The dynamics of racism and antiracism in a Scottish charity
Abstract
This research explored how staff and families using a Scottish trauma-informed charity, striving to enact antiracism, understand and approach race and antiracism in services for families of colour. Thematic analysis was applied to data from ten interviews with six staff participants and four families. Six interlinking themes emerged. Staff identified the charity as a ‘white organisation’ and sought ‘a common frame of reference’ with families, while families expressed overwhelming ‘gratitude’ to staff. ‘Identities were owned and disowned’, with participants using ‘colour-blind’ racial ideologies. Staff ‘located responsibility’ for bridging cultural gaps in families of colour. White staff, while well-intentioned, did not express a fundamental understanding of racism, impeding their ability to enact antiracism. This reflected wider Scottish policy and lay beliefs of being a post-racist society, and challenged organisational attempts to fully embody trauma-informed practice. Challenges and recommendations for researching racism in the third sector are discussed.
Conclusion
This research provides a starting point for investigating Whiteness and racial understanding in the Scottish third sector, with initial recommendations for organisations to advance their antiracism commitments into sustainable action. Considering the scarcity of racism research from Scotland (Meer, 2018), examining the views of White staff and racially diverse families was a valuable contribution. Within a trauma-informed organisation, awareness of the need to be culturally competent was evident, but practice was influenced by wider societal perspectives, and staff leaned more towards non-racism than antiracism. Findings reveal an acute need to educate, train, and support staff to fully enact antiracism. Establishing a shared vocabulary, and enhancing confidence and felt competence, could reduce reliance on colour-blind and deflective strategies. However, a critical demand for self-reflection and self-awareness among White staff within the third sector remains, in order to fully embrace antiracism within trauma-informed practice.
