On this National Day of Racial Healing, we’re reflecting on what it means to heal as a nation from the pervasive effects of racism. Yesterday, people celebrated the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr —a visionary leader who spearheaded the Civil Rights Movement in the United States and advocated for racial equality, working classes, and freedom for all individuals. Today, heightened attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion, racialized violence, and deepening polarization across communities undermine the exact values and ideals that Dr. King stood for—threatening our nation’s ability to reach true unity, justice, and peace.
This moment demands us to acknowledge a fundamental truth: we cannot build a just and equitable society while allowing racial animus to permeate our institutions and communities. To achieve collective racial healing, we must acknowledge that we live in a racially structured society designed to disadvantage Black and Brown people. This racial hierarchy is rooted in what historians call our country’s “original sin”—the “Peculiar Institution” of American slavery—and its ongoing impacts through generations.
The National Day of Healing calls for fostering connections, building relationships, and closing divides with each other. Collective healing demands shared values, trust, and collective action toward healing from the harms of racism. It requires each one of us to understand the harm caused by racial and social injustices embedded in our country’s past and present. We can begin meaningful work toward healing and transformation by naming these injustices, committing to eradicating them, and understanding how they’ve shaped our systems, practices, and policies.
At CSSP, we cultivate racial healing by ensuring our policies promote racial and social justice, which are reflected in our Principles for Anti-Racist Policymaking:
- Redress past injustices. Through our policymaking, we examine the drivers of present-day inequities and seek to undo and redress the harm caused by racist policies that have systematically disadvantaged children and families of color throughout our nation’s history.
- Meet the needs of children and families of color. We develop race-conscious policy solutions that explicitly consider how they impact Black, Indigenous, and other children, families, and communities of color.
- Support the whole family. We develop policies that focus on whole families to help ensure their economic security so that they can thrive together.
- Serve all children and families in need. We help develop broad-based programs designed with children and families of color at the center, so that programs effectively meet their needs and families receive the full intended benefits.
As our country ushers in a new administration, we’re dedicated to creating a society that heals and not harms, that chooses restoration over division and justice over discrimination. We invite all who share this vision to join us in the ongoing work of transformation, guided by Dr. King’s enduring wisdom that “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”
The National Day of Racial Healing is an annual observance hosted by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF). It was created with and builds on the work and learnings of the Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation (TRHT) community partners. Fundamental to this day is a clear understanding that racial healing is at the core of racial equity. This day is observed every year on the Tuesday following Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.