The Racism and Racial Healing Blueprinting Workgroup is pleased to share the following Blueprint with individuals and groups in active pursuit of eliminating racial and ethnic inequities in our communities. Its contents reflect a collaborative effort on the part of individuals participating in the national PLACE MATTERS initiative. We base the frameworks and suggested approaches on our collective experience working in a wide variety of communities in different regions of the United States. We recognize the challenges of this work and offer our encouragement to those embarking on a similar journey.
Our experience as PLACE MATTERS communities has been that individual racism and internalized racism are among the key barriers to community-level problem-solving and the engagement of all needed participants in community change initiatives. Ending racism and promoting racial healing is just one of the key strategic frames that PLACE MATTERS communities are adopting, along with the approaches being addressed in other blueprints, including:
- Moving a community from cohesion to mobilization;
- Mobilizing communities for healthy and successful youth; and
- Making a successful case that “PLACE MATTERS” to policymakers, and influencing equitable policy.
Too often we allow fear to paralyze action specifically focused on healing the divisions that fuel racism, and we default to implementing well-meaning but limited programs; such efforts are simply powerless in creating effective and sustained improvements, because racism remains a root cause of many of the racial inequities in U.S. communities. (author introduction) #P4HEwebinarApril2024