The term “resilience” has become such a popular term in our culture that its meaning has become increasingly distorted from its original definition. Well-intentioned people tend to use the word as a way to describe one’s ability to endure or persevere through hardship. As journalist and Perspective Magazine founder Anmol Irfan elaborated, “many use it in what they see as a positive way, attempting to call someone strong or able to deal with their trauma” (2023). The word is increasingly being used to describe survivors of oppression and trauma, as well as people from marginalized communities. So how can this practice be harmful if it is well-intentioned? Even if it is meant as a compliment, describing someone as resilient can actually negatively affect the described individual and detract attention from underlying systemic issues in several ways.

Bias and Resulting Inequities

Being aware of our own biases and understanding how they can influence our reactions and behaviors is critical to practicing diversity, equity, inclusion and justice principles. When bias leads us to believe that people from marginalized communities have higher levels of resilience, we ignore the fact that shared hardships can impact individuals differently (Singh, 2023). Making broad generalizations about someone’s ability to withstand difficulties can lead to inaction and neglecting our duty to respond to each person’s needs sufficiently. Instead, it is essential to consider the unique individual’s experiences and perspectives when determining equitable ways to support people facing hardships.

From Surviving to Thriving

As part of our panel discussion “Nurturing Resilience in the Face of Trauma" at Acknowledge Alliance’s 2023 Forget-Me-Not event, Dr. Meag-gan O’Reilly shared her thoughts on how we need to reconsider our current definition of resilience and how it affects students.

“Resilience is actually about recovery, but at least in how we use it nowadays, today we use it like the word “persevere” or “endure”... so students feel this pressure to be resilient. They think they just have to make a way out of no way and keep mushing through. That’s not resilience. Resilience is “recover, replenish and restore.” It’s actually about maybe even taking a break and replenishing. So it’s a little bit of a paradigm shift we need to think about when we use that word and how it’s actually landing on our students.” - Dr. Meag-gan O’Reilly, Psychologist, self-worth expert, DEI Consultant, and Co-Founder of Inherent Value Psychology INC

As Dr. Simran Jeet Singh of the Aspen Institute’s Religion & Society Program explains, “resilience is not about gritting your teeth and suffering quietly, and it’s more than simply developing thick skin. Resilience is about our ability to find hope and agency amid difficulty” (2023). In order to help people to thrive rather than to merely survive, we must provide empathetic support that allows individuals to heal and replenish during challenging situations.

Deflecting from Real Systemic Issues

Rather than looking at the underlying causes of a problem, we tend to focus on the reactions of the survivors of trauma and oppression and their ability to manage the situation (Singh, 2023). This tendency masks the root issue and the systemic flaws that need to be addressed, and can instead place pressure on victims to “react the right way or to ‘bounce back’ as expected in order to be resilient” (Irfan, 2023). By shifting our focus from reactions to systemic causes, we can begin to find lasting and equitable solutions to problems.

At Acknowledge Alliance, we frequently use the word “resilience”, and feel it is important to ensure our usage does not lead to unintended consequences for anyone in our community - people from marginalized groups, survivors of oppression and trauma, and any of the students and educators we work with. We believe it is time for us all to critically rethink how we define and use the term resilience.

View the full panel discussion and other recordings from the 2023 Forget-Me-Not event on our Youtube channel!

References:

Irfan, Anmol. (2023, August 7). Why Calling Marginalized People “Resilient” Is Not A Compliment. Anti-Racism Daily. Retrieved from https://the-ard.com/2023/08/07/why-calling-marginalized-people-resilient-is-not-a-compliment/

Singh, Simran Jeet. (2023, March 22). “Resilient” Isn’t the Compliment You Think It Is. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2023/03/resilient-isnt-the-compliment-you-think-it-is