Reducing Racism in Mentorship

The Eliminating Racism in Workplaces and Communities Task Force was created during the summer of 2021 after recommendations were presented by the Equity and Anti-Racism Task Force. One of the recommendations was to provide resources to SPSP members on eliminating racism in workplaces and communities. Much of the research that we publish has practical implications; however, the translation of theory into practice is lacking. As the professional home of many researchers who investigate and practitioners who engage in equity and anti-racism practices, SPSP is well-positioned to educate not only its membership but also broader public audiences in this domain. Furthermore, SPSP has a responsibility to model the importance of such educational activities for its student members, who are the future of our field. As past and current events have demonstrated, inequitable practices pervade society‘s systems and institutions, creating and perpetuating racial and socioeconomic disparities, and yet many (even well-intentioned) people are uninformed or misinformed about best practices to address biases and disparities.

The task force consisted of Malik Boykin (chair), Simon Howard, Kate Ratliff, Christine Reyna, Brenda Straka, Negin Toosi, Daryl A. Wout, Julia Ryan, and Cydney Dupree. After researching tools that exist, the subcommittee decided to organize and distribute a combination of existing resources and original resources that will aim to advance the field by providing mechanisms and tools for public use designed to eliminate institutional racism. The task force followed APA guidelines for inclusive language for creating this text. We recognize there is often no perfect mechanism and tool for helping to eliminate institutional racism. These resources provide one approach. We are open to feedback regarding alternative approaches or if we overlooked an issue that should be included.