Do Something Rather than Nothing

A Message from the BRC Director

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bout a year ago I had lunch with an African American colleague who left Washington University. She is a great researcher who decided to return to her home town. I asked her what she thought Washington University could do to address the serious race problems in St. Louis. She told me Washington University needed to adopt a zip code, and within that zip code: Improve the schools; support parents; address the quality of food and food security; create safe outdoor spaces for people to gather and walk; ensure affordable, quality housing and transportation, and so forth. This is of course a great idea. But I was overwhelmed. I don’t have the knowledge, resources, or authority to implement such a project. I asked who at the university might champion the cause. I only heard the names of other African American faculty and administrators.1 I was depressed. I did nothing for several months.

Then I thought: Surely it is better to do something rather than nothing. Doing something takes a stand. It answers the challenge posed Diane Warren, Common, and Andra Day: Stand up for something. We should also use our own strengths, voice, and influence for change. Trying to do more than that often breeds resentment and does not work.

So, I shared this story with the faculty and staff in our Center, and asked what we could do. The challenge was accepted enthusiastically and within one hour we came up with a few initiatives that build on our strengths and resources, might make a difference, and definitely serve to take a stand. These ideas are summarized in links found on the right-hand side of this page.

As you’ll see, none of these things is overly taxing for us, and we are not heroes. But if everyone did something rather than nothing, we’re convinced society would change significantly for the better. This is not about politics. This about being decent humans. This is about change that can last even as ideologies and governments change.

– James M. DuBois

1One Washington University professor, Jason Purnell, has spearheaded an impressive, multi-faceted project aimed at improving the health and well-being of African Americans in St. Louis: Health Equity Works. The website includes many suggestions on how to take action. The next step in the project can be found at https://healthequityworks.wustl.edu/

Dr. Daniel Blash did a presentation to our division that involved learning and practicing seven strategies for responding to demeaning comments based on information from L.C. Aquilar, (2006). Ouch! That Stereotype Hurts: Communicating Respectfully in a Diverse World. Dallas, TX: Walk the Talk.

We developed an infographic (free to use) that summarizes these seven strategies, which can be very effective. These strategies discouraging condemning and judging, but rather encouraging responding in ways that can lead to insight and behavior change. At a minimum, they take a stand—they do something rather than nothing.

We realized that some of our projects included good gender diversity, but inadequate racial diversity—not because there were no experts of different races, but because we had not considered the value of racial diversity. We have invited new speakers and editorial board members to our projects to address this shortcoming.

We have added a session to our responsible conduct of research courses that addresses racial issues in biomedical research. We address matters of trust, when it might be and might not be appropriate to compare racial groups, and why recruiting diverse participants is important.

We invited, Dr. Kimberly Tanner, an expert in evidence-based teaching to address equity in the classroom. Tacit bias and classroom social dynamics can interfere with learning and equitable participation in learning exercises. But there are strategies that can address these concerns. Here’s a link to a great article that addresses both effective “active learning” and equity in the classroom.