Understanding Racism as Systemic: The Process of Learning

Helping people learn about racism as systemic rather than as solely or even primarily as an individual and interpersonal phenomenon is important. In this study, we examined how two different courses may have affected the racial attitudes and understandings of our students. We found that students in both an introductory and an upper‐level course showed significant increases in the understanding of racism as systemic, using both quantitative and qualitative measures. Further, those in the upper‐level course experienced the largest change in understanding. In documenting these shifts, we found that emotion played an important and surprising role. We discuss our findings in the context of both the prior literature and the current political climate. Finally, we offer suggestions for next steps as well as for teaching.