Cultivating Awareness of Racial Microaggressions

Abstract

Business leaders worldwide want to ensure their workplaces are inclusive of employees from diverse backgrounds. Part of establishing an inclusive and affirming environment is developing a keen sense of the racial dynamics among program staff and leadership. It can be difficult to take steps towards racial equity in the workplace if it is unknown or unclear how or why there is racial inequity. The first step many leaders take is attending some type of training about race and racism after which they generally feel overwhelmed or unsure how to move forward in their efforts to achieve racial equity. There is a lot of work to do to establish racial equity and many different entry points for a leader to take. Instead of approaching racial equity from a macro level, a micro level might not only be more tangible for an organization, but also more inspiring.