Not White in a White world

This week the Issues in Diversity faculty team hosted an event in the Whetung Theatre at Brealey campus for Justice students. The topic was race and racism - a broad theme! Over 2 weeks, over 400 students participated, listening to 4 interesting individuals from the community talk about their experiences of racism.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151432249378259&set=a.389646563258.169046.5690608258&type=1&theater

So what is the race issue in 2013 anyway! The film we viewed proposed that race only has meaning when we look at it from a sociological perspective, after centuries of colonialism (A Film About Races). John Trudeau, currently working for Fleming in Frost Campus Aboriginal Student Services, agrees. John is an Anishnabe from the Serpent River First Nation in Northern Ontario and in his talk he stressed the impact of centuries of colonialism on Aboriginal peoples. Find John at jotrudea@flemingc.on.ca.

Carolyn Nicholson, a social worker who immigrated to Canada from Pakistan when she was 21, talked about racist experiences at Customs, as well as the tough time her sons had integrating into high school in Sault Ste Marie. Her son Jeremy Dias is founder of Day of Pink, a foundation he started with funds from his settlement after winning a human rights claim against his high school for not protecting him from harassment.
http://www.dayofpink.org/

Charmaine Magumbe, a Jamaican Canadian also from northern Ontario (Sudbury) talked about the discrimination she and her children have experienced at school, work, and at church. For her race and racism are old stories she wishes to leave behind. She helps other Black families find support as co-founder of the Afrocentric Awareness Network of the Kawathas. You'll find more info about AANK here: http://ppcii.ca/pdf/Multicultural%20Organizations%20of%20PeteboroughPUBLICDisplay.pdf

Michael Ma, an antiracist researcher, challenged students to think about being White ("so if people from Turkey are Arab but Greeks are White, and Turkey and Greece are neighbours, who exactly is White and why?") Mike is a faculty member in the Department of Criminology at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, British Columbia and is visiting Peterborough where he has worked as Coordinator of Community and Race Relations. http://www.racerelationspeterborough.org/

As the Diversity Coordinator, I get to use my background in community development to collaborate with local agencies working with immigrants, racialized communities, and many other groups of people who experience marginalization. Working with great people like these in the community helps me to constantly challenge my white privilege so I don't get stuck in my own White worldview. Charmaine joked that she was my only Black friend in Peterborough who could come out to the panel (she likes to keep me on my toes :-) but the truth is whether personal friends or professional contacts, I like making my network available to students and faculty. If you need community resources, drop by Brealey 405 or contact me and I will be happy to connect you.

Also, check out the resources linked at the top right of the blog (gold diversity logo). I have reorganized the resources by topic so they are easier to locate.