Coming to terms with culture and racism

Abstract

How the early childhood sector engages with and ultimately addresses notions of racism is clearly contingent upon what educators in the field believe to be its origins and causes. Despite what appears to be a complex and multifaceted set of 'origins and causes', it is surprising to find that most educational institutions tend to position their anti-racist programs somewhere along a single continuum where, at one-extremity, are programs that implicate individuals, while at the other are programs which lay the blame on institutions. The purpose of this short commentary is to outline these two dominant positions and to unpack some of their underlying theoretical baggage. However, another more important goal is to challenge educators into broadening their established understandings of racism and thus allow for non-traditional forms of racism to be included—ie. those which are not exercised in transparent and overt forms. One of the major hurdles appears to be focusing educators' attention on the elusiveness of the actual target of the anti-racist program. The predicament in the early childhood sector is how best to provoke its educators into refusing the apparent 'safety' of established anti-racist programs and encourage them to recognise that the manner in which racism is socially constructed and exercised is both fluid and evolving. Only after the imprecise and blurred make-up of contemporary racism is recognised can educators begin a process where successful aspects of traditional anti-discrimination programs are retained, and new programs developed to target aspects of racism which are centred on culture.