Educate yourself on anti-racism

The factors that enable and perpetuate racism are complex. They also continue to change as the world around us does. Increasing your understanding of these will help you strengthen your capacity for anti-racism. No matter how long we have been thinking about racism and anti-racism, we all need to stay curious, continue to learn, and be open to new ways of thinking and doing. 

This website includes some information that can get you started. We recommend reminding yourself regularly of the foundational concepts of race and racism. Have a look at the What is Racism? and Key Terms pages to get started.

There are a lot of helpful resources out there. The Resource Hub is a useful place to continue to continue this learning. Use the filter function to find resources about racism of different forms, and in different sectors.

Also, there are also lots of people to learn from. In Australia, the communities and anti-racism practitioners at the local level lead anti-racism work, particularly those with lived experience of racism. We recommend that you follow some of the many individuals and community organisations doing important anti-racism work. There is a wealth of information and knowledge out there. It is critical that we listen and learn from First Nations communities and anti-racism practitioners. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have unique experiences of racism and have been leading anti-racism work in Australia since colonisation. The Resource Hub can also be a useful place to start looking for these groups to engage with.

Being aware of and examining our own bias and position in society is a critical part of being anti-racist. It involves reflecting on how you may have power and privilege over others in different contexts and then considering how you can personally challenge existing power dynamics to make environments more equal.

Our power and privilege are often ‘concealed’. For instance, as outlined on the Key Terms page, whiteness often becomes ‘invisible’, to the point that we think White experiences, stories and culture are mainstream or ‘normal’. This makes other experiences seem ‘abnormal’ or different and can lead to the people and communities who are not white being seen as inferior, problematic or wrong.

Each of us engages in society from a different perspective, and with that comes certain experiences, beliefs, and preferences. These can create knowledge gaps, or points where we make assumptions based on our preconceptions or beliefs. These knowledge gaps often prevent us from seeing or understanding the way a certain behaviour or process is racist. Often, we are not conscious of our own biases until we make the effort to become aware of them. By acknowledging our knowledge gaps, we make space for learning and gaining a better understanding of people’s experiences.

When we learn more about racism, and how it operates, we can see how it shapes ways of thinking and normalises racism in the everyday - from policies to institutional culture. This creates gaps in understanding how prevalent racism is, especially for people without lived experience of racism.

Our knowledge gaps give the false impression that racism only exists in interpersonal interactions, and that the absence of hate speech, aggression or racial slurs means that racism is not present. This prevents us from seeing how racism is present in systems and structures and allows racist processes to continue.

The Ask Yourself The Hard Questions campaign encourages us to reflect on how race and racism impacts us. We encourage you to have a look at the Campaign video, as well as the self-reflective questions on the Questions & Context page.