Anti-Racism and Anti-Hate Project Report
5 Results and Findings: Connecting the Framework to the Environmental Scan
As part of a continuous learning approach for individuals working in the post-secondary sector to AR and AH practices, the emergent framework depicted in Figure 2 is described in detail below in reference to findings from the environmental scan. The underlying recognition of what emerged through the scan and framework is that AR and AH work are both required at a level of each individual as well as at a collective whole of all individuals working in and across PSIs. However, much of the focus of the resources, tools, and training found have an underlying assumption that the reader would make their own judgements in how much to read, what to filter, and eventually how to act.
This focus means that the framework is dependent on choice – the choice to engage, disengage or sustain a current position towards AR and AH practices. As a result, a key part of the process was to identify what themes emerged from the scan and how the resources, training and tools could be framed from the perspective of an individual who is beginning their journey of learning AR and AH work.
Awareness and Reflection
As a starting point in the framework, the findings from the environmental scan showcased resources, tools and training that mirrored a theme of acknowledgement as well as questions of curiosity such as:
- What do I bring?
- What am I taking away?
- Where are the opportunities for renewal and growth?
From journal articles, literature reviews, links, reports, videos, to opportunities for reflection, the scan revealed a broad approach to raising awareness. Increased awareness supports an understanding of the importance of talking about race or hate interwoven with topics such as racism, anti-racism, etc. This review also creates space for individuals to understand the role of different organizations such as the BC’s Office of the Human Rights Commissioner and the Canadian Race Relations Foundation (although the latter is not in BC). Awareness, as a starting point, also serves as a means to help individuals understand a few areas, such as:
- Comprehending widely used terminology such as prejudice, bias and discrimination,
- How improper use of phrases/language can impact and uphold systems of power,
- The importance of land acknowledgements,
- Allow individuals to situate themselves in their positionality as well as comfort/discomfort with this work, and
How one’s ability to self-reflect on a commitment to growth and learning can be helpful.
Knowledge and Competence
Building from awareness, the scan found that PSIs and organizations appeared to rely heavily on the importance of learning and unlearning through knowledge acquisition and capacity building in the findings through questions like:
- How do I begin to understand important definitions, concepts, etc.?
- What skills or competence can I build in these areas?
- How can I begin to take a stand?
In this area of the framework, the scan found that several PSIs had developed resource pages with multi-modal formats of building understanding and competence related to AR and AH practices. These examples also included resources that were made available for the organizations focused on social justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI), and anti-racism. Examples included toolkits that expanded an understanding of language and concepts, a comprehensive foundational guide dedicated to the Indigenization of PSIs, to charters like the Scarborough Charter that has framed critical principles that address anti-Black racism. To date, six[1] of the 25 BC PSIs have signed the Scarborough Charter. The scan also found guides, transcripts and videos of past events or forums that took place at institutions that further support the learning process, albeit post-event. It is worth highlighting that formalized training was only found through an electronic search at one institution.
Underpinning the learning in the scan was an ever-present call to action. However, several PSIs amplified a key message of accountability.
Accountability
Accountability holds an array of different definitions in higher education (Wooldridge, 2019). Localizing this part of the framework to personal accountability as elucidated through the scan builds on what has been expressed in previous areas of the framework – that individuals bring their own assumptions, biases, lived experiences, intersecting identities and a level of readiness and willingness to engage in AR and AH work.
AR and AH work is deeply personal and emotionally provoking as individuals confront truth and lived realities as well as face stark realizations that actions and inactions at the hands of historical and current times have consequences. From whose voices are not heard, whose bodies are not represented, to whose burden has AR and AH work fallen to, to name a few examples.
Thus, the lens through which accountability emerged were through these questions:
- How can I be ready to take a stand?
- How do I situate my whole self in this work?
A thematic pause shone through the scan in a variety of ways. For example, when it comes to AH, disrupting prejudice and stereotypes is at the heart of the work that needs to be done; however, understanding the unconsciousness of both is important to first acknowledge. The scan illuminated a significant role that education plays in the Truth and Reconciliation Commissioner of Canada’s calls to action; as part of anti-Indigenous racism, meaningful steps must be made and the unfamiliarity or questioning of the impact of residential schools is unacceptable in narratives, systems or policies at institutions. At the same time, sitting on the sidelines as a result of a reliance on good intentions permeated the findings in the scan – from directories of consultants with expertise in AR and AH as a means of reflecting on both capacity and competence to lead and do this work, to guides on distinguishing well-intentioned versus intended outcomes. In addition, resources specific to People of Colour (POC) were found as a means of highlighting self-care as POC often carry an unbalanced burden of creating space for discussions around AR and AH that is not always tied to the responsibilities outlined in their institutional role (Bouajram, 2021).
The overarching bridge between accountability and the last component of the framework, intentional and inspired action, is the potential of doing more harm if safety, comfort, capacity and competence are not established
Intentional and Inspired Action
The undeniable “aha moments” in learning about the impact of oppression, colonialism, white supremacy, and racism creates mixed emotions and reactions that fall on a continuum from helplessness to an ever-ready response to do something immediately, with both having significant consequences.
As a result, intentionality becomes critical – creating an AR and inclusive environment requires everyday actions, small and big (Kendi, 2019). The underlying question is:
- What meaningful steps can I take to make an impact where I am?
The findings in the scan demonstrate a diverse array of resources in this area; examples include:
- Learning a new dialect/language,
- Creating inclusion related to pronouns, gendered language and respectful environments;
- Deepening allyship;
- Disrupting unconscious bias;
- Contributing lived experiences to current case studies that bring to life both examples and approaches to microaggressions;
- Applying strategies through toolkits that increase capacity for brave conversations, equitable decision-making, conflict engagement, active bystander and decolonization, and
- Funding opportunities as potential sources of support for AR and AH work given that funding can sometimes be a barrier to move an idea into a systemic difference.
The emergent framework and environmental scan reveal the range of educational resources and tools that BC PSIs and selected organizations have made available. The continuous approach to learning and unlearning provides a fruitful hope that meaningful change is possible with AR and AH work.
- Signatories of the Scarborough Charter can be found here: https://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/principal/signatories-scarborough-charter ↵
Viewed as a social construct, individuals become divided based on factors such as geography, history, culture, economy, social, politics and physical traits even though none of these can be legitimately used to classify groups of individuals. (3)
Refers to behaviours, actions or words that can be offensive and hurtful and leave the targeted group/person feeling traumatized, excluded, unsafe, uncomfortable and sad. (1)
Is a set of mistaken assumptions, opinions and actions that is based on a belief that one group of people characterized by a specific colour of skin or shared ancestry is inherently superior to another. Expressed as jokes, slurs, hate speech or actions, racism is deeply rooted in entrenched institutions, systems, policies, programs, practices and attitudes. (3) (8)
A state of mind that is conscious or unconscious and strongly held attitudes about a person/group that is often absent of legitimate evidence. (5)
An unconscious way of thinking that can be explicitly or implicitly based on a stereotype or perspectives of a group of people. (1)
The unfair treatment of an individual or group that results in placing a burden on them, denying them of a privilege, benefit or opportunity that is enjoyed by others, because of race, citizenship, family status, disability, sex, etc. (1)
Refers to an intentional process that considers power, access, opportunities, treatment, impact and outcomes of a group that has been historically, systemically and persistently marginalized. (2)
Differences in lived experiences, perspectives or understanding of people that is related to race, ethnicity, colour, culture, ancestry, geographical locations of origin, political beliefs, religion, class, etc. (2)
The unfair treatment of an individual or group that results in placing a burden on them, denying them of a privilege, benefit or opportunity that is enjoyed by others, because of race, citizenship, family status, disability, sex, etc. (1)
Beliefs, attitudes, prejudice, stereotyping and/or discrimination that is directed at people of Black-African descent and is rooted in a history and experience of enslavement and colonization. The overt and covert racism that is both structural and systemic across policies, practices, institutions, ideologies and sectors towards people of Black-African descent requires an ongoing and active process of dismantling such reinforced and perpetuated systems of oppression. (5) (8)
The ongoing race-based discrimination, negative stereotyping and injustice experienced by Indigenous Peoples and is rooted in a history of genocide, colonization and violence through evident discrimination in Canadian federal policies such as the Indian Act and the residential school system. The overt and covert racism perpetuates power imbalance, systemic racism, inequity and hostility and violence directed at Indigenous Peoples that requires ongoing and active re-addressment and dismantling in light of decolonization, truth and reconciliation. (5) (6)
Refers to the systemic subjugation one group over another that results in the attainment of power, dominance and privilege and prejudice towards the group being oppressed. (2)
The idea that white people and the ideas, thoughts, beliefs and actions of White people are superior to People of Colour and their ideas, thoughts, beliefs and actions. This privilege results in white People enjoying structural advantages and rights while People of Colour do not. White supremacy is deeply rooted in entrenched individual, collective and systemic levels. (9)
The ongoing process of identifying and removing forms of colonization at the structural, systemic and individual level. (1)