Performing Equity, Perpetuating Harm: Counternarratives of Black Staff on DEI and Anti-Blackness

• In Event: Unveiling Campus Racial Realities: Faculty and Staff Voices from National Assessment of Collegiate Campus Climate Survey

Abstract

Amid the growing wave of bans on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in higher education (Johnson et al., 2024; Johnson & Harper, 2024; López et al., 2021), and within a broader context of political contestation, anti-Blackness persists as an invasive force. Despite prior institutional commitments to racial justice during the so-called racial reckoning of 2020, many institutions are abandoning their DEI commitments, some preemptively, leaving Black students, faculty, and staff vulnerable to systemic exclusion and racialized hostility (Riddle, 2024). Therefore, understanding the experiences of Black staff takes on heightened importance.
While there is extensive research on the racialized experiences of students and faculty of color
(e.g., DeCuir-Gunby et al., 2020; Griffin et al., 2011; Jayakumar et al., 2009; Turner et al., 2008), Black
staff remain largely absent from these discussions. These individuals, who work across various areas in higher education, are integral to institutional functioning. As such, we draw on qualitative data from 504 participants who responded to the National Assessment of Collegiate Campus Climates (NACCC) staff survey and ask: (1) How do Black staff experience, navigate, and make sense of anti-Black racism at historically white institutions? (2) How do Black staff perceive institutional DEI efforts, and to what extent do these efforts address their workplace experiences? (3) How do these experiences inform Black staff members' calls for change?
Grounded in Critical Race Theory (CRT), our analysis examines how anti-Black racism is embedded within institutional policies, practices, and structures that shape everyday life. We conceptualize anti-Blackness as a foundational logic that positions Blackness as outside of humanness and belonging (Dumas, 2016). Instead of viewing incidents of racial exclusion or discrimination as isolated or aberrational, this study treats them as symptomatic of deeper structural forces (Bell, 1992). CRT’s critique of dominant ideologies (Solórzano, 1998) enables us to examine how institutional objectives of “merit,” “neutrality,” and “incremental change” often obscure or perpetuate racial hierarchies. Across many institutions, race-evasive policies and DEI rhetoric reinforce the status quo by deflecting from structural inequality. Finally, we employ counterstorytelling as both a theoretical and methodological tool that centers the experiential knowledge of racially marginalized individuals—not as anecdotal or exceptional, but as essential to understanding institutional power (Delgado, 1989; Solórzano & Yosso, 2002).
Through counternarratives, Black staff illuminate the gap between institutional rhetoric and lived realities, highlighting how performative commitments often mask inaction. These narratives provide insight into the profound and pervasive nature of institutionalized anti-Blackness. The experiences of Black staff are marked by normalized microaggressions, pressures to assimilate into dominant Eurocentric norms, and imposed silences regarding injustices that are required to conform to workplace expectations. These findings underscore the urgent need for institutions to move beyond symbolic gestures and confront the embedded nature of anti-Blackness in campus workplaces. Institutions must affirm the expertise of Black staff and convert their insights into meaningful accountability, policy reform, and structural change. Without such interventions, the dissonance between institutional narratives and the everyday experiences of Black staff will only grow, further eroding trust in higher education’s stated commitment to equity.

Authors

• Royel M. Johnson, University of Southern California

• Alexia Oduro, University of Southern California

• Marcus Maximus Martin, University of Southern California