Anti-Racism Focus in Chemistry

OCACS Plan

Renewed Awareness

On June 4, 2020, Luis Echegoyen, President of the ACS renewed the Society’s commitment to its core value of Diversity, Inclusion and Respect: “I want to be clear that we stand in solidarity with our Black and Brown members, staff and communities during these times. We recognize the issues of systemic racism that have plagued our society as a whole and even within our own scientific organization. We condemn racism, discrimination and harassment in any form or manifestation. These behaviors rob our fellow citizens of the opportunity to reach their full potential, of their place in society, and sometimes, of their lives. ACS is dedicated to supporting, promoting and ensuring diverse, inclusive and respectful chemistry learning environments and workplaces. It is, in fact, a core value of the Society.”

This statement came in the wake of the social turbulence over racism in America during the summer of 2020. There were several commentaries on the subject of racism in science.

The journal Cell declared that “Science has a Racism Problem”.

USA Today said that “Black scientists are less likely than their white peers to receive funding for their research.”

The Harvard Business Review noted, in “White Coats, Black Scientists,” that “The exclusion of Black scientists from institutions, the failure to recognize contributions of Black scientists, and the lack of culturally relevant scientific curricula perpetuates the underrepresentation of Black people and their perspectives in science.”

Numerous personal stories were published, such as:

New attention was drawn to black chemists through Chemical & Engineering News magazine, Wikipedia and PLOS.

The troubled history of race relations in various fields of science, from archaeology and anthropology to biology and genetics, is described in recent books:

Many other organizations have issued statements expressing solidarity with Black members of the science and engineering community, and condemning racism, discrimination and harassment. These include the Editors, Staff, and Governance Members of ACS Publications and Chemical & Engineering News magazine.

Events and Recommendations for Action

Several virtual conferences, webinars, podcasts and meetings took place to discuss how best to dismantle systemic racism in science. Among them were:

About 60 scientists from around the world published “Confronting Racism in Chemistry Journals” and made concrete recommendations to rectify the problems.

A letter in Science Magazine “Dismantling Systemic Racism in Science” proposed several measures.

A #BlackInChem movement was started by six graduate students, postdocs and professionals from around the country

Chemical & Engineering News magazine devoted a special section in the Sept.7, 2020, edition to “Helping Black Chemists Blossom,” saying “Historically Black Colleges and Universities have for decades been successful at training black students in chemistry, often encouraging them to pursue PhDs. Most other schools, however, apparently erect unintentional barriers to success in their introductory chemistry courses. Some professors and institutions are now working to change the narrative from one of ‘gatekeepers’ to ‘gateways.’” Articles in this issue of C&EN include:

A strike organized by #ShutDownSTEM took place on June 10, 2020, which was reported by Nature.

Black Girls Do Stem was launched to change the face of STEM industry by providing middle school aged black girls opportunity to learn, create, and build confidence in their abilities to become STEM professionals.

ACS and other Resources for Diversity, Inclusion & Respect