Members of OSSTF and ONTED,
There is something we need to talk about.
Before we do, I request that you read this through in its entirety even if it makes you feel uncomfortable. Actually, especially if it makes you uncomfortable. Because if we are going to grapple with this, and I mean truly engage in critical discourse that leads to actual change, we will need to look deep within ourselves, both as individuals and as an institution. There is an elephant in the room right now, and the reality is it's one that some of us would prefer to ignore, dismiss, or trivialize, but it needs to be in the open.
We need to talk about systemic racism.
We need to talk about the role it plays in the structures and function of our organization. We need to talk about the colonial practices that marginalize, restrict, and silence the voices of racialized educators. We need to talk about how we are complicit.
And we need to do it now, not over the course of two or three years and after multiple "consultations." Inviting racialized educators to join a committee, asking for them to share their stories, and then letting those stories fade into the background without taking action creates trauma. “We need more time. We need another consultation.” NO WE DON'T. We need only to listen, and then we need to act. I often keep Emma Watson's words in my mind in moments like this. When addressing the United Nations about gender inequality she issued a call to action: "If not us, who? If not now, when?" (Watson) These words could not be more applicable than they are right now for us. In this moment in time. Because there is nobody else, and there is no other time. So, let's do this.
We need to realize that the terms systemic racism and colonization are not taboo words. Discussing them, and by extension our role in upholding them, should not make us angry or defensive. The first step when we hear those words is to STOP and LISTEN. I've been doing that a lot this week.
What I've been hearing has made me reflect on the sense of pride I had fighting alongside you last year against the government's cuts to education. I felt a sense of unity for the first time in my career, even if we weren’t entirely successful. However, after seeing the aftermath of AMPA 2021 (Annual Meeting of the Provincial Assembly for OSSTF), and the trauma that it caused, that sense of pride has diminished.
When I refer to racism, I'm not talking about the kind that walks around in public wearing hoods, or the kind that asserts we need to "take Canada back", though obviously it's that too. I'm talking about the more subtle kind of racism. The kind that works its way into the fabric of our union so that we can barely recognize it. The kind that when it's called out elicits those defensive reactions. "Not me. Not us. I treat everyone equally. So do my colleagues."
In my first year of teaching, a well respected Black male educator came in to run a separate session with three of the Black male students from my class. Part way through the session, I overheard some commotion in the hall and went out to check. It seemed he was giving them some "tough love", and one student in particular was not taking it well. The conflict spilled out into the hallway and I heard the student assert "you're doing this just because we are Black", to which the educator replied "I don't care if you are green, purple, or orange." I considered that for a while afterwards. He's right, I thought. It doesn't matter what colour your skin is. In my classroom, I treat everyone equally. I don't see colour.
I'm sure some of you have felt the same. Maybe you still do. But that wasn't his point, and it was only years later that I realized how badly I misunderstood that moment. That saying you do not see colour is to say you don't truly see your students, their lived experiences, their stories, and the way in which systemic racism has shaped some of those events. It's to say that you do not truly see your colleagues. It's akin to responding to Black Lives Matter with claims about all lives, and if you still don't see the problem with that, then there is more learning, more unlearning, that you need to do.
As a white male educator, I admit I have no idea what it must feel like to have to constantly explain racism to others, and how exhausting it must be, to see it sometimes fall on deaf ears. I recognize the privilege that I bring when entering into this space; I'm "in the privileged position of opting into it. Which of course means that on the flip side, I could just as easily opt out of it. Every day, I'm given that choice - I'm granted that privilege - based on the colo[u]r of my skin" (Korver). What Korver speaks about is his ability to blend into the crowd. To disappear from these conversations without anyone saying a word. In our context, to not join the committee, not register for the workshop, seek out the material, or engage in authentic reflection. All of these things manifest themselves in what transpired at AMPA, and what I'm sitting with right now is the realization that some of my colleagues don't have that same privilege. This is what they live every day. There is no option to opt out, and that makes me angry.
I must acknowledge that I did not attend AMPA. My accounts of what occurred have been gathered from conversations with colleagues and through social media where I was audience to clear examples of systemic racism. Let's just lay them bare.
I observed a member questioning why a delegate had to be referred to as a "white delegate" as opposed to just a "delegate". They reacted defensively when it was explained why differentiating mattered in this case. I observed how Robert's Rules enabled and enforced the silencing of racialized educators, and if your response to that claim is to demand an alternative system if someone is going to complain, that's a problem. Our reaction should be to listen to understand, and then work toward something that might elevate the voices of all members equitably. Who knows what system that might be, but we need to find one. Of course, that's no small task, but maintaining the status quo due to an absence of an immediate alternative means that we can't issue requests for unity while we actively uphold a process that divides us.
I observed a motion driven by racialized members voted down, only to be supported, and the vote reversed, when it was put forth by white members. What's the problem with that, you ask? “Perhaps we reflected. We grew and realized our mistake.” Perhaps. But maybe what we really need to ask ourselves is why didn't we listen to those initial voices, you know, the non-white members? Whose voices are we elevating? Whose are we silencing? And how do we do that within our practice, in our daily interactions with staff and students? In what ways are we propagating the "old boys club", and why can't we see how that is problematic?
“But wait. We elected a woman as President. In fact, the only two candidates for President were women. What nonsense!” Yes, what nonsense indeed, if only we dig a little deeper.
Seven of the eleven members who ran for either President, Vice-President, Treasurer, or Executive Officer are white. Sixty-four percent. That seems more than reasonable considering the likely demographic of our provincial membership. We had "representation". But representation without power is just a picture on a website.
Seventy-one percent of white members were voted into the position they ran for. Only one of the four racialized members can say the same. A second was voted into a "lower role". And one, was continually passed over. Not once. Not twice. But three times. This despite bringing new, original, and tangible ideas for the change we so desperately need. Despite providing a hope and optimism among some members that I have not witnessed before in my career. So I'm not here to debate whether or not they should have won their initial election. Maybe the candidate was "an underdog", as I saw one member refer to them as. But to systematically pass them over time and time again was, to be frank, a disgrace.
I'm not saying those who won their positions aren't deserving. I'm not saying they won't do a "good job". I don't really know them so this isn't an indictment of what they bring to the table, or what they don't. What I do know is that we had a moment when we could have made a clear statement that when we say we want change, we mean it; when we say we are serious about anti-racism work, we mean it, and when we say we value the voices and experiences of racialized educators, we mean it.
But instead we deferred. We punted. We want change, just not too much. We recognize the need to transform, just as long as it isn't too radical. Another time maybe. When we are more comfortable.
But if we've established anything, it's that we have to be comfortable with our discomfort. So where do we go from here?
I have to say I don't have all of the answers. I'm on my own learning journey much like we all should be, but here's what I think I know.
Start by accepting the fact that racism exists within education because "denial is the heartbeat of racism" (Kendi 9). Recognize that while it may be overt, it is often subtle.
When you encounter the terms systemic racism, colonization, and even white supremacy, your first and only initial response should be to stop and listen.
Recognize that not all of your racialized colleagues feel the same way. Some do not feel silenced or oppressed. Listen to those that do.
You are on your own journey of unlearning and learning. Do not ask your racialized colleagues to educate you.
There is no room for neutrality in this conversation. You are either actively upholding systemic racism, or you are actively working to destroy it. However, remember that these states are not "fixed identities [and that] "[w]e can be racist one minute and an antiracist the next" (Kendi 10).
Interrogate your practice, your assignments, your assessment, your policies, and your behaviour. Don't ask yourself if those things are racist, but how they are. Start there and treat this as a continual process.
Consider the role you play in the marginalization of your colleagues and of your students. Whose voices could you be amplifying?
If you have made it this far and are a member of OSSTF, commit to a resolution for change. Let's agree that we will spend this next year putting in the work so that AMPA 2022 is not a repeat of what transpired this month. Let's not arrive at that moment, talk about change, and say we do not have the time.
If you are a member of the larger ONTED community, recognize that these issues are not unique to OSSTF. They exist in your union too; they may just play out in different forms. Find them and dismantle them.
We all have the power to shift the narrative, to dismantle, disrupt, and decolonize. Remember that "[s]tories have been used to dispossess and to malign, but stories can also be used to empower and to humanize. Stories can break the dignity of a people, but stories can also repair that broken dignity" (Adichie 17:27).
When you look back at this moment in time years from now, from the murder of George Floyd, to Black Lives Matter, to COVID-19 and anti-Asian racism, what role will you have played? In the retelling of this story, will you be cast as a disruptor of systemic racism, or as an accomplice? Just as importantly, how do you discuss these events in your classroom now? Do you even discuss them, and if not, what is stopping you?
I'll end with this. I hope you've found something here that acts as motivation for either the beginning or the continuation of your work to create an equitable education system. I hope it didn't take someone who looks like me to catalyze that process because it isn't my voice that needs to be elevated.
So next time you hear someone talking about systemic racism, decolonization, or white supremacy, especially if that person is racialized, learn from them, follow them on social media, listen to them, and above all else, commit to change so that we never again arrive at a critical juncture and say we do not have the time.
Bobby Guse
Works Cited
Adichie, Chimamanda. "The Danger of a Single Story." TEDGlobal 2009. Oxford, UK. July 2009.
Kendi, Dr. Ibram X. How to be an Antiracist. One World: New York, 2019.
Korver, Kyle. "Privileged." The Player's Tribune, 8 Apr. 2019,
https://www.theplayerstribune.com/articles/kyle-korver-utah-jazz-nba
Watson, Emma. "Gender equality is your issue too". UN WOMEN, 20 Sep. 2014,
https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2014/9/emma-watson-gender-equality-is-your-
issue-too
Comments
Post a Comment