Racial Equity Institute Training

In this lively and participatory presentation, the Racial Equity Institute used stories and data to present a perspective that racism is fundamentally structural in nature. By examining characteristics of modern-day racial inequity, GROUNDWATER introduced participants to an analysis that most find immediately helpful and relevant.

The two-day Phase 1 training is designed to develop the capacity of participants to better understand racism in its institutional and structural forms. Moving away from a focus on personal bigotry and bias, this workshop presented a historical, cultural, and structural analysis of racism. Topics covered included a fish/lake/groundwater analysis of structural racism; understanding and controlling implicit bias; race, poverty, and place; markedness theory; institutional power arrangements and power brokers; importance of definitions of race and racism; history and legacy of race in American economic and policy development; racial identity and its interaction with institutional culture. With shared language and a clearer understanding of how institutions and systems are producing unjust and inequitable outcomes, participants left the training better equipped to begin to work for change.