A commentary on occupation, injustice, and anti-black racism in the United States of America (Lavalley & Johnson, 2020)

ABSTRACT

This invited commentary further explores the viewpoints offered by Lavalley and Johnson (2020), and deepens the analysis of collective and anti-racist occupations. The intent is to illuminate several contextual examples with a broader occupational science lens to further understand the interrelationships of racism, anti-racism, and occupation. This is done utilizing other key occupational science literature, as well as supportive social science work. Through the review of this profound work, we offer article highlights, followed by a discussion of supporting literature. We conclude by offering descriptions of anti-racist occupations, inclusive of occupational reconstructive practices, that offer a path forward.

这篇特邀评论进一步探讨了拉瓦利和约翰逊（2020）提供的观点，并更深入地分析了集体活动和反种族主义活动。 其目的是从更广的生活活动科学角度阐明几个背景示例，以进一步了解种族主义、反种族主义和生活活动之间的相互关系。 这是利用其他重要的生活活动科学文献以及支持性的社会科学工作来完成的。 通过对这项深入研究的回顾，我们指出该文的亮点，然后对起支持作用的文献进行讨论。 最后，我们提供了对反种族主义活动的描述，包括生活活动重建的实践。这些活动提供了前进的方向。

Este comentario invitado examina con mayor detalle los puntos de vista ofrecidos por Lavalley y Johnson (2020), ahondando en el análisis de las ocupaciones colectivas y antirracistas. Su intención es iluminar varios ejemplos contextuales empleando una lente más amplia de la ciencia ocupacional, a fin de comprender mejor las interrelaciones entre racismo, antirracismo y ocupación. Con este objetivo se revisan otros artículos importantes sobre la ciencia ocupacional, así como trabajos de las ciencias sociales que respaldan esta línea. A partir de la revisión de este profundo trabajo, ofrecemos lo más destacado de los artículos, seguido de una discusión de la literatura de respaldo. Concluimos ofreciendo descripciones de ocupaciones antirracistas, entre las que se incluyen las prácticas de reconstrucción ocupacional que ofrecen un camino a seguir.

KEYWORDS:

• Occupational science
• Black Americans
• Occupational Reconstruction
• Racism

We welcome the invitation to provide commentary on Lavalley and Johnson’s important contribution to occupational science literature. We share our positionality as two African American women and occupational scientists who have experienced racism first-hand in our occupational therapy practices, as well as in academia. In addition, we know colleagues and extended family members who have experienced discrimination in their professional careers and daily lives. However, our stance is one of hope for a more just society. We engage in this timely dialogue, about a centuries-old issue, with that end in mind and spirit.

This commentary includes brief article highlights, followed by an integration of other occupational science and related literature to further explore the viewpoints and deepen the analysis of collective occupations. Lastly, we expand the dialogue on occupational reconstruction towards anti-racist occupations.

Lavalley and Johnson (2020) provide an extensive overview of racism and its impact on Black Americans in their article, ‘Occupation, Injustice and Anti-black Racism in the United States of America’. This publication elucidates the historical and ongoing systemic policies and practices that subjugate a particular race in American society. The authors clearly identify the unique experiences of individuals of African descent¹ in their forced transition to North America and their life beyond the transatlantic slave trade era. This focus on a specific race includes the exploration of engrained egregious philosophies and occupations that continue to have a negative impact on life in North America.

Lavalley and Johnson (2020) explain several contextual examples of racism as integral components of occupation within the United States, including the recent murders of several African Americans in police custody, during routine stops or in false identification scenarios. This has exacerbated the need to understand the historical context and current socio-political aspects, while challenging scholars of occupation to become socially responsive, critical, and reflexive, in order to invoke social transformation. In addition, this critical time in American history creates an opportunity for an enhanced understanding of the complexities and various angles of occupation.

The use of an occupational science lens to explore the topic of racism and occupation stands on foundational work, such as Angell’s (2014) analysis of social difference, which includes a call for a more responsive discipline. This work was meaningfully referenced by the authors and recognized as one of the pivot moments in the discipline for identifying what is not positive about occupation, related to racial and gender aspects. In addition, other authors have increased the depth of critical analyses related to occupational justice and injustice, as well as the moral necessity to question and reflect on the significant complexities of occupation on a societal level (Frank & Muriithi, 2015; Gupta, 2016; Hocking & Mace, 2017; Ramugondo & Kronenberg, 2015; Whiteford & Townsend, 2011). This literature, as well as other noted occupational science work, creates a foundation to widen the lens of disciplinary introspection and action regarding racism and occupation.

There are several opportunities to frame the content of Lavalley and Johnson’s (2020) article within a broader occupational science lens to further drive the interrelationships of systems of racism, anti-racism, and occupation. For example, Ramugondo and Kronenberg (2015) provided an in-depth perspective on the ‘why’, in relationship to collective occupational choice. Their article, “Explaining Collective Occupations from a Human Relations Perspective”, includes an exploration of two considerations that Lavalley and Johnson briefly reflect on in their article. The explanatory perspectives of Ramugondo and Kronenberg (2015) offer further depth on these important perspectives that are contributing to the evolution of knowledge of occupation. The first aspect relates to a broader societal view of occupation, as compared to the individualistic and more common singular client viewpoint within occupational therapy practice in the United States. The second is the reality that occupation can be positive and uplifting, as well as negative and demeaning. Both of these points provide room for additional analysis regarding the intersection of racism and occupation.

Drawing from earlier work by Von Wright (1971), Ramugondo and Kronenberg (2015) explained how and why collective occupations occur. Their definition of collective occupations helps to advance the discourse on racism by integrating the different dimensions of occupation. It reads: “Occupations that are engaged in by individuals, groups, communities and/or societies in everyday contexts; these may reflect an intention towards social cohesion or dysfunction, and/or advancement of or aversion to a common good” (Ramugondo & Kronenberg, 2015, p. 10). For example, occupations that are perceived as violent may occur to prevent others from doing certain things and can be an example of aversion to a common good. Other ways of engaging in collective occupation may be void of physical violence, but include actions based on perceptions of threat or a desire to maintain the status quo. This pressure becomes evident in efforts to sustain or satisfy certain societal norms (Ramugondo & Kronenberg, 2015). The sociologist, Bonilla-Silva (2018), further expands on the collective perspective by examining ‘color-blind’ racism as the new order that ensures the perpetuation of group interests and social dominance. Someone may not identify as a racist (thus, color-blind), but readily participate in systemic inequalities that sustain White superiority. This is a more implicit and insidious racism that continues to create and maintain significant barriers to authentic equality, as well as impede occupational justice.

Lavalley and Johnson (2020) address this societal norm of White superiority, and even feminine inferiority, in their discussion of occupational apartheid. There are also references to the ongoing structural and systemic racist practices in the article, which enable the reader to understand the far-reaching impact on Black Americans. The differences in access to healthcare and discriminatory housing policies are examples the authors include, but it is important to add mass incarceration (Averick et al., 2016), and even gentrification, as forms of collective occupations sustaining a particular societal norm. As occupational scientists continue to challenge their perspectives of occupation beyond individualistic and positive classifications, more in-depth considerations of collective occupation are critical for grappling with the ‘why’ of persistent racism.

Anti-Racist Occupations

Currently, within the broader societal context, the narratives of what is happening to, and/or has been enacted unjustly upon African Americans, is more visible and accentuated within American culture. While documenting unjust practices becomes imperative, it is the resilience and innovation of Black people through reconstructive practices, which transcends and defies anti-black racism. Occupational reconstructions occur when there is no choice but to act, in order to transform the situation and/or issue of injustice (Frank & Muriithi, 2015). These are socially conscious responses to the dehumanization of and violence against Black Americans. The enactment (i.e., doing) of this is understood as “the medium through which people engage in occupations” (Hitch et al., 2014, p. 241). Examples of African Americans’ resilience in opposition of unjust and racist practices are documented through protests, law and policy reform, and liberative practices.

Lavalley and Johnson (2020) also identify occupational reconstructions as transformative spaces where Black Americans can consciously define their role and liberty within society. This is similar to the theoretical framework of Critical Race Theory (CRT), which explores the possibility of transforming the relationship between society and racial power structures, along with the pursuit of racial emancipation within society (Delgado & Stefancic,1998). There is a shift from emphasizing disadvantages based on race and marginalization, to a focus on utilizing an array of knowledge, skills, abilities, and resources within Black American culture and communities (Yosso, 2006). Further exploration and application of Critical Race Theory to promote and support occupational justice and anti-racism is worthy of consideration.

Examples of occupational reconstructions are mentioned in Lavalley and Johnson’s (2020) article as a means of countering systemic racism, but additional anti-racist efforts are worthy of recognition. In addition, it is important to provide a way of understanding occupational reconstructions that occur with anti-racist intent. We offer a definition of anti-racist occupations as individual and collective occupational reconstructive practices that identify and combat attitudes, behaviors, and policies that discriminate, demean, and/or devalue people, based on their race or cultural heritage. This definition incorporates the significant occupational reconstruction activities, but also solidifies the connection to occupations that are critical to addressing racism in explicit ways. Examples of racist practices, juxtaposed to anti-racist occupations that counter these deep-rooted systems, are now explored.

Lavalley and Johnson (2020) identify structural racism, discrimination, and unjust practices within educational systems disproportionately affecting Black Americans. The utilization of occupational reconstruction responds to problematic and systemic issues through a state of awareness and engagement, such as restorative justice practices (Schiff, 2018). An example of a restorative justice initiative within U.S. educational systems is the School-Justice Partnership (2020), which was initially funded and sponsored by several justice and human rights organizations, such as the Open Society Institute and Atlantic Philanthropies. The advocacy work of these organizations garnered federal support from the US Department of Education (DOE) and Department of Justice (DOJ), and has led to the implementation of restorative justice practices nationally. Through the support of these types of justice based practices, the evidence and transformation reflected: 1) decreased racially disproportionate outcomes of suspensions, 2) adaptation to socially/culturally relevant curriculum, and 3) the establishment of a restorative school climate (Davis, 2019; González et al.; Schiff, 2018).

The authors also provide examples of how “occupation and participation are understood as issues of justice and political structures” (Lavalley & Johnson, 2020, p. 2; Wilcock,1998). They identify how civil rights organizations, such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP, 2020), have influenced communities of color through political and occupational reconstructive acts. These ideals are also realized through the National Urban League, a U.S. civil rights organization that empowers communities of color in the areas of economic self-reliance, social equality, and constitutional rights (Urban League, 2020). For example, Urban League reimagined an abandoned land space within Ferguson, Missouri, after the civil unrest related to the murder of Michael Brown in 2014. The organization reinvested into this community and built the Ferguson Community Empowerment Center, which provides holistic solutions to the institutional challenges encountered by African American citizens. In addition, less recognized organizations have had a far-reaching impact on ensuring social justice and equity in a myriad of anti-racist occupations, including reconstructive acts, such as UntilFreedom (2020), and Grassroots Law Project (2020) organizations, whose collective anti-racist work addresses criminal justice reform, gun violence prevention, immigrant rights, and cultural engagement.

Finally, grassroots movements where people within a given region or community are mobilized to enact justice and equity within societal systems (Taylor, 1993), can be added for consideration as distinct occupational reconstructive practices that align with Lavalley and Johnson’s (2020) description. While grassroots movements are historically political in nature, their scope and mission address a multitude of systemic issues. For example, in 2013 the Black Lives Matter (BLM) political movement was created by three Black women in response to the murder of Travyon Martin in Sanford, Florida. The BLM movement is an ideological and political movement which 1) opposes and rallies against State-sanctioned violence, 2) supports the liberation of Black people, and 3) opposes supremacist policies and acts within the US and globally. The BLM movement was expanded upon after the racial unrest and subsequent protests in Ferguson, Missouri in 2014, resulting in additional organizers from 18 different US cities launching BLM chapters in their communities. Currently, BLM is a member-led global network of more than 40 chapters, which defies anti-black racism across the United States and globally (Black Lives Matter, 2020). Through the anti-racist occupations of strategic development on social media platforms, community mobilization, grassroots support, advocacy and policy reform, these organizations are shifting the movement of justice and equality for marginalized individuals within American society. An understanding of these efforts to support increased advocacy for change provides an opportunity for deeper engagement in anti-racist occupations.

Lavalley and Johnson (2020) create a substantive avenue to further expand the discourse in occupational science related to racism and collective occupations, occupational justice, social transformation, occupational reconstruction, and anti-racist occupations. The advances within the discipline can be used to further apply theoretical and philosophical framing to expand the analysis, as is suggested by citing Ramugondo and Kronenberg (2015) and Frank and Muriithi (2015), among others. With the ongoing evolution of occupational science, it is necessary to continue to consider other national and global perspectives of racism and anti-racism, including Indigenous experiences. It is essential to recognize the significant roles in engaging in dialogue, reflection, and analyses, but it is imperative that this accompanies anti-racist actions within the occupational science discipline (Stanley et al., 2020), while influencing occupational therapy towards a more transformative and responsive practice.

Acknowledgement

The commentary authors acknowledge the consultative insight of Matef Harmachis, African scholar, educator, and dedicated activist.

Notes

1 Due to the recognition and significance of African descent for Black Americans, the commentators opt to include the use of ‘African American’ for group identification, while Lavalley and Johnson (2020) used ‘Black Americans’ to title and describe race.