Racial Justice Allyship Requires Civil Courage: A Behavioral Prescription for Moral Growth and Change

In racialized societies, race divides people, prioritizes some groups over others, and directly impacts opportunities and outcomes in life. These missed opportunities and altered outcomes can be rectified only through the deliberate dismantling of explicit, implicit, and systemic patterns of injustice. Racial problems cannot be corrected merely by the good wishes of individuals-purposeful actions and interventions are required. To create equitable systems, civil courage is vital. Civil courage differs from other forms of courage, as it is directed at social change. People who demonstrate civil courage are aware of the negative consequences and social costs but choose to persist based on a moral imperative. After defining allyship and providing contemporary and historical examples of civil courage, this paper explains the difficulties and impediments inherent in implementing racial justice. To enable growth and change, we introduce ten practical exercises based on cognitive-behavioral approaches to help individuals increase their awareness and ability to demonstrate racial justice allyship in alignment with valued behaviors. We explain how these exercises can be utilized to change thinking patterns, why the exercises can be difficult, and how psychologists and others might make use of them to expand the capacity for civil courage in the service of racial justice. Public Significance Statement Racial justice is an important goal for the well-being of racialized people globally. However, most Americans, psychologists included, find it difficult to align their values and intentions with actions. This paper offers a frank discussion of the issues of shame and discomfort that often surround issues of racial injustice and describes cognitive-behavioral approaches for cultivating civil courage.