Frame 4: Antiracist Leadership

¶ 1 Leave a comment on paragraph 1 6 Libraries and archives have an opportunity to serve as exemplars to other professions in building and sustaining antiracist climates, cultures, and practices, but must commit to the work of internal and systems change in the process. Antiracist leadership acknowledges the degree to which white supremacy culture is embedded in every aspect of our profession, and works deliberately and constructively to question dominant cultural norms and counter them when they are negatively impacting or harming communities of color. Leaders must understand that differential outcomes for people of color are not a product of inherent deficits to those communities, but rather are an outcome of problematic systems that create a legacy of advantage for people from majority cultures and identities, or for those who acquiesce to the phenomenon of assimilation. Leaders are committed to social justice and to creating environments where minoritized communities have agency to realize their full potential, countering–if not working to eliminate–oppressive systems and practices. Moreover, leaders recognize that solutions to systemic problems require proximity to and strategies that are focused on the challenges at hand. Effective leaders should acknowledge the importance of intersectionality and realize that coalescing around an antiracist agenda will have benefits for many marginalized groups. In addition, leaders must cultivate a comfort level with controversy so as to support the challenging conversations that are unavoidable when one is committed to antiracist work. Transformative leaders cultivate and sustain the work of collective action, building alliances with other groups, organizations, and sectors committed to racial equity. (Museus)

4.1. – The Interconnectedness of Libraries and the Larger Institutions of ALA/ARL

¶ 2 Leave a comment on paragraph 2 3 The American Library Association (ALA) and the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), have long espoused commitments to equity, diversity, and inclusion. While some progress has been made by these organizations, substantive change has not been realized. Core to the challenge is that libraries, whether public, academic, school, or special, are situated within larger structures founded upon principles and histories of white supremacy with generations of policies and practices that were exclusionary in their intent. Often library boards, university boards of trustees, and other leadership entities articulate values that are inconsistent with behavior and action. An additional challenge is that no library type or category is monolithic; each organization or institution is unique with distinct missions to diverse stakeholders and, therefore, strategies for addressing racial inequity must be customized and be responsive to those needs. Conversely, messaging and approaches are often inconsistent and diffuse, without a collective voice or a common vision. Developing consistency in vocabulary, communication, strategies, and vision will help to establish universal goals that have the potential to create deeper and enduring change for the profession.

¶ 3 Leave a comment on paragraph 3 3 Libraries operate independently and are not accountable to one another or to larger institutions like ALA/ARL. As such, this impacts ALA’s ability to mandate wide-spread change in the field. However, there are other ways in which larger associations can influence organizations and hold libraries accountable.

¶ 4 Leave a comment on paragraph 4 1 Framework Implementation Example: It is recommended that associations could begin by collecting and publishing relevant statistics (e.g. disaggregated demographic data, equity audits of collections, retention statistics of BIPOC employees) or including racial equity as a component of accreditation rubrics.

4.2 – Role of the Member- Advancing Member Impact

¶ 5 Leave a comment on paragraph 5 2 In order to benefit from participation in ALA/ARL, it is imperative that library workers understand that while these larger institutions often influence and inform our work, we should not be solely reliant upon these institutions to move this work forward. The responsibility for educating ourselves about racial equity and upholding systems of accountability falls on us as individuals and as a collective, with deep implications for the workplace and our communities. It is important to remember that each person, regardless of title or position, has the power to influence their community by modeling antiracist practices, advocating for BIPOC communities, and becoming actively involved in committee work, leadership, and governance of library associations.

¶ 6 Leave a comment on paragraph 6 0 Framework Implementation Example: When voting for new leadership members can choose to prioritize candidates from minoritized communities or those whose candidate statements clearly mention racial equity and EDI as a priority.

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scalvert February 15, 2022 at 2:13 pm

I think this misses so much about how leaders within anti-racism and anti-racists in library worlds are talking about leadership right now. Are we talking about named positions of leadership? Or are we talking about the many leaders within the ranks of libraries right now?What I read here still assumes a top-down organizational model. How does racism flourish in libraries if not through such a model? The upper echelons in libraries are disproportionately white (and etc.). Leaders in named positions need to change how they run their organizations to develop leaderful organizations that share power over more kinds of decision making, including over the systems that sustain racism in library practice. How do we expect to sustain change in organizations of the WAY of the organization stays the same?

6 Comments on paragraph 1

scalvert February 15, 2022 at 1:52 pm

[Leaders must understand that differential outcomes for people of color are not a product of inherent deficits to those communities]
This invites the view it denounces. I suggest a rephrase: “Leaders must challenge the common view that differential outcomes originate in those communities”
scalvert February 15, 2022 at 1:53 pm

[leaders]
I would like it if “leaders” was specified. Not all leaders do this. “antiracist leaders” do this.
1. scalvert February 24, 2022 at 2:47 pm
  
  There are leaders, and there are people in positions of power. People in positions of power and authority in organizations have a greater responsibility to do more than window dressing. They need to actively create organizations that learn from the library workers they so loudly proclaim they want to hire and retain. There is a huge disconnect — and that’s because there is payoff for publicly championing DEI initiatives and no consequences for those initiatives having no effect because organizational culture maintains the structures of power even when everyone knows not to use bad words for people.
scalvert February 15, 2022 at 1:55 pm

[acknowledge the importance of intersectionality]
“acknowledge that social systems are intersectional”It’s not that intersectionality is important; it’s that it is operative description of what’s happening.
scalvert February 15, 2022 at 1:58 pm

[ benefits for many marginalized groups. I]

not just marginalized people! All library constituents. We absolutely have to get this right. Anti-racism should have direct benefit for racialized people and that is enough. But it also benefits white people and people in other marginalized groups. Anti-racism does not harm white people — by making the benefit seem only toward people of color, harm to white people is implied.
scalvert February 15, 2022 at 2:00 pm

[Transformative leaders cultivate and sustain the work of collective action, building alliances with other groups, organizations, and sectors committed to racial equity.]
They also support the anti-racist and justice work of individuals within the organization, explicitly, in public and behind closed doors, even when it makes people uncomfortable. Leaders have to have people’s backs or this whole document is junk.

3 Comments on paragraph 2

Amanda Echterling January 19, 2022 at 10:51 pm

I would like to see a little more accountability in this section. ALA, ARL, and ACRL have done more than espoused commitments. Whole initiatives, complete with larger institutional funding, have been and some are ongoing. Indeed, for member-supported organizations like ACRL and ALA, those funded initatives sometimes aren’t even located in libraries but in professional development. The third sentence which starts to answer why have we not seen greater success immediately pivots to the smaller institutions, the libraries being too different.
scalvert February 15, 2022 at 2:07 pm

[Developing consistency in vocabulary, communication, strategies, and vision will help to establish universal goals that have the potential to create deeper and enduring change for the profession. ]
but if it’s consistently bad? I think this is the wrong aim.”Universality” is white supremacy culture in a nutshell. Neutral, unmarked, pure, original, universal. The real question is how we can embrace and celebrate difference if we have to hop on board a one train solution.Universality is not the same as commonality. Commonality is not the same as consistency. Solidarity and universality are not the same. The question is about coalitions across difference, not pretending problems can be solved if we agree to a controlled vocabulary about it. This is so ne plus ultra for exactly how white supremacy works across library practices and systems.As we see in the comments, not everyone who might understand themselves as Black, indigenous, a person of color, does not agree with BIPOC. Not every LGBTQIA+ person likes that alphabet soup. We frequently go along with these things for the sake of getting work done together but feel steamrolled by them. Whose voice says “consistency” is key to anti-racism?
1. kworrell February 23, 2022 at 3:17 pm
  
  That’s a good point. There are no universal or one size fits all solutions like the “universal goals” suggests. And there needs to be flexibility for changing community needs and language.

3 Comments on paragraph 3

Amanda Echterling January 19, 2022 at 11:22 pm

We know at the larger institution level there is work to do and that should be acknowledged.”ALA’s ability to mandate” is a poor choice of words here. Earlier in the document, libraries were encouraged to use collaborative decision-making models and that language should be reflected in how the larger institutions see themselves connecting.
In lieu of “however, there are other ways” – that isn’t descriptive language for a framework – since larger institutions are more than espousing but also programming and funding DEI initiatives, it would be good to see in this section how they have enaged or are engaging iterations of interrogation, accountability and implementation.
Erik January 21, 2022 at 2:33 pm

It may not be appropriate to include here but this paragraph made me think of the ALA accreditation of library schools – referencing the influential role that these standards could play in advancing racial equity might be useful somewhere in this document
scalvert February 24, 2022 at 2:41 pm

Agree with Erik. ALA has unique and unparalleled power in its control over accreditation.

1 Comment on paragraph 4

scalvert February 24, 2022 at 2:42 pm

It really depends on what is being defined and measured. Perhaps climate studies?

2 Comments on paragraph 5

Amanda Echterling January 20, 2022 at 12:00 am

This paragraph relative to the sub heading of 4.2 seems muddled to me. The sub heading seems to be a call of action to members. But the call to action starts with wedging the organization from the actor. And then associates the actor with “community” and we lose any tie back to member-led library associations until the very end.
Suggested rewrite:
As participants in the member-led organizations of ALA/ARL, its imperative that library workers educate ourselves about racial equity and uphold systems of accountability as individuals and as a collective. We should not be solely reliant upon large organizations to move this work forward for the workplace or our communities. It is important to remember that each person, regardless of title or position, has the power to influence their community by modeling antiracist practices, advocating for BIPOC communities, and becoming actively involved in committee work, leadership, and governance of library associations.
scalvert February 15, 2022 at 2:19 pm

[The responsibility for educating ourselves about racial equity and upholding systems of accountability falls on us as individuals and as a collective, with deep implications for the workplace and our communities. It is important to remember that each person, regardless of title or position, has the power to influence their community by modeling antiracist practices, advocating for BIPOC communities, and becoming actively involved in committee work, leadership, and governance of library associations. ]
This puts too much burden on individuals.

Cultural Proficiencies for Racial Equity: A Framework

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