Workplace Chronicles: Performative Activism & the Mistreatment of Women of Color
We all know how crazy 2020 has been: a worldwide pandemic, the decline of self-care and boundaries as more people work from home and, of course, the broader recognition of social and political unrest overtaking the nation. As individuals and corporations alike try to regain their footing in the midst of all of this, there also remains a responsibility for institutions of higher education to do their part in the work of anti-racism and dismantling some of the historical barriers for both students and employees of color. However, many of these attempts are falling short and are specifically misusing women of color to “fix” broken systems and provide answers to fit neatly into the shallow and performative activism of these institutions.
In sum, performative activism is associated with an individual, company, or brand increasing social capital without direct and explicit devotion to a cause. Many people will remember back in June on “#BlackoutTuesday” how many people posted blacked-out square images on their social media pages as a sign of commitment and solidarity to both the Black Lives Matter Movement and anti-racism. The irony of this wide-spread support was that many of those same individuals, companies, and institutes of higher learning have not gotten involved or posted anything else on behalf of the movement since that day. Likewise, many companies and universities have not made any significant internal policy or leadership changes that reflect their authentic commitment to dismantling the biased systems that keep people of color out of spaces and positions they have earned. This appears to be particularly true for women of color.
A 2018 article from HigherEd Jobs makes note of the underrepresentation of women of color in the higher education workforce in comparison to their representation in the overall population. This is particularly true in roles like faculty, administrative positions, and executive level leadership positions, which all tend to be higher paying. Currently, women of color are paid 67 cents on the dollar in comparison to white men but are often asked to fill voids in leadership roles and forge plans for the diversity and inclusion overhauls that so many universities need at this time. Without competitive salaries, the evaluation of hiring and promotion practices and examining turnover, there is no way to truly diversify our higher education workforce and have more equitable campuses.
So what’s the solution? Call. them. out. Push your institutions to change the pipeline. Demand a salary increase. Ask for that promotion. We cannot allow performative actions to become a distraction from the work that needs to happen to transform our experiences within higher education. We’ve all worked hard for those letters that follow our last names. Now is the time to make those same institutions work hard to keep us.
How do you feel about performative activism, Ebonies! Share your insight with our #EITI community below in the comments!
