Welcome to our Question & Answer segment! You wrote in and we answered! This next question is about about Accountability for Personal Work.
We believe that for an organization to be anti-racist, everyone needs to be doing their own “personal work” to heal from internalized racial inferiority and superiority. What is needed to enable, support and motivate staff (at all levels) to do their “personal” work? How can individuals know if they are being accountable about this? What can an organization look at, to assess our success in this area?
Thank you for your question!
When it comes to holding others accountable for personal growth, I believe it is important to acknowledge that everyone’s inner world is a complex place that can never be truly observed by others and therefore measured or evaluated with any accuracy. Thus, the extent to which a person is sincerely endeavoring to grow and overcome their biases and assumptions is likely unknowable. When it comes to personal growth, all we really have to assess another person’s personal journey is self-reporting and observations of behavior. We can and should hold others accountable for their behavior, however there are some precautions I take whenever I find myself in a position to judge the personal work of others, especially when it comes to overcoming a racist culture.
One thing I try to remember is that it is neither helpful nor ethical to condemn others for where they are at in their personal journey. Personally overcoming internalized racial inferiority and superiority is an ongoing process of building awareness that is complicated by our lived experiences; this process is neither linear nor formulaic, but rather deeply personal. That is, there is no “cookbook” for this kind of personal growth. So, I try to maintain a principle that I will meet people where they are at in their journey rather than judge their progress according to my own standards.
Now, when it comes to behavior, things are more straightforward. If an individual continues to violate community norms or otherwise do harm, then accountability measures should take place in a transparent process which is itself accountable to community norms. One crucial resource for any organization to enable, support and motivate staff in collaborating around social justice is a statement of community norms which have emerged from inclusive deliberation. This can serve as a kind of “constitution” which can be referred to in the event of conflict.
While it is difficult, if not impossible, to really know if individuals are doing their personal work, it is possible to assess whether an organization is succeeding in living into its own goals around belonging. One way is to develop a set of outcomes that everyone agrees signal the kind of cultural changes desired. Think about what outcomes would be meaningful to you in terms of your organization working towards belonging within its social context. For some organizations, these outcomes are measurable, such as evaluating diversity in leadership. For others, the outcomes are more difficult to measure, but nonetheless very important. For example, organizations can begin a conversation about what belonging looks like, and what do people need to do to create that culture. Measuring success in cultivating a culture of belonging may be achievable through listening sessions and surveys. But first, an organization needs to have open and honest conversations about what “belonging” will mean for them and be ready to lean into the discomfort if it arises.
J.P.