I decided to dive deeper into my personal education. As part of that I reached out to our Senior Manager Culture and Inclusion•Corporate D&I at Zeta, Starlet Farrar. She told me that the most important thing I could do was care. She shared with me her personal journey included educating herself and doing a lot of reading. I decided in 2024 I would read at least 1 DEI related book a quarter. Her recommended book list can be found here: https://www.shegeeksout.com/blog/recommended-books-to-start-a-dei-book-club-at-your-workplace/
For the first DEI book I chose to read, How to be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi. This book impacted me more than I thought it would. I learned about Ibram’s journey through life and how it impacted his future research. Overall I thought the author kept the book interesting by fusing his real life experiences with the chapter topics and how it formed the basis for his understanding. The book is not a light read and 60% of the book is the list of references ! That said there was some light humor mixed in but also some very scary parts of his life, including having a gun pointed in the author’s face, his dealing with his wife’s cancer, and also overcoming stage 4 colon cancer himself. I would recommend the book. Not only will you learn about the idea of antiracism but you will also go on a journey of the author’s life experiences which helped him formulate the idea of antiracism and founding the Center for Antiracism Research at Boston University.
A couple of my initial impressions were how Kendi referenced his own view of the world, his own mistakes, acknowledged them, learned from them and finally changed !
- “It is even more dangerous for us – for me – not to be vulnerable and self-critical to find our flaws and to grow”
The most impressive manner one can choose to teach me is through that person’s failings and their learnings. It seems less preachy that way in my opinion. Let me tell you how you are wrong…with me will elicit a natural defensive response. When a person as Kendi did throughout his book says, here is what I did wrong and how I learned from it..it shows his vulnerability and elicits a sympathetic response from me. As such I was taken aback how often the author referred to his mistakes, his learnings, his change. For me that was incredible !
What can I do ? How did this book change me ?
As I read through the book, I highlighted so many passages. The first of which is to acknowledge my faults. What ideas, behaviors, mannerisms, could be viewed as racist ? I really need to take an accounting of myself. As I think through it, there are a handful of racist jokes I’ll never tell again. Their humor is meant to make a group of people feel inferior while making me feel superior. I don’t know that I realized the impact these aggressions can have on an offended group of people. By making a group feel small I can have the impact of them retreating to a safe space. Now I have lost their input or their solutions because I separated them from me ! A Saturday Night Live host recently made several racist jokes as part of their monologue. I found myself not laughing but wondering why that person thought those jokes were funny. I think that was the first time for me ! What I need to do is make time to think about it, be purposeful and start eliminating racist behavior from my life. Of course this extends to sexism, colorism, sexuality, neurodiversity, and classism.
I need to be more active and involved in my community. Kendi differentiates racist and racism as:
- “Racism connotes power, policies and ideas. Racist connotes a power, a policy, or an idea.”
He defines the opposite of “I am racist” is not “I am not racist” but as “I am an antiracist”. Actively trying to support policies that produce or sustain racial equity or justice. Actively. That word stings because I just want to sit back, throw my support but not really get involved. I have to challenge myself to do more, to get involved and to understand what I am supporting. Does it promote racial equity ? Does it promote social justice ? Where do we compromise ? It’s a tough decision, but it starts with me and being active. I can speak about my thoughts with my family at home. My children often teach me and are much more active than I am. I can be more active at work. I recently asked my manager for dedicated time to put towards DEI and People&Culture at our work because it is part of the Humanize core value at Zeta. I am so grateful that he agreed but it wouldn’t have happened if I at least did not ask. I can be more active in my community by joining an organization that aligns with supporting racial equity and social justice.
That is why statistics matter because they point out inequity. As humans we should all be about the same, but we are not. Women make less than men still in 2024 for the same job. Fewer women are managers. Change that to Latinx or Black women and the numbers drop even more. It is important to see and acknowledge the statistics, because as Kendi pointed out it isn’t until I acknowledge my faults can I begin to correct them. Policies that say they are being not racist by “ignoring race” are ignoring the inequity that the statistics are showing. I can’t have “not racist” policies until equity is reestablished. I had heard the term White Privilege before but never truly understood it until this statistic, white people on average live 4 years longer. This hit me like a frying pan to the face. I was shocked, WHO, I ask, who wouldn’t want to spend 4 more years with their loved ones. I have to acknowledge the stats and I have to pay attention so that I can make a proper fight for equity and support policies that racial equity and social justice.
Lastly, I would like to continue to learn more. The author had so many references. As I mentioned over 60% of the book. That lended so much credence to the author’s words. In his references he mentioned so many books I would like to read. So many brave men and women who spoke up. Going back to the 1830s through the 1970s here I wanted to list the black women that Kendi wrote about. They spoke up in a time when women did not have a voice, let alone black women. They declared their voice and showed they belonged in the room despite the beliefs of society. So I honor the names of these brave black women and encourage you all to learn about them:
- Maria Stewart – America’s first feminist known to give a public address to a coed audience
- Sojourner Truth
- Frances Harber
- Ida B. Wells
- Anna Julia Cooper
- Frances Beal
I am so happy I started my 2024 DEI journey with Ibram X. Mendi’s book, How to be an Antiracist. I felt like I learned a great deal. Not just about the subject matter but also about myself. I am grateful to the author for dedicating so much time and I want him to know his book made an impact on me !
V
Below I wanted to list out Ibram’s steps to eliminate racial injustice and inequity in our spaces:
- Admit racial injustice and inequity are problems of bad policy and not bad people.
- Identify racial injustice and inequity in all their intersections and manifestations.
- Investigate and uncover racist policies causing racial injustice or inequity.
- Formulate or find antiracist policy that can eliminate racial injustice or inequity.
- Figure out who or what group has the power to institute antiracist policy.
- Disseminate and educate about the uncovered racist policy and antiracist policy correctives.
- Deploy antiracist power to compel or drive from power the unsympathetic racist policymakers in order to institute the antiracist policy.
- Monitor closely to ensure the antiracist policy reduces and eliminates racial injustice or inequity.
- When policies fail, do not blame the people harmed by racial injustice. Start over and seek out new and more effective antiracist treatments until they work.
- Monitor closely to prevent new racist policies from being instituted.
Victor Sanchez is a Director of Solution Management at Zeta. He is also the chair of the Latinx ERG ZetaMundo. Victor recently became the Corporate Relations Officer for Prospanica Phoenix. Prospanica is an organization that empowers and enables Hispanic professional to achieve their full educational, economic, and social potential. Zeta Global (NYSE: ZETA) is the AI-Powered Marketing Cloud that leverages advanced artificial intelligence (AI) and trillions of consumer signals to make it easier for marketers to acquire, grow, and retain customers more efficiently.