan and Jordan Peterson believe it <a href="https://nypost.com/2021/05/18/joe-rogan-straight-white-men-silenced-by-woke-culture/">silences speech</a> and <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/jordan-peterson-warns-western-countries-woke-totalitarian-social-credit-system-highly-probable">cancels speakers</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/can-we-cancel-cancel-culture-164666">Can we cancel 'cancel culture?'</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The label woke is now frequently deployed <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2021/6/24/what-is-woke-culture-and-why-has-it-become-so-toxic">in opposition to a variety of social movements</a>, including fights for <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/caterinabulgarella/2022/10/12/with-the-anti-woke-backlash-against-women-escalating-efforts-to-increase-diversity-must-accelerate/?sh=253173851eeb">gender equality</a>, <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/90852536/the-republican-backlash-to-so-called-woke-capitalism-may-be-tanking-a-key-climate-proposal">climate change</a> and <a href="https://www.sageusa.org/news-posts/anti-woke-bills-could-affect-lgbtq-sensitivity-training-for-eldercare-advocates-worry/">LGBTQ+ rights</a>, among others.</p>
<p>Like pebbles dropped into a pond, the waves of conflict over wokeness ripple ever outward. But how can we maximize woke’s liberating potential while minimizing divisiveness?</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513493/original/file-20230305-2482-ox3ggy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C0%2C2871%2C1413&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="'Woke' black text with a blue eye in the middle as the letter 'o'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513493/original/file-20230305-2482-ox3ggy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C0%2C2871%2C1413&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513493/original/file-20230305-2482-ox3ggy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513493/original/file-20230305-2482-ox3ggy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513493/original/file-20230305-2482-ox3ggy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513493/original/file-20230305-2482-ox3ggy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513493/original/file-20230305-2482-ox3ggy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513493/original/file-20230305-2482-ox3ggy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Open-ended terms like ‘woke’ can evolve over time to symbolize more than their creators could have ever imagined.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/dinosossi/52726860798">dinosossi/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Post-woke future</h2>
<p>For some, the idea of being woke means to “<a href="https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/usappblog/2022/03/28/how-woke-became-weaponized-in-the-culture-wars/">be awake to social oppression</a>.” But for others, <a href="https://www.aspenideas.org/podcasts/when-the-woke-playbook-kills-free-speech">wokeness limits speech</a> and threatens the prevailing order.</p>
<p>The result? <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/dec/20/anti-woke-race-america-history">Vicious public quarrels</a>. We are trapped in a <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2022/05/social-media-democracy-trust-babel/629369/">digital Tower of Babel built for the social media age</a> seemingly without escape.</p>
<p>Open-ended terms like woke can evolve over time to symbolize more than their creators could have ever imagined. Words used ambiguously and in excess can eventually become meaningless. They can even experience <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/very-actually-and-other-examples-of-semantic-bleaching">semantic bleaching</a>. This is when words lose their meaning through repeated and varied usage.</p>
<p>The state of play is so topsy-turvy you could argue that even anti-woke politicians can be woke. Think <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/9409586/pierre-poilievre-vows-different-approach-to-reconciliation-after-speech-to-frontier-centre/">Poilievre advocating for drinking water for Indigenous communities</a>. Or <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/05/01/trump-republicans-first-step-act-00029104">Trump’s criminal justice reforms</a>.</p>
<p>When one term is interpreted antithetically, even adopted by its avowed adversaries, it increasingly becomes meaningless.</p>
<p>We should resist easy labels like wokeness that simplify or disregard complex and legitimate issues. Unclear terms confuse instead of clarify, alienating those we wish to include in conversation. Society suffers and divisions harden. And marginalized individuals often suffer the most severe consequences through no fault of their own.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/200989/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dino Sossi does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The word ‘woke’ has increasingly become caught up in the rhetoric of the culture war. But debates around wokeness and what it means are drawing attention away from the real issues.Dino Sossi, Adjunct Assistant Professor, OCAD UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1822632022-06-23T21:29:32Z2022-06-23T21:29:32ZHow powerful sounds of protest amplify resistance — Podcast<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/470041/original/file-20220621-25-8rvwsn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=27%2C20%2C4507%2C2991&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Sound researchers believe sound is an element of resistance. Here a protester holds a 'Black Lives Matter" megaphone at a protest in New York City in 2020.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.cpimages.com/CS.aspx?VP3=DamView&VBID=2RLQ2JSMH1VPZ&PN=1&WS=SearchResults">AP Photo/John Minchillo</a></span></figcaption></figure><iframe height="480px" width="100%" frameborder="no" scrolling="no" seamless="" src="https://player.simplecast.com/fb609e39-d729-4a54-860a-8a411be157ae?dark=false&show=true"></iframe>
<p><iframe id="tc-infographic-572" class="tc-infographic" height="100" src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/infographics/572/661898416fdc21fc4fdef6a5379efd7cac19d9d5/site/index.html" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>When you think of a protest, one that fills the streets, do you remember the visuals of what you saw? Visually striking images are often circulated by news media — like the one we’ve used for this article.</p>
<p>But can you also close your eyes and remember the sounds that surrounded you? </p>
<p>For me, sound has always resonated — it’s sometimes what I remember, long after the streets are empty and quiet again. </p>
<p>Maybe it’s the sound of a chant “No Justice No Peace” or “I Can’t Breathe” at a Black Lives Matter protest. Or a theatre shaking from <a href="https://twitter.com/writevinita/status/1525875652955721729?s=20&t=CGMSVCBqxbedsLRHdmeOuA">feet stomping after a speech by a brown queer rights activist</a>. I can still hear that. I also remember the sound of Toronto police horses clopping on concrete during the <a href="https://nowtoronto.com/news/yonge-street-riot-documentary">1992 protest against police brutality</a>.</p>
<p>Everyday sounds are important too. The normal sounds of a Saturday: music from a fruit stall, neighbours yelling “hey” to each other, the clattering of the Q train in Brooklyn. These sounds can define a neighbourhood. And if we don’t pay attention to them, as life changes, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/interactive/2022/saving-sounds-an-ancient-city/">sounds can disappear</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/470102/original/file-20220621-13681-jw2nyz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A person drums and sings with supporters in Winnipeg to protest against the construction of a pipeline on Wet'suwet'en territory." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/470102/original/file-20220621-13681-jw2nyz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/470102/original/file-20220621-13681-jw2nyz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470102/original/file-20220621-13681-jw2nyz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470102/original/file-20220621-13681-jw2nyz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470102/original/file-20220621-13681-jw2nyz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470102/original/file-20220621-13681-jw2nyz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470102/original/file-20220621-13681-jw2nyz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In this 2020 photo, protesters in Winnipeg sing in support of the Wet'suwet'en nation’s protest to keep pipeline workers out of the B.C. First Nation’s traditional territory.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.cpimages.com/CS.aspx?VP3=DamView&VBID=2RLQ2JSM1LPM5&PN=1&WS=SearchResults">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Mike Sudoma</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://dont-call-me-resilient.simplecast.com/episodes/the-powerful-sounds-of-protest">In today’s episode of <em>Don’t Call Me Resilient</em></a>, I speak with two people involved in sound studies who believe sound is an element of resistance. They explain why — in our hyper-visualized age of Instagram-perfect photos — <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S1355771821000248">sound is so compelling</a> and why soundscapes can help to amplify voices of resistance.</p>
<p>Nimalan Yoganathan is a PhD candidate at Concordia University. He studies protest tactics and he looks at how different sound practitioners have contributed to anti-racist movements. </p>
<p>I also spoke with <a href="https://daily.bandcamp.com/lifetime-achievement/norman-w-long-list">Norman W. Long</a>, a born-and-raised resident of the south side of Chicago. Norman is a sound artist, designer and composer who works to document and record the everyday reality of his community. He has graduate degrees in landscape architecture from Cornell University and in fine arts from the San Francisco Art Institute. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1004439164073529345"}"></div></p>
<p>Both our guests talk about how important it is to listen to the sounds around us as a way to critically engage with our communities, to help bridge our deep divides and to pay attention to the forces of power in our environment. They say anyone can learn to listen deeply, even children. </p>
<p>As Long invites both insiders and outsider to listen on guided soundwalks of his community, he starts with a short breathing exercise. He said: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“The practise of breathing brought me back to COVID-19 and the murder of George Floyd. In both of these instances, African-Americans are more vulnerable to contract the virus and more likely to be murdered by police. There’s also the fact that most areas with high rates of air pollution and toxins are overwhelmingly poor and African-American. When we breathe, we are mindful of our mind-body connection, our connection to each other and our connection to those who cannot breathe. We can breathe for them and listen to the street, the noises and disruptions, and join in the chorus that demand justice for Black and brown people all over the world.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This is a different kind of episode: instead of our usual interview style, we let the sound guide us. I encourage you to listen in and follow along with our conversation and playlist.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7E26_sjxbYY?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">‘Stay Alive’ by Mustafa.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Soundscapes/Credits</h2>
<ul>
<li>“<a href="https://youtu.be/x2Nx4jUEZfc">Idle No More Protest</a>,” (2012) recorded by Paula Kirman at the West Edmonton Mall</li>
<li>“<a href="https://mustafa.ffm.to/when-smoke-rises">Stay Alive</a>” <em>When Smoke Rises</em> by Mustafa</li>
<li><em>Ali</em> by Mustafa</li>
<li><a href="https://normanwlong.bandcamp.com/track/black-space-in-winter">“Black Space in Winter”</a> (2021) Produced by Norman W. Long. Recorded as part of the We Series curated by Lia Kohl and Dierdre Hackabay. Bowls, Cymbals and electronics by Norman W. Long. Recorded at Marian R. Byrnes Park. </li>
<li><a href="https://soundcloud.com/normanlong/sets/washington-park-sun-ra-sound">Washington Park Mix 2016</a> Produced by Norman W. Long</li>
<li>“<a href="https://soundcloud.com/delaurenti/n30">N30: Live at the WTO Protest</a>”
(1999), produced by Christopher DeLaurenti </li>
<li>“<a href="https://soundcloud.com/delaurenti/fergusonaugust?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing">Fit The Description</a>”
(Ferguson, 9-13 August 2014), produced by Christopher DeLaurenti </li>
<li>“<a href="https://citiesandmemory.com">Remixing the world, one sound at a time</a>” on Cities and Memory (LA No KKK)</li>
<li>“<a href="https://audioboom.com/posts/6146907-for-and-against-donald-trump">For and against Donald Trump (2017)</a>” recorded by Aaron Rosenblum (on Cities and Memory Project) </li>
<li><a href="https://discrepant.bandcamp.com/track/thakira-jamaiya">Thakira Jama'iya</a> by Muqata’a</li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQjRqJGZeRU">Mbana Kantako</a> from NPR and YouTube</li>
<li>“Regent Park is Toronto’s up-and-coming neighbourhood” in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9JMRn3VmSI">BlogTo</a></li>
<li>“<a href="https://www.cbc.ca/music/junos/watch/watch-the-2022-juno-awards-1.6424880">CBC Juno Awards</a>”</li>
<li>Marshawn Lynch clip from ESPN</li>
</ul>
<h2>ICMYI in <em>The Conversation</em></h2>
<ul>
<li>“<a href="https://theconversation.com/black-lives-matter-movement-uses-creative-tactics-to-confront-systemic-racism-143273">Black Lives Matter movement uses creative tactics to confront systemic racism</a> by Nimalan Yoganathan </li>
<li><a href="https://theconversation.com/voices-hearts-and-hands-how-the-powerful-sounds-of-protest-have-changed-over-time-140192">Voices, hearts and hands – how the powerful sounds of protest have changed over time</a> by Lawrence English</li>
<li><a href="https://theconversation.com/hip-hop-is-the-soundtrack-to-black-lives-matter-protests-continuing-a-tradition-that-dates-back-to-the-blues-140879">Hip-hop is the soundtrack to Black Lives Matter protests, continuing a tradition that dates back to the blues</a> by Tyina Steptoe </li>
</ul>
<h2>Resources</h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S1355771821000248">"Soundscapes of Resistance: Amplifying social justice activism and aural counterpublics through field recording-based sound practices”</a> in <em>Organised Sound</em> by Nimalan Yoganathan</li>
<li><a href="https://www.dukeupress.edu/listening-to-images"><em>Listening to Images</em></a> by Tina M. Campt</li>
<li><a href="https://daily.bandcamp.com/features/muqata-kamil-mangus-interview">“Parsing Muqata’a’s Personal, Potent Instrumental Hip-Hop”</a> by Lewis Gordon</li>
<li><a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10714413.2011.597646">“Pedagogies of hope”</a> by Yasmin Jiwani</li>
<li><a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/20551940.2016.1214455">“Sounds inside: prison, prisoners and acoustical agency”</a> in <em>Sound Studies</em> by Tom Rice</li>
<li><a href="https://soundstudiesblog.com/2019/08/05/hearing-change-in-the-chocolate-city-soundwalking-as-black-feminist-method/">“Hearing Change in the Chocolate City: Soundwalking as Black Feminist Method”</a> by Allie Martin</li>
<li>“<a href="https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/the-profound-silence-of-marshawn-lynch">The Profound Silence of Marshawn Lynch</a>” by Hua Hsu</li>
<li>Jennifer Lynn Stoever: “<a href="https://iaspm-us.net/interview-series-the-sonic-color-line/">Interview Series: Jennifer Stoever, The Sonic Color Line</a>”</li>
</ul>
<h2>Follow and listen</h2>
<p>You can listen to or follow <em>Don’t Call Me Resilient</em> on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/dont-call-me-resilient/id1549798876">Apple Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5zaW1wbGVjYXN0LmNvbS9qZFg0Ql9DOA">Google Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/37tK4zmjWvq2Sh6jLIpzp7">Spotify</a> or <a href="https://dont-call-me-resilient.simplecast.com">wherever you listen to your favourite podcasts</a>. <a href="mailto:theculturedesk@theconversation.com">We’d love to hear from you</a>, including any ideas for future episodes. Join The Conversation on <a href="https://twitter.com/ConversationCA">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TheConversationCanada">Facebook</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/theconversationdotcom/">Instagram</a> and <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@theconversation">TikTok</a> and use #DontCallMeResilient.</p>
<p><em>Don’t Call Me Resilient</em> is produced and hosted by Vinita Srivastava. The co-producer on this episode is Lygia Navarro. Haley Lewis is a series co-producer and Vaishnavi Dandekar is an assistant producer. Jennifer Moroz is our consulting producer. Lisa Varano is our audience development editor and Scott White is the CEO of the Conversation Canada. <em>Don’t Call Me Resilient</em> is a production of <em>The Conversation Canada</em>. This podcast was produced with a grant for Journalism Innovation from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. </p>
<h2>Transcript</h2>
<p><a href="https://dont-call-me-resilient.simplecast.com/episodes/the-powerful-sounds-of-protest/transcript">Unedited transcript</a></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/182263/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
In today’s episode, we look at how sound and noise are used as tactics of protest and how practitioners are using environmental soundscapes to protest against racism and police brutality.Vinita Srivastava, Host + Producer, Don't Call Me ResilientLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1814682022-05-04T01:47:30Z2022-05-04T01:47:30ZBrands can be rewarded for social activism – but they also risk losing customers to apolitical rivals<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/460445/original/file-20220429-25829-nh3jb8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">GettyImages</span> </figcaption></figure><p>From Nike to Ben & Jerry’s to Airbnb, more and more brands are taking a stand on sociopolitical issues (often called <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0743915620947359?casa_token=BXNMr51GWTUAAAAA%3ArdTRd8Usz55W8CQ_CyVSqAKyn7sDnH1EqePUf8ExsnOKBlOZVDE49ONXRCsmKDMn2dsiKj-iRJ5v8A">brand activism</a>), to the point it’s arguably become a component of any brand’s strategy. </p>
<p>But as consumers grow more accustomed to such initiatives, they’ve also become increasingly critical. While its clear many consumers want brands to take a stand, it’s not always clear what that stand should be.</p>
<p>So weighing in on a divisive issue becomes a calculated risk. Customers may stop buying a brand if it supports the “wrong” side of an issue, or supports it in the wrong way. </p>
<p>If and when this happens, the door opens for rival brands to pick up those disgruntled customers purely by remaining neutral on an issue, gaining an edge simply by observing and reacting to what the first brand has done. This raises an important question: is there a <a href="https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2006/03/20/8371782/">second mover advantage</a> when it comes to brand activism?</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/koPmuEyP3a0?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<h2>Bystander brands and free agents</h2>
<p>Take Gillette’s <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-46874617">now infamous</a> 2019 “The Best Men Can Be” campaign, for example. The short film features images of violence between boys, sexism in movies and at work, as well as news clips of the #MeToo movement. A voice asks, “Is this the best a man can get?”. </p>
<p>The campaign went viral with more than four million YouTube views in 48 hours, generating both <a href="https://theconversation.com/post-gillette-other-brands-are-better-at-matching-practice-with-talk-but-dont-get-the-publicity-110595">high praise and intense criticism</a>. </p>
<p>The day after the Gillette ad was released, rival Dollar Shave Club tweeted a short and simple message: “Welcome to the Club”. Comments on the tweet suggest it resonated with a group of consumers seemingly offended by the Gillette ad.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1084917538713067520"}"></div></p>
<p><a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5ce2f5be8e2e480001ae99c8/t/6242658dae7d6f22b24fba67/1648518541379/AMTP+2022+PROGRAM++3-23-22.pdf">Our research</a> examines what we call “bystander brands” that appeal to disaffected consumers of rival brands, who are offended by an activist stance and now “free agents” with no fixed brand allegiances.</p>
<p>As second movers, these bystander brands can, at least in the short term, benefit from consumer scepticism (or cynicism) fuelled by a perceived overload of brand activism – some of it inauthentic, opportunistic, imitative or just “<a href="https://theconversation.com/woke-washing-what-happens-when-marketing-communications-dont-match-corporate-practice-108035">woke washing</a>” – which devalues such activism overall.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/brand-activism-is-moving-up-the-supply-chain-corporate-accountability-or-commercial-censorship-151749">Brand activism is moving up the supply chain — corporate accountability or commercial censorship?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Targeting disaffected customers</h2>
<p>Our findings suggest that deliberate bystander brand strategies – waiting for a competitor to take a stand then appealing to alienated or offended customers – can appeal to certain consumers.</p>
<p>So far, research in this area has tended to focus on how sociopolitical brand activism works, how it can be <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/02761467211043074?casa_token=5ihMGtyrnG8AAAAA:YqOsLqSBVABzjgo9ZYI3Yv8u67OFLn13K1JsnLrqCiX75QepeIuWmRML5FOOlZ0sdmDsoq0A6SBt4vI">most effective</a>, and how companies can avoid reputational damage in the process.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/consumers-are-wise-to-woke-washing-but-truly-transformative-branding-can-still-make-a-difference-170190">Consumers are wise to ‘woke washing’ – but truly ‘transformative branding’ can still make a difference</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>But little has been said about brands that might be drawn into activist conversations simply through their competitors taking a stand. Rivals or bystander brands could remain silent on an issue, take a neutral stance, or announce an opposing position.</p>
<p>Appealing to a competitor’s customers is typically very challenging, given the strong psychological “contracts” that build brand loyalty. The fallout from brand activism represents a rare situation where market share is up for grabs. </p>
<p>For example, following Nike’s endorsement of Colin Kaepernick with its 2018 “<a href="https://news.nike.com/featured_video/just-do-it-dream-crazy-film">Dream Crazy</a>” campaign, many enraged customers looked for alternative athletic brands. What are the likes of Adidas and Under Armour to do in this position? Surprisingly, the research has yet to address this potential market share in limbo. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Three American football players kneel in protest." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/460478/original/file-20220429-25608-jfrfjh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/460478/original/file-20220429-25608-jfrfjh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=364&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460478/original/file-20220429-25608-jfrfjh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=364&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460478/original/file-20220429-25608-jfrfjh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=364&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460478/original/file-20220429-25608-jfrfjh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=457&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460478/original/file-20220429-25608-jfrfjh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=457&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460478/original/file-20220429-25608-jfrfjh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=457&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Brands have struggled to navigate activism in the modern era, with noticeable missteps around Black Lives Matter and #metoo.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com.au/detail/news-photo/ffee-safety-eric-reid-quarterback-colin-kaepernick-and-news-photo/610456686?adppopup=true">Steve Dykes/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The conservative consumer</h2>
<p>We find the desire to reject sociopolitical brand activism particularly true for customers who identify as “conservative”. While boycotting brands is a <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jcr/article-abstract/44/3/503/4091330">bipartisan affair</a>, the way consumers engage in boycotts differs. </p>
<p>Past research finds conservatives can be quicker to <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2017-04383-001">seek punishment</a> and <a href="https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/full/10.1146/annurev.lawsocsci.4.110707.172335">want corrective action</a> as a result of their moral outrage. Brand rivals are sometimes even viewed with hostility as the “<a href="https://www.msi.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/MSI_Report_16-107.pdf">enemy</a>”. Switching from an offending brand to a rival satisfies a desire for retaliation, a pattern we observed across three studies.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/nike-colin-kaepernick-and-the-pitfalls-of-woke-corporate-branding-102922">Nike, Colin Kaepernick and the pitfalls of 'woke' corporate branding</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Furthermore, our work finds that intentionally mentioning such rivalries in brand advertising is more effective at attracting “free agent” conservatives, relative to their more liberal counterparts, who were less concerned with brand rivalry or persuaded by advertising based on it. </p>
<p>Strategically, then, remaining “activism adjacent” as a bystander brand represents a critical opportunity. As other brands risk losing customers with sociopolitical platitudes or inauthentic campaigns, rivals can maintain relevance in an increasingly nuanced marketing landscape. It can be as simple as a cheeky tweet.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/181468/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Companies are increasingly taking a stand on social and political issues, but they risk alienating customers in the process. Are other brands learning how to benefit from the backlash?Jessica Vredenburg, Senior Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Marketing, Auckland University of TechnologyKatharine Howie, Assistant Professor of Marketing, The University of Southern MississippiRhiannon M. Mesler, Associate professor, University of LethbridgeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1613342021-07-14T12:23:16Z2021-07-14T12:23:16ZFrom the labor struggles of the 1930s to the racial reckoning of the 2020s, the Highlander school has sought to make America more equitable<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407988/original/file-20210623-19-holujg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=56%2C50%2C3713%2C2255&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Highlander founder Myles Horton (right) with civil rights leader Rosa Parks and labor leader Ralph Helstein in 1957.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.library.nashville.org/research/collections/civil-rights-collection">Nashville Banner Collection, Special Collections Division, Nashville Public Library</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>During this <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/americas-racial-reckoning">period of racial reckoning</a>, many Americans are seeking to make the United States more equitable and just. Many new organizations and coalitions are arising out of a new wave of engagement, but they don’t need to start from scratch. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/41674667">Highlander Research and Education Center</a>, a training ground for civil rights activists founded nearly 90 years ago, offers a useful model. As a <a href="https://uncpress.org/book/9781469661445/shelter-in-a-time-of-storm/">social movement historian</a>, I am intimately familiar with how this school and similar engines of grassroots engagement have transformed America’s social and political landscape by inspiring generations of leaders seeking to end institutional racism.</p>
<p>Located outside of Knoxville in the eastern Tennessee mountains, Highlander is among the hundreds of organizations that the billionaire philanthropist and author <a href="https://mackenzie-scott.medium.com/116-organizations-driving-change-67354c6d733d">MacKenzie Scott</a> has funded to combat systemic inequity. It’s also playing a critical role in attracting and distributing philanthropic support to lesser-known Southern grassroots organizations.</p>
<p>Together with <a href="https://archives.lib.duke.edu/catalog/song">Southerners on New Ground</a>, another activist training group, it helped launch the <a href="https://www.laughinggull.org/southern-power-fund">Southern Power Fund</a> in 2020. The initiative had <a href="https://www.philanthropy.com/article/how-a-14-million-fund-for-black-led-grassroots-groups-in-the-south-is-upending-traditional-grant-making">raised US$14 million by mid-2021</a> to make it easier for grassroots organizations to address local needs with <a href="https://www.lawinsider.com/dictionary/unrestricted-grant">no-strings-attached</a> grants.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dAUCZH-r3KQ?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Myles Horton created the Highlander school to help poor people find solutions to their ‘common problems.’</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Myles Horton vs. the color line</h2>
<p>Highlander was the brainchild of <a href="https://www.americanswhotellthetruth.org/portraits/myles-horton">Myles Horton</a>, a white Southerner who grew up under the crushing weight of poverty in rural Tennessee in the early 20th century. As his parents scratched out a living doing odd jobs, Horton grew increasingly bitter regarding the social and economic system that produced such stark contrasts between the privileged few and the struggling masses. He also became an avid reader.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407981/original/file-20210623-19-1mc2v9y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A clean-cut man in a white shirt smiles at the camera" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407981/original/file-20210623-19-1mc2v9y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407981/original/file-20210623-19-1mc2v9y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=729&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407981/original/file-20210623-19-1mc2v9y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=729&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407981/original/file-20210623-19-1mc2v9y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=729&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407981/original/file-20210623-19-1mc2v9y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=916&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407981/original/file-20210623-19-1mc2v9y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=916&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407981/original/file-20210623-19-1mc2v9y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=916&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Myles Horton in 1957.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.library.nashville.org/research/collections/civil-rights-collection">Nashville Banner Collection, Special Collections Division, Nashville Public Library</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>During the Great Depression, Horton went to graduate school at <a href="https://thesocietypages.org/monte/2014/08/24/remembering-myles-horton-a-man-who-left-academic-sociology-behind-in-order-to-change-society/">Union Theological Seminary in New York and the University of Chicago</a>.</p>
<p>There, he was <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520302051/education-in-black-and-white">mentored by John Dewey</a>, a philosopher who believed in the need for education aimed at “correcting unfair privilege and unfair deprivation.” American social movements at that time, when the nation’s economic and racial divisions were becoming deeper, were intensifying their critiques concerning the wealth gap and the color line that violently threatened and undermined the lives of millions of African Americans.</p>
<p>Subsequently, Horton founded the <a href="https://snccdigital.org/inside-sncc/alliances-relationships/highlander/">Highlander Folk School</a> in 1932. Nestled in the tiny backwoods town of Monteagle, Tennessee, it aimed “to educate rural and industrial leaders for a new social order.”</p>
<p>For Horton, the economic crisis was the perfect moment to achieve the unthinkable: bridging the color line to create synergy between Black and white Southerners.
Within Highlander’s welcoming walls and in its outdoor classes, segregation or any pretense of hierarchy was nonexistent. </p>
<p>Groups of Southern labor organizers and civil rights activists would gather at Highlander to read and discuss. Its library was stocked with books by progressive intellectuals, including not just Dewey but the theologian <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-comey-learned-from-theologian-reinhold-niebuhr-about-ethical-leadership-95330">Reinhold Niebuhr</a> and the educator and activist <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/George-S-Counts">George S. Counts</a>.</p>
<p>Participants would learn even more from their community-building. Horton sought to create a space where people of all backgrounds could be exposed to history and literature that enlightened them about their common struggles. Highlander also fostered the creation of music and art that built communion and solidarity, while inculcating the radical notion among trainees that they could transcend racial and class divisions.</p>
<p>In sharing a common space for an extended period, participants in Highlander’s training program could begin to build a truly democratic society as a “<a href="https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/996/">circle of learners</a>.” </p>
<h2>Empowering civil rights leaders</h2>
<p>Today’s training center is the successor to Horton’s original civil rights movement incubator. In 1957, <a href="https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/highlander-folk-school">Martin Luther King Jr. praised Highlander’s “noble purpose and creative work”</a> with having “given the South some of its most responsible leaders.”</p>
<p>Four months before her historic act of dissent against Montgomery’s segregated buses, for example, <a href="https://www.loc.gov/exhibitions/rosa-parks-in-her-own-words/about-this-exhibition/the-bus-boycott/highlander-folk-school/">Rosa Parks</a> attended a Highlander workshop on one of several trips she would make there. </p>
<p>And as student sit-ins rocked America’s social and political foundations in the spring of 1960, it was Highlander that served as a retreat for many of the Nashville students, including <a href="https://theconversation.com/john-lewis-traded-the-typical-college-experience-for-activism-arrests-and-jail-cells-143219">John Lewis</a>, the future congressman. </p>
<p>Because of unrelenting attacks by prejudiced politicians who <a href="https://www.gale.com/c/fbi-file-on-the-highlander-folk-school">alleged that Highlander was spreading communism</a>, Tennessee authorities <a href="https://www.appalachianhistory.net/2018/01/school-for-subversives-and-communists.html">forced the school’s closure and revoked its charter in 1961</a>. The staff then reincorporated as the Highlander Research and Education Center and moved, first to Knoxville and then to New Market, a small town about 25 miles away.</p>
<p>Under its barely changed name, the nonprofit school would keep forging some of the most unlikely coalitions at the height of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/lynching-preachers-how-black-pastors-resisted-jim-crow-and-white-pastors-incited-racial-violence-129963">Jim Crow South</a> and beyond.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407984/original/file-20210623-21-1y3x6u0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A classroom full of adults in the 1950s" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407984/original/file-20210623-21-1y3x6u0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407984/original/file-20210623-21-1y3x6u0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=470&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407984/original/file-20210623-21-1y3x6u0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=470&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407984/original/file-20210623-21-1y3x6u0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=470&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407984/original/file-20210623-21-1y3x6u0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=591&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407984/original/file-20210623-21-1y3x6u0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=591&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407984/original/file-20210623-21-1y3x6u0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=591&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Highlander’s workshops brought Black and white people together, even at the height of U.S. segregation.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.library.nashville.org/research/collections/civil-rights-collection">Nashville Banner Collection, Special Collections Division, Nashville Public Library</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Septima Clark</h2>
<p>One of Horton’s most influential hires was a South Carolina schoolteacher named <a href="https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/clark-septima-poinsette">Septima Clark</a>. A graduate of two historically Black colleges, she first arrived in 1954 out of curiosity because she wanted to see for herself the one place she had heard of where “<a href="https://africaworldpressbooks.com/ready-from-within-septima-clark-and-the-civil-right-movement-a-first-person-narrative-edited-by-cynthia-stokes-brown/">blacks and whites could meet together and talk over the problems</a>” that defined the Jim Crow South.</p>
<p>She returned a year later after being fired from her teaching job in Charleston for belonging to the NAACP. At Highlander, Clark developed and led workshops on leadership. Parks was among her first students, six months before an <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/montgomery-bus-boycott">eventful act of dissent aboard a bus in Montgomery</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407992/original/file-20210623-13-1opsvsn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An elderly woman holds an award" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407992/original/file-20210623-13-1opsvsn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407992/original/file-20210623-13-1opsvsn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1170&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407992/original/file-20210623-13-1opsvsn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1170&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407992/original/file-20210623-13-1opsvsn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1170&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407992/original/file-20210623-13-1opsvsn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1471&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407992/original/file-20210623-13-1opsvsn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1471&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407992/original/file-20210623-13-1opsvsn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1471&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Septima Clark in 1974.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/CivilRightsPioneerClark/dea21193332348258743b1133d5dae6a/photo">AP Photo</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Clark became a full-time staffer in 1956. She later implemented her Highlander lesson plans in what she referred to as <a href="https://www.ajc.com/news/septima-clark-was-the-teacher-of-the-civil-rights-movement/CZSM4IT56RC4FFMMLD7L53YLPA/">Citizenship Schools</a> in Johns Island, South Carolina.</p>
<p>Horton’s and Clark’s methods of empowering and training local folks in political literacy became staples of organizations such as the <a href="https://snccdigital.org/inside-sncc/the-story-of-sncc/">Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee</a>, or SNCC.</p>
<p>SNCC later emulated the concept of Clark’s Citizenship Schools during the <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/freedom-summer">Freedom Summer campaign of 1964</a>, which sought to register scores of Black voters who had been barred from registering in Mississippi – under the threat of white terrorism as well as Jim Crow laws.</p>
<p>[<em>Get the best of The Conversation, every weekend.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/weekly-highlights-61?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=weeklybest">Sign up for our weekly newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>SNCC activists also created Freedom Schools throughout the Mississippi Delta region that exposed <a href="https://www.civilrightsteaching.org/exploring-history-freedom-schools">Black residents to an education that most had been deprived of</a> as <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/sharecropping">impoverished sharecroppers</a>.</p>
<h2>Building new coalitions</h2>
<p>After the school’s organizers relocated, twice under its new name, Highlander redoubled its efforts to address systemic poverty. In recent years, <a href="https://highlandercenter.org/our-story/mission/">while upholding its original mission</a>, Highlander has begun to tackle issues such as environmental racism, xenophobia and human rights abuses while advocating for intergenerational and multicultural coalition-building.</p>
<p>Tragically, there are those who still regard such efforts as a threat.</p>
<p>The Highlander Research and Education Center’s main office building in New Market, Tennessee, burned down in 2019. The subsequent identification of a white power symbol raised <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/highlander-attack-arson-racism/">suspicions of arson</a>, but <a href="https://www.wbir.com/article/news/community/we-are-survivors-one-year-after-the-highlander-center-fire/51-7fdf920b-929f-4ee4-b8e5-da0dba4f308f">the case</a> apparently remains under investigation.</p>
<p>Although the blaze engulfed the building, it didn’t raze the spirit and mission of the center that in my view has served as a citadel for democracy and justice.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/161334/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jelani M. Favors does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The training center, which welcomed Rosa Parks and John Lewis before they became famous, still empowers and inspires marginalized Americans to use their own voices and talents.Jelani M. Favors, Associate Professor of History, Clayton State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1606692021-05-16T12:17:47Z2021-05-16T12:17:47ZBeyond a technical bug: Biased algorithms and moderation are censoring activists on social media<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400795/original/file-20210514-23-56keyn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=27%2C0%2C3100%2C2065&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Activists, influencers raise alarm after MMIWG content disappears from Instagram on Red Dress Day.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Solen Feyissa/Unsplash)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Following Red Dress Day on May 5, a day aimed to raise awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG), Indigenous activists and supporters of the campaign found <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/instagram-stories-vanish-mmiwg-red-dress-day-1.6017113">posts about MMIWG had disappeared</a> from their Instagram accounts. In response, Instagram released a tweet saying that this was “<a href="https://twitter.com/InstagramComms/status/1390376354332487681">a widespread global technical issue not related to any particular topic</a>,” followed by an apology explaining that the platform “<a href="https://twitter.com/mosseri/status/1390764509019607040">experienced a technical bug, which impacted millions of people’s stories, highlights and archives around the world</a>.”</p>
<p>Creators, however, said that not all stories were affected.</p>
<p>And this is not the first time social media platforms have been under scrutiny because of their erroneous censoring of grassroots activists and racial minorities. </p>
<p>Many <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/craigsilverman/facebook-silencing-black-lives-matter-activists">Black Lives Matter</a> (BLM) activists were similarly frustrated when Facebook flagged their accounts, but didn’t do enough to <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/07/facebook-black-lives-matter/">stop racism and hate speech</a> against Black people on their platform.</p>
<p>So were these really about technical glitches? Or did they result from the platforms’ discriminatory and biased policies and practices? The answer lies somewhere in between.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1390414111553441793"}"></div></p>
<h2>Towards automated content moderation</h2>
<p>Every time an activist’s post is wrongly removed, there are at least three possible scenarios. </p>
<p>First, sometimes the platform deliberately takes down activists’ posts and accounts, usually at request of and/or in co-ordination with the government. This happened when <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/the-technology-202/2020/01/13/the-technology-202-instagram-faces-backlash-for-removing-posts-praising-soleimani/5e1b7f1788e0fa2262dcbc72/">Facebook and Instagram removed posts and accounts of Iranians</a> who expressed support for the Iranian general Qassem Soleiman. </p>
<p>In some countries and disputed territories, such as <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2021/3/27/why-is-twitter-silencing-kashmiri-voices">Kashmir</a>, <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/facebook-hate-speech-censorship-internal-documents-algorithms">Crimea, Western Sahara and Palestinian territories</a>, platforms censored activists and journalists to allegedly <a href="https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/hate-speech-social-media-global-comparisons">maintain their market access or to protect themselves from legal liabilities</a>.</p>
<p>Second, a post can be removed through a user-reporting mechanism. To handle unlawful or prohibited communication, social media platforms have indeed <a href="https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300173130/custodians-internet">primarily relied on users reporting</a>.</p>
<p>Applying community standards developed by the platform, content moderators would then review reported content and determine whether a violation had occurred. If it had, the content would be removed, and, in the case of serious or repeat infringements, the user may be temporarily suspended or permanently banned.</p>
<p>This mechanism is problematic. Due to the sheer volume of reports received on a daily basis, there are simply not enough moderators to review each report adequately. Also, complexities and subtleties of language pose real challenges. Meanwhile, marginalized groups reclaiming abusive terms for public awareness, such as BLM and MMIWG, can be misinterpreted as being abusive.</p>
<p>Further, in flagging content, users tend to rely on <a href="https://www.wired.com/2017/03/google-and-facebook-cant-just-make-fake-news-disappear/">partisanship and ideology</a>. User reporting approach is driven by popular opinion of a platform’s users while potentially repressing the right to unpopular speech.</p>
<p>Such approach also emboldens <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14672715.2017.1341188">freedom to hate</a>, where users exercise their right to voice their opinions while actively silencing others. A notable example is the removal by Facebook of “<a href="https://forward.com/schmooze/201639/coldplay-slammed-for-freedom-for-palestine-faceboo/">Freedom for Palestine</a>,” a multi-artist collaboration posted by Coldplay, after a number of users reported the song as “abusive.” </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1392496535410286596"}"></div></p>
<p>Third, platforms are increasingly using artificial intelligence (AI) to help identify and remove prohibited content. The idea is that complex algorithms that use natural language processing can flag racist or violent content faster and better than humans possibly can. During the COVID-19 pandemic, social media companies are relying more on AI to cover for tens of thousands of human moderators who <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/techstream/covid-19-is-triggering-a-massive-experiment-in-algorithmic-content-moderation/">were sent home</a>. Now, more than ever, algorithms decide what users can and cannot post online.</p>
<h2>Algorithmic biases</h2>
<p>There’s an inherent belief that AI systems are less biased and can scale better than human beings. In practice, however, they’re easily disposed to error and can impose bias on a colossal systemic scale. </p>
<p>In two 2019 computational linguistic studies, researchers discovered that AI intended to identify hate speech may actually end up amplifying racial bias.</p>
<p>In <a href="https://homes.cs.washington.edu/%7Emsap/pdfs/sap2019risk.pdf">one study</a>, researchers found that tweets written in African American English commonly spoken by Black Americans are up to twice more likely to be flagged as offensive compared to others. Using a dataset of 155,800 tweets, <a href="https://arxiv.org/pdf/1905.12516.pdf">another study</a> found a similar widespread racial bias against Black speeches.</p>
<p>What’s considered offensive is bound to social context; terms that are slurs when used in some settings may not be in others. Algorithmic systems lack an ability to capture nuances and contextual particularities, which may not be understood by human moderators who test data used to train these algorithms either. This means natural language processing which is often perceived as an objective tool to identify offensive content can amplify the same biases that human beings have. </p>
<p>Algorithmic bias may jeopardize some people who are already at risk by wrongly categorizing them as offensive, criminals or even terrorists. In mid 2020, Facebook deleted at least 35 accounts of <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/facebook-doesn-t-care-activists-say-accounts-removed-despite-zuckerberg-n1231110">Syrian journalists and activists</a> on the pretext of terrorism while in reality, they were campaigning against violence and terrorism.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Indigenous protesters, some wearing ribbon skits, some holding drums stand in a circle in the winter." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400797/original/file-20210514-19-4e2vj6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400797/original/file-20210514-19-4e2vj6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400797/original/file-20210514-19-4e2vj6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400797/original/file-20210514-19-4e2vj6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400797/original/file-20210514-19-4e2vj6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400797/original/file-20210514-19-4e2vj6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400797/original/file-20210514-19-4e2vj6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Protesters gather in Winnipeg the day after the jury delivered a not-guilty verdict in the second degree murder trial of Raymond Cormier, the man accused of killing Tina Fontaine. MMIWG activists had their posts removed from Instagram on a day to raise awareness.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>MMIWG, BLM and the Syrian cases exemplify the dynamic of “<a href="https://nyupress.org/9781479837243/algorithms-of-oppression/">algorithms of opression</a>” where algorithms reinforce older oppressive social relations and re-install new modes of racism and discrimination. </p>
<p>While AI is celebrated as autonomous technology that can develop away from human intervention, it is inherently biased. The inequalities that underpin bias already exist in society and influence who gets the opportunity to build algorithms and their databases, and for what purpose. As such, algorithms do not intrinsically provide ways for marginalized people to escape discrimination, but they also reproduce new forms of inequality along social, racial and political lines. </p>
<p>Despite the apparent problems, algorithms are here to stay. There is no silver bullet, but one can take steps to minimize bias. First is to recognize that there’s a problem. Then, making a strong commitment to root out algorithmic biases.</p>
<p>Bias can infiltrate the process anywhere in designing algorithms. </p>
<p>The inclusion of more people from diverse backgrounds within this process — Indigenous, racial minorities, women and other historically marginalized groups — is one of important steps to help mitigate the bias. In the meantime, it is important to push platforms to allow for as much transparency and public oversight as possible.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/160669/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Merlyna Lim receives funding from Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ghadah Alrasheed does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Automated content moderation using algorithms are quick and cheaper. But, they’re not necessarily better than human beings. They are prone to errors and can impose bias in a systemic scale.Merlyna Lim, Canada Research Chair in Digital Media & Global Network Society and Founding Director of ALiGN Media Lab, Carleton UniversityGhadah Alrasheed, Post-doctoral Fellow, Interim co-Director of ALiGN Media Lab, Carleton UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1516522021-02-10T15:07:06Z2021-02-10T15:07:06ZHow to deal with the pain of racism — and become a better advocate: Don’t Call Me Resilient EP 2 transcript<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/383569/original/file-20210210-17-xwtg7l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1889%2C434%2C2164%2C2262&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A man meditates on the road by a police line as demonstrators protest on the section of 16th Street renamed Black Lives Matter Plaza, June 23, 2020, in Washington.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe height="200px" width="100%" frameborder="no" scrolling="no" seamless="" src="https://player.simplecast.com/0fb6638d-1753-4ea2-aaa6-01eece7dd485?dark=true"></iframe>
<p><iframe id="tc-infographic-572" class="tc-infographic" height="100" src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/infographics/572/661898416fdc21fc4fdef6a5379efd7cac19d9d5/site/index.html" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-deal-with-the-pain-of-racism-and-become-a-better-advocate-dont-call-me-resilient-ep-2-show-notes-154631">Episode 2: How to deal with the pain of racism - and become a better advocate</a>.</p>
<p><em>NOTE: Transcripts may contain errors. Please check the corresponding audio before quoting in print.</em></p>
<p><strong>Vinita Srivastava (VS):</strong> From The Conversation, this is <em>Don’t Call Me Resilient</em>. I’m Vinita Srivastava.</p>
<p><strong>Rev. angel Kyodo williams (AKW):</strong> You have to be peace with yourself, not just make peace, right? You have to be peace with yourself in order to tolerate the suffering of the world.</p>
<p><strong>VS:</strong> Today I’m talking with the Reverend angel Kyodo williams. Reverend angel is a visionary author, Zen priest and activist. As an anti-racist priest who advocates for social justice, Reverend angel has been shaking up the Buddhist community in the U.S. for decades. Recently, her work has been impacting an even bigger community. Against the backdrop of COVID-19 and global anti-racist uprisings, Reverend angel has been leading online group meditations. She uses the practise of mindful meditation to help her followers heal from the pain of racism. It’s a practise, she says, that makes for stronger, better activists. And finding inner strength is important to Reverend angel because she believes the key to transforming society is transforming our inner selves. I first met angel about 20 years ago when I was starting out as a journalist in New York. I got in touch with her again all these years later to learn how addressing the pain of racism can make us stronger actors in the world and how it can help us survive COVID-19 and resist the ongoing onslaught of systemic racism. angel generously shared all that and so much more.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-be-a-mindful-anti-racist-147551">How to be a mindful anti-racist</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p><strong>VS:</strong> Hi angel. I am so happy to have this opportunity to speak with you again.</p>
<p><strong>AKW:</strong> Me too. Yeah, this is great.</p>
<p><strong>VS:</strong> I think we last spoke a couple of years ago, but we’ve last seen each other even longer than that.</p>
<p><strong>AKW:</strong> So much longer.</p>
<p><strong>VS:</strong> We first met 25 years ago when you were the owner of the first Black owned internet café in Brooklyn, in downtown Brooklyn, Fort Greene. And actually, I first met you because I went for a job interview.</p>
<p><strong>AKW:</strong> Oh, I don’t even remember that. That’s so good. Did I hire you?</p>
<p><strong>VS:</strong> Yeah.</p>
<p><strong>AKW:</strong> OK, that’s good. I was smart then too.</p>
<p><strong>VS:</strong> And I actually went to your graduation. Do you remember that?</p>
<p><strong>AKW:</strong> Yes, that I remember.</p>
<p><strong>VS:</strong> I literally watched you go from entrepreneur to Zen Buddhist priest.</p>
<p><strong>AKW:</strong> Yes.</p>
<p><strong>VS:</strong> And today, you are a writer and activist and you run an organisation called Transformative Change.</p>
<p><strong>AKW:</strong> Yes.</p>
<p><strong>VS:</strong> Which uses meditation to forward the anti-racist movement. And these days, that movement is strong. We’ve been witnessing and experiencing this seismic global anti-racist movement. And angel, I have to tell you that ever since those first anti-racist marches, in this iteration of them, for George Floyd, for Breonna Taylor, for so many others, I’ve been thinking about you. It just feels like we’re witnessing this collective awakening, but also, this collective anger and this collective pain. And I’ve been feeling it myself and I’ve been hearing it from so many people that we’re tired, we are in pain and I know you are doing a lot of work to address that pain. And I want us to talk about that. I want us to get there. But I want to start with the pain itself. Some of our listeners will have felt it and others not and I’m wondering if you can describe your own personal experiences with that pain and maybe we can talk about what that means, what is the pain of racism?</p>
<p><strong>AKW:</strong> I have really been doing a lot of listening and feeling into what this moment is and have lots of points of contact. Depending on one’s social location it is a very different experience. I mean, we can look and say: oh, we’re having this collective experience. We can see these uprisings. We can see this outpouring of historic rage and pain. And so I think much of the conversation about the pain and how we are relating to the pain or not relating to the pain has very much to do with our sense of the past. And the more we have a sense of the past and the history of this country and our understanding and relationship to the truth, to the facts of what has transpired for this country to become what it is and to be shaped as it is today. The closer that we are to an awareness of that in our own — I want to say intellectual understanding, felt experience, ancestral knowing and specifically the felt experience of being on stolen land and being stolen bodies.</p>
<p><strong>VS:</strong> You’ve often said racism is in our bodies. I’m just wondering what you mean by that.</p>
<p><strong>AKW:</strong> Yeah, race lives in the body. And so by that I mean that it actually affects our physiological responses to our environment, to other people. It affects our neural pathways. It is made up, we know that it’s made up. But as inorganic and unnatural as this construct is, it is devastating to our essential human nature. We’re responding to what’s going on inside of us rather than the other way around. So the example I often give is a white woman in elevator, Black man comes in and she actually registers fear and contraction. She registers that and the contraction follows the registering of threat. So there’s actually like in the brain registering of threat. Body follows with contraction, thought follows that person is X, Y, and Z. We think it’s the other way around. But we are animals far, far, far before we are humans. We are feeling creatures far before we are thinking creatures.</p>
<p><strong>VS:</strong> So we’ve identified this as a feeling that’s in the body and that we are reacting through that and it impacts everything we do. What is the work that you are doing to address this pain and this feeling?</p>
<p><strong>AKW:</strong> I grew up with this sense of, oh, there are secrets to be kept.</p>
<p><strong>VS:</strong> And also pain — the secrets of pain.</p>
<p><strong>AKW:</strong> The secrets of pain, yeah. And, you know, I’m pretty sure my dad’s never going to hear this so I’m just going to say this. My dad had a girlfriend with my now stepmother, and I kept the secret of his having a girlfriend, girlfriends, a series of girlfriends. So he was a womaniser, but I was his daughter. So he kept me with him when he went places. So there I was keeping the secret of his girlfriends, even though we lived in the house with his, you know, his baby mama, which was kind of supposed to be our family. I got the lesson, first of all, people are not to be trusted and that to belong was to descend into this fantasy of what was actually happening, and I refused. And I think that what Socrates called a philosopher I would today call an activist. I would say that activists at the heart of them are after a more complete truth. I don’t mean activist for the sake of a particular cause. I mean activists at the heart of — and Vinita I think so much of you as that kind of person. That is not just like this cause thing, right? It’s like the activist. It’s like after the truth and a wholeness. We’re active on behalf of a wholeness in the world. And for me, and maybe this goes to the question too, my intentionality and focus on race is about trying to get to that liberation on behalf of us all. And being so clear that racialisation is in the way of our completeness, no matter where we are socially located on the spectrum of feeling the material impact. Those of us that don’t feel the most material impact, I believe do experience, unbeknownst to them, the most profound impact on their humanity.</p>
<p><strong>VS:</strong> I think there’s so much that you’re saying here, these are very big ideas, this idea of liberation as a collective liberation, a collective anti-racist movement. But then the idea of personal liberation, the personal search of truth as well. And it sounds like you have found ways — I mean, you’re talking about this history with your dad’s side and your mom’s side and the history of the secrets of pain and how you started to approach to be able to sit with that pain, like literally sit with that pain. I remember early days sitting with you when you used to run meditation in person, those small meditations. I know that you now do this online with the groups of people, but this idea of sitting compassionately with yourself and with others.</p>
<p><strong>AKW:</strong> Yeah, you have to be peace with yourself, not just make peace, right? You have to be peace with yourself in order to tolerate the suffering of the world. And I think if you can’t tolerate your own suffering, you can’t tolerate and have a deep and abiding relationship of self-compassion with your own suffering, then you become, as a result of that, under equipped to be able to really face the suffering of the world.</p>
<p><strong>VS:</strong> Have you seen this help other folks, too? I can hear that you’ve been able to accept and sit with your pain. Have you seen this work for other folks?</p>
<p><strong>AKW:</strong> Oh yeah, in extraordinary ways. Extraordinary ways. In sort of really basic ways. So we have this kind of almost daily sit that we do and we call it ‘no big deal.’ And it’s called the ‘no big deal sit,’ because that’s how I wanted people to come to it. This is not like your Buddhist or fancy shmansy whatever. Come as you are is actually the motto. Come as you are and then leave as you must because it was a pandemic reality. And sometimes your kid was going to be in the background and we didn’t want people to feel like the white cultured expression of a lot of sitting spaces came with all this hyper properness that everybody had to kind of be a certain way in order to get in the gate. And so there was this performance before you got there to try to find yourself. And it was like, wow, you have to perform to come in and find out who you really are. That doesn’t make any sense. Come as you are also meant come as you are in your racialized body. So, come wealthy, come poor, come white, come Black, come mixed race, come confused, come with mental health challenges, so on and so forth. It really started in the pandemic. I was just a one time thing that really has become a thing. And people have said, like literally, I believe this saved my life, if not at least my mental health. It’s not just that we’re sitting, it’s that we’re sitting with a practice that I’ve developed to help people sit with their pain. To meet it, to sit with the truth of their pain and where they are, but also be able to simultaneously hold the pervasive nowness. The pervasive nowness that says while even with this pain, even with this legacy, even with this history, even with this seemingly insurmountable and overwhelming reality of so many systems and things either coming apart or really holding on tightly not trying to come apart, and this great clash of the titans of our history that’s playing out in this enormous drama on the backdrop of climate change and our impact on the Earth and our ability to inhabit it, that I can be OK. And not only that, that I must be OK. If I actually want to be able to affect what is happening around me. I must find that Okay-ness if I actually want to be a useful instrument of change, of profound and lasting change.</p>
<p><strong>VS:</strong> On the face, what you’re talking about, it sounds like it’s a form of healing. But I’m wondering if you also see it as a form of resistance.</p>
<p><strong>AKW:</strong> It is. Yeah, it’s healing. It’s this – you’re so good to see that. It’s healing. It’s through safety and belonging and acceptance and redemption. And it is resistance through recognition and awareness that you have been imposed upon by the design of a system and a structure that actually would rob you of your humanity for the sake of material gain.</p>
<p><strong>VS:</strong> As we have been creating this podcast we’ve been thinking a lot about this concept of resilience. That no matter what comes our way through the decades, that we’re supposed to be resilient no matter what.</p>
<p><strong>AKW:</strong> Yeah, we have to be. We carry so much pain, right? That that pain becomes how we live and inhabit a body of pain. And the paradox is that George Floyd’s death, Breonna Taylor’s death — George Floyd’s murder, Breonna Taylor’s murder. Bringing it into such focused awareness actually gave us access to the experience of the pain that we’re always inhabiting and coping with. And so the rage emerges as a result of actually getting to a place where we’re allowing ourselves to feel our pain. So it’s this paradox when it seems like we’re dealing with it now. Why, why is everybody so mad? Because we’re now actually feeling that which we have been steeling ourselves against just to get through and just to get by. And so it’s a really complex moment. There’s a lot of white people that are putting themselves on the line and trying to show up for what this is and what’s happening in this anti-racist uprising while they’re also having to navigate Black and brown people being fiercely enraged with them, and for good reason. And it’s complex because the watershed of feeling that pain and how long we’ve been waiting for people to show up together. The pandemic created the conditions that allowed so many people to actually feel the intolerance of this pain.</p>
<p><strong>VS:</strong> You’re talking about white privilege and the pain of white privilege and the pain of, I think, letting go of that privilege. That’s another kind of pain, it seems —</p>
<p><strong>AKW:</strong> Yeah. I think there’s the pain of coming into awareness of what the cost of the privilege has been. We hold on to pain. We think we’re in pain, but we hold on to pain as a way of telling ourselves that that pain is real. So we take pain and extend it out beyond the acuteness of the moment. And that’s what Buddhists would call suffering. So we make pain, suffering. You know, we’re not just in a constant state of pain, but we tell ourselves the story that we are and then we’re down. So depression, for instance, is a looping on the past, we’re not being present.</p>
<p><strong>VS:</strong> So you’re saying we as humans, we allow ourselves to loop through this pain and suffering.</p>
<p><strong>AKW:</strong> We keep a low level loop running. It’s like that song that runs in the back of your mind and you don’t even know it’s there. So we’re moving through the world in reaction to the looping story, even though around us there’s sunshine and light and positivity and beauty and soft things and loveliness. My existence, my pain is proven by threading it throughout my life all the time, and it’s not true. It just it isn’t true. I don’t feel less for George Floyd because I don’t run the loop in the back of my head and then furrow and contract my body and feel hopeless. In fact, I feel more hopeful as a result of allowing myself to fully feel the pain of George Floyd and all of what his murder represents. And what it means about my life and what it means about the lack of sense of safety and security in my body, in the bodies of people that I love, particularly Black men. I’m not abandoning their pain and all of the truth of that because I allowed myself to also be in the presence of joy and beauty and possibility.</p>
<p><strong>VS:</strong> I’m just going to ask it, looking around you when you see what’s happening in the world now, do you have hope for the future?</p>
<p><strong>AKW:</strong> I do. I think that we are really at an enormous inflection point as to whether the arc that Martin Luther King Jr. spoke about is longer or whether it turns and begins to thread through itself and find its way to a more just society. I believe that this experience of race and the comeuppance, the confrontation with white supremacy situated in the quiet and the felt experience that has been made possible by the pandemic means that we have a sufficient and growing number of people that will not tolerate it going back to wherever it is that people want to go back to. It doesn’t mean it will change overnight. But I do believe that there are a sufficient number of people that are now aware of what I like to call the untenable contract that they have been induced into in bad faith. They want out of that contract, and that is not going to change.</p>
<p><strong>VS:</strong> How do you see things changing for you personally, like your own role moving forward?</p>
<p><strong>AKW:</strong> I think the place that I would like to inhabit is to, at some greater scale, support people in tempering their bodies so that they are able to feel into the untenability of that contract. To also recognise that regardless of the structures and systems that you have a right to a fundamental okay-ness that allows you to be here and present and the kind of thriving of your humanity, regardless of the conditions. Of course it does, of course it does. And the extraordinary and profound truth of spiritual grounding and I’m not talking about somebody’s particular faith. And I don’t care if people are Buddhists and I don’t I’m kind of almost I’m not a Buddhist myself in many ways. I’m just sort of post – but there’s more of a spiritual grounding, a spirited grounding is that the profound understanding of that is that we can be OK even as we strive to have a roof over our head and care for our children. And we need that.</p>
<p><strong>VS:</strong> I keep thinking about this all the time. We’re always thinking, you say bringing the whole truth, but it also means bringing your whole body and all of your actions in service of that idea. And it’s not an easy thing to do. It’s not an easy thing to to sit with, to understand once you start bringing that into your life.</p>
<p><strong>AKW:</strong> It’s rigorous. It requires rigorous — if you’re defying the the constructed reality around you. But when you get the hang of it and you kind of get in the seat of that, the veil comes off and it actually becomes quite simple, and that is where the ease arises. And now it’s just the logistics, so to speak, of life.</p>
<p><strong>VS:</strong> I think that’s what I’m talking about, the logistics of life. It’s like, okay I have kids, where am I going to send them to school? And all of these things that we’re talking about, the contract, the comforts, the things that we trade.</p>
<p><strong>AKW:</strong> Mm-hmm.</p>
<p><strong>VS:</strong> So that’s what I was you know — it’s that logical practical. And I’m thinking about the logical practical for a moment. And I’m thinking that so many of us right now are inspired by what we’ve seen in these global anti-racist movements. And we want to have meaningful conversations about race. But some of us don’t know what steps to take maybe. I’m wondering if you can offer some simple steps for someone who says: I’m really inspired and I want to move forward.</p>
<p><strong>AKW:</strong> One of the exercises I walk people through is to go and find in your own experience and history, I call it the earliest and most potent moment that you recognised that race matters. That race is a thing, not that there’s a difference, that people have different coloured bodies and all of that kind of thing, but that race actually matters go back and find that and sit with that moment that I call the moment you were racialized. And sit with that and I invite people to journal about it. Journal about it as if it were present tense. So write the story down as if it were happening right now. So use the present tense and use I statements like: I walked in this room, a young white man turned and looked at me. Journal about it and find that story that is looping probably mostly unbeknownst to you, that is looping.</p>
<p><strong>VS:</strong> I’m sure you have those little things yourself.</p>
<p><strong>AKW:</strong> I don’t think I loop stories.</p>
<p><strong>VS:</strong> You don’t loop them anymore?</p>
<p><strong>AKW:</strong> I mean, I can tell stories, you know, that’s what we are, but I’m not looping the stories. Part of what meditation practice is when you’re really doing your practises you can catch the loop.</p>
<p><strong>VS:</strong> And that story that you’re talking about, journaling that story, that’s not just for racialized folks. I mean, that’s not just for racialized folks of colour. We are all racialized.</p>
<p><strong>AKW:</strong> Oh, yeah, of course. In fact, I would say that it’s white-bodied people that have the least access to their story of racialization because their whiteness is a given and they’ve been induced into the idea that their whiteness is a given, that they’re not a race. They’re absolutely a race and have absolutely been racialized. And that’s why it’s so profound. We have all inherited our ways of knowing and responding and reacting to race and the stories about race and all of these things from the very system that we’re trying to get ourselves out of and dismantle. And so if we don’t have a way, a perspective, that allows us to turn around and look at it and be in it but not of it, right? To be in it, but not of it, to get ourselves just enough perspective so that we’re not of it, that we know we’re something greater. We have to be able to think, feel, know outside of this system. And meditation, and I want to say embodied awareness practises, give us access to a way of knowing ourselves that is transcendent, that is outside and beyond the system, not so we can hover out and go to some kind of magic heaven away from the world, so that we can function inside of it and it’s not just devastating to us at every moment.</p>
<p><strong>VS:</strong> Yeah. Reverend angel, it’s good to be with you today.</p>
<p><strong>AKW:</strong> It’s so funny, I just heard your voice like this. This way you would say my name without the reverend, you’d just say angel. And I just totally heard it in that moment. That’s great.</p>
<p><strong>VS:</strong> Reverend angel?</p>
<p><strong>AKW:</strong> You know, you’d say angel and you would pause just like that. So good.</p>
<p><strong>VS:</strong> Yeah, it is really good.</p>
<p><strong>AKW:</strong> Thank you.</p>
<p><strong>VS:</strong> Thank you so much.</p>
<p><strong>VS:</strong> That’s it for this episode of <em>Don’t Call Me Resilient</em>. If you’re like me and you feel inspired and curious after that conversation with Reverend angel, let us know what you’re thinking. Just tag me <a href="https://twitter.com/writevinita">@WriteVinita</a>. Also tag <a href="https://twitter.com/ConversationCA">@ConversationCA</a> and use the hashtag #DontCallMeResilient. If you’d like to read more about mindful meditation and its other uses, go to <a href="https://theconversation.com/">theconversation.com</a>. That’s also where you’ll find our show notes with links to stories and research connected to our conversation today.</p>
<p><strong>VS:</strong> <em>Don’t Call me Resilient</em> is a production of The Conversation Canada. This podcast was produced with a grant for journalism innovation from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. The series is produced and hosted by me Vinita Srivastava. Our producers are Nahid Buie, Nehal El-Hadi and Vicky Mochama with additional editorial help from our intern Ibrahim Daair. Reza Dahya is our technical producer and sound guru. Anowa Quarcoo is in charge of marketing and production design. Lisa Varano is our audience development editor and Scott White is the CEO of The Conversation Canada. Special thanks also to Jennifer Moroz for her indispensable help on this project. And if you’re wondering who wrote and performed the music we use on the pod, that’s the amazing Zaki Ibrahim. The track is called <em>Something in the Water</em>. Thanks for listening, everyone, and hope you join us again.</p>
<p>Until next time, I am Vinita. And please, don’t call me resilient.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/151652/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
This is the full transcript for Don’t Call Me Resilient, EP 2: How to deal with the pain of racism — and become a better advocate.Vinita Srivastava, Host + Producer, Don't Call Me ResilientAnowa Quarcoo, Assistant Editor, Audience DevelopmentIbrahim Daair, Culture + Society EditorLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1493222020-11-18T13:22:51Z2020-11-18T13:22:51ZProgressive prosecutors scored big wins in 2020 elections, boosting a nationwide trend<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/369319/original/file-20201113-21-a59wbc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=44%2C40%2C2919%2C1895&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Despite criticism during her first term, progressive prosecutor Kim Foxx won reelection as Cook County state's attorney by a 14-point margin.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/cook-county-states-attorney-kim-foxx-arrives-for-a-press-news-photo/1131458995?adppopup=true">Scott Olson/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Despite the broad political polarization in the United States, the 2020 election confirmed a clear movement across both <a href="https://www.law360.com/access-to-justice/articles/1326594/a-new-class-of-prosecutors-reformers-win-races-nationwide">red and blue America</a>: the <a href="https://www.wbez.org/stories/what-kim-foxxs-reelection-says-about-racial-politics-fear-and-justice-in-chicago-and-beyond/5080dbcf-6383-459f-a309-c839fbcab653">gains made</a> by <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/11/11/gascon-unseats-lacey-progressive-win-436260">reform-minded prosecutors</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://theappeal.org/politicalreport/guide-prosecutor-sheriff-elections-2020/">Running on progressive platforms</a> that include ending mass incarceration and addressing police misconduct, candidates defeated traditional “law-and-order” prosecutors across the country.</p>
<p>Elected prosecutors – often called <a href="https://www.eatoncounty.org/227/Prosecutor-Worldwide-Websites">state’s attorneys or district attorneys</a> – represent the people of a particular county in their criminal cases. <a href="https://theappeal.org/the-past-present-and-future-of-the-los-angeles-district-attorneys-office/">Their offices</a> work with law enforcement to investigate and try cases, determine which crimes should be prioritized and decide how punitive to be. </p>
<p>After decades of incumbent prosecutors winning reelection based on their high conviction rates or the long sentences they achieved, <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-10-31/with-push-for-progressive-district-attorneys-elected-prosecutors-are-feeling-the-pressure">advocates for criminal justice reform began making inroads</a> into their territory a few years ago. They did so mainly by drawing attention to local races and funding progressive challengers. </p>
<h2>Birth of a movement</h2>
<p>During her 2016 run for <a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/03/kim-foxx-wins-re-election-in-chicago.html">state’s attorney for Cook County, Illinois</a>, Kim Foxx vowed to bring more accountability to police shootings and reduce prosecutions for nonviolent crimes. </p>
<p>She won, becoming the first Black woman to serve as state’s attorney in Chicago. It was also the first high-profile sign that this progressive prosecutorial approach was working.</p>
<p>Her victory was followed by the <a href="https://www.phillymag.com/news/2017/11/07/larry-krasner-wins-district-attorney-general-election/">2017 election of Larry Krasner</a> as district attorney in Philadelphia. Krasner, a former civil rights attorney, had never prosecuted a case when he ran for office – a move that the city’s police union chief called “<a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/10/29/larry-krasners-campaign-to-end-mass-incarceration">hilarious</a>.” </p>
<p>But Krasner’s campaign platform – addressing mass incarceration and police misconduct – responded to a city saddled with the <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/03/a-reckoning-in-philadelphia/472092/">highest incarceration rate among large U.S. cities</a>, nearly seven out of every 1,000 citizens. Krasner won with 75% of the vote. </p>
<p>As a <a href="https://law.gsu.edu/profile/caren-morrison/">criminal procedure professor</a> and a former federal prosecutor, I have watched the desire for reform only grow since then. </p>
<p>Progressive candidates have pledged to transform a criminal justice system that has <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/28/us/mass-incarceration-five-key-facts/index.html">bloated prisons</a> and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/crime-law/2019/12/04/states-imprison-black-people-five-times-rate-whites-sign-narrowing-yet-still-wide-gap/">disproportionately targeted people of color</a>.</p>
<p>Black Lives Matter protests have also focused attention on how prosecutors make decisions – whom they prosecute and how severely, particularly in police violence cases. </p>
<h2>Movement gains steam</h2>
<p>Despite <a href="https://cookcountyrecord.com/stories/512330836-fellow-prosecutors-blast-foxx-s-handling-of-smollett-case-undermines-very-foundation-of-court-system">criticism of her first term</a> – including her decision to <a href="https://cookcountyrecord.com/stories/512330836-fellow-prosecutors-blast-foxx-s-handling-of-smollett-case-undermines-very-foundation-of-court-system">drop the charges against actor Jussie Smollett</a> for faking a hate crime – Foxx won reelection on Nov. 3 by <a href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/2020/11/4/21549331/kim-foxx-cook-county-states-attorney-criminal-justice-reform-jussie-smollett-pat-obrien-editorial">a 14-point margin.</a> It was a sign, according to the Chicago Sun-Times, that Cook County “doesn’t want to go backward on criminal justice reform.” </p>
<p>That sentiment is echoing across the country.</p>
<p>In Orlando, <a href="https://www.orlandosentinel.com/politics/2020-election/os-ne-2020-general-election-state-attorney-20201104-6qvqm354hzg3rbunsyidvur2my-story.html">criminal justice reformer Monique Worrell</a> beat a law-and-order “independent conservative” in the race for state attorney. </p>
<p>In Detroit, Karen McDonald won her race for Oakland County prosecutor by promising “<a href="https://www.theoaklandpress.com/news/elections/election-2020-the-race-for-oakland-county-prosecutor/article_3d3d2f50-097e-11eb-a7db-3b089fa29082.html">common-sense criminal justice reform</a> that utilizes treatment courts and diversion programs, addresses racial disparity, and creates a fair system for all people.” </p>
<p>And in Colorado, Democratic prosecutors <a href="https://www.denverpost.com/2020/11/07/colorado-district-attorneys-election/">flipped two large Colorado districts</a> that had been held for decades by Republicans. </p>
<p>“I think people are starting to realize, ‘Why don’t I know who my DA is?‘” <a href="https://www.denverpost.com/2020/10/24/colorado-district-attorney-elections-2020/">said Gordon McLaughlin</a>, the new district attorney for Colorado’s Eighth Judicial District, who campaigned on alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent offenders. “It’s brought criminal justice into the main conversation.” </p>
<h2>Police accountability</h2>
<p>One prominent issue on voters’ minds is how prosecutors’ offices choose to handle police violence.</p>
<p>In <a href="https://theappeal.org/the-past-present-and-future-of-the-los-angeles-district-attorneys-office/">Los Angeles</a>, George Gascón, a former police officer, ousted Jackie Lacey. Lacey was the target of <a href="https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-lacey-police-shooting-20180318-story.html">sustained criticism</a> from BLM activists, who protested in front of her office <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/11/16/after-years-of-protests-every-wednesday-la-activists-welcome-a-new-da">every Wednesday for three years</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/369321/original/file-20201113-21-o45sse.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/369321/original/file-20201113-21-o45sse.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/369321/original/file-20201113-21-o45sse.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/369321/original/file-20201113-21-o45sse.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/369321/original/file-20201113-21-o45sse.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/369321/original/file-20201113-21-o45sse.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/369321/original/file-20201113-21-o45sse.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/369321/original/file-20201113-21-o45sse.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">George Gascón, candidate for Los Angeles district attorney, speaks during a drive-in election night watch party at the LA Zoo parking lot on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/george-gasc%C3%B3n-candidate-for-los-angeles-district-attorney-news-photo/1229455822?adppopup=true">Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>They complained that, during her eight years in office, Lacey criminally prosecuted only one of the <a href="https://laist.com/2020/10/30/la_justice_why_the_das_race_between_lacey_and_gascon_matters.php">approximately 600 officer-involved shootings</a>. They added that Lacey, a Black woman, sent <a href="https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-death-penalty-los-angeles-jackie-lacey-20190618-story.html">22 people of color to death row</a>.</p>
<p>Gascón vowed to hold police accountable for officer-involved shootings. During the campaign, he pledged to reopen <a href="https://www.georgegascon.org/campaign-news/gascon-pledges-to-reopen-four-fatal-officer-involved-shootings-if-elected-that-da-lacey-has-declined-to-prosecute/">high-profile cases</a>, including two where people were shot for not complying with an officer’s directions. </p>
<h2>Mass incarceration and cash bail</h2>
<p>Progressive prosecutors are likely to have the most impact by diverting people away from the criminal justice system in the first place.</p>
<p>Many have been motivated by what they see as <a href="https://www.denverpost.com/2020/10/24/colorado-district-attorney-elections-2020/">“the criminalization of poverty”</a> – a phenomenon in which the poor compile criminal records for minor offenses because they cannot afford bail or effective legal counsel.</p>
<p>Alonzo Payne, the new district attorney for San Luis Valley, Colorado, was outraged that poor people were forced to stay in jail because they couldn’t afford to post bond. </p>
<p>“I decided I wanted to bring some human compassion to the DA’s office,” he told the Denver Post.</p>
<p>Reforming the cash bail system and reducing mass incarceration is a goal shared by all of the newly elected prosecutors this election cycle, including <a href="https://theappeal.org/politicalreport/criminal-justice-reform-2020-election-results/">Jose Garza</a>, an immigrant rights attorney, in Austin, Texas.</p>
<h2>Looking ahead</h2>
<p>It seems that progressive policies are here to stay in some of the nation’s largest cities, but reformers didn’t enjoy success everywhere. </p>
<p>Candidates Zack Thomas in Johnson County, Kansas, and Julie Gunnigle in Maricopa County, Arizona, <a href="https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/how-criminal-justice-and-police-reform-fared-election">lost their races</a>. And incumbents <a href="https://theappeal.org/politicalreport/criminal-justice-reform-2020-election-results/">withstood reformist challengers</a> in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Charleston, South Carolina. </p>
<p>Nonetheless, progressive prosecutors are increasingly winning races – and staying in power – by using the criminal justice system in more equitable ways.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.orlandosentinel.com/politics/2020-election/os-ne-2020-general-election-orange-osceola-state-attorney-20201006-vqdyi7yxkrc63k3ovjqiipxzva-story.html">Worrell</a>, in Orlando, is a good example. She ran the Conviction Integrity Unit in the district attorney’s office, investigating innocence claims from convicted defendants.</p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>Her reform message resonated a lot more with voters than the message of her opponent, Jose Torroella, who pledged to be “more old-fashioned” and more “strict.” Worrell won the race with <a href="https://www.orlandosentinel.com/politics/2020-election/os-ne-2020-general-election-state-attorney-20201104-6qvqm354hzg3rbunsyidvur2my-story.html">nearly 66% of the votes</a>.</p>
<p>“Criminal justice reform is not something people should be afraid of,” <a href="https://www.orlandosentinel.com/politics/2020-election/os-ne-2020-general-election-orange-osceola-state-attorney-20201006-vqdyi7yxkrc63k3ovjqiipxzva-story.html">Worrell said</a>. “It means we’re going to be smart on crime, rather than tough on crime.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/149322/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Caren Morrison does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Reform-minded prosecutors across the US notched victories against traditional law-and-order candidates by running on progressive platforms to reduce mass incarceration and tackle police misconduct.Caren Morrison, Associate Professor of Law, Georgia State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1305772020-11-02T13:25:54Z2020-11-02T13:25:54ZOn screen and on stage, disability continues to be depicted in outdated, cliched ways<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360822/original/file-20200930-24-1i1ipb7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=21%2C6%2C680%2C446&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Actress Claire Danes playing CIA officer Carrie Mathison, who struggles with mental illness, on the set of 'Homeland.'</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.spoilertv.com/2020/03/homeland-episode-808-threnodys-press.html">Showtime</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The #MeToo and Black Lives Matter movements have forced Hollywood and other artists and filmmakers to rethink their subject matter and casting practices. However, despite an <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/19/arts/after-oscarssowhite-disability-waits-for-its-moment.html">increased sensitivity to gender and race representation</a> in popular culture, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/disabled-actors-hollywood-ada-30-11595939824">disabled Americans are still awaiting their national (and international) movement</a>.</p>
<p>“Disability drag” – casting able-bodied actors in the roles of characters with disabilities – has been hard to dislodge from its Oscar-worthy appeal. Since 1947, out of 59 nominations for disabled characters, 27 won an Academy Award – about a <a href="https://www.indiewire.com/2017/09/actors-oscar-nominations-disabilities-afflictions-1201879957/">50% win rate</a>. </p>
<p>There’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/dec/07/eddie-redmayne-to-play-hawking-i-had-to-train-my-body-like-a-dancer">Eddie Redmayne’s performance</a> as Stephen Hawking in “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2980516/">The Theory of Everything</a>”; <a href="https://www.independent.ie/entertainment/theatre-arts/day-lewis-never-forgot-christy-three-decades-after-my-left-foot-31228696.html">Daniel Day-Lewis’ portrayal of Christy Brown</a>, who has cerebral palsy, in “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097937/">My Left Foot</a>”; and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/dec/17/rain-man-myth-autistic-people-dustin-hoffman-savant">Dustin Hoffman’s role as an autistic genius</a> in “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095953/">Rain Man</a>” – to mention just a few. </p>
<p>In recent years, however, we’ve seen a slight shift. Actors with disabilities are actually being cast as characters who have disabilities. In 2017, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/24/theater/a-wheelchair-on-broadway-isnt-exploitation-its-progress.html">theater director Sam Gold cast actress Madison Ferris</a> – who uses a wheelchair in real life – as Laura in his Broadway revival of Tennessee Williams’ “The Glass Menagerie.” On <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/movies/ct-ent-disabled-actors-films-20190125-story.html">TV and in movies</a>, disabled actors are also being cast in roles of disabled characters.</p>
<p>Despite these developments, the issue of representation – what kind of characters these actors play – remains mostly unaddressed. The vast majority of characters with disabilities, whether they’re played by actors with disabilities or not, continue to represent the same outdated tropes.</p>
<p>As a <a href="https://www.emerson.edu/faculty-staff-directory/magdalena-romanska">professor of theater</a> and media who has <a href="https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=XXQ9BAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=Magda+Romanska&ots=E6Pz3-p9yd&sig=uCe7S8Iw2SbFJy2abHnhm_AuZYA#v=onepage&q=Magda%20Romanska&f=false">written</a> extensively on the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13528165.2005.10871437?src=recsys">elements of stage drama</a>, I wonder: Are writers and directors finally poised to move beyond these narrative tropes?</p>
<h2>Breaking down the tropes</h2>
<p>Typically, the disabled characters are limited to four types: the “magical cripple,” the “evil cripple,” the “inspirational cripple” and the “redemptive cripple.” </p>
<p>Magical cripples transcend the limitations of the human body and are almost divinelike. They make magical things happen for able-bodied characters. </p>
<p>In many ways, the magical cripple functions like “<a href="https://www.france24.com/en/20170808-magical-negro-racist-cliche-hollywood-wont-drop">the magical Negro</a>,” a term popularized by director Spike Lee to describe Black characters who are usually impoverished but brimming with folk wisdom, which they selflessly bestow on existentially confused white characters. </p>
<p>Like the magical Negro, the magical cripple is a plot device used to guide the lead character toward moral, intellectual or emotional enlightenment. The magical cripple doesn’t learn anything and doesn’t grow because he already is enlightened.</p>
<p>In film, examples include Frank Slade, the blind army colonel who guides young Charlie through the perils of teenage love in 1992’s “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105323/">Scent of a Woman</a>.” Marvel’s Daredevil character is a perfect example of a magical cripple: A blind person imbued with supernatural abilities who can function above and beyond his physical limitations.</p>
<p>Evil cripples represent a form of karmic punishment for the character’s wickedness. One of the most well-known is Shakespeare’s Richard III, the scheming hunchbacked king. </p>
<p>In a 1916 essay, Sigmund Freud pointed to Richard as an example of the correlation between physical disabilities and “deformities of character.” The <a href="https://www.harlemworldmagazine.com/film-us-portrays-people-with-disabilities-as-evil-furthering-stigmas-we-should-know-better/">trope of the evil cripple</a> is rooted in mythologies populated by half-man half-beasts who possess pathological and sadistic cravings.</p>
<p>More recent examples of the evil cripple include <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057012/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">Dr. Strangelove</a>, Mini-Me from “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0145660/">Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me</a>” and Bolivar Trask in “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1877832/">X-Men: Days of Future Past</a>.” </p>
<p>Then there are inspirational cripples, whose roles equate to what disability rights activist Stella Young calls “<a href="https://disabilityvisibilityproject.com/2014/10/16/stella-young-inspiration-porn-and-the-objectification-of-disabled-people/">inspiration porn</a>.” These stories center on disabled people accomplishing basic tasks or “overcoming” their disability. We see this in “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3881784/">Stronger</a>,” which retells the story of <a href="https://dallas.culturemap.com/news/entertainment/09-21-17-stronger-movie-review/#slide=0">Boston Marathon bombing survivor Jeff Bauman</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/359605/original/file-20200923-20-geugsh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/359605/original/file-20200923-20-geugsh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359605/original/file-20200923-20-geugsh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359605/original/file-20200923-20-geugsh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359605/original/file-20200923-20-geugsh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359605/original/file-20200923-20-geugsh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359605/original/file-20200923-20-geugsh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Jake Gyllenhaal and Jeff Bauman walk a red carpet for ‘Stronger’ during the 12th Rome Film Fest on Oct. 28, 2017.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/jake-gyllenhaal-and-jeff-bauman-walk-a-red-carpet-for-news-photo/867511424?adppopup=true">Venturelli/WireImage</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the inspirational narratives, disability is not a fact of life – a difference – but something one has to overcome to gain rightful sense of belonging in society. </p>
<p>An offshoot of the inspirational narrative is the redemptive narrative, in which a disabled person either commits suicide or is killed. In movies like “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1067583/">Water for Elephants</a>,” “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0124879/">Simon Birch</a>” and “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086617/">The Year of Living Dangerously</a>,” disabled characters are sacrificed to prove their worth or to help the protagonist reach his goal. </p>
<p>These characters serve as dramaturgical steppingstones. They are never partners or people in their own right, with their own drives and ambitions. They are not shown as deserving their own stories.</p>
<p>The persistence of these tropes underlies the urgent need to reevaluate the makeup of writers and production teams. Who writes these parts is perhaps more important than who acts them. </p>
<h2>Beyond the hero’s journey</h2>
<p>There’s a reason these formulaic roles are so prevalent. </p>
<p>For much of the past century, Hollywood storytelling has operated according to the <a href="http://www.sfcenter.ku.edu/Workshop-stuff/Joseph-Campbell-Hero-Journey.htm">hero’s journey</a>, a dramatic structure that places the white male able-bodied character at the center of the story with atypical characters serving as “helpers” to support his goals. </p>
<p>This narrative model has conditioned audiences to see the helpers as purely functional. The tropes based on this framework define the categories of belonging: who is and who isn’t human, whose life is worth living and whose isn’t.</p>
<p>The one narrative journey that historically allowed the disabled to play a central role depicted them as working toward the symbolic reclamation of their dignity and humanity. In tragic narratives, this quest fails, and the characters either die or request euthanasia as a gesture of love toward their caretakers.</p>
<p>“<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0405159/">Million Dollar Baby</a>” and “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2674426/">Me Before You</a>” are two good examples of films in which disabled characters choose voluntary euthanasia, communicating the socially internalized low value of their own lives.</p>
<p>But what if disabled characters already had dignity? What if no such quest were needed? What if their disability weren’t the thing to overcome but merely one element of one’s identity?</p>
<p>This would require deconstructing the conceptual pyramid of past hierarchies, one that has long used disabled characters as props to illuminate conventional heroes. </p>
<p>Carrie Mathison in the series “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1796960/">Homeland</a>” can be thought of as representing this new approach. <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/shrink-speak/201411/homeland-true-portrayal-mental-illness">Carrie, played by Claire Danes, struggles with mental illness</a>, and it affects her life and her work. </p>
<p>But it is not something to overcome in a dramatic sense. Overcoming the disability is not the central theme of the series – it’s not the main obstacle to her goal. Carrie’s disability does give her some insights, but these come at a price and are not magical. </p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>“Homeland” further breaks the mold by giving Carrie a helper who is an older white male – Saul Berenson, played by Mandy Patinkin.</p>
<p>As we move towards greater gender and race inclusivity at work and in the arts, disability should not be left behind. More complex, more sophisticated stories and representations need to replace the simplistic, outdated and cliched tropes that have been consistently rewarded at the Oscars.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/130577/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Magda Romanska does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Despite recent social movements that have garnered greater inclusivity in the arts, disabled actors are still waiting for their moment in the spotlight.Magda Romanska, Associate Professor of Theatre and Dramaturgy, Emerson CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1425872020-07-23T17:36:31Z2020-07-23T17:36:31ZBeware of bias training: Addressing systemic racism is not an easy fix<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/348456/original/file-20200720-15-17lai1y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=49%2C0%2C5472%2C3604&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Implicit bias training has become a lucrative business in recent years, but it doesn't always deliver the expected results.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/KdeqA3aTnBY">(Dylan Gillis/Unsplash) </a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The tragic deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others have catalyzed calls for organizations to do more to address systemic racism in our midst. In response, many organizations have issued solidarity statements and committed to meaningful action. <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/business/black-owned-bookstores-anti-racist-literature/">Bookstores have seen a spike in demand for anti-racism titles</a>, while organizational leaders scramble to find workshops, webinars and training to offer their employees on the topic of racial bias. </p>
<p>Among the different forms of diversity training, a popular offering addresses the concept of implicit racial bias. Implicit biases are automatic, outside of our conscious awareness, and influence us despite our best intentions. </p>
<p>Since the concept of implicit prejudice was <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.102.1.4">first introduced</a> in 1995, implicit bias has permeated almost all aspects of equity, diversity and inclusion training in multiple sectors. Implicit bias training entered the mainstream when <a href="https://theconversation.com/starbucks-and-the-impact-of-implicit-bias-training-96491">Starbucks closed its stores</a> to offer employees the training in 2018. </p>
<p>Over time, a lucrative industry has developed around corporate bias training. Bias has become big business because some profit-driven consultants offer training as an easy fix.</p>
<p>As part of a team that has studied bias training for years, I have extensively researched how it influences individuals and organizations. We have found that while bias training may be useful to start a conversation, there may be <a href="https://doi.org/10.1097/ACM.0000000000003173">unintended consequences</a>. For example, bringing biases into awareness for learners can trigger negative and defensive emotional reactions. Another problem is that bias training is perceived as an easy fix but addressing systemic racism is much more complicated.</p>
<h2>When and how bias training works</h2>
<p>A review of diversity training found that <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31567169/">less than half</a> of the interventions showed some improvement. Another review found only 30 studies and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-019-0299-7">did not show</a> any long-term change in outcomes. Bias training can also lead to a defensive backlash, triggering tension, identity compartmentalization and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1097/ACM.0000000000002382">negative emotions</a> such as shame.</p>
<p>Another problem is that bias is baked into the fabric of our organizations and society at large. Any educational intervention directed toward individuals without appreciation of the ubiquitous nature of bias in our society will ultimately fail. Placing the onus on individuals to address widespread organizational inequities can contribute to a sense of futility and helplessness.</p>
<p>In our research, we found that bias training is only effective if it is designed as one component of a larger multipronged approach.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Five hands on a table" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/348699/original/file-20200721-35-1kw042l.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/348699/original/file-20200721-35-1kw042l.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348699/original/file-20200721-35-1kw042l.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348699/original/file-20200721-35-1kw042l.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348699/original/file-20200721-35-1kw042l.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348699/original/file-20200721-35-1kw042l.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348699/original/file-20200721-35-1kw042l.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">To be effective, bias training must be adapted to particular contexts and settings.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Clay Banks/Unsplash)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>First, any bias training must be designed with context and professional identity in mind. For example, our initial training was tailored to a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1097/ACM.0000000000002782">specific work unit in a hospital.</a> When we attempted to transfer the same training to other contexts, it was not as effective. When requests were made to apply the training to other contexts we advised that research and engagement would be necessary to understand why bias training was needed and how bias was perceived in that context. </p>
<p>Second, bias training is more effective when people work and train together. Training was less effective if doctors and nurses learn separately, and more effective when they work through relevant cases in a collaborative way. Training in teams also helps individuals feel comfortable opening up about their biases and accepting their vulnerabilities. Training that enhances collaboration and openness leads to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10459-018-9816-3">social reinforcement</a> of behavioural change.</p>
<p>Third, sustaining the effects of training requires tangible changes in policy and visible support of <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41575-020-0349-x">organizational leaders</a>. Rather than focus exclusively on training others, leaders must look within their own approaches to equity and diversity. Leaders who model a more inclusive approach and integrate bias training with other initiatives to enhance inclusion and belonging within their organization will be more successful than those who rely on training alone.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/starbucks-and-the-impact-of-implicit-bias-training-96491">Starbucks and the impact of implicit bias training</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Lastly, we must humble ourselves and realize that single training sessions are unlikely to produce meaningful learning outcomes for participants. Rather than singular curricular interventions, approaches <a href="https://doi.org/10.1097/ACM.0000000000001819">should include</a> opportunities to refresh and repeat key messages with attention to sustainable behavioural change over time. </p>
<p>Racial bias is not something that we can <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s40037-019-00533-8">measure and fix</a> through training alone. There are no boxes we can check or certificate we can complete to fix systemic racism. </p>
<p>Advancing justice and equity requires us to roll up our sleeves and do the work. Each day we must confront our biased selves in the mirror and work hard to examine how biases manifest through our behaviours, policies and organizational practices. </p>
<p>But reflection alone will not fix anything. We must collectively change the biased norms within our organizations and be prepared for the inevitable discomfort that accompanies changes to the status quo. </p>
<p>Addressing racial bias is not just hard work, it is also messy work. We must accept that we will stumble along the way. Anti-racism is a journey, not a destination.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/142587/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Javeed Sukhera receives funding from Physician Services Incorporated, Associated Medical Services, and the Academic Medical Organization of Southwestern Ontario.</span></em></p>Recent years have seen a rise in the number of businesses offering employees bias training. However, bias training is not a one-size-fits-all solution and unless tailored to specific contexts loses its value.Javeed Sukhera, Associate professor, Psychiatry, Western UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1411082020-06-25T16:14:44Z2020-06-25T16:14:44ZRacist cop shows and biased news fuel public fears of crime and love for the police<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/343806/original/file-20200624-132978-37w8v8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=98%2C71%2C5200%2C3161&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Action-packed police procedurals can often give audiences the false impression that violent crime excuses the excessive use of force by police. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Unsplash/Matt Popovich)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Earlier this month, <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1270360886297989120">President Donald Trump tweeted</a> that defunding the police would “be good for Robbers & Rapists.” Last week, after signing his tepid executive order on policing, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trumps-executive-order-on-policing-pro-police-low-on-substance-2020-6">he proffered</a> that “without police, there is chaos.” </p>
<p>The reality, however, is that violent crime — the kind of crime that people often think of when rationalizing the need for a powerful police force — is <a href="https://www.themarshallproject.org/2019/09/30/new-fbi-data-violent-crime-still-falling">at a near</a> all-time <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2018-02-12/pssst-crime-may-be-near-an-all-time-low">low</a>.</p>
<p>Why is there this massive disconnect between the public perception of crime and actual crime? </p>
<p>One factor is the way both popular culture and the <a href="https://doi.org/10.4000/chs.695">news media portray</a> crime.</p>
<p>Consider this: homicide accounts for approximately 0.7 per cent of <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/homicides">annual deaths</a> in the United States but accounts for 23 per cent of media coverage of deaths. That stat reflects reporting in the <em>New York Times</em>. For media outlets like <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/23/arts/television/fox-trump-midterms-caravan.html"><em>Fox News</em></a> that have fearmongering as a core marketing strategy, the percentage of murder oriented stories would likely be even higher. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-020-0430-7">These disproportionately fear oriented representations also exist on social media</a>.</p>
<h2>The president of ‘law and order’</h2>
<p>Given that Trump clearly wants “law and order” to be part of his presidential brand, his rhetoric is hardly surprising. But despite <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/06/10/upshot/black-lives-matter-attitudes.html">growing support</a> for police reform and Black Lives Matter, his message continues to resonate for some people. </p>
<p>After weeks of moving protests and near daily images of police brutality — <a href="https://docs.cdn.yougov.com/098uixfv4a/20200531_yahoo_race_and_justice_toplines.pdf">one poll shows a majority of Americans are still against funding cuts to the police</a>, although a <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/6/23/21299118/defunding-the-police-minneapolis-budget-george-floyd%22%22">recent survey shows support for a redirection of funds</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/343807/original/file-20200624-132965-1lr75a0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/343807/original/file-20200624-132965-1lr75a0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/343807/original/file-20200624-132965-1lr75a0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/343807/original/file-20200624-132965-1lr75a0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/343807/original/file-20200624-132965-1lr75a0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/343807/original/file-20200624-132965-1lr75a0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/343807/original/file-20200624-132965-1lr75a0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Law enforcement officials applaud after President Donald Trump signed an executive order on police reform on June 16, 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Evan Vucci)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Historically, supporting the police has been a popular political move, largely because people <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/defund-the-police-isnt-a-winning-campaign-slogan-but-it-has-a-point/2020/06/09/65cb7bac-aa7e-11ea-a9d9-a81c1a491c52_story.html">fear crime</a>. Who would campaign against law and order? </p>
<p>Depicting the world as a <a href="https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2017/09/donald-trump-abuses-crime-data-heres-how-to-read-it-in-an-intellectually-honest-way.html">crime-ridden</a> dystopia where evildoers (who are often portrayed as sinister “others”) must be battled by a heavily armed police force makes for <a href="https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-abramsky-trump-politics-of-fear-midterms-20180923-story.html">vote getting politics</a>. It also makes for clickable headlines and popular TV procedurals.</p>
<p>But a <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/10/17/facts-about-crime-in-the-u-s/">2019 analysis</a> by the Pew Research Center shows that overall, violent crime in the U.S. has fallen sharply over the past few decades. According to the U.S. Bureau of Justice, the violent crimes rate fell 71 per cent between 1993 and 2018. The same trend can be seen with property crimes, which declined 69 per cent during the same period.</p>
<p>Yet despite these stats, people believe crime is getting worse. Indeed, the gulf between the reality of crime and public perceptions is staggering. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2016/10/10/13226264/us-crime-rate-poll">2016 survey</a> found that 73 per cent of Americans had the wrong idea about violent crime. Sixty five per cent thought it had increased over the previous two decades, while eight per cent thought it remained about the same. Only 17 per cent got it right.</p>
<h2>Fear sells</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2014/the-worst-news-ever-negative-headlines-outperform-positive-ones/">Studies have shown</a> that negative and scary headlines outperform positive ones. The “if it bleeds, it leads” phenomenon plays to our cognitive biases. We remember and more easily recall dramatic, scary events that are widely reported. </p>
<p><a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1985-00812-001">Negative crime stories increase</a> the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.bjc.a048289">fear of crime</a> and <a href="https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/193350/1/dp12056.pdf">our perception</a> of the probability of being a crime victim.</p>
<p>The continuous fearful portrayals by politicians, TV shows and news media are some of the reason our <a href="https://www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2018/05/03/gallup-fear/">fear of crime</a> often has little to do with the actual rate of violent crime. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1272933251208769536"}"></div></p>
<p>Given this twisted representation it is no surprise that most people <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/opinion/ct-ptb-davich-media-vs-google-vs-reality-st-1209-20191206-c3s3qupi2ff27gnccft6bsbdgi-story.html">widely overestimate</a> their chances of being murdered. (Unless you are a Black male in the U.S., in which case the risk of death by homicide is significant — sitting at <a href="https://crim.sas.upenn.edu/fact-check/what-are-chances-becoming-homicide-victim">six times higher</a> than average.)</p>
<h2>TV cops</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.govtech.com/dc/articles/TV-Crime-Shows-Warp-Perceptions-of.html">The portrayal</a> of police and crime on popular TV dramas also has an impact on public perceptions. Shows like <em>CSI</em>, <em>NCIS</em>, <em>Criminal Minds</em>, <em>Blue Bloods</em> and <em>Law & Order</em> — watched by tens of millions of people every week — can lead to the belief that the world is a scary place that requires aggressive action by heroic police officers. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://journals.chapman.edu/ojs/index.php/mc/article/view/1080">range</a> of <a href="https://deadline.com/2014/06/new-study-tv-violence-makes-people-more-afraid-of-crime-but-not-afraid-there-is-more-crime-792399/">studies</a> show that audiences that view these kinds of popular crime shows have a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1043986218787734">heightened fear of crime</a>. They also are more likely to support controversial criminal justice policies like “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/oct/18/california-life-sentences-three-strikes">three strikes</a>,” the death penalty and “<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/arbery-case-exemplifies-abuse-stand-your-ground-damage-broad-systemic-n1212816">stand your ground</a>” laws.</p>
<p>Evidence tells us that these shows also perpetuate both <a href="https://www.criminallegalnews.org/news/2020/mar/18/fact-or-fiction-television-crime-shows-ignore-racism-and-reality/">harmful racial stereotypes</a> and myths about the police and the criminal justice system. A <a href="https://hollywood.colorofchange.org/crime-tv-report/">2020 study</a> of 26 scripted TV shows, conducted by the organization Color of Change and the University of Southern California, concluded that popular cop shows advance “debunked ideas about crime,” present “a false hero narrative about law enforcement,” distorted “representations about Black people” and “dismiss any need for police accountability.”</p>
<p>This kind of messaging is particularly influential when it plays to <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1126/science.abb9022">preconceived beliefs, biases and prejudices</a> — as much of the pop culture <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.2007.00376.x">coverage of crime</a> too often does.</p>
<h2>What’s behind low crime rates?</h2>
<p>Some may be thinking that crime rates are low because of past support for policing. But the <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/2/13/18193661/hire-police-officers-crime-criminal-justice-reform-booker-harris">connection between crime rates and policing is complex</a>, <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/crime-justice/2020/06/police-abolition-george-floyd/">context specific</a> and, in total, <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/investigations/2019/02/13/marshall-project-more-cops-dont-mean-less-crime-experts-say/2818056002/">far from clear</a>. </p>
<p>For example, a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9133.12414">2019 study</a> explored the impact of “de-policing” that occurred as a result of protests against police discrimination and brutality. Despite political commentary to the contrary, the study concluded that there was “no evidence of an effect of arrest rates on city homicide rates.”</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1533-8525.2010.01191.x">Popular culture can have an impact</a> on fear of crime and attitudes toward criminal justice policy. We need more accurate depiction of the criminal justice system and a broader diversity of voices telling those stories.</p>
<p>As policy-makers consider how best to battle decades of systemic racism and police brutality, they shouldn’t let themselves be swayed by fearmongering political rhetoric, pop culture or biased news headlines. </p>
<p>This is a historic moment with the potential of leading to real and meaningful change. Now more than ever, we need to stick to the facts.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/141108/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Timothy Caulfield receives funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Genome Canada, and the Canada Research Chairs Program. He is affiliated with Peacock Alley Entertainment and Speakers' Spotlight. </span></em></p>Television shows about police often perpetuate false narratives about violent crime that excuse police violence.Timothy Caulfield, Canada Research Chair in Health Law and Policy; Professor, Faculty of Law and School of Public Health; and Research Director, Health Law Institute, University of AlbertaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1004382018-10-25T10:47:47Z2018-10-25T10:47:47ZCollaboration, not fighting, is what the rural West is really about<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/241547/original/file-20181021-105767-1wnv6i4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Harney County, Ore., sign.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/kenlund/2580127305/">Wikimedia/Ken Lund</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Dick Jenkins is a fourth-generation rancher living in Oregon’s most remote county. I wanted to know why he continues living in a rural community, even though life elsewhere might be easier.</p>
<p>“Taking care of [the land] is worth more than all the money in the world,” he told me. “Taking care of the animals, taking care of the environment, it all goes together and we’re very proud of it.”</p>
<p>While Dick’s answer was more evocative than I could’ve hoped for, I can’t say I was surprised by it. </p>
<p><a href="https://history.uoregon.edu/profile/sbeda/">I’m a historian who studies the rural Northwest</a>, and I’ve spent a fair amount of time talking with loggers, miners, fisherman and ranchers like Dick. </p>
<p>Each one of them, in their own way, articulates a similar sentiment: Whatever hardships contemporary rural life may pose – and <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/rural-america-is-the-new-inner-city-1495817008">there are many</a> – it’s their love of the land and desire to protect it that keeps them put.</p>
<p>This is not a description of rural life you typically hear.</p>
<p>Many stories about rural America, particularly during election cycles like we’re in now, portray rural communities as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/18/magazine/fear-of-the-federal-government-in-the-ranchlands-of-oregon.html">political monoliths</a> made up of nothing more than <a href="https://www.vox.com/2016/1/5/10718128/federal-land-west-oregon-militia">angry ranchers</a> frustrated with the Bureau of Land Management, what’s commonly called “the BLM.” Or you see camouflage-clad <a href="https://www.hcn.org/articles/politics-anti-government-groups-in-the-west-right-now">militia members</a> hoping to overthrow the government.</p>
<p>These people do exist in rural communities. The <a href="https://www.politicalresearch.org/2016/10/03/oregon-three-percenters/">Three Percenters</a>, a heavily-armed militia whose members advocate the violent overthrow of the U.S. government, has a sizable presence in Harney County, the same county Dick lives in. </p>
<p>And the <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/oregon-standoff/2016/08/sheriff_glenn_palmer_makes_his.html">sheriff of Grant County</a>, just to the north, is a self-described “constitutional sheriff” who believes his power supersedes the federal government’s.</p>
<p>But for every AR-15 wielding militia member or rancher angrily shaking his fist at the BLM, there’s likely a dozen like Dick who want to find peaceful ways to protect their interests and the environment. </p>
<h2>Rebellion vs. collaboration</h2>
<p>The tone in recent news coverage of rural issues was largely set in the late 1970s, when ranchers started protesting new BLM limits on grazing in what became known as the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1979/11/11/the-sagebrush-revolution/7ebf91e7-cbed-4bae-80c9-9a0cce5fe5d7/?utm_term=.c9c6ed3f7927">“Sagebrush Rebellion.”</a> These protests were sometimes <a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/hcn-media/archive-pdf/1988_09_12_Wheeler.pdf">dramatic</a>, like when ranchers bulldozed road barriers that had been erected to limit access to wilderness areas. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/242122/original/file-20181024-71032-fmx12l.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/242122/original/file-20181024-71032-fmx12l.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/242122/original/file-20181024-71032-fmx12l.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242122/original/file-20181024-71032-fmx12l.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242122/original/file-20181024-71032-fmx12l.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242122/original/file-20181024-71032-fmx12l.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242122/original/file-20181024-71032-fmx12l.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242122/original/file-20181024-71032-fmx12l.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Sagebrush Rebellion made the cover of Newsweek in 1979.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://uni.edu/carrchl/wp/cv/the-sagebrush-rebellion/">Newsweek</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While the origins of many present-day rural extremist movements can be traced back to frustrations with BLM policy in the 1970s, the Sagebrush Rebellion spawned another less talked-about movement: collaborative land management.</p>
<p>Many people recognized that fighting over wilderness, grazing rights, timber harvests and endangered species protections was getting them nowhere. </p>
<p>So in the 1990s, rural workers sat down with environmentalists, government agents and tribal representatives, and together they worked out agreements that would protect the land, preserve tribal resource rights and allow for continued grazing, mining and logging. </p>
<p>Rarely were these conversations easy. </p>
<p>One early collaborative effort, Northern California’s <a href="http://www.qlg.org/">Quincy Library Group</a>, was so named because members met in a setting that would force them to keep their voices – and tempers – in check.</p>
<p>But these difficult conversations bore results. </p>
<p>To name just two examples, <a href="https://www.blm.gov/get-involved/partnerships/featured-partners/idaho">ranchers and environmentalists in Idaho</a> have collectively used conservation funds to preserve agriculture and critical habitat along the Snake River. And in Dick Jenkins’ Harney County, ranchers, BLM agents, environmentalists and members of the Burns Paiute Tribe work together through the <a href="http://highdesertpartnership.org/">High Desert Partnership</a> to collectively manage the land.</p>
<p>As several scholars have <a href="http://osupress.oregonstate.edu/book/sagebrush-collaboration">documented</a>, these collaborative partnerships are a source of local pride in many rural communities.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/241549/original/file-20181021-105773-11b7h52.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/241549/original/file-20181021-105773-11b7h52.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/241549/original/file-20181021-105773-11b7h52.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=460&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/241549/original/file-20181021-105773-11b7h52.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=460&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/241549/original/file-20181021-105773-11b7h52.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=460&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/241549/original/file-20181021-105773-11b7h52.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=578&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/241549/original/file-20181021-105773-11b7h52.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=578&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/241549/original/file-20181021-105773-11b7h52.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=578&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Forester Ed Murphy, a member of the Quincy Library Group, tells a House subcommittee about the group’s plan for balancing logging and environmental interests in Northern California forests.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Associated-Press-Domestic-News-California-Unite-/1ea3a6e587e6da11af9f0014c2589dfb/2/0">AP/Rich Pedroncelli</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Competing images</h2>
<p>So if many rural people are proud of their ability to collaborate, why are we seeing more anger and more high-profile protests directed at environmentalists and the federal government throughout the rural West, what some have called a <a href="https://www.hcn.org/articles/a-new-and-more-dangerous-sagebrush-rebellion">“second Sagebrush Rebellion”</a>? </p>
<p>The answer is that in recent years it’s mostly been newcomers or outsiders who’ve attempted to mobilize imagined rural anger in order to advance their own narrow political goals. </p>
<p>This was certainly the case during the highly publicized <a href="https://www.opb.org/news/series/burns-oregon-standoff-bundy-militia-news-updates/">takeover of the Malheur Wildlife Refuge</a> in 2016. </p>
<p>Led by a group calling itself the Citizens for Constitutional Freedom, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2016/01/04/us/oregon-wildlife-refuge-what-bundy-wants/index.html">the occupiers argued that</a> the Constitution did not give the federal government the right to own land. They hoped to turn BLM land over to local control and turn <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqL9NGRTGss">Harney County into the first “Constitutional county.”</a> </p>
<p>Of the roughly dozen occupiers who said they were fighting for the rights of Oregon ranchers, only one, <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/oregon-standoff/2016/01/robert_lavoy_finicum_killed_in.html">Robert “LaVoy” Finicum</a>, was actually a rancher – from Arizona. The group’s leader, <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2016/01/oregon_militant_profiles_list.html">Ammon Bundy</a>, is the son of an <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/24/us/politics/rancher-proudly-breaks-the-law-becoming-a-hero-in-the-west.html">infamous Nevada rancher</a>, but he worked as a car fleet manager prior to leading the standoff. And only one, Walter “Butch” Eaton, was from Oregon, and he stayed with the occupiers for just a half hour before deciding to <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/oregon-standoff/2016/09/burns_man_who_rode_in_first_ca.html">walk home</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/241858/original/file-20181023-169825-qxcjsb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/241858/original/file-20181023-169825-qxcjsb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/241858/original/file-20181023-169825-qxcjsb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/241858/original/file-20181023-169825-qxcjsb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/241858/original/file-20181023-169825-qxcjsb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/241858/original/file-20181023-169825-qxcjsb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/241858/original/file-20181023-169825-qxcjsb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/241858/original/file-20181023-169825-qxcjsb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Harney County billboard erected during the occupation of a local wildlife refuge by militia members.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Peter Walker</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Their ‘own voice’</h2>
<p>These outsiders have been challenged by people in rural communities. </p>
<p>At least in Oregon, the <a href="http://www.rop.org/">Rural Organizing Project</a> has been at the forefront of efforts to help rural communities fight outside extremist groups.</p>
<p>Founded in the early 1990s to help people in rural communities organize against local anti-gay ordinances, the project has since grown into a <a href="http://www.rop.org/about-the-rural-organizing-project/our-history/">network of rural activists</a> who, according to the group’s website, “facilitate local organizing, communication and political analysis.” </p>
<p>When the paramilitary group <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/oath-keepers">the Oath Keepers</a> occupied the <a href="https://www.hcn.org/issues/48.2/showdown-at-sugar-pine-mine">Sugar Pine Mine</a> in Oregon’s Josephine County in April 2015, project activists and local community members quickly mobilized to communicate to both politicians and the media that the militia members did not have the support of the community. </p>
<p>According to a <a href="http://www.rop.org/up-in-arms/up-in-arms-section-iii/stories-from-the-field/">statement</a> released by the coalition, the Oath Keepers were “individuals from outside our community” there to “advance their own agenda.”</p>
<p>A year later, during the Malheur occupation, the project organized a day of action, coordinating rallies, meetings and press conferences in rural communities across Oregon to again clearly communicate to the media and decision-makers that a handful of armed protesters did not speak for most rural people.</p>
<p>A <a href="http://btimesherald.com/2016/02/10/new-harney-county-billboards-donated/">billboard</a> that Harney County residents put up during the 2016 occupation speaks volumes about the way many rural people feel about these outsiders. It read: “We Are HARNEY COUNTY. We Have OUR OWN VOICE.”</p>
<h2>A less divisive future</h2>
<p>To be perfectly clear, many ranchers, loggers and miners have problems with federal bureaucracies and environmental organizations. </p>
<p>Underfunded and overburdened by arcane rules, the BLM has a massive <a href="https://www.opb.org/news/article/backlog-grows-for-rangelands/">backlog of grazing permit applications</a>. Federal timber sales are <a href="http://www.capitalpress.com/Timber/20180523/environmental-groups-challenge-oregon-timber-sale-over-voles">routinely tied up in litigation</a>. </p>
<p>Many rural people are likewise troubled by the federal government’s <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/titles/11239.html">waning investment in rural economies</a> and rapidly <a href="https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2017/01/18/how-education-is-failing-rural-america.html">declining funding for rural education and social services</a>.</p>
<p>The journalists who report on the radical fringes of rural America are doing important work. Their stories shine light on dangerous political trends that, if allowed to grow in the shadows, might become something even more dangerous than they already are.</p>
<p>But ranchers like Dick Jenkins, groups like the Rural Organizing Project and other rural people committed to collaboration need to have their stories heard, too. </p>
<p>Paying as much attention to them as so-called Sagebrush Rebels just might show that while there are indeed many problems in rural America, most rural people are committed to bringing about a more amicable future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/100438/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Steven C. Beda does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Rural Westerners have been stereotyped as angry ranchers who hate government. But for every gun-wielding militia member, there are many others who work collaboratively to protect what they value.Steven C. Beda, Assistant Professor, University of OregonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1009982018-08-07T11:56:06Z2018-08-07T11:56:06ZWhy the UK needs its own Black Lives Matter moment to wake up to police racism<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/230787/original/file-20180806-191047-v1iw29.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Gang culture, social media, drug-market violence, funding cuts to policing and youth clubs, and poverty and social inequality, have all been blamed for the current <a href="https://theconversation.com/treating-young-people-like-criminals-actually-makes-violent-crime-worse-91723">knife crime</a> “epidemic” in London.</p>
<p>More recently, however, it’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/apr/09/uk-drill-music-london-wave-violent-crime">UK drill</a>, a new black British music genre, that has been <a href="https://theconversation.com/making-music-videos-is-not-a-criminal-activity-no-matter-what-genre-97472">accused of promoting gun and knife crime</a>, much like <a href="https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=fatsis+crime+media+culture&rlz=1C1JZAP_enGB718GB718&oq=fatsis+crime+media+culture&aqs=chrome..69i57j69i60.7621j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8">UK grime and garage before it</a>. </p>
<p>In the last two months 30 YouTube videos of <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-44281586">drill music have been removed</a> by the police, followed by Criminal Behaviour Orders <a href="https://rightsinfo.org/court-says-drill-music-group-banned-from-sharing-music-with-police-permission/">issued against drill artists</a>. Such responses may seem justified especially in the light of some fatal incidents that have been <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/london-stabbing-drill-music-camberwell-killed-incognito-dead-rhyhiem-ainsworth-barton-a8474071.html">linked to drill music</a>. But it remains difficult to prove a direct link between drill lyrics and actual murder(s) beyond a certain degree of speculation and interpretation. </p>
<h2>Controversial crackdown</h2>
<p>Designing crime prevention strategies based on decoding lyrics seems ill-advised to say the least. The commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, however, has <a href="https://www.lbc.co.uk/radio/presenters/nick-ferrari/met-police-chief-calls-on-youtube-drill-music/">publicly defended such responses</a>. As has the Met’s gang crime chief, who also supported the revisiting of the Terrorism Act to <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/police-to-treat-gangs-like-terror-suspects-7zms8gsmr">pursue “drillers” as terror suspects</a>. </p>
<p>The use of the act allows the police to bring convictions against people <a href="https://noisey.vice.com/en_uk/article/nek3qm/drill-knife-crime-violence-london-long-read">featured in drill videos</a> without any proof that the targeted music videos are linked to specific acts of violence. The government’s <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/698009/serious-violence-strategy.pdf">Serious Violence Strategy</a>, also adopts a similar stance. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"982684072790122496"}"></div></p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1001588282352979968"}"></div></p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1022524379526258688"}"></div></p>
<p>The Youth Violence Commission’s <a href="http://yvcommission.com/interim-report/">interim report</a>, however, is a welcome alternative. According to this report, “debates around the potential impact of drill music on youth violence are, in the main, a populist distraction from understanding and tackling the real root causes” of youth violence. </p>
<p>These include “childhood trauma and undiagnosed and untreated mental health issues”. But also, “inadequate state provision, deficient parental support, poverty and social inequality”. This is why the report’s authors have called for an approach modelled after Scotland’s <a href="http://actiononviolence.org/">Violence Reduction Unit</a>, which champions a public health approach to youth violence.</p>
<h2>Racist responses?</h2>
<p>Punitive responses to a public health emergency are clearly counterproductive. As is the reluctance of the <a href="http://yvcommission.com/interim-report/">Youth Violence Commission</a> to treat the issue as a racial justice priority – given that discriminatory responses cannot be separated from the mentality that informs them. Popular “crime-fighting” measures, such as arbitrary <a href="http://www.stop-watch.org/uploads/documents/modern_law_review.pdf">stops and searches</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/may/09/police-gang-lists-racist-black-matrix">police gang lists</a>, for example, routinely <a href="https://theconversation.com/police-are-using-big-data-to-profile-young-people-putting-them-at-risk-of-discrimination-96683">profile young black people</a> who are logged as suspects in police databases on the flimsiest of evidence. </p>
<p>The same goes for other anti-gang operations such as Trident, Shield and Domain and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2009/jan/21/police-form-696-garage-music">event risk assessment forms of policing</a>, which have been declared racially discriminatory by <a href="https://academic.oup.com/bjc/article-abstract/58/1/243/2623973?redirectedFrom=fulltext">academics</a>, <a href="https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/race-britain/stop-and-think">human rights groups</a>, the <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=23074&LangID=E">UN</a>, <a href="https://www.amnesty.org.uk/london-trident-gangs-matrix-metropolitan-police">Amnesty International</a>, and the <a href="https://twitter.com/sadiqkhan/status/928996350330630144?lang=en">London mayor</a>. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/toupivpKpPM?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>The 2017 <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/lammy-review-final-report">Lammy Review</a> paints a similar picture although it curiously excluded policing from its remit. Yet in that year <a href="https://www.inquest.org.uk/rashan-charles-opening">five young black men</a> died in police custody, and Avon and Somerset Police police was accused of institutional racism by the <a href="https://www.bristol.gov.uk/documents/20182/35136/Multi-agency+learning+review+following+the+murder+of+Bijan+Ebrahimi">Safer Bristol Partnership Report</a>, following the mishandling of the <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-42393488">Bijan Ebrahimi murder</a>. </p>
<p>Recent figures by the <a href="https://www.policeconduct.gov.uk/news/iopc-publishes-figures-deaths-during-or-following-police-contact-201718">Independent Office for Police Conduct</a> also show a higher proportion of black people dying in police custody after the use of force or restraint. Half a century after the term was used in the <a href="https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1981/nov/25/the-scarman-report">Scarman</a> and <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-stephen-lawrence-inquiry">MacPherson</a> reports in response to the 1981 Brixton Riots and in the Stephen Lawrence murder, institutional racism within the police seems to be in rude health. </p>
<h2>Fighting fire with ire?</h2>
<p>Seven years have passed since the fatal police shooting of Mark Duggan that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2011/dec/08/were-the-riots-about-race">sparked the 2011 riots</a>. Yet British society does not seem to have recovered from or discovered the reality of police racism. Many were alarmed during England’s “<a href="http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/46297/1/Reading%20the%20riots%28published%29.pdf">summer of disorder</a>”, which echoed the 1970s and 1980s when discriminatory policing sparked disturbances in <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Policing-Riots-David-Cowell/dp/0862450810">Notting Hill, Brixton and elsewhere</a>. However, much of this shock should not occasion surprise. As <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1741659018784111?journalCode=cmca">my research shows</a>, the policing of black British culture claims a long history. </p>
<p>As does the stigmatisation, the demonisation, and criminalisation of young black Britons. This is the reality of “post-racial” or “colour-blind” times. And it should be unmasked to reveal the racism that refuses to be seen. This is why it might take another <a href="https://en-gb.facebook.com/BLMUK/">Black Lives Matter</a> moment to wake up to police racism, and recognise that when <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/End-Policing-Alex-Vitale/dp/1784782890">policing is part of the problem</a> it can’t also be the solution to violent crime.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/knife-crime-i-spoke-to-young-people-who-carry-blades-and-they-want-to-stop-the-violence-98202">Knife crime: I spoke to young people who carry blades – and they want to stop the violence</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/100998/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lambros Fatsis does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The policing of black British culture has a long history.Lambros Fatsis, Lecturer in Sociology and Criminology, University of SouthamptonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/681342016-11-03T23:01:09Z2016-11-03T23:01:09ZHistory points to more dangerous Malheur-style standoffs<p>The acquittal of Ammon Bundy and other militia members who occupied the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon last January leaves our public lands and the people who steward them in a vulnerable position. Indeed, it puts a target on their backs.</p>
<p>The Bundy family has said as much. “The government should be scared,” Ryan Bundy <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/2016/11/01/c45bdf4e-a04c-11e6-a44d-cc2898cfab06_story.html">asserted</a> to the Washington Post less than a week after their acquittal. “They are in the wrong. The land does not belong to the government. The land belongs to the people of Clark County, not to the people of the United States.” When asked whether he and fellow militiamen had the right to take up arms to assert their control of the public land, Bundy declared: “Ask George Washington.” </p>
<p>This brazen and unapologetic rhetoric is a striking contrast to the Oregon jury’s carefully tailored language about their decision to free those men who bore arms against the federal government. As <a href="http://www.oregonlive.com/oregon-standoff/2016/10/juror_4_prosecutors_in_oregon.html">one juror</a> told the Portland Oregonian in response to the post-verdict uproar: “Don’t they know that ‘not guilty’ does not mean innocent?” </p>
<p>Clearly the militants, whose actions echo 20th-century Sagebrush Rebellions to take local control of public lands, know no such thing. For them the verdict offered an affirming message which, in my view, imperils the public servants who protect our lands in the face of a long history of threats and violence. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/144468/original/image-20161103-25346-1jy7d1k.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/144468/original/image-20161103-25346-1jy7d1k.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/144468/original/image-20161103-25346-1jy7d1k.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/144468/original/image-20161103-25346-1jy7d1k.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/144468/original/image-20161103-25346-1jy7d1k.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/144468/original/image-20161103-25346-1jy7d1k.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/144468/original/image-20161103-25346-1jy7d1k.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/144468/original/image-20161103-25346-1jy7d1k.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sagebrush Rebellion rally in 1980 on July 4 in Grand County, Utah. The roots of today’s disputes echo violent protests in the 1970s and 1980s.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sagebrush_Rebellion_July_4th,_1980_Grand_County_Utah.JPG">TheRealDeJureTour/wikipedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Debate over public lands has been a crucial part of my scholarship, but it also contains a personal dimension: For the past three decades I have been helping to train Forest Service leaders at all levels of the organization. A key part of my contribution to their studies has been the impact of the Sagebrush Rebellion, past and present, on the management and managers of our public lands. This close relationship leaves me deeply concerned for their safety.</p>
<h2>History of violence</h2>
<p>My worry is also framed within the larger political context: The Bundy verdict will play into the hands of those political forces – state legislatures, governors and congressional representatives – who have been <a href="https://www.gop.com/platform/americas-natural-resources/">scheming</a> to force the sale or the giving away of U.S. public lands to the individual states. The Republican Party platform is on record as being in full support of this <a href="https://theconversation.com/dems-and-the-gop-are-miles-apart-on-yet-another-issue-public-lands-65772">dismantling of our system of national forests, parks and refuges</a>.</p>
<p>Ammon Bundy and his followers make the same case. In a post-trial press conference, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/10/28/off-the-charts-unbelievable-will-acquittal-of-oregon-refuge-occupiers-embolden-extremists-militias/">the defendants</a> underscored their posture as patriots, who by dint of arms have defended the Constitution from an overly aggressive federal government. </p>
<p>As for the group’s possession of weapons, that is described in the most benign terms: “For these defendants and these people, having a firearm has nothing to do with a threat or anything else,” Bundy defense attorney Matthew Schindler <a href="http://absoluterights.com/bundy-clan-is-free/">declared</a>. “It’s as much a statement of their rural culture as a cowboy hat or a pair of jeans. I think the jury believed at the end of the day that that’s why the guns were there.” </p>
<p>However folksy his language, it masks the historical reality that such threats to public servants protecting public lands have been commonplace for more than a century. </p>
<p>No sooner had Congress in 1891 granted the executive branch the power to redesignate federal lands as national forests and to establish regulations for their use, than some westerners rose up in opposition. The grazing, mining and lumbering industries chafed at the small fees they were required to pay for the resources they once took at will. As I observe in my analysis of the Malheur occupation in my new book, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Not-Golden-State-Sustainability-California/dp/1595347828">“Not So Golden State</a>,” they fought back in the federal court system courts, and lost every test case. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/144476/original/image-20161103-25356-v2vf87.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/144476/original/image-20161103-25356-v2vf87.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/144476/original/image-20161103-25356-v2vf87.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/144476/original/image-20161103-25356-v2vf87.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/144476/original/image-20161103-25356-v2vf87.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/144476/original/image-20161103-25356-v2vf87.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/144476/original/image-20161103-25356-v2vf87.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/144476/original/image-20161103-25356-v2vf87.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Threats to employees of federal land agencies goes back to the late 19th century when Gifford Pinchot, the first chief of the U.S. Forest Service, visited each hotspot, even one in Alaska where locals hung him in effigy.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://fhsarchives.wordpress.com/2013/07/16/gifford-pinchots-ten-commandments/">US Forest Service</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>On the ground, they took out their frustrations on the local representatives of the nascent Forest Service. The verbal and bodily threats against its employees were so omnipresent that the agency’s first chief, <a href="https://fhsarchives.wordpress.com/2013/07/16/gifford-pinchots-ten-commandments/">Gifford Pinchot</a>, made it a point to visit every hotspot to demonstrate that he had employees’ backs. And when the good citizens of Cordova, Alaska, hung Pinchot in effigy, he made certain to travel there, too.</p>
<p>Similar attacks continued across the last century. In the 1940s, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and social critic Bernard DeVoto wrote a series of essays in Harper’s that exposed how the “Landgrabbers” of his generation intimidated Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management rangers across the West, bullied the agencies’ Washington offices and used their clout to bend the U.S. House subcommittee on public lands to their will. Their threats to employ the “sterner justice” of mob violence only underscored that their “ultimate hope,” DeVoto <a href="http://harpers.org/archive/1948/07/sacred-cows-and-public-lands/">affirmed</a>, “is to destroy the established conservation policies of the United States.”</p>
<p>President Ronald Reagan fanned these flames when he came to power in 1981, arguing that “government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.” That was music to the ears of those, like earlier generations of the Bundy family, who disdained federal land managers. </p>
<p>Egged on by right-wing talk radio commentators, verbal and physical attacks escalated. Vigilantes bombed Forest Service offices, a ranger discovered an explosive device under his truck and Elko County (Nevada) <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1996/03/16/us/court-puts-down-rebellion-over-control-of-federal-land.html">commissioners</a> used bulldozers to crash through Forest Service fencing. The agency responded by urging its staff to wear civilian clothes on the job and drive their personal vehicles to work.</p>
<h2>Fuel to the fire</h2>
<p>There is reason to suspect that this kind of coercion and violence will resume in the wake of the Malheur acquittals, just as it did in the initial aftermath of the Malheur occupation in January. Last winter, according to the nonpartisan conservation and advocacy group the <a href="https://medium.com/@WesternPriorities/armed-militants-pose-ongoing-dangerous-threat-to-government-employees-working-to-protect-americas-dc3858ff2a5b#.kabmzfjrv">Center for Western Priorities</a>, land managers reported a troubling increase in confrontations with Sagebrush-like groups on federal lands. </p>
<p>Bureau of Land Management employees received death threats and even <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/2016/11/01/c45bdf4e-a04c-11e6-a44d-cc2898cfab06_story.html">withdrew</a> from the contentious Gold Butte rangelands on which the Bundys graze their cattle, whose archaeological treasures have since then been trashed. The Fish and Wildlife Service reported a number of confrontations with “militia” groups on refuges, which understandably intensified rangers’ fears for their welfare.</p>
<p>Their anxieties have increased post-verdict. “The danger is that we get armed invasions of all kinds of public lands and similar institutions,” <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/after-oregon-verdict-a-hot-debate-a-victory-for-liberty-or-license-to-intimidate/2016/10/28/3cc1372c-9d37-11e6-a0ed-ab0774c1eaa5_story.html">argues</a> Mark Potok of the Southern Poverty Law Center. “The real danger is bloodshed.” His colleague, <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/news/2016/06/15/splc-public-support-perceived-victory-bundy-ranch-2014-emboldened-extremists-standoff">Heidi Beirich</a>, director of the SPLC’s Intelligence Project, drives the point home: “This is a growing movement that is probably going to grow more due to this verdict because they have shown they can use armed interventions and not be punished for them.”</p>
<p>One of the <a href="http://www.oregonlive.com/oregon-standoff/2016/10/juror_4_prosecutors_in_oregon.html">Bundy jurors</a> even anticipated this dire possibility: “It was not lost on us that our verdict(s) might inspire future actions that are regrettable, but that sort of thinking was not permitted when considering the charges before us.”</p>
<p>Fair enough. But whatever regrettable “future actions” occur, it will not be the jurors who will endure them but the dedicated men and women stewarding our public lands, our most treasured terrain. Who will step up and protect them?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/68134/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Char Miller does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Acquitted in the Malheur takeover trial, Ryan Bundy urges protests against efforts to conserve public lands. Who will protect federal employees?Char Miller, W. M. Keck Professor of Environmental Analysis, Pomona CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.