Advocacy for BIPOC Academics

No matter how prepared, a BIPOC academic will face some form of racial discrimination in their career. If they are fortunate, it may be a series of micro-aggressions that limit full and equal participation in the higher education system, denying them the advantages shared by their White peers. If they are unfortunate, they can as easily be the target of academic mobbing, a phenomenon that requires “difference” in the triad of characteristics of the mobbed, including being a “high achiever” and vocalizing a different “moral or ethical stance” from the status quo.

As the BIPOC academic navigates these barriers, they must also face colleagues who ask them to continuously show patience and (especially) resilience, while at the same time believing that the BIPOC academic has entered the university on the advantage of “recruitment” and have an easier time in their careers via “retainment” efforts. BIPOC academics know that statements, such as “recruitment and retainment”, are meant for public consumption of validating another misrepresentative promise; “disrupting the status quo”.

As systemic racism is enacted through existing democratic means, and with limited numbers of BIPOC colleagues to rely on in academia, the individual BIPOC academic is left with deep feelings of isolation, helplessness, and despair. 

Extensive research indicates that university unions are in the precarious position of assisting BIPOC academics, as it often pits the few against the many of their membership. Administration, if not openly participating in discrimination, end up having to portray the BIPOC academic as a “problem”, otherwise they will be culpable of allowing discrimination to occur. Literature on university offices dedicated to “diversity” relay strong warnings to targeted BIPOC academics to not trust these spaces, as they have little to no independent authority to support in cases of systemic racism, and being under the authority of administration, hold the image of the institution as a priority over matters of ethics. 

The BIPOC Academic Coalition (BIPOCAC), through strength in unity, seeks to be a vocal, strong and independent advocate for the overall cause of racial equity in Higher Education, and standing shoulder to shoulder with individual BIPOC academics who are facing racial discrimination. 

If you would like to be a part of BIPOCAC, please click the “join” button. If you are facing a challenge in systemic racism in higher education, please contact us via email.