Explore Anti-Racism Resources
About This Guide
The St. Johns River State College Library joins the American Library Association in its dedication "to support the creation of a more equitable, diverse and inclusive society" and endorses ALA's related statements. The SJR State Library also supports the Florida Library Association’s Statement on Racial Justice. The SJR State Library and Learning Resources Department's events & observances provide resources and opportunities to explore cultures throughout America and around the world.
This guide is intended to provide resources to understand racism and general information to grow a more inclusive and caring community. The anti-racism guide is just a starting place and not meant to be an exhaustive list. We encourage you to also visit other resources provided within the guide to foster a better understanding.
Institutional Racism: "refers to the policies and practices within and across institutions that, intentionally or not, produce outcomes that chronically favor, or put a racial group at a disadvantage. Poignant examples of institutional racism can be found in school disciplinary policies in which students of color are punished at much higher rates that their white counterparts, in the criminal justice system, and within many employment sectors in which day-to-day operations, as well as hiring and firing practices can significantly disadvantage workers of color." [Source]
Anti-racism: "Anti-racism is an active way of seeing and being in the world, in order to transform it. Because racism occurs at all levels and spheres of society (and can function to produce and maintain exclusionary "levels" and "spheres"), anti-racism education/activism is necessary in all aspects of society. In other words, it does not happen exclusively in the workplace, in the classroom, or in selected aspects of our lives." [Source]
Microaggressions: "the everyday verbal, nonverbal, and environmental slights, snubs, or insults, whether intentional or unintentional, which communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative messages to target persons based solely upon their marginalized group membership. In many cases, these hidden messages may invalidate the group identity or experiential reality of target persons, demean them on a personal or group level, communicate they are lesser human beings, suggest they do not belong with the majority group, threaten and intimidate, or relegate them to inferior status and treatment." [Source]
White Fragility: "a state in which even a minimum amount of racial stress becomes intolerable, triggering a range of defensive moves. These moves include the outward display of emotions such as anger, fear, and guilt, and behaviors such as argumentation, silence, and leaving the stress-inducing situation. These behaviors, in turn, function to reinstate white racial equilibrium." [Source]
Intersectionality: "Intersectionality is a feminist theory and analytical lens coined by critical race scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw (1989) that assesses the overlap of various social identities—such as race, gender, sexuality, and class—and identifies how cumulatively these factors contribute to the specific type of systemic oppression and discrimination experienced by an individual rights-holder." [Source]
Implicit Bias: "Also known as implicit social cognition, implicit bias refers to the attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions, and decisions in an unconscious manner. These biases, which encompass both favorable and unfavorable assessments, are activated involuntarily and without an individual’s awareness or intentional control. Residing deep in the subconscious, these biases are different from known biases that individuals may choose to conceal for the purposes of social and/or political correctness. [Source]
White privilege: "White privilege is an institutional (rather than personal) set of benefits granted to those of us who, by race, resemble the people who dominate the powerful positions in our institutions. One of the primary privileges is that of having greater access to power and resources than people of color do; in other words, purely on the basis of our skin color doors are open to us that are not open to other people." [Source]