NAACP leader: Healing begins with knowledge
NAACP - AOWSACRacial healing begins with knowing our history, Spokane NAACP President Kiantha Duncan told an audience at Washington State University in January 2023, the day after the National Day of Racial Healing.
- Speaker: Kiantha Duncan, President, Spokane NAACP
- Where: Foley Institute Speakers Room, Washington State University, Pullman
- When: January 2023, following the National Day of Racial Healing
- Topic: Racial healing and politics
Healing Looks Different for Each of Us
Duncan framed the talk as an open conversation about what racial healing means, and made the point that it can look different from one person to the next. For her grandmother, she said, healing could simply mean being able to live in a white neighborhood without fear.
Racism as a Determinant of Health
Duncan compared racism to cancer. Some of it is out in the open, the way Jim Crow laws were, and some of it is hidden and only found on closer inspection. In her view the country is in treatment: some places may never reach remission while others will. She was candid that she does not expect a world entirely free of racism, but said that reality does not stop her from being hopeful about healing and equity.
Thinking about racism being of determinant of health, I think of it like cancer. (Kiantha Duncan)
Acknowledging the Past, Building What Has Never Existed
Duncan urged people to be realistic and to meet communities where they are, drawing on her work with Spokane businesses trying to diversify their workforces. Because there has never been a time without racism to return to, she argued, the work is about building something new rather than healing back to something old. For white people, she said, that path starts with acknowledging what their ancestors did and refusing to hide the shameful parts of history. For universities, it means becoming learners and listening to the communities around them.
This summary is based on reporting by Kali Nelson of the Moscow-Pullman Daily News. The full discussion is available on the Foley Institute’s YouTube channel.
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