Putting a Racial Equity Lens on Civic Engagement in Higher Education

What does it mean to apply a racial equity lens to civic engagement in higher education? In the wake of George Floyd’s murder and the COVID-19 pandemic, equity and inclusion have become fashionable buzzwords in academic circles. Yet the challenge remains: how can these ideals be meaningfully enacted? Service learning and civic engagement offer transformative opportunities to center equity in practice—not just in rhetoric.

Civic learning projects, whether situated in soup kitchens, food pantries, after-school programs, or public park clean-ups, can create decolonized spaces within higher education. These projects place participants in direct, temporary relationships with one another, grounded in real community needs. They open up possibilities for examining local-global patterns and the historical and contemporary dimensions of social issues as they are addressed by community organizations.

 

A key benefit of service learning is its emphasis on reflection. Students are asked to consider not only their experiences but also the broader implications of change. Reflexive activities encourage all participants to interrogate the root causes of the problems they engage with. When framed to highlight structural inequities, civic engagement can cultivate an activist mindset—one that moves beyond charity toward meaningful social transformation.

However, civic engagement does not automatically promote equity. Social forces such as racial domination, neoliberalism, and traditionalist orientations can undermine inclusive efforts. Service-learning activities may inadvertently reinforce oppressive structures unless they are critically examined and reframed. For example, a river or park clean-up that focuses solely on removing trash without examining the social and economic forces that produce environmental degradation offers little educational value.

Professors, administrators, students, community members, and partners bring diverse social positions to civic projects. These positionalities shape how issues are framed and understood. Civic engagement thus becomes an opportunity for deep dialogue—one that seeks working-level consensus on the historical, cultural, and political contexts necessary for sustainability and democratic outcomes. While all projects face limitations in time and resources, prioritizing structural analysis and dialogue can ensure lasting impact.

Settlement colonialism remains a persistent form of domination in contemporary society, embedded in structures that exploit poor and minoritized communities. Civic engagement projects, viewed through a decolonial lens, should aim to foster connection, relationship, and belonging—rather than perpetuate division and exploitation. While students cannot dismantle colonial structures in a single project, they can help set a tone for how colleges relate to communities. This relationship should be reciprocal, with information flowing both ways. Land acknowledgments are a starting point, but institutions must move beyond performative gestures to critically examine and address enduring patterns of domination.

From a constructivist perspective, civic engagement occurs in spaces shaped by the participants themselves. The cultural nature of these spaces—and the ones they create—is critical. Participants should be encouraged to bring their authentic selves to the event. Scholars have noted that civic spaces can be dominated by particular cultural groups, marginalizing others. Literature on white, colonized, Black, and gendered spaces points to the need for a racial and gender-conscious approach to civic learning—one that empowers disadvantaged communities, creates counter-spaces, and dismantles the structural color line. Service learning succeeds when it creates space for marginalized groups to recharge, reconnect, and take action.

In community development, the adage “teach a man to fish” is often favored over “give a man a fish.” Yet some situations call for both—sharing the fish and providing urgently needed services. Civic learning projects operate in the teaching-to-fish domain, building the capacity of community organizations and their clients to address structural problems, deepen relationships, and transform the systems that sustain inequity.