Solidarity among Youth-Serving Organizations to Oppose Systemic Racism Globally

Nuray Kanbur, President, International Chapter of SAHM

Guest post by Nuray Kanbur

Equality and non-discrimination are the core commitments of human rights. No one can be denied their human rights because they are different from others, whether by race, ethnicity, sex, caste, culture, religion, or other grounds. However, the negative meanings that many people attribute to differences between them directly and indirectly affects the quality of life of many worldwide, not only the victims but also whole societies.

Recently the world has witnessed violent acts of structural racism in the USA. However, the USA is not the only country facing the pervasive inequities of the current global wave of racism and its impact on the self-concept, health and well-being of adolescents and young adults (AYA), who are developmentally the most vulnerable group and therefore suffering to a greater degree than others. Thus, it is essential that all individuals who work with AYA globally stand against any kind of discrimination, with the foremost one being racism in today’s conjuncture.

The Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine (SAHM) – as a leading organization serving youth – explicitly conveyed their views against racism to create safe, welcoming spaces.  When our SAHM colleagues share their views against racism and post their mission statements celebrating diversity, international members of SAHM stand with them. We commit to enact anti-racist initiatives globally within the communities we serve and our respective countries. The paper; “An International perspective on racism: Foster self-determination among youth and oppose systemic racism globally” provides an international perspective on how to foster positive anti-racist self-determination thoughts and behaviors among AYA and promote the rejection of racism globally. Each of us should develop institutional strategies in our home countries, and be in solidarity with multi-national, international organizations like SAHM and IAAH to promote appreciation of diversity for positive youth development.

Citation:
Kanbur N, Katzman DK, Gray NJ, Svetaz MV, Gaete V, Di Meglio G, Christie D. An international perspective on racism: foster self-determination among youth and oppose systemic racism globally. Journal of Adolescent Health 2020; 67(6): 741-2.
Available at https://www.jahonline.org/article/S1054-139X(20)30505-X/fulltext