Antiracist Research and Policy Center, American University

Antiracist Research and Policy Center, American University

Higher Education

Washington, DC 166 followers

Research in action for social change.

About us

ARPC's Mission: The Antiracist Research & Policy Center is an interdisciplinary hub for the research and practice of racial justice and intersectional liberation. We convene scholars, educators, community-based changemakers, cultural workers, and policy advocates in sustainable and equitable collaborations. Together, we generate critical knowledge around race, power, and difference and forge shared tools and resources for social change. Account owned + operated out of American University according to university social media policy: https://www.american.edu/policies/marketing-communications/upload/social-media-policy.pdf

Website
https://www.american.edu/centers/antiracism/
Industry
Higher Education
Company size
2-10 employees
Headquarters
Washington, DC
Type
Educational
Founded
2017

Locations

  • Primary

    4400 Massachusetts Ave. NW

    EQB 104

    Washington, DC 20016, US

    Get directions

Employees at Antiracist Research and Policy Center, American University

Updates

  • Since taking office, President Trump has signed a record-breaking number of Executive Orders. Some of these orders—like the DEI ban—are explicit attacks on racial justice. But make no mistake: ALL of these orders--the repeal of birthright citizenship, closed borders and criminalized migrants, the roll-back of environmental protections, and the policing and criminalization of trans and GNC people--share a common logic. Together, these executive orders are using policy and policing to delineate who belongs in the US and who can be excluded; whose lives, safety & wellbeing matter; and who deserves access to bodily autonomy, economic opportunity, and life-sustaining land & resources. The logic and ideologies underlying these orders aren't new. From slavery to Indian removal, nativist exclusion to colonial expansion, Jim Crow to state-sponsored eugenics, the US has a long history of assigning greater value and rights to some lives than to others. President Trump's orders reiterate this same logic using new names and tactics. But we aren’t fooled. Folks, you don’t need to parse podium polemics or debate the nuances of symbolic gestures looking for signs of eugenic logics and frameworks; you can just read this week's policy statements and executive actions with the histories above in mind. When we do that, we see that these seemingly disparate orders will have a profound collective impact on so many of our communities, and that they require a holistic, intersectional analysis and intervention. We're grateful to be part of a broad community of scholars, thinkers, organizers, and policy advocates who are committed to that work.

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  • The devastation wrought by the ongoing Los Angeles fires demonstrates with terrible clarity that rich or poor, famous or unknown, none of us remain untouched by the ruinous consequences of climate change. We grieve for all who are suffering, and for their loved ones. We encourage you to help support their wellbeing by contributing to the efforts in our linktree.   In the wake of climate disasters like wildfires, Black, brown, Indigenous, and poor white people suffer disproportionately physical, mental, and financial impacts. Not only are they more likely to live in under-resourced areas with inadequate infrastructure, they are more likely to be unhoused, undocumented, and un- or underinsured. Displaced people of color—especially Black people—are more frequently criminalized and targeted as ‘looters’ or ‘trespassers’ in their own communities. And in the aftermath of disasters, communities of color too often find themselves displaced yet again by predatory redevelopment strategies that price them out of their own neighborhoods.   We send our strength to our colleagues, comrades, and communities across the Los Angeles area—now, and when you can finally begin the slow process of recovery. Still, we know these communities need more: They need us to demand equitably distributed infrastructure and for state resources to be invested in sustaining human life instead of policing it—now and always.    CLIMATE JUSTICE = RACIAL JUSTICE = LAND JUSTICE

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  • Yesterday American University graduated a new cohort of seniors and graduate students. ARPC would like to congratulate our newest alumni and to offer some tips for continuing the work of racial justice in this new chapter of your lives. Wherever you go, we encourage you to use your voices to challenge unjust systems, uplift marginalized communities, and create meaningful change. ARPC wishes you well on your journey ahead!

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  • As we continue our end-of-year reflection on ARPC's purpose and path forward, we turn to our prioritized areas of critical intervention. This list not only represents the expertise of AU scholars and ARPC community partners, but also the interconnected issues that we continue to believe require urgent attention in order to forge a more equitable and racially just society. Our research in action looks at race and: -Carcerality -Health & Reproductive Justice -Migration -Climate Justice -Arts as Social Justice -Education -Indigenous Sovereignty -Gender-based Violence

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  • As the end of the year approaches, ARPC is taking time to critically reflect on our core tenets and the ways in which they are reflected in our ongoing research, public education, and community-partnered initiatives. We first shared these at our Fall 2022 relaunch, and today they continue to help chart our course forward. We believe: 1. Intersectionality is central to our mission and analysis 2. Our histories and struggles are interrelated 3. Racial Justice is a transnational project 4. Academics need to 'touch grass' 5. We seed and root locally to grow change globally 6. Producing knowledge is a vital part of social change 7. Culture is a crucial terrain of political struggle 8. Liberation is both a goal and an everyday practice

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  • Recently, over 200 colleges and universities across 33 states have reduced or eliminated their initiatives, policies, or programs designed to increase racial equity and access in higher education. The attack on education is not a coincidence. Universities are the places where new knowledge is gained and assumptions are challenged. This is why those who want existing inequalities to remain unchecked, target institutions of higher education. The threat of Project 2025 marks what may be only the beginning of the attack on equitable and accessible education. We are not intimidated into silence; rather, we at ARPC see this as evidence fueling the necessity of our work. History has demonstrated repeatedly that it is by building movements, producing and sharing knowledge, and imagining, working for, and creating the conditions for freedom that we save ourselves. As we continue to challenge the status quo of racial injustice and its intersections, and as we fortify ourselves to stand against what is to come, we are working with this broader context in mind, recognizing that our struggle must continue on multiple fronts. As the end of the year approaches, ARPC seeks to critically reflect on how our efforts align with the Center’s mission and pillars, that prioritize equity and liberation for all.

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  • Calling on scholars and practitioners working to abolish the prison industrial complex with those who engage abolition as a praxis to dismantle other systems and structures of unfreedom. As carceral logics and technologies increasingly infiltrate all aspects of social life, scholars and activists across fields and social movements such as immigration, reproductive justice, climate justice, education, anti-militarism, and labor are articulating how their work for transformative change necessitates an integrated approach that centers the theory and praxis of abolition. For some, the turn to abolition is relatively new; others emerge out of (queer, feminist, Indigenous) organizing traditions in which decriminalization and decarceration have always been essential for the creation of new modes of communal liberation and collective lifemaking. In turn, these movements and traditions expand and complicate how we understand the workings of carceral power across different sites and scales. In this moment of possibility and danger, we invite scholars and practitioners of abolition to join us to share their work, analysis, and insight for future directions in the field and for our movements. Applications close January 5th, 2025. Access the full call and the submissions portal on our Linktree: https://lnkd.in/eahWuvXN

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  • As we confront the changing landscape for racial justice research and organizing, we know that developing shared tools, analyses, and movements is all the more critical. Here’s a flashback from ARPC’s September live-streamed event on Race, the Farm Bill, and Beyond—a timely reminder that we’re all in this together: RACIAL JUSTICE = CLIMATE JUSTICE = FOOD JUSTICE = LAND JUSTICE = GENDER JUSTICE. Take a look to get inspired, and stay tuned for more on race, food, and agriculture in the new year! And, if you've appreciated or learned from any of our action-resources and events in the past year, will you keep us in mind as Giving Tuesday and End of Year Giving Campaigns approach? In an era of racist misinformation, actionable, scholarly, and nuanced resources on racial justice are more important than ever.

  • On the Friday after the election, ARPC Fire Right Now, with host Dr. Sara Clarke Kaplan, went live to debunk myths and unpack the role of race, gender + sexuality, and class politics in the elections. Watch the full video on Youtube: https://lnkd.in/eCW3snDs Guests: Ernesto Castañeda, Center for Latin American and Latino Studies + Immigration Lab, AU Molly Benitez, Portland State University and organizer in the Pacific Northwest Frankie Seabron, Program Manager at Harriet’s Wildest Dreams, DC Visit our Linktree to check out more resources on race and the elections.

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