We CU Spotlight: Challenging Racism in Community Service

Service can often be a fun and engaging way to connect with and make a positive impact in our community. While we may approach our work with good intentions, we must be mindful of the fact that our actions can have unintended consequences, especially when it comes to our implicit biases. According to Project Implicit, “Implicit bias is an automatic reaction we have towards other people. These attitudes and stereotypes can negatively impact our understanding, actions, and decision-making.”

Our implicit biases around race can affect the way we see, hear, and experience the world around us, even when we are trying to make a positive impact through community service. Volunteers may experience racism as a recipient, witness it as a bystander, or unintentionally perpetuate it because of their implicit biases. It is important to understand how racism can show up in our service work and reaffirm our commitment to anti-racism, so we can maximize our impact in the Champaign-Urbana community.

This month, we are featuring “Challenging Racism in Community Service: When Doing Good is Not so Great.” Offered in partnership with the Office of the Vice-Chancellor for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, this training will help participants reflect on how implicit and explicit racism can show up in our service activities. 

In this training, participants explore and challenge how organizations and individuals may subtly (and not-so-subtly) promote racism through their service. Participants will explore topics like health disparities, employment and wealth gaps, and white supremacy to understand the ways that racism shows up in our own communities.  

Conversations about race and racism can be challenging for people from all backgrounds. While some people fear saying something offensive, others worry about discussing subjects that can be re-traumatizing. This training aims to create a safe space where these feelings can be explored and interrogated. The training will also help participants identify strategies to address these issues in our service and in our everyday lives. 

Sydney Curts, a senior studying natural resources and environmental science, attended the Fall 2022 “Challenging Racism in Community Service” training. The training helped her build a deeper understanding of how racism impacts individuals. “I felt as if I left more culturally aware and had a deeper competence that will equip me to interact with individuals from many backgrounds and life experiences,” Sydney said. 

Sydney found the group activities most helpful because she got to hear different viewpoints from the other participants. These activities included a gallery walk with other attendees to understand and discuss how the elements of white supremacy culture, like paternalism and perfectionism, can show up in service. 

In addition to the gallery walk, the Spring 2023 training will have more opportunities for students to collaborate and discuss how racism shows up in service, the impacts it can have, and importantly, plenty of time to talk about and come up with concrete approaches to confronting racism in service. 

Participants are invited to share, listen, and collaborate throughout the workshop! Join Ross Wantland, from the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, and We CU’s Margarita Garcia Rojas, as we explore our experiences with race, racism, and volunteer work, and identify antiracist strategies to engage in community service on March 28, 5:30 - 7 p.m., in Siebel Center for Design, Room 1002. Dinner will be provided. Please be sure to register by March 26. Space is limited, so please be sure to register early.