If you ask Alejandra Castillo, racism today is more “subtle” and “quiet” than we’ve ever seen before and that makes it harder to fight.
She’s the Chief Executive Officer of YWCA USA and she spoke at the organization’s fifth annual Stand Against Racism conference in Rochester on Thursday.
The conference included a panel of professional women of color, speeches about racism today and workshops to give participants tools to fight discrimination in the workplace.
“We must stand against racism—a racism today that is very quiet. A racism that sometimes doesn’t permeate our daily lives because we are so busy,” she said, adding this racism can manifest in smaller ways like a lack of diversity. But she says it can also have a huge impact, like segregated housing, and referenced federal officials push to ask residents if they’re citizens on the 2020 census. She says that will change how certain areas receive funding and representation.
“At the YWCA we take this mission very seriously. We have 210 associations. Some of which are very strong, some which aren’t very strong but we take our mission of eliminating racism and empowering women very seriously on all levels,” she said.
Pittsford Town Board member Kevin Beckford attended the conference and says he's excited by the passion of others who want to create change.
“People are starting to recognize it,” said Beckford who says he engages with people constantly about ways to fight racism. He says he’ll point out ways people see racism every day, like how workers of color are treated, paid and what work they're given. He says often people are embarrassed that they didn’t know.
“I say ‘Don’t be embarrassed, be an advocate,’” he said. He added that he asks people to push back on hiring managers and ask for more diversity. He doesn’t think it’s enough to talk about these issues; now is the time for action:
“I think that’s what 2018 is going to be for everyone. We need to go beyond going to the conferences to what can I do, what ownership can I take in being an ally to drive meaningful change?”
We all play a role, said Castillo. She says millions of Americans were lulled into a false sense of security because of former president Barack Obama’s election which led some to think racism was dead. She says just as we all play a part in today’s racism, we have to all clean it up:
“I call [it] leadership through atonement and that means we have to acknowledge that we all go to this mess together,” she said.
Throughout the month, businesses and organizations will hold anti-racism events and workshops. Head to YWCA Rochester to learn more.