Alum editorial: Finding the vaccine for racism

February 27, 2023

"Ron Idoko holding mic"Ron Idoko is a GSPIA alumnus (MPA ‘07), Associate Director of the Center on Race and Social Problems, and Founding Director of the Racial Equity Consciousness Institute at the University of Pittsburgh.  

In his recent editorial for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, he challenges readers to confront how systemic racism operates on an individual level, a crucial step to forming strategies to foster racial equity. 

“To be antiracist is to vaccinate ourselves from the passive perpetuation of racism by actively examining and changing our socialized assumptions and behaviors regarding race. It is to understand that ongoing, collective action is needed to foster fair opportunities and outcomes for communities who have suffered, and continue to suffer, generations of oppression. It is to make shared commitments toward realizing true racial equality.” 

Read Idoko’s full piece here.  

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