Our Commitment to Antiracism - A Letter from Bailey Foster
We are surrounded by racial inequity, as visible as the law, as hidden as our private thoughts. The question for each of us is: What side of history will we stand on? . . . “Racist” and “antiracist” . . . are not permanent tattoos. No one becomes a racist or antiracist. We can only strive to be one or the other. (How to be an Antiracist by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi p22-23)
Several months ago, I shared with you our commitment to antiracist work and to participating in our long overdue reckoning with racial injustice and violence. As a team we read Dr. Ibram X. Kendi’s book, How to be an Antiracist. It was a transformative experience for us.
Our study of Dr. Kendi’s work has helped us understand antiracism as a practice, rather than a destination. This generous approach encourages and empowers all of us to participate. It would be foolish to claim that we have all of the answers, but we stand by the commitments we have made and pledge these ongoing actions.
We commit to doing the work of antiracism. As individuals and as a team, Real Good Kitchen will continue to be guided by antiracist learning and practice. We pledge to help educate our member community and the greater Knoxville community, and to recognize and use our power to make policies inside our company, and demand policies outside, that lead to equity and justice.
We commit to prioritizing representation on our team. Real Good Kitchen currently has a small staff and limited personnel resources, but we expect that to change. As we grow, we commit to reaching a candidate pool that is as diverse as possible, and prioritizing the recruitment and hiring of team members from Black, Indigenous, and communities of color.
We commit to building an equitable and inclusive kitchen community. At Real Good Kitchen, we envision a workplace and a kitchen where we all can thrive. We will work to understand and break down barriers and to create welcoming spaces. We will have zero tolerance for harassment, misogyny, racism, homophobia or other discriminatory or demeaning behavior.
We commit to transparency. We commit to sharing our work with you, to owning our mistakes and to listening to your feedback.
Real Good Kitchen is founded on the simple notion that we can make change through food. We can’t do that without committing to antiracist work. As our wise team member Mel Mullins says, “What we’re doing is making food, but it’s a lot bigger than that.”
We invite you to join us.
-Bailey Foster, founder of Real Good Kitchen