The Committee on Oppression, Racism, & Education (CORE)

Author(s): Ariel Hart, Jennifer Hagedorn, Anne Althauser, Tara Bostock, Afomeia Tesfai, CORE Founders and Amy Hagopian

Pp: 140-145 (6)

Abstract

The Committee on Oppression, Racism, and Education (CORE) is a group of Community-Oriented Public Health Practice (COPHP) students working to integrate anti-racist principles into the program. CORE provides a common language and framework to discuss racism in COPHP. It has a twofold overall purpose: to tackle manifestations of racism playing out in the classroom environment and in the COPHP program structures, and to ensure all students graduating from the COPHP program are prepared to address issues of racial equity as public health practitioners. By confronting the underlying drivers of health disparities that plague people of color, CORE has become a force for institutional change not just in COPHP but also in the School of Public Health, elsewhere in the University of Washington, and in the community.

Keywords: Anti-racism, Anti-racist education, Anti-racist principles, Anti-racist public health program, Classroom culture, Community engagement, Community organizing, Health equity, Institutional change, Institutional organizing, Institutional racism, Internalized racial inferiority, Internalized racial oppression, Internalized racial superiority, Micro-aggressions, Racism, Student-driven change, Systems of oppression, Undoing institutional racism, White privilege.