Moving critical conversations from talk to action: Engaging a campus community in what it means to be anti-racist

This article draws upon the experiences of three members of an Anti-Racist Task Force (ARTF) at a predominantly white university (PWI) in the Midwest. The group was conceived as a space where selected faculty members would think deeply about and respond to the racial and social unrest that overtook the United States in the summer of 2020 and identify ways the unrest brought to light the university’s role in turning away from anti-racist practices instead of embracing them. Police murders of unarmed Black people made trauma associated with white police officers and Black people in the U.S. even more apparent. Coupled with this was the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused the isolation of all people, making it difficult to engage with others. The article shares relevant reflections on the potential and difficulties of anti-racist work; offers ways faculty at other institutions can strive to dismantle white supremacy in higher education educational spaces; and bestows practical strategies for engaging in anti-racist advocacy on behalf of university faculty. Implications and limitations of this labor are also recognized.