Understanding and Interrupting Systemic Racism: A ‘Race Equality Receipt’ as a mechanism to promote transformational conversations and stimulate actions to redress race inequality

This chapter argues that transformational conversations pertaining to race equality can only be productive if evidence-based mechanisms are in place to reconcile proposed actions for redress. Guided by socio-legal theory and Critical Race Theory (CRT), Thomas and Mikel suggest that this reconciliation is built on the legacy of systemic racism, at least 400 years ago and recommends acknowledgement that overt physical violence and brutality, microaggressions, racial harassment, racial bullying, discrimination and institutional racism are manifested in universities in myriad ways. These mechanisms of prejudice affect people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds in general, and people from Black backgrounds more extremely. Taken together, they have a traumatic, debilitating effect. The authors proffer a Race Equality Receipt as tangible proof of delivery on commitments to promote race equality.