How do we as a society develop leaders for a more just future for everyone in the United States? The way "we" -- the dominant culture of white folks -- have approached this question for decades is based on a belief that individuals all have equal opportunities and are individually responsible for our achievements or failures.
A great article by Deborah Meehan, executive director of Leadership Learning Community, includes links to a report, How to Develop and Support Leadership that Contributes to Racial Justice, that suggests a different paradigm is needed if we're serious about preventing tragedies like the killing of the young African-American BART passenger, Oscar Grant, in 2009:
The report recommends that to help promote racial justice, organizations and individuals need to adopt leadership development approaches that explain how a system of culture, policy and structures produce and perpetuate differences in access to life opportunities. These leadership approaches should provide the analysis, tools and resources that will help young people and communities change the system that put a young man like Oscar Grant at risk and then failed to deliver justice in his killing.
