Racism as systemic, endemic, and pernicious: some reflections on an anti-racist, critical pedagogic intervention in higher education

Racism is deeply embedded within higher education. Racism in higher education is, after all, a microcosm of the racist systems and structures that constitute wider society. Indicators of racism in higher education, including the awarding gap between white and BAME students, suggest that little progress has been made in the removal of racism from UK universities since the first comprehensive studies into the awarding gap were conducted. In what follows, we reflect upon an anti-racist educational workshop and intervention that were developed to begin to address, directly, the systemic, endemic, and pernicious nature of racism in higher education. In addressing racism, a balance must be struck between challenging and engaging higher education staff, while at the same time, avoiding alienating the audience. We suggest that it is the structural and systematic nature of racism that should be emphasised by anti-racist educators, along with the wider social, political, historical, and economic basis that perpetuates racism. Our reflections are informed by Critical Race Theory, Critical Pedagogy, Marxism, Critical Theory, and the Black Radical tradition. In this conceptual piece, we argue that only by gaining a wider understanding of racism in its broader socio-political context can educators begin to tackle racism within HE.