I wish racial justice was given the same respect as any other complex field. One of the biggest issues with forming endless DEI committees is that people think they can "good intention" their way through this work rather than prioritize years of extensive self education first. 1/

I would never go to a physics meeting and be like "I know little about this but my basic understanding & intentions are good." Then why do we assume that having a shallow understanding of racism (e.g. "racism is bad") is enough to really create effective change in academia? 2/

Bring in social justice experts that understand historical context, current day disparities and can facilitate conversations about race without traumatizing our students of color, esp Black students. Let people lead who have expertise & can create meaningful change. 3/n

Without calling in someone to be paid for this valuable & essential work, the people who will be most affected are once again Black, Hispanic & Indigenous students who already disproportionately do DEI work, educate their peers & are least represented in higher ed. 4/n

I also can't say this enough: having a marginalized identity does not make you an expert on social justice. Being Black or Brown does not make you an expert on race. It gives us a much clearer perspective of these issues than many of our white and white passing peers, but... 4/

...entire fields and professions are created to understand how current day outcomes relate to colonialism, colorism, global anti-Blackness, etc. You can also be a POC and anti-Black & anti-Indigenous, further oppressing our most marginalized. 5/

I strongly believe that our Black, Indigenous & Latinx students and their intersecting identities are the best voices to elevate/listen to for creating change. But without hiring social justice experts we risk a few things....6/

1. Without hiring experts who understand social justice, we continue to ask students who should be focusing on their education & are disproportionately affected by racism to fix our problems. Academia may enjoy this because it's free labor & easy to ignore powerless voices. 7/

2. We risk not truly creating meaningful, long lasting change. As I said, Black and Brown underrepresented students & their intersecting identities are going to have a clearer perspective, but are not experts just bc they have a marginalized identity. 8/

I wonder how much change we could truly effect if we weren't tasking our most traumatized, overworked, time- limited, Black & Brown students to fix the racism they've known their entire lives and instead hired someone to do this work full time and be paid for it. 8/8