Redefining antiracism: Learning from activists to sharpen academic language

Abstract

People have fought against racism for as long as it has existed and yet it persists in diverse and materially impactful ways. The primary challenge to eradicating racism is likely the power of white privilege. This paper argues that another important obstacle to progress has been the lack of a clear definition of antiracism that movement activists and scholars can collaboratively use to ensure that antiracist scholarship and efforts meet the full measure of the term's intention. While academia has struggled to converge on a definition, “lay race theorists” and movement activists—Black women in particular, have been participating in discourse online and through other venues where consensus appears to be developing around a definition. This article attempts to summarize activist discourse in defining antiracism as “the commitment to eradicate racism in all its forms” and individual antiracism as “the commitment to eradicate racism in all its forms, by (1) building an understanding of racism and (2) taking action to eliminate racism “within oneself, in other people, in institutions, and through actions outside of institutions,” noting that “antiracism is an ongoing practice and commitment that must be accountable to antiracist Black people, Indigenous people, and other People of Color and consider intersectional systems of oppression.” While research on the public conversation benefits from its easy access and limited additional burdens on movement activists, future research should test these definitions with movement activists to ensure that definitions and metrics are as relevant to the antiracist movement as possible.

Full text

Arizona State University, School of Social and
Family Dynamics, Tempe, Arizona, USA
Correspondence
Annie Ferguson, Arizona State University,
School of Social and Family Dynamics, P.O.
Box 873701, Tempe, AZ 85287-3701, USA.
Email: annie.ferguson@asu.edu
Abstract
People have fought against racism for as long as it has
existed and yet it persists in diverse and materially impactful
ways. The primary challenge to eradicating racism is likely
the power of white privilege. This paper argues that another
important obstacle to progress has been the lack of a clear
definition of antiracism that movement activists and scholars
can collaboratively use to ensure that antiracist scholarship
and efforts meet the full measure of the term's intention.
While academia has struggled to converge on a definition,
“lay race theorists” and movement activists—Black women
in particular, have been participating in discourse online and
through other venues where consensus appears to be devel-
oping around a definition. This article attempts to summarize
activist discourse in defining antiracism as “the commitment
to eradicate racism in all its forms” and individual antira-
cism as “the commitment to eradicate racism in all its forms,
by (1) building an understanding of racism and (2) taking
action to eliminate racism “within oneself, in other people,
in institutions, and through actions outside of institutions,”
noting that “antiracism is an ongoing practice and commit-
ment that must be accountable to antiracist Black people,
Indigenous people, and other People of Color and consider
intersectional systems of oppression.” While research on the
public conversation benefits from its easy access and limited
additional burdens on movement activists, future research
should test these definitions with movement activists to
REVIEW ARTICLE
Redefining antiracism: Learning from activists to
sharpen academic language
Annie Ferguson
DOI: 10.1111/soc4.13057
Received: 3 June 2022 Revised: 15 November 2022 Accepted: 20 November 2022
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© 2022 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Sociology Compass. 2023;17:e13057.
https://doi.org/10.1111/soc4.13057
wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/soc4