https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7958-5181
Dear Colleagues,
The murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, USA is yet another signifier of the persistent and systemic racism that pervades communities internationally. His death at police hands is a flash point that challenges all citizens to stand up for and be part of the actions needed to stop racism, whenever and wherever it occurs.
The Editorial Board of the Journal of Occupational Science joins others around the world with our hearts and minds, and through our occupations, in deepening our own understanding of and commitment to an anti-racist stance. As a board, we are committed to the following actions to fight against global racism through the study of occupation.
Publication of a Virtual Issue Addressing Racism
The Journal of Occupational Science has published numerous articles that express an antiracist stance. This special issue collates the best of these into a freely downloadable collection. The issue will feature updated commentary from authors. This issue is freely available, to ensure access for all who are interested in learning about racism from an occupational perspective.
Sparking Global Dialogues on Systemic Racism
JOS actively seeks submissions, from all countries, that bring to light an occupational perspective of racism, discrimination, and disadvantage. Enacting this commitment is an ongoing project that will be fuelled by gatherings—virtual or onsite—that spawn dialogue, critical reflexion, and new ideas on how to transform racist social, political, and epistemological systems into ones that promote occupational justice for all. As owners of a professional journal, our direct line of action is to facilitate dialogue, raise consciousness, and engage learners through publishing scholarship and research on racism from around the world. The JOS Editorial Board commits to supporting authors to make racist acts and their impacts visible and known, such that violent and everyday racism by those in power and ordinary citizens can be understood as occupational choices embedded in specific contexts. Such choices may be condoned by long-standing discriminatory beliefs and attitudes, the persistence of othering, and taken-for-granted policies, procedures, and processes in all domains from schools to employment, health services, policing, corrections services, and more.
Ongoing Professional Development
As members of the JOS Editorial Board, we individually and collectively undertake to engage in training and workshops to further our awareness of, and understandings regarding how language, policies, and ways of knowing can perpetuate racism and discrimination in all contexts. We will use this knowledge to mentor and encourage authors and reviewers to promote anti-racist practices in their work within the Journal and in their local work contexts.
More broadly, we urge all occupational scientists, indeed, everyone who believes in the power of occupation for individual and social good, to use that knowledge to raise consciousness about occupational deprivation, occupational marginalization, and occupational apartheid arising from historic and present-day racism. As an international community of occupational scientists, we know the power of occupation in shaping societal attitudes and behaviours. We know the importance of fair access to occupation, for individuals and communities. We are thus uniquely positioned to expose the racism that routinely and systematically disadvantages individuals and communities, and to mobilize that knowledge to dismantle racism, as it is enacted in occupation.
If you have thoughts or recommendations on how the Journal of Occupational Science can act as a vehicle to help bring an end to racism, please contact Clare Hocking, the Executive Editor, via [email protected]