Top 10 Starter Resources
Ten Things Everyone Should Know About Race.pdf
Bias Isn’t Just a Police Problem, It’s a Preschool Problem (VIDEO)
Immaculate Perception TED Talk by Jerry Kang (VIDEO)
The Invention of Whiteness john a. Powell (VIDEO)
A Trip to the Grocery Store Joy DeGruy from Cracking the Codes series (VIDEO)
4 Dimensions of Racism.pdf
DiversityInclusion_v_EquityJusticeTable_updated.pdf
Mythbusters_Implicit Bias.pdf
Racial Equity Glossary- Portland Office of Equity and Human Rights (1).pdf
White-Fragility.pdf
Curren Equity Alliance Newsletter
February 2019 EA News: Four Dimensions or Racism – Structural
Learn about why we need to address racism at its root cause: structural inequity and see our compiled list of Winter reading and viewing suggestions, as well as upcoming events.
Equity Alliance Newsletter: Past Issue Archive
January 2019 EA News: White Fragility and Its Impacts
December 2018 EA News: Challenging & ‘Bridging’ Conversations
September/October 2018 EA News: Racism Is Stressful
Summer 2018 EA News: Intersectionality
May 2018 EA News: Taking the Hobgoblin Out of Privilege
April 2018 EA News: Structural Racism
March 2018 EA News: A Deeper Look at Microaggressions
February 2018 EA News: Questioning How We Think About Poverty
January 2018 EA News: Equity and Justice
December 2017 EA News: Racism, What Can I Do?
November 2017 EA News: Establishing a Common Language
October 2017 EA News: Implicit Bias
September 2017 EA News: What is Equity?
Summer 2017 EA News
June 2017 EA News
March 2017 EA News
October 2016 EA News
September 2016 EA News
August 2016 EA News
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What and Why
What is Equity Alliance of the North Coast (Equity Alliance) aiming to achieve?
- To encourage a community-wide understanding of how to involve groups of people who have been excluded from opportunities due to race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability, and/or social or economic status;
- To help interested institutions, organizations, and businesses become more inclusive of marginalized groups, who currently experience exclusion when it comes to access;
- To help individuals and organizations understand the information and methods used to create a society where we can all actively and fully participate, regardless of status.
Why is this important here and why now?
- For several years, researchers, the Humboldt Area Foundation, and other partners have watched the growth in diversity of our schools, public spaces, and institutions of higher education, and have heard concerns and requests for assistance from individuals, governments, nonprofits, and businesses to help these sectors adjust their understanding, attitudes, policies and practices to welcome and better support these growing populations.
Why is there an emphasis on race?
- In Professor john powell and Haas’ analysis, “racialization”, the process of placing importance on racial associations or categories, is the ultimate and most prevalent way exclusion happens. When our institutions exclude others based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, economic status, or disability; structurally they are generally similar to the exclusions that happen when using racial categories. Equity Alliance trainings and workshops also recognize the experiences of other outgroups, and prioritize a clear focus on the region’s demographic representation of Native American and Latinx populations.
Since the focus is on inclusion, how will the voices of marginalized groups be part of this process?
- This is an essential element of the process. We will work with local community organizing efforts to intentionally engage marginalized voices. We are in the process of supplementing strategies with our contacts in racial and ethnic minority communities, LGBT, and houseless communities, as well as communities of students and religious minorities.
Common Terms & Definitions
Common terms and their definitions (e.g. belonging/othering, implicit bias):
- Equality vs. Equity: Equality refers to treating everyone the same way, while equity emphasizes the importance of giving everyone what they need to be successful. The distinction between these two concepts is well represented by an image of the three people of varying heights trying to see a baseball game over a fence. Equality is the equivalent of giving them all the same height box, while equity would give the shortest one more boxes to be able to achieve the desired outcome of everyone seeing the game.
- Implicit Bias: Unlike explicit bias (which reflects the attitudes or beliefs that one endorses at a conscious level), implicit bias is the bias in judgment and/or behavior that results from subtle cognitive processes (e.g., implicit attitudes and implicit stereotypes) that often operate at a level below conscious awareness and without intentional control.
- Institutional racism: Unfair policies and discriminatory practices of particular institutions (schools, workplaces, etc.) that routinely produce racially inequitable outcomes for people of color and advantages for white people.
- Structural racism: how history, public policies, institutional practices, and cultural representations interact to maintain racially inequitable outcomes.
- Racial Anxiety: Refers to discomfort about the experience and potential consequences of inter-racial interactions. It is important to distinguish this definition of racial anxiety from what social scientists refer to as “racial threat,” which includes the anger, frustration, uncertainty, feelings of deprivation and other emotions associated with concern over loss of resources or dominance.
- Othering and Belonging: Terms Prof. john powell coined to include all the ways different groups are either included in, or excluded from, full participation in shaping our social and economic structures.
Learning Opportunities
What events does the Equity Alliance host?
Equity Alliance of the North Coast is an umbrella for a variety of community efforts addressing issues of race, gender and social equity. Among these are:
- A public speaking and events series that began in May, 2016 and will continue through early 2018 aimed at informing the general public about the latest research and conceptual thinking on issues of inclusion and race;
- A coaching series for committed institutions and collaboratives led by the Government Alliance on Race and Equity (GARE, a joint project of the Center for Social Inclusion (CSI) and the Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society). This series culminated in November 2017; and
- A series of trainings and workshops hosted by local and national partners that allows for local trainers to gain the skills and tools to continue structured learning opportunities.
Will the Equity Alliance provide coaching to my organization to help us change our practices and policies to be more inclusive of marginalized groups?
- Yes. For larger institutions and collaboratives, this is provided through the quarterly cohort training and coaching process.
- We are currently designing training and coaching processes for smaller organizations, businesses and community members.
How can I get involved?
- We offer trainings and workshops to learn about racial equity and provide tools to apply that knowledge in a wide variety of situations and contexts.
Inclusion is characterized by a society’s widely shared social experience and active participation, by a broad equality of opportunities and life chances for individuals and by the achievement of a basic level of well-being for all citizens. – Amartya Sen
Native Land Acknowledgement Statement
We acknowledge that the land on which we are based is un-ceded territory and traditional ancestral homeland of indigenous nations: Hupa, Karuk, Mattole, Tolowa, Wailaki, Wiyot, Yurok, and other original inhabitants of Humboldt County. We respect and share our gratitude to Indigenous communities. We take this opportunity to thank and honor the original caretakers of land they continue to cherish and protect, as elders have instructed the young through generations. We encourage those in Wiyot territory to make a contribution to the Honor Tax, a system set up by local non-native people as one way to acknowledge the sacrifices and resiliency of the Wiyot people. Though there is no similar system for other Tribes in the region, we encourage direct giving to Tribes and Native-led efforts.