Taking the 21-Day Racial Equity Habit-Building Challenge

BY JUDGE JAN SOIFER

I did not anticipate learning anything new in the Austin Bar Association’s 21-Day Racial Equity Habit-Building Challenge. Like many of my open-minded friends and colleagues, I have diligently attended multiple diversity trainings, prejudice awareness courses, and other programs designed to help fight hatred of all kinds. I have a wide circle of friends of various races, ethnicities, religions, LGBTQ status, and national origins. I have proudly donated to and supported Black, Latinx, interfaith, LGBTQ, and various other social justice and progressive organizations, authors, and movies. I thought this challenge was a good idea, and I wanted to support it—but I didn’t expect much.

I was wrong. Participating in this challenge was a remarkable experience. The readings, podcasts, and videos that make up the curriculum are excellent, and the perspectives it provided were thought-provoking and helped me understand other ways of looking at racism, white privilege, and their impact. While some portions of the curriculum had stronger or more immediate impacts on me than others, there was a lot to reflect on.

A May 28, 2020 article in Refinery29 titled, “Your Black Colleagues May Look Like They’re Okay—Chances Are They’re Not” reminded me to consider that, “over the last few months, Black people have not only watched their friends and family members die at higher rates from the coronavirus, they have also watched people who look like them be gunned down while going for a jog, be murdered in their homes, threatened while bird watching in Central Park, and mercilessly choked on-camera.” It suggested, “on behalf of your Black colleagues: we’re not okay. And you shouldn’t be either.”

An article by Peggy McIntosh, “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” originally published in 1989 in Peace and Freedom Magazine, stated that she “was taught to see racism only in individual acts of meanness, not in invisible systems conferring dominance on [her] group.” That struck me as accurate in my life as well. She also said that although she knew racism puts others at a disadvantage, she was slow to recognize the corollary of white privilege that puts her at an advantage. She listed conditions in her life that have resulted from white privilege, many of which I had to acknowledge that, I too, have taken for granted.

In addition to these articles, the curriculum includes a variety of materials, including a number of videos, a law review article on race as property, and Implicit Association Tests (IATs). I should have known that the IATs would make me uncomfortable—which they did—since before taking them, one must acknowledge, “I am aware of the possibility of encountering interpretations of my IAT test performance with which I may not agree. Knowing this, I wish to proceed.” Those test results stung.

The twenty-one days of readings, videos, and other materials provided suggestions for action while challenging me to lower my defenses, consider my responsibility to acknowledge my privilege, and work harder to fight racism. These are challenges I will meet. It’s not too late to take the challenge—I hope you’ll join me. AL

The curriculum for the entire 21-Day Racial Habit-Building Challenge, as well as other anti-racism resources, can be found at austinbar. org/anti-racist-resources. The curriculum, shared by the Bar Association of San Francisco, was developed by one of their member firms, Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, whose Employment Practice Group curated the syllabus following the model established by diversity expert, Dr. Eddie Moore, Jr.