Occupation, injustice, and anti-Black racism in the United States of America

Abstract

In the summer of 2020, the death of George Floydyet another unarmed Black man killed at the hands of policethrust race and racism to the forefront of public attention in the United States. Across the country, demonstrators and protestors mobilized to end police brutality, one mechanism of systemic racism in this country's history and present. As this paper explores, occupation too has played a role in the systemic racism against Black people in the United States. In recent years, occupational scientists have critiqued tacit assumptions regarding the qualities and effects of occupation. The following examination contributes to this growing body of critical literature and considers that occupation can be a vehicle for injustice as much as justice. By investigating the construction of race and the dissemination of racism, including its propagation through everyday living, the role of occupation in community formation and development is more fully understood. In pursuing this goal, we hope to reveal the real and often unacknowledged history of racism in the United States that must be recognized and confronted to move toward reconciliation, healing, and social transformation. This exploration uncovers powerful moments when occupation and everyday doing were conduits through which racism was constructed and calls upon occupational scholars to be reflective and critical in their research and practice in order to optimally support the people they serve.

Becoming Anti-Racist Occupational Therapy Practitioners: A Scoping Study

“…Question and modify values represented in theories and practice frameworks. Authors in eight articles recommended that to engage in reflexivity, occupational therapy practitioners should learn about and acknowledge how the dominant culture controls the narrative within occupational therapy theories (Angell, 2014;Beagan, 2015;Gerlach, 2008;Gibson, 2020;Gordon-Burns & Paraneha Walker, 2015;Kirsh et al, 2006;Lavalley & Johnson, 2020;White & Beagan, 2020). The literature encouraged practitioners to consider whose perspectives are missing within these narratives (e.g., Black women, Indigenous peoples) and ways current Euro/Western-focused narratives perpetuate inequities for BIPOC clients (Angell, 2014;Gerlach, 2008;White & Beagan, 2020).…”

“…• Use the Kawa model (Nelson, 2009). • Use strength-based frameworks and systems thinking to support creating alliances with BIPOC clients (Kirsh et al, 2006;Lavalley & Johnson, 2020). • Create space for clients to self-identify, be aware of clues, and be open to multiple experiences of clients belonging to minority cultural groups (Kirsh et al, 2006) • Use inclusive and culturally accurate language, and listen to and believe BIPOC clients (Gibson, 2020).…”

“…Jull & Giles, 2012;Mahoney & Kiraly-Alvarez, 2019). Authors suggested that to support therapeutic alliances, practitioners should use strengths-based frameworks and systems thinking that build on client agency and capabilities rather than focusing on deficits (Gerlach, 2008;Kirsh et al, 2006;Lavalley & Johnson, 2020) and collaborative ways of engaging with BIPOC clients in which occupational therapy practitioners learn from clients rather than solely tell them what to do (Gordon-Burns & Paraneha Walker, 2015;Nelson, 2007).…”

From racialized think-pieces toward anti-racist praxis in our science, education, and practice

“…We believe the article for which this commentary is written (Lavalley & Johnson, 2020) follows suit in this important critical shift. In current occupational science literature, scholars attend to labels of race to ensure representation, but simultaneously often over-intellectualize the role of race in occupation.…”

Commentary on racism in occupational science

“…Because belief in individualism and meritocracy is so firm, and ignorance of White privilege so entrenched, dominant group members tend to experience as unjustified attacks any efforts to name racism, to insist on remedying its harms, to insist on moving toward equity and justice, to change and transform racist power relations, policies, and practices. Insisting Black Lives Matter is racist while "All Lives Matter" is egalitarian denies the reality of racism ongoing for centuries in nations founded on slavery and colonialism (Lavalley & Johnson, 2020). It denies the racism and colonialism built into and operating daily in education, politics, legal systems, economic systems, the media, health care.…”