Rockin’ or Rowin’ the Boat: 10 Responses to Institutionalized Racism - Higher Education: Several years ago, Lamara Warren, diversity expert and inventor of the Game of Oppression, delivered a talk to a standing room only crowd. During that conversation she noted that if you are not rocking the boat, then you must be rowing the boat. Her comment was in reference to how people tend to respond to unpopular or sensitive topics.
I revisited her comment recently. I thought about it in terms of how people in organizations navigate structural and institutionalized racism ― specifically within educational organizations. I quickly jotted down my historical observations.
The responses that I have observed and heard included a broad list of general characteristics that I would wager many of us have witnessed or experienced as members of any organization, and of course, as members of a racist society.
