examining prejudice-reduction theories in anti-racism initiatives

International Journal of Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector MarketingInt. J. Nonprofit Volunt. Sect. Mark. 15: 181–198 (2010)Published online 30 August 2009 in Wiley InterScience
(www.interscience.wiley.com) DOI: 10.1002/nvsm.383
Examining prejudice-reductiontheories in anti-racism initiativesGitte Jensen1, Magdalena Cismaru2*, Anne Lavack2 and Romulus Cismaru21University of Regina Psychology, Canada

2University of Regina Business Administration, Canada

� W

*CorRegiRegiE-ma

Cop

e examined the role of prejudice-reduction theories in anti-racism initiatives, by

identifying, gathering, and analyzing anti-racism campaigns from a variety of Eng-

lish-language websites. Our review revealed many anti-racism initiatives running in the

United Kingdom and a smaller number of initiatives running in Canada, the United

States, Australia, and other countries. We provide a description of the key themes and

messages being used in anti-racism initiatives, including a variety of components such as

TV and radio public service announcements, print materials, social events, competitions,

awards, and help-services. We also discuss how the components of the initiatives

correspond with Duckitt’s (2001) multi-level framework for prejudice reduction, operat-

ing on four causal levels: (1) perceptual-cognitive, (2) individual, (3) interpersonal, and

(4) societal-intergroup. Recommendations for enhancing future anti-racism initiatives

are provided.

Copyright # 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Introduction

Racism and racial discrimination is a wide-spread social problem inWestern societies andin the world in general (United Nations, 2001).In addition to exclusion of ethnic minoritiesthrough racial discrimination from a variety ofsectors such as employment and housing(Favreault, 2008), the threat of racist violencehas become more imminent for many minoritygroups in the last decade (Federal Bureau ofInvestigation, 2007). Despite decades of gov-ernment and activist initiatives to reduceprejudice and eliminate racial discrimination,

respondence to: Magdalena Cismaru, University ofna Business Administration, 3737 Wascana Parkway,na Saskatchewan, Canada S4S 0A2.il: [email protected]

yright # 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

current research suggests that racism of alltypes is still prevalent and permeates allsegments of our communities (Arrow, 1998;Billig, 2001; Bertrand and Mullainathan, 2004).Indeed, empirical research that evaluates theeffectiveness of anti-racism initiatives on atti-tudes and behavior suggests that broad anti-racism initiatives may not have the intendedeffect on some segments of a community(Pedersen et al., 2005).

Study purpose

Duckitt (2001) developed a multi-level modelfor anti-racism efforts which incorporates avariety of findings from the social psychologyliterature. The Duckitt (2001) model suggests

Int. J. Nonprofit Volunt. Sect. Mark., May 2010

DOI: 10.1002/nvsm

182 Gitte Jensen et al.

that efforts to reduce prejudice should provideintervention at four levels: (1) perceptual-cognitive, (2) individual, (3) interpersonal, and(4) societal. The purpose of this paper is toanalyze English-language anti-racism initiativesin the context of Duckitt’s (2001) model, inorder to determine what could make theseinitiatives more effective. We therefore pro-vide an overview of anti-racism initiatives,discuss their correspondence with Duckitt’s(2001) framework for prejudice reduction, andconclude with recommendations for develop-ing future anti-racism initiatives.

Literature review: racism

‘‘Racism,’’ a concept often used synonymouslywith ‘‘discrimination’’ and ‘‘prejudice,’’ isusually thought to refer to prejudice or dis-crimination against particular racial or ethnicgroups such as African Americans or Hispanics(Cross et al., 1990; Turner et al., 2002,2003a,b; Turner and Ross, 2003). However,‘‘racism’’ is sometimes extended to includeprejudice or discrimination against religiousdenominations such as Muslims or Jews.Indeed, an article from Le Journal de Montreal

(2007) stated, ‘‘59% of Quebecers admitted tobeing racist in a provincial survey; the threemost unpopular minority groups being Mus-lims (50%), Jews (36%), and Blacks (27%)’’.This example demonstrates how ‘‘race’’ isoften extended to include minority groupsbased on religion rather than race, and high-lights the importance of considering thisslippage in meaning when evaluating anti-racism initiatives and campaign materials. Wetherefore chose to adopt the definition of racialdiscrimination formulated during the UnitedNations (UN) International Convention on theElimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimi-nation (1965). According to the UN: ‘‘the term‘racial discrimination’ shall mean any distinc-tion, exclusion, restriction, or preferencebased on race, color, religion, descent, ornational or ethnic origin which has thepurpose or effect of nullifying or impairingthe recognition, enjoyment, or exercise, on an


equal footing, of human rights and fundamen-tal freedoms in the political, economic, social,cultural, or any other field of public life’’(United Nations, 2001).

In Europe, North America, and Australasia,‘‘racism’’ refers almost exclusively to theprivileges and power associated with thewhite majority populations and the disadvan-tages of the ‘‘colored’’ population (Cross et al.,1990; Turner et al., 1991; Watts, 1996). Recentpublic opinion polls suggest that the majorityof people in Western countries perceiveracism to be a serious problem. Indeed, apublic opinion poll commissioned by the BBCshowed that more than half of Britons perceiveBritish society to be racist (BBC News, 2002).An Australian poll found three quarters ofAustralians believing there is underlying racismin the country, while four out of tenrespondents described Australia as a racistnation (The Nation, 2006). Similarly, a Cana-dian poll found that close to four millionCanadians reported being victims of racism(CTV News, 2005). Experimental studies alsoshow that differential treatment by race is stillprominent in countries around the world. Forexample, in the U.S., some experimental studiesmanipulating perceived race by randomlyassigning African American or white soundingnames to resumes, show that differential treat-ment by race is still prominent in the U.S. labormarket (Bertrand and Mullainathan, 2004).

Public opinion polls, surveys, as well asexperimental studies, often attempt to assessracial attitudes in the general population.However, racist behaviors, most notablyincidents of hate-crimes, are often difficult toestimate because countries define hate-crimesin many different ways, and only the UnitedStates and Canada have recently begun tocompile and publish data on hate-crimes. A2007 FBI report suggests that incidents of hate-crimes are not decreasing, and the vastmajority of hate-crime victims in the UnitedStates are African-Americans. In the wake ofSeptember 11 there has been a dramaticincrease in the number of violent hate-crimesdirected at people who are perceived to beMuslims or Middle Eastern (Craig-Henderson


DOI: 10.1002/nvsm

Examining prejudice-reduction theories 183

and Sloan, 2003). Statistics Canada recentlypublished a report stating that in 2006 therewere 892 hate-crimes in Canada; 60% of thoseweremotivated by race or ethnicity (The Daily,2008). In Canada, South Asians and those ofAfrican descents are the most likely victims ofhate-crimes, followed by Arabs. AboriginalCanadians, who often face racial discrimi-nation in other areas, reported facing fewerhate-crimes than any other racial group –including Caucasians. Offences against Jewswere the most common religion-motivatedhate-crimes in Canada (63%), far surpassingreported hate-crimes against Muslims (21%)(The Daily, 2008). In Europe, hate-crimes havebeen directed toward multiple ethnic groupssuch as immigrants and refugees from Africaand the Middle East, as well as ousted socialgroups such as Travelers and Gypsies. Therehas also been a recent rise in anti-semitism andhate-crimes against Jews in many Europeancountries (Lawyers Committee for HumanRights, 2002). The rapid increase in racistattacks and anti-immigrant sentiments makes itmore pertinent for governments and otherorganizations to develop initiatives aimed atreducing national and international racism.

Effectiveness of anti-racisminitiatives

Evidence regarding the effectiveness of anti-racism initiatives has been mixed, with somesuggesting that such campaigns sometimesmay not work (Donovan and Vlais, 2006), ormay even backfire (Vrij et al., 1996, 2003;Pedersen et al., 2005). Duckitt (2001) foundthat mass persuasion initiatives that use simpleanti-racist catch-phrases or parodies of racistattitudes or beliefs are not effective in reducingracism, and may even produce feelings ofresentment and increased racism in individualswith strong racist beliefs. Pedersen et al.(2005) showed that some anti-racism advertis-ing initiatives had a small positive effect onpeople whose attitudes were wholly positiveor negative, but tended to make those whowere ambivalent in their feelings about ethnic


minorities even more racist. Vrij et al. (1996,2003) suggested that anti-racist initiativesproduce negative results because they fail toincorporate current best practices from theprejudice literature such as presenting ethnicgroups in a positive context, drawing onpositive similarities across a number of mem-bers of the target ethnic group, focusing on asingle minority group rather than all minoritygroups, and focusing on the facts and ignoringthe feelings. Therefore, in this paper, wereview and analyze anti-racism initiatives usingDuckitt’s (2001) model of prejudice reductionin an attempt to provide recommendations forimproving future anti-racism campaigns.Only one previous study (Donovan and

Vlais, 2006) has attempted a somewhat similaranalysis, albeit on a more limited basis. Donovanand Vlais (2006) presented a summary of 10mass media campaigns, followed by recom-mended guidelines for developing campaignsin this area. However, the present study isconsiderably larger in scope because itsanalysis includes 37 campaigns, and it incorp-orates a variety of other anti-racism elementsbeyond mass communication campaigns suchas facilitation of inter-racial contact experi-ences as well as protests against systemicracism (e.g., police discrimination and discri-minatory housing laws or employment policies).Furthermore, structure is provided within thepresent study by examining anti-racism initiat-ives in the context of Duckitt’s (2001) model ofprejudice reduction. This comprehensive andstructured analysis provides a unique contri-bution to the literature in this area.

Duckitt’s (2001) model foranti-racism strategies

Duckitt (1994, 2001) provides a model for anti-racism approaches that synthesizes a diversityof findings from social psychology. He suggeststhat efforts to reduce prejudice should addressfour causal levels of intervention: (1) percep-tual-cognitive, (2) individual, (3) interpersonal,and (4) societal (see Table 1). We present anduse his multi-level framework in the following


DOI: 10.1002/nvsm

Tab

le1

.Duckitt’smodel(2001,p.259,adap

ted)depictingprejudiceinterventionsat

fourcausallevels:(1)perceptual-cognitive,(2)individual,(3)interpersonal,an

d(4)societal-intergroup

(1)Perceptual-cognitive

(2)Individual

(3)Interpersonal

(4)Societal-intergroup

Ch

an

gin

gso

cia

lca

tegori

za

tion

sC

ha

ngin

gth

ein

div

idu

al’s

susc

epti

bil

ity

topre

jud

ice

Ch

an

gin

gso

cia

lin

flu

en

ceC

ha

ngin

gso

cia

lco

nd

itio

ns

(a)De-categorization

(a)Prejudicedattitude

(a)Masspersuasion

(a)Conflictreduction

(b)Re-categorization

(b)Personality

(b)Su

pport

norm

softolerance

(b)Liberaldemocracy

(c)Su

b-categorization

(c)Worldview

(c)Media

imagesofminorities

(c)De-segregationintegration

(d)Cross-cuttingcategorization

(d)Socialattitudesor

ideological

beliefs

(d)Educationcurricula

(d)Anti-discriminationlaws

(e)Interculturalignorance

(f)Cognitivesophistication

Cre

ati

ng

favora

ble

inte

rgro

up

con

tact

(a)Cooperativeeducation

(e)Minority

empowerm

ent

andintergroupequality

(b)Man

agingworkplacecontact

(f)Integrativemulti-culturalism

(g)Socialjusticean

dstability



analysis to assess the expected effectiveness ofthe identified anti-racism initiatives and tosuggest improvements for future campaigns.

Perceptual-cognitive level

The perceptual-cognitive level of interventionrefers to changing the social categorizations usedby the in-group to refer to out-groups. Duckitt’s(2001) model of prejudice reduction detailsfour approaches to eliminate prejudice at theperceptual-cognitive level: (a) de-categorization,(b) re-categorization, (c) sub-categorization,and (d) cross-cutting categorization. Accordingto the de-categorization approach, favorablepersonal contact with members of anotherracial group may serve to disconfirm stereo-types and discover similarities and shared values.The re-categorization approach suggests thatintergroup distinctions may be eliminated whenboth original groups acquire a new shared groupidentity (e.g., team-mates on a sports-team). Thesub-categorization approach suggests that posi-tive experiences with a member of anotherracial group may lead to more favorable per-ceptions of the entire group only if the memberis perceived as typical of the group. Finally, thecross-cutting categorization approach meansthat individuals who belong to different groupson one dimension (e.g., race) may also belong tothe same group on another dimension (e.g.,being parents, co-workers, or Manchester Uni-ted fans). Researchers have suggested thatpeople evaluate others more favorably whenthey share at least one category of membership(Duckitt, 2001). However, it is important to notethat the effect of cross-cutting categorizationsmay be limited if race is perceived as significant,and effects may be domain-specific (e.g., reduceprejudice at work, but not elsewhere). Prejudicereduction is most likely to be successful whenthe initiative facilitates all four categorizationson multiple occasions (Duckitt, 2001).

Individual level

The individual level of intervention refers tochanging the individual’s susceptibility to


DOI: 10.1002/nvsm


prejudice (e.g., by introducing parenting stylesthat teach empathy and non-violent conflictresolution), as well as correcting false beliefs orinvoking cognitive dissonance. Prejudicereduction at the individual level most oftentakes place through intervention programs,awareness training, and workshops directed ata specific localized setting such as a school orworkplace. Individual-level approaches canbroadly be divided into those that attempt tochange individuals’ prejudiced attitudes andthose that attempt to change some aspect ofthe individual which makes them susceptibleto adopt prejudiced attitudes (Duckitt, 2001).Approaches that attempt to try to eliminate

prejudiced attitudes directly may be eithercognitively driven or affect-driven. The majoraim of a cognitive approach is to provideinformation, as well as foster awareness andunderstanding of the social/political situationof the target ethnic group. The aim of an affect-driven approach is to change the individual’sfeelings toward a target ethnic group throughthe use of positive images and role modelrepresentatives from the ethnic communities,rather than factual information. Both cognitiveand affect-driven initiatives often stress inter-racial similarities as being more important thaninter-racial differences, by displaying peoplefrom different cultural backgrounds shown insocially valued roles and having the sameordinary interests as the majority population(Donovan and Vlais, 2006).Approaches concerned with personal factors

that make individuals prone to develop pre-judiced attitudes often look at personality traits,most prominently right wing authoritarianism(Altemeyer, 1981) and social dominance orien-tation (Pratto et al., 1994). Other individualfactors are cultural ignorance and low levels ofcognitive sophistication (Duckitt, 2001).Duckitt (2001) asserts that the major pro-

blem with short campaigns aimed at the indivi-dual level of intervention is that initial positiveorientation toward participation seems to be amajor determinant of whether or not attitudechange will occur. Hence, individual-level inter-ventions may be least effective with thoseindividuals who are most prejudiced. Rather,


he suggests, long-term interventions that takeplace in an environment that motivates peopleto be more positive toward non-prejudice ismore likely to result in successful attitudechange.

Interpersonal level

The interpersonal level of intervention focuseson mass persuasion, supporting norms oftolerance, positive media images of minorities,multi-cultural educational curricula, and creat-ing favorable intergroup contact. Interperso-nal-level approaches to reduce prejudice maytake one of two forms: social-influence andinterpersonal-contact experiences. Social influ-ence can take one of four forms: (a) masspersuasion initiatives, (b) support for non-discrimination and ethnic tolerance, (c) elim-inating negative images of the target ethnicgroups in popular media, and (d) adoptingmulti-cultural curricula in educational institu-tions (Duckitt, 2001).Many anti-racism initiatives today also attempt

to incorporate the second form of interpersonal-level prejudice reduction: inter-racial contactexperiences. The ‘‘contact hypothesis’’ wasfirst proposed by Allport (1954) who saw de-segregation and inter-racial contact as necess-ary for prejudice reduction. The hypothesisstates that the increased knowledge resultingfrom increased contact will reduce prejudicelevels; however, the interaction between groupsmust be positive. Negative group interactionswill merely serve to strengthen negativestereotypes and encourage social separation.Moreover, Allport also stated that: (1) thegroups must be relatively equal in the contact,(2) they must have common goals, (3) theremust be little or no competition between them,and (4) their meeting should be supported bythose in the authority. There is strong empiricalevidence for the four conditions proposed byAllport, as well as a fifth condition: the potentialto grow inter-racial friendships (Duckitt, 2001).Intergroup contact does have greater potentialfor prejudice reduction than interventions at theindividual level (Duckitt, 2001), but depends on


DOI: 10.1002/nvsm


an unambiguous commitment to equal oppor-tunity and non-discrimination by the institu-tion that facilitates the contact.

Societal level

The societal level of intervention refers to socialaction, public policy, anti-discrimination legis-lation, and other means to change the socialconditions through which minority groups arediscriminated against andmarginalized. Measuresto reduce prejudice at the societal level can take avariety of forms, from the development of aconstitutional framework that allows for theco-existence of different ethnic groups to thedevelopment of a coherent social policytoward ethnic minorities (Duckitt, 2001). MostWestern countries now have legislative measuresto protect minority groups from inter-racialhostility and discrimination such as anti-discrimination and hate-crime laws. Whereaslegal and activist interventions have reducedthe occurrences of overt and explicit forms ofracism, research has also shown that renderingillegal certain types of discriminatory behaviorcan harden the prejudicial attitudes of some,rather than dissolve them (Devine et al., 2000).Legislative measures may make some peopleresent initiatives rather than change theirbeliefs. Therefore, Devine et al. (2000) suggestthat more attention must be paid to normativeas opposed to legal pressure to changebehavior, as well as using a conveyer of moralpressure that is similar to, and respected by,the target. This combination may reduceresistance to change. Political changes at thesocietal level have the potential to be the mostpowerful way of inducing or reducing preju-dice beliefs because they create an environ-ment of laws and social norms that eitherlegitimize or de-legitimize expressions ofracism and prejudice (Duckitt, 2001).Duckitt’s (2001) model, as discussed above,

provides a framework against which anti-prejudice campaigns and initiatives can beanalyzed. The following section outlines themethodology for the current study, followedby reporting of the results.


Research methodology

The present study involved conducting a contentanalysis of English-language anti-racism campaignmaterials available on the Internet. Using theGoogle search engine, we conducted a snow-ball search beginning with keywords including‘‘racism,’’ ‘‘anti-racism,’’ ‘‘discrimination,’’ ‘‘xeno-phobia,’’ ‘‘prejudice,’’ and ‘‘immigrants,’’ andincorporating additional search terms ident-ified during the search process. We alsosearched relevant government websites suchas the United Nations, Canadian Heritage, andsimilar websites from other English-speakingcountries. References to initiatives and pro-grams discussed in academic papers locatedthrough Blackwell-Synergy, JSTOR, Psycinfo,and other databases were also used as a meansof finding additional information on campaignstrategies and evaluations. We included allEnglish-language campaigns that had massmedia components such as posters, websites,postcards, TV, radio, magazine ads, compe-titions, T-shirts, badges, etc. We did notinclude many websites which simply providedlinks to other websites or links to campaignsalready covered. However, we have includedcampaigns that were highly visible in themedia, such as United Colors of Benetton, evenif they were not comprehensive. We alsoincluded special initiatives such as Stop RacialProfiling, which are unique in addressingsocietal level racism and structural racism.

For the 37 initiatives included in our analysis,we assessed the salient components of eachinitiative, including title and web address,initiator, target group, and categorization andadherence to Duckitt’s (2001) multi-levelframework for prejudice reduction (seeTable 2 for a summary of campaigns accordingto the levels within Duckitt’s framework, andsee Table 3 for a descriptive summary of theelements contained within the 37 campaigns).We looked at all components of each initiativein order to evaluate its adherence to Duckitt’s(2001) multi-level framework for prejudicereduction. Based on this analysis, we providesuggestions for improvement of future anti-racism initiatives.


DOI: 10.1002/nvsm

Table 2. Summary of campaigns according to the levels within Duckitt’s framework

Levels within Duckitt’s framework UK (14) Canada (6) USA (4) Australia (2) Other (11) Total (37)

(Level 2) Individual 5 3 4 1 5 18(Level 3) Interpersonal 6 2 1 0 6 15(Level 4) Societal 2 2 0 1 1 6

�Note that some campaigns covered several levels within Duckitt’s framework, while one from UK did not fit into anyof the classifications.


Results

Our search revealed 37 anti-racism initiatives,with more than two-thirds of these comingfrom four countries that share a commonBritish heritage: United Kingdom (14), Canada(6), the United States (4), and Australia (2).This is perhaps not surprising for the followingreasons: (a) the search was in English only, (b)these four countries are very multi-cultural,and (c) these four countries have significantfinancial resources that allow them to invest inanti-racism initiatives. The remaining 11 cam-paigns came from other countries or run inseveral countries simultaneously (international).While most of the initiatives revealed by our

searchwere developed by governments and/oractivist organizations, some private sector cor-porations such as Nike, Formula One, TommyHilfiger, and United Colors of Benetton havealso become involved in developing anti-racisminitiatives. Although some of the identifiedinitiatives focused exclusively on conveying ananti-racist statement through the use of catch-phrases, most initiatives also included infor-mation about racial minorities and the preva-lence of discrimination within a particularcommunity or a country. A smaller proportionof initiatives sought to elicit empathy for racialand ethnic minorities by stressing the difficul-ties and consequences of racial discriminationand anti-immigrant policies. Many of theinitiatives also encouraged positive inter-racialcontact, either throughmulti-cultural events orthrough the use of respected speakers fromracial minorities.Initiatives include a wide variety of different

components, most prominently mass persua-sion components. These included websites


and print materials such as posters, brochures,handouts, educational films, and handbooks, aswell as print, radio and TV advertisements, andpublic service announcements. Many initiativesalso incorporated community and mass mediaevents, conferences, competitions, awards, andgive-away or for-sale items such as wristbands,stickers, and T-shirts. Most of the initiativestook place at the national or community levelwith a concentration on elementary and high-schools, but a few initiatives were internationaland included events in several countries.In the following section, the initiatives are

classified based on the primary level of prejudicereduction according to Duckitt’s (2001) multi-level framework. Findings showed that Duck-itt’s first level, the perceptual-cognitive level ofintervention, was not a feasible category forthe majority of these initiatives because of itsreliance on in-person interpersonal contactrather than campaigns or communicationinitiatives. Therefore, each of the anti-racisminitiatives was categorized as an intervention atthe remaining three levels of Duckitt’s (2001)model: (2) individual level, (3) interpersonallevel or (4) societal level.

Campaign classification andanalysis following Duckitt’s(2001) framework

Most of the anti-racism initiatives we identifiedfit into the individual or interpersonal-levelstrategies to reduce prejudice. Only a fewinitiatives whose explicit focus was to addressthe rise of fascist and racist political parties andgroups could be classified as addressing issuesof racism on the societal level (i.e., protesting


DOI: 10.1002/nvsm

Tab

le3

.Anti-racism

initiativesgroupedbythecountryoforigin

Initiative

Initiativedescription,webaddress,an

dtargetgroup

(ifspecified)

Initiator

Initiativecomponents

Levelin

Duckitt’s

(2001)model

Inte

rnati

on

al

AEuropean

Youth

Vision

Aim

sto

strengthengrass

roots

youth

organ

izationsfrom

differentcultural,ethnic,an

dreligiousbackgroundsin

theirwork

against

discrimination,racism,an

dxenophobia.

http://w

ww.unitedagainstracism.org/

UNITED

for

Intercultural

Action

Info-point,posters,

newspap

ers,postcards,

stickers,leaflets,

training,conferences

Interpersonal;

Societal

AllEqual

inDiversity:

MobilizingSchoolsAgainst

Racism,

Discriminationan

dExclusion

Encouragesschoolsto

promote

equalityin

diversityan

ddenounceform

sofdiscrimination.Targets

school-aged

children.http://opentraining.unesco-ci.org/cgi-b

in/page.

cgi?g=Detailed%2F54.htm

l;d=1

UNESC

OCam

paignkit:posters,

stickers,booklet,

annual

report

form

,curriculum

ideas

Individual:

cognitive-driven

Everyrace

Developedin

response

toracialabuse

ofaBlack

Form

ula

Onedriver.Allowspeople

tosignuptheire-m

ail

addressesto

pledgesupport

fortheinitiative.http://w

ww.

everyrace.net,http://w

ww.racingagainstracism.com

Form

ula

One

Executive,FiA

Only

website

Interpersonal:

social

Fatal

Realitiesof‘‘Fortress

Europe’’

Aim

sto

wakeupEurope’sconsciencebymonitoringthe

deadly

resultsofthebuildingof‘‘Fortress

Europe.’’

http://w


UNITED

for

Intercultural

Action

Posters,list

of11105

documentedrefugee

deaths,articles

Individual:

affect-driven

International

Day

forthe

EliminationofRacial

Discrimination

Aim

sto

focusattentionontheproblemsofracism

and

theneedto

promote

racialharmony.

Targets

youth.

http://w

ww.pch.gc.ca/march-21-m

ars/march21/index_e.cfm

UnitedNations

National

awareness

day,posters

Interpersonal:

social

Stan

dUp,Sp

eak

Up

Encouragessoccerfansto

show

theiroppositionto

racism

bywearingawristban

d.Targets

soccerfans.

http://w

ww.furd.org/default.asp?intPageID

=275

Nike

Wristban

d,TVad,

socceruniform

sfor

national

soccerteam

s

Interpersonal:

social

TheOne4AllFoundation

Promotesan

dsupportsprojects

against

racism

andsocial

inequality,

targetingdisadvan

tagedan

ddiscouraged

childrenthroughsportingan

deducational

projects.

Targets

children.http://w

ww.theone4allfoundation.com/

ThierryHenry

Reebokan

dTommyHilfiger

Website,clothing

collectionfrom

which

proceedsaredonated

tothefoundation

Can

notbe

categorized

UnitedColors

ofBenetton

Createsan

associationbetw

eentheconceptof‘‘united

people’’an

dthebrand‘‘UnitedColors

ofBenetton.’’

http://press.benettongroup.com/ben_en/about/cam

paigns/

history/?t=print

UnitedColors

ofBenetton

Posters,advertisements

Individual:

cognitive-driven

(Con

tin

ues)

Copyright # 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Int. J. Nonprofit Volunt. Sect. Mark., May 2010

DOI: 10.1002/nvsm


Tab

le3

.(Continued)

Initiative


dtargetgroup

(ifspecified)

Initiator


Levelin

Duckitt’s

(2001)model

9th

ofNovemberInternational

Day

Against

Fascism

and

Anti-semitism

Aim

sto

commemorate

thepastan

dto

protest

against

contemporary

form

soffascism

andan

ti-semitism.

http://w


UNITED

for

Intercultural

Action

Posters,postcards,

stickers

Individual:

cognitive-driven;

Interpersonal:

social

20th

ofJuneInternational

RefugeeDay

Aim

sto

highlighttheissuesofrefugeesfrom

anon-governmentalperspectiveonalllevels–local,

national,an

dEuropean

.http://w


UNITED

for

Intercultural

ActionEuropean

Posters,postcards,

stickers,info

leaflets,

events

Individual:

affect-driven;

Interpersonal:

social

21st

ofMarchEuropean

-Wide

ActionWeekAgainst

Racism

Aim

sto

highlighttheissuesofracism

from

anon-governmentalperspectiveonalllevels–local,national,

andEuropean

.http://w


UNITED

for

Intercultural

Action

Posters,postcards,

stickers

Interpersonal:

social

Au

stra

lia

FightDem

Back

Atran

s-Tasman

cam

paignagainst

racialhatred,xenophobia,

andfascism.Alsoin

New

Zealan

d.Targets

youth

andadults.

http://w

ww.fightdemback.org/

FightDem

back!

Radio,TVPSA

,print,

forum,website

Societal

Racism

MakesMeSick

Aim

todefendhuman

rights,promote

reconciliationin

Australia,

andmakeaw

arethethreat

racism

posesto

public

health.http://w

ww.racismnoway.com.au/news/pages/

105_20080429.htm

l,http://w

ww.antar.org.au/racism

Australian

sfor

NativeTitle

and

Reconciliation;

TheBodySh

op

Electronic

pledge,

posters

Individual:

affect-driven

Can

ad

aMathieu

DaCostaChallenge

Annual

creativewritingan

dartw

ork

contest

encouraging

youth

todiscovertheim

portan

ceofdiversityan

dcultural

pluralism

insociety.http://w

ww.pch.gc.ca/special/mdc/

contest/about_e.cfm

Can

adian

Government

Writingcontest,

awardceremony

Individual:

cognitive-driven

RacialJustice–From

Chains

toFreedom:Journeying

TowardReconciliation

Addressesongoingracism

inthechurch,country,

andworld

atlarge.Participatesin

theongoingjourneytowardhealing,

reconciliation,an

dthetran

sform

ationofrelationships.

http://w

ww.ccc-cce.ca/english/justice/racism.htm

Can

adianCouncil

ofChurches

Resourcekitswith

worship

materials,

biblical

reflection,

andchildren’s

resources

Individual:

cognitive-driven

Racism.Stopit!

National

videocompetitionsponsoredbyCan

adianHeritage.

Targets

teenagers.http://w

ww.pch.gc.ca/march-21-m

ars/

contest/index_e.cfm

Can

adian

Government

Posters,national

videocompetition

Individual:

cognitive-driven

StopRacialProfiling

Intendedto

eliminateracialprofilingin

Can

ada.

http://w

ww.stopracialprofiling.ca

MARU

Society

Only

website

Societal

StopRacism

Providesinform

ationto

help

communities,government

agencies,schools,businesses,an

dnon-profitorgan

izations

combat

hatean

dright-wingextremism.

http://w

ww.stopracism.ca/pages/home.php

Can

adian

Anti-racism

Educationan

dResearchSociety

Documentaries,

anti-racism

program

assessmentchecklists,

literature,man

uals

Interpersonal:

inter-racial

contact

experiences

UniteAgainst

Racism

(1999)

Raisespublicaw

areness

abouttheim

portan

ceofbreaking

downstereotypesan

deliminatingracism.

http://w

ww.crr.ca/Load.do?section=4&subSection=

6&id=209&type=2

Can

adianRace

Relations

Foundation(CRRF)

TVads,posters,

stickers,studyguide

andvideo,factsheets,

reportsonresearch

Interpersonal:

inter-racial

contact

experiences;

Societal

(Con

tin

ues)


DOI: 10.1002/nvsm


Tab

le3

.(Continued)

Initiative


dtargetgroup

(ifspecified)

Initiator


Levelin

Duckitt’s

(2001)model

UK

CARF(Cam

paignAgainst

Racism

andFacism)

Documentingresistan

ceagainst

racism,an

ti-deportation

cam

paigns,an

dviolentracialattacks.Targets

adultsan

dactivists.http://w

ww.carf.org.uk/

CARF

Magazine

Individual:

cognitive-driven

Let’sKickRacism

Outof

Football;‘‘KickitOut’’

Core

prioritiesinclude:givingadvicean

dproviding

resourcesonaspects

ofraceequalitywithin

professional

football;tacklingracialabuse

andharassm

entin

football

parks.Targets

childrenan

dyo

ungpeople.

http://w

ww.kickitout.org/2.php

SeveralFootball

Associationsan

dFoundations

Schoolresourcepacks

andcompetitions,

youth

forums,

magazines,conferences,

workshops

Interpersonal:

inter-racial

contact

experiences

LoveMusicHateRacism

Usesmusical

events

tocelebrate

diversityan

dinvolve

people

inan

ti-racistan

dan

ti-fascistactivitiesan

durge

people

tovote

against

fascistcan

didatesin

elections.

http://w

ww.lovemusichateracism.com/about/

UniteAgainst

Fascism

Concerts,newsletter,

posters,leaflets,logos,

ban

ners

Interpersonal:

inter-racial

contact

experiences

Migrants

DeserveRespect

Rejects

thexenophobic

toneofthecurrentdebateon

immigrationin

Britain;recognizesthecontributions

madebynew

andsettledmigrantcommunities.Targets

youth

andadults.

http://w

ww.naar.org.uk/cam

paigns/migrespect.asp

National

Assembly

Against

Racism

Asylum

letterwriting

pack,posters,fact

sheet,statements

Interpersonal:

inter-racial

contact

experiences

Newham

MonitoringProject

Workswithmembers

oftheBlackcommunitysuffering

racialdiscrimination.Monitors

theresponse

ofstatutory

organ

izationsto

theblackcommunityto

advocatefor

fairtreatmentan

daccess

tojustice.http://w

ww.nmp.org.uk/

Independent

community-based

organ

ization

Free24-houremergency

helpline,community

projects

Societal

NMPAnti-racistTrust

Setupto

provideeducationan

dtrainingconcerningthe

issuesofracialan

dcivilinjustice.Targets

adults.

http://w

ww.raceark.org.uk/trust/index.htm

#why_im

portan

t

TheARK

NMP

Anti-racistTrust

Archive,library,

educationprojects

Individual:

cognitive-driven

OneScotlan

d,Man

yCultures

Raisesaw

areness

aboutracism

inScotlan

d.

http://w

ww.scotlan

d.gov.uk/http://w

ww.youngscot.org/

onescotlan

d/?ss=426&s=142&sr=407

TheScottish

Government

Billboardsan

dTVads,

conferences,teachers’

materials

Interpersonal:

socialinfluence

Origination

Bringstogetherwebresourcesthat

educateyo

ungpeople

aboutmulti-culturalism

inBritain.Targets

youth.

http://w

ww.chan

nel4.com/culture/m

icrosites/O/origination

Chan

nel4

Teachingresources

videos,gam

es

Individual:

cognitive-driven

RaceEqualityan

dDiversity

Service

Monitors

racialincidents

andprovidessupport

forschools

intheactivepromotionofraceequalityas

wellas

support

forminority

ethnic

pupils.Targets

teachers

andschool

administrators.http://w

ww.irespect.net/index.htm

Gloucestershire

County

Council

Newsletter,publications,

andguidelinesfor

harassm

ent

Individual:

cognitive-driven

(Con

tin

ues)


DOI: 10.1002/nvsm


Tab

le3

.(Continued)

Initiative


dtargetgroup

(ifspecified)

Initiator


Levelin

Duckitt’s

(2001)model

Show

Racism

theRedCard

Combatsracism

byusingfootballers

topresentan

anti-racistmessageto

youngpeople

andothersoccerfuns

atlocal

andnational

footballgrounds.

http://w

ww.theredcardscotlan

d.org/http://w

ww.

unison-scotlan

d.org.uk/redcard/index.htm

l

UNISON

(Scotlan

d’s

publicservice

union)

Events,schoolcam

paigns,

film

s,DVD,packs,posters,

leaflets,an

dmagazines

Interpersonal:

inter-racial

contact

experiences

Tim

eto

MakeaDifference

Advocatesfortheeliminationofdiscriminationtoward

British

Muslim

s.Provideshelplineforthose

experiencing

Islamophobia.http://w

ww.fairuk.org/docs/

EqualityCam

paignPack.pdf

Forum

Against

Islamophobia

andRacism

Cam

paignpackage;form

letterto

theMP,pledge

form

Interpersonal:

inter-racial

contact

experiences

TheInstitute

ofRaceRelations

programsan

dresources

Carriesoutresearch,publish,an

dcollectresourcesonrace

relationsthroughouttheworld.Targets

adults,researchers,

policy-makers,an

dactivists.http://w

ww.irr.org.uk/

TheInstitute

of

RaceRelations(IRR)Journals,news,guides,

activists,workshops,

classroom

resources

Individual:

cognitive-driven

UniteAgainst

Fascism

National

cam

paignaimingto

alert

British

society

tothe

risingthreat

oftheextremeright-wingBritish

National

Party

(BNP)gainingelectoralpopularity

inBritain.

http://w

ww.uaf.org.uk/aboutUAF.asp?choice=1

TheNational

Assembly

Against

Racism

Protests,concerts,

conferences,lectures,

leaflets,newsletters,

electionan

alysis

Societal

Youth

Against

Racism

inEuropeInternational

youth

organ

izationin

16countriesin

Europe.

Engagesschool-agedchildrenin

variousan

ti-racism

cam

paignsan

ddemonstrations.

http://w

ww.yre.org.uk/index.htm

l

Youth

Against

Racism

inEurope

Schoolhan

douts,education

resourcepacks,video

Interpersonal:

inter-racial

contact

experiences

USA

Anti-defamationLeague

Aim

sto

stopthedefamationoftheJewishpeople

and

secure

justice,an

dfairtreatmentto

all.

http://w

ww.adl.org/education/edu_aw

od/default.asp

Anti-defamation

League(ADL)

Educationmaterials,

workshops

Individual:

cognitive-an

daffect-driven

BiasH

ELP

Aim

sto

prevent,monitor,an

dlessentheeffects

of

biascrimes,discrimination,an

dhate-crimes.Targets

communities,families,an

dvictims.http://w

ww.biashelp.

org/index.php?&

tmva=

1

BiasH

ELP

Toll-freehelpline,school

presentations

Individual:

cognitive-driven

RACE–Are

WeSo

Different?

Exam

inesracethroughtheeyesofhistory,science,an

dlivedexperienceto

explain

thedifferencesam

ongpeople,

andthenature

ofraceto

children.

http://w

ww.understandingrace.org/home.htm

l

American

Anthropological

Association

Exhibitiontour,educational

materials,activities

Individual:

cognitive-driven

TeachingTolerance

Onlineresourcesan

dideas

topromote

communitiesthat

valuediversity,

andpromote

andsupport

anti-biasactivism.

http://w

ww.tolerance.org/about/index.htm

l

Southern

Poverty

Law

Center

Printmaterials,PSA

s,educational

kits,magazine,

textbooks

Interpersonal:

inter-racial

contact

experiences


DOI: 10.1002/nvsm



against elimination of programs or benefits forimmigrants and refugees and on-going racialdiscrimination) (see Table 2).

Individual-level initiatives provide recipi-ents with messages and information that stresssimilarities between different races, stress thepositive aspects of multi-culturalism anddiversity, or elicit empathy for a particularstigmatized group (e.g., refugees). Individual-level approaches to reduce prejudice may takeone of two forms: cognitive-driven initiativesor affect-driven initiatives.

Cognitive-driven initiatives

Collectively, the main aim of the initiatives is toheighten awareness about the prevalence ofracism within the particular social context,provide positive information about culturaldiversity, and occasionally provide guidance interms of projects the participants can engagein to help combat racism and prejudice withintheir social environment. Most of the individ-ual-level initiatives revealed by our search fitinto this category of anti-racism initiatives andfocus on a particular target group. Indeed,several initiatives are directed toward schoolchildren and encourage them to think aboutracial similarities. For example, the RACE –Are We So Different? campaign (AmericanAnthropology Association) and the All Equalin Diversity: Mobilizing Schools AgainstRacism, Discrimination, and Exclusioncampaign (UNESCO) are designed to stressracial equality, and to educate children aboutthe problematic definition of race, the roots ofracism, and racial discrimination. Other cam-paigns, such as the British campaign Origina-tion (Channel 4), the Canadian Mathieu DaCosta Challenge, and the Racism. Stop it!Competition (Government of Canada), attemptto make the recipients think about multi-culturalism in a positive manner and celebratediversity. Campaigns from the Institute ofRace Relations (IRR), Anti-defamation Lea-gue, BiasHELP, and the Race Equality andDiversity organization (GlouchestershireCounty Council) are geared toward academics,


campaigners, activists, educators, and policy-makers, and provide a variety of services fromteacher seminars, curricula suggestions, infor-mation about academic research, anti-racismorganizations, and conferences in addition toinformation about the legal obligation of ethnictolerance. Racial Justice – From Chains toFreedom: Journeying Toward Reconcilia-tion is an initiative from the Canadian Councilof Churches which addresses from a Christianperspective the ongoing racism within Cana-dian churches, Canada, and the world at large.It provides resource kits, such as worshipmaterials and biblical reflections, in order tosituate the racism debate within the churchenvironment. The campaign seeks to enlightenparish members about racism, while alsoproviding a statement of change within thechurch system.

Note that the majority of these initiatives aretargeting a specific audience (e.g., schoolchildren, educators, and church-goers). Thisis consistent with Duckitt’s framework (2001)as well as with Donovan and Vlais’s (2006)research which stressed that prejudice andracist beliefs differ in various socioeconomicand geographic segments of the population, soit is important for the researcher to identify andtailor the campaign materials to the specificaudience. In the same vein, Guerin (2005) alsosuggests that anti-racism interventions will bemost effective if they are context-specific (e.g.,specifically targeting racism in employment, orracist slurs in schools). A context-specificintervention naturally narrows the targetaudience and limits the possibility for widelydifferent interpretations of the campaignmessages (Guerin, 2005).

Some information initiatives are aimed at abroader audience. For instance, the Cam-paign Against Racism and Fascism (CARF)is an independent anti-racism magazine thatdocuments anti-racism and anti-deportationinitiatives and provides follow-up on racialattacks often ignored by the mainstreammedia. International initiatives, such as the9th of November International Dayagainst Fascism and Anti-semitism (UNI-TED for Intercultural Action) and the NMP


DOI: 10.1002/nvsm


Anti-racist Trust (The Ark, NMP Anti-racistTrust), provide information about the currentprevalence of racial discrimination at thepolitical level as well as the interpersonal level.These types of initiatives constitute individ-

ual-level interventions by attempting to com-bat false beliefs and stereotypes through theprovision of information about cultural andracial issues, encouraging participants to develophigher levels of cognitive sophistication.However, the nature of these initiatives high-light Duckitt’s (2001) argument that one majorweakness of individual-level components isthat they are highly dependent on an initialpositive orientation to change within theparticipant. It is arguably unlikely that highlyprejudiced individuals would access theresources available, making it questionablewhether providing information alone is aneffective method of prejudice reduction.Therefore, finding ways to incorporate long-term interventions in the environment thatmotivate people to be more positive towardnon-prejudice is something still to be con-sidered at the individual level. By incorporatingthis information into the day-to-day culture, inmovies, books, games, news, etc., includingcurricula, chances for highly prejudiced peopleto be naturally exposed to this information andnot feel that they are forced to attend to itwould be increased, and probably the effec-tiveness of these initiatives would be higher.

Affect-driven initiatives

A few of the initiatives provide informationwith the aim of eliciting empathy for aparticular stigmatized group, such as the FatalRealities of ‘‘Fortress Europe’’ campaignand the International Refugee Day (bothfrom UNITED for Intercultural Action), whichstress the high number of deaths and abuserefugees face when they try to gain illegal entryinto Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. TheRacism Makes Me Sick campaign (Austra-lians for Native Title and Reconciliation inpartnership with The Body Shop) is designedto provide information about the negative


health consequences that racism has forindigenous Australians. Research suggests thatinvoking empathy can reduce racism levels(Finlay and Stephan, 2000); however, elicitingempathy is not always straightforward andmayresult in aversive and unpleasant feelings inracist individuals (Pedersen et al., 2005),especially in the situation in which theindividual might experience feelings of guiltsimply due to being part of a group who mightbe seen as privileged and who might be per-ceived as not making enough effort to try to help.According to Duckitt (2001), a more

effective affect-driven approach would be tochange the individual’s feelings toward a targetethnic group through the use of positiveimages and role model representatives fromthe ethnic communities. Therefore, instead ofstressing the high number of deaths and abuserefugees face when they try to gain illegal entryinto Europe or Australia, future campaignsshould find and consider depicting success-fully integrated refugees, people who arehappy and doing well in the communitiesand who have similar interests and lifestyle asthe majority population, even if they wentthrough dramatic experiences in the past. Thisalternative approach would probably be seenmore positively by the group of refugeesthemselves, because instead of remindingthese refugees about the negative experiences,it shows them that the past does not have tocontinue affecting their future and they canstill have the right and opportunity to live afulfilling life.A fact sheet found on the website of the

Australian Racism Makes Me Sick, Racism –No Way Campaign provides one example ofturning a negative experience into a posi-tive action (http://www.racismnoway.com.au/classroom/factsheets/68.html). This fact sheetdepicts a young women named Tan Le whoarrived in Australia as a refugee from Vietnamin 1982 and who became the Young Australianof the Year in 1998, an Australian YouthAmbassador to Asia and voted one of Austra-lia’s 30 Most Successful Women Under 30.

Interpersonal-level initiatives focus on masspersuasion, supporting norms of tolerance,


DOI: 10.1002/nvsm


positive media images of minorities, multi-cultural educational curricula, and creatingfavorable intergroup contact. Interpersonal-level approaches to reduce prejudice may takeone of two forms: social-influence and inter-personal-contact experiences.

Social-influence initiatives

Most of the initiatives we examined used masspersuasion advertising components such asposters, postcards, stickers, and TV ads withcatch-phrases such as ‘‘All Different – AllEqual,’’ ‘‘Speak Out! Against Racism,’’‘‘Racism: Spot It and Stop It!,’’ and ‘‘See thePerson Not the Color,’’ in order to signalthe anti-racist/anti-discrimination stance of thecampaign sponsor. Many international initiat-ives such as the 21st of March European-Wide Action Week Against Racism, the20th of June International Refugee Day,and 9th of November International DayAgainst Fascism and Anti-semitism (allfrom UNITED for Intercultural Action), andthe International Day for the Eliminationof Racial Discrimination (United Nationsand several governments) use these types ofbroad and non-directive anti-racist statements asa central part of their advertising initiatives tosignal the anti-racist mission of the UnitedNations and of governments within individualcountries.A few multi-national corporations have also

devised anti-racism media initiatives inresponse to racist events such as the Every-race campaign (Formula One Executive, FiA)and Nike’s Stand Up, Speak Up campaign.These initiatives provide extensive positivepublicity, positioning these organizations asbeing dedicated to actively fighting racism. Atthe same time, the media has occasionallycriticized these campaigns for being merepublicity stunts (BBC News, 2005, 2008).The One Scotland, Many Cultures cam-

paign (The Scottish Government) also used TVand radio ads, and outdoor billboards with thewords ‘‘Racism’’ and ‘‘Discrimination’’ crossedout as a part of their media campaign. The


Scottish Executive was one of the few agenciesto conduct formal evaluations of the campaignand publicly share the results on its website.This post-campaign survey revealed a slightincrease in public awareness of the mediacomponents, but the pattern of self-perceivedracist attitudes remained consistent across allfour waves of campaigning from 2002 to 2004(Scottish Government, 2006).

The aim of these broad advertising initiativesis to heighten awareness of racism, and providea political and social statement against racism.The advertising materials often strongly advo-cate racism as being socially unacceptable, butthey provide little or no information as to howthe audience can act to reduce or eliminateracism or why racism should be eliminated.Although advertising initiatives alone arelargely ineffective as a means of prejudicereduction, they do provide support for normsof tolerance and non-discrimination, as well asunderline the unacceptability of any kind ofracism or prejudice (Pedersen et al., 2005).These initiatives can therefore be classified asproviding consensus information. Researchhas found that people who are prejudicedare more likely to think that other people agreewith their position, which in turn helps themto justify their racial attitudes. Being providedwith different consensus information mayresult in stronger anti-racist attitudes (Pedersenet al., 2005).

For this reason, researchers have stressedthe importance of conducting proper evalu-ations (Donovan and Vlais, 2006). Pretests andearly assessment of the campaign’s impact(including both images and text) is necessaryto measure any unintended negative effects.Involvement of the ethnic group in theresearch process is also crucial to excludethe possibility that the campaign stressessimilarities or differences that the ethnic groupdoes not agree with or finds offensive. More-over, when possible the campaign should usereal representatives from the ethnic minoritiesand factual personal information, rather thanindividuals who may be dismissed as paidactors, or celebrities who may be seen asunrepresentative of their ethnic group. Dono-


DOI: 10.1002/nvsm


van and Vlais (2006) also advise againstinitiatives that present negative images andracial stereotypes about the ethnic group.Viewers may not perceive the advertisementsin the intendedway and, therefore, the processof debunking negative stereotypes may notnecessarily occur. Negative ads run the risk ofreinforcing the negative stereotypes they areattempting to counter. Finally, anti-racisminitiatives should be accompanied by oppor-tunities for the target audience to interact withmembers of the out-group in a positivecontext. Numerous multi-cultural events, suchas the Canadian Mosaic Cultural Festival andthe British Love Music Hate Racism con-certs, are good examples of such interactions.The interpersonal-contact experiences aredetailed below.

Interpersonal-contact experiences

Many anti-racism initiatives incorporate com-ponents that are consistent with Allport’s(1954) contact hypothesis. The vast majorityof these initiatives provide specific guidance,materials, sample letters, or funding to indi-viduals and groups that want to undertakecommunity anti-racism projects. Initiativessuch as Migrants Deserve Respect (TheNational Assembly Against Racism), Time toMake a Difference (Forum Against Islamo-phobia and Racism), Youth Against Racismin Europe (Youth Against Racism in Europe),Stop Racism (Canadian Anti-racism Educationand Research Society), Unite Against Racism(Canadian Race Relations Foundation), andTeaching Tolerance (Southern Poverty LawCenter) encourage racial groups to cooperatewith each other and establish common goals.The Love Music Hate Racism campaign

(Unite Against Fascism) aims to provide apositive experience of multi-cultural diversitythrough concerts that showcase artists frommany different cultural and ethnic back-grounds. This campaign not only provides amulti-cultural contact experience in whichracial groups are considered equal but also agood opportunity for new friendships.


A few initiatives aimed at school-agedchildren also facilitate positive contact experi-ences and promote intercultural dialog, specifi-cally through the use of well-respected rolemodels from ethnic backgrounds. Most pro-minent among these are the British Let’s KickRacism Out of Football campaign, organizedby the Professional Footballers Association(PFA) in partnership with the Premier LeagueFootball Foundation and Football Association(FA), and the Scottish Show Racism the RedCard campaign (UNISON). Both initiatives userole models from the professional footballleagues to educate children through schoolworkshops, football organizations, and com-munity events.The initiatives that facilitate inter-racial contact

clearly have the greatest potential for changingcognitive categorization by providing favor-able personal contact with role models fromother ethnic backgrounds (de-categorization)and establishing a new shared group identity asconcert goers or football team-mates (re-categorization). For stronger results, the orga-nizers should make sure the interactions arepositive, the groups are relatively equal inthe contact, they have common goals, there islittle or no competition between them, thosein authority support their meeting, and there ispotential to grow inter-racial friendships (All-port, 1954; Duckitt, 2001).

Societal-level initiatives

Some of the reviewed initiatives (primarilythose devised by independent activist groups)had strong political agendas and were advocat-ing against far-right leaning political parties andpoliticians who have gained popularity inseveral countries, including Britain (the BritishNational Party, BNP) and Australia. Theircampaign materials include direct protestsagainst these parties and their newslettersoften describe the racist acts of electedpoliticians, provide information about fascistand right-wing groups, and promote a left-wingpolitical ideology. Initiatives such as FightDem Back (Fight Dem Back), Unite AgainstFascism (The National Assembly Against


DOI: 10.1002/nvsm


Racism), and A European Youth Vision(UNITED for Intercultural Action) can beclassified as addressing racism on a societallevel. Anti-racism requires political will andattempts to reduce prejudice are likely toencounter resistance from those segments ofthe community who believe they will losesomething as a consequence (such as monet-ary benefits, access to employment, etc.).Hence, racist attitudes are inextricably linkedwith the social, structural, and politicalsituations within which they are embedded(Pedersen et al., 2005). The Stop RacialProfiling campaign (MARU Society) addressessystemic racism in the form of racist profilingwithin the justice system, and the NewhamMonitoring Project addresses systemicracism specifically directed against Blacks ina variety of areas such as police misconduct,housing discrimination, and civil rights issues.The effectiveness of an anti-racism advertis-

ing campaign may be reduced if it is presentedin a media environment where there is anegative bias toward ethnic minorities. Initiat-ives promoting anti-discriminatory attitudesand behaviors at the individual and interper-sonal level may be severely impaired if anti-discriminatory legislation is negated by officialssuch as politicians or by the courts. Hence,more anti-racism initiatives need to includecomponents engaging audiences in activism topromote anti-racist/anti-discriminatory policiesin public and corporate domains, as well as inthemedia. Therefore, implementing normativeas opposed to legal pressure to change beha-vior, as well as using a conveyer of moralpressure that is similar to, and respected by,the target should also constitute a priority(Devine et al., 2000).According to Duckitt (2001), overall, inter-

ventions at the societal level are potentially themost powerful ways to reduce prejudice.Creating safe, secure, and stable societiesand societies characterized by social justiceand egalitarianism will build in the socialconditions most conducive to tolerance andnon-prejudice (Duckitt, 2001). Therefore, thechallenge facing the reduction of prejudice andracism in countries such as US, Australia, and


New Zealand, where minority status is power-fully correlated with socioeconomic depri-vation, lies most fundamentally in socialinterventions to reduce poverty and breakentrenched cycles of deprivation and despair(Duckitt, 2001).

Conclusion

Racism is a very complex and sensitive issueand past anti-racism initiatives have had mixedresults in spite of good intentions. This reviewattempted to identify reasonswhy suchcampaignsmay backfire, as well as show how prejudice-reduction theories can be used to increase thelikelihood of creating a successful initiativeaimed at reducing or eliminating racism.

Our Internet search revealed 37 anti-racisminitiatives originating from both the public andprivate sectors, as well as from activist organi-zations and community groups in the UnitedKingdom, Canada, United States, Australia, andother countries. Many of the national and inter-national initiatives were primarily designed toconvey the message that racism is sociallyunacceptable, whereas local and communityinitiatives were much more directive in termsof what individuals can do to stop racism intheir community and encourage positive inter-racial interactions. Government funded anti-racism initiatives were most often directed atchildren and youth, whereas activist organiz-ations most often addressed youth and adults.Some initiatives utilized just one level ofprejudice reduction (e.g., mass persuasioninitiatives), whereas other initiatives utilizedmultiple levels (e.g., mass persuasion initiat-ives, inter-racial contact, and activism). Byutilizing Duckitt’s (2001) multi-level frame-work for prejudice reduction, future anti-racism initiatives can be made more effectivethrough incorporating measures that addressthe different levels within the model.

Biographical notes

Gitte Jensen is an MA student in experimentaland applied psychology at the University ofRegina. Her research interests are in the area of


DOI: 10.1002/nvsm


social psychology, in particular social categor-ization, in-group and out-group interactions,persuasion, and the psychology of socialmarketing.Magdalena Cismaru is an Associate Professorof Marketing at the Paul J. Hill School ofBusiness, University of Regina. Her researchfocusing on social marketing and healthdecision-making has been published in Inter-

national Marketing Review, Journal of

Health Psychology, Marketing Theory, Social

Marketing Quarterly, International Journal

of Public Health, Young Consumers, Inter-

national Review on Public and Nonprofit

Marketing, and elsewhere. Magdalena Cis-maru is the corresponding author and can bereached at [email protected] Lavack is Dean and Professor of Market-ing at the Paul J. Hill School of Business,University of Regina, Regina, Canada. Herresearch focuses on social marketing, andshe has published over 35 research articlesin journals such as the Social Marketing Quar-

terly, Journal of Public Policy and Marketing,

Journal of Business Research, International

Marketing Review, and International Jour-

nal of Nonprofit and Public Sector Marketing,among others.Romulus Cismaru is an Instructor in Manage-ment at the Paul J. Hill School of Business at theUniversity of Regina. His research interests arein the following areas: decision analysis,economic and social inequality, economicgrowth theories, negative externalities, andenvironmental sustainability.

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Wesley: Reading.

Altemeyer RA. 1981. Right-Wing Authoritarian-

ism. University of Manitoba Press: Winnipeg.

Arrow KJ. 1998. What has economics to say about

racial discrimination? Journal of Economic

Perspectives 12(2): 91–100.

BBC News. 2002. Is Britain a racist country? http://

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/uk/2002/race/

1998159.stm (July 11, 2008).


BBCNews. 2005.Nikehits back atNeville claim. http://

news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/internationals/

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