Learning to Listen #2 - The Skin We're In

 This week I read "The Skin We're In" by Desmond Cole. I will include a few excerpts at the end of my comments, because I believe it is important to amplify Black voices, and you need to hear from Desmond himself. However...

There were not a lot of passages that I tagged for the power of their words, because there was one thought tearing through my head all week as I read his story, like a train speeding out of control down the track towards darkness.

You see, Desmond's story centres on racism in Toronto, Canada. For too long the narrative has been that the horrific crimes against Black and People of Colour are an American thing. I was not so naive as to fall prey to this fallacy, but this book is full of names and places that are just so familiar.

The Toronto Star

Mayor John Tory

Yonge and Bloor

Justin Trudeau

CP24

CBC

CMHA

Police Chief Bill Blair

Police Chief Mark Saunders

Oshawa

Whitby

Scarborough

Peel District School Board

TDSB

Mike Harris

Each one was like a punch to the gut.

Two days after I read these words:

"As I write this, the Theriault brothers' criminal trial is scheduled to begin October 29, 2019, nearly three years after their attack (on Dafonte Miller)."

I heard CBC radio report about the conviction of a much lesser charge for one brother and the acquittal of the other.

If you have ever lived in the Toronto area, read this book and KNOW that systemic racism and the fear it breeds is present every day in our land.

Here are a few passages, in Desmond's own words:

"Canadians who do recognize historical injustice seem to understand it in this way:

- Bad things happened.

- Bad things stopped happening and equality was achieved."

- The low social and political status held by Indigenous peoples is now wholly based on the choice to be corrupt, lazy, inefficient, and unsuited to the modern world."

"I do not wish to celebrate Canada stealing our land. That is what Canadians will be celebrating on July 1, the theft of 99.8% of our land, leaving us on reserves that make up only 0.2% of the territories given us by the Creator." - Arthur Manuel

"We speak of the Underground Railroad...but our history books often fail to mention that the Underground Railroad flowed in both directions. Slavery was legal in British North America until 1834, and enslaved Black people also fled from here to the northern United States."

"Canada's immigration laws did not apply to white settlers who colonized this land. Only after their claimed their place here did they decide they needed an entry system that strictly favoured their kinsfolk. And while the rules continue to shift, the value of white immigrants over all others has not."

Learning to listen #1 - So You Want to Talk About Race

 (In an effort to sustain my investment in learning about systemic racism, I have committed to reading a book a week to educate myself about the history and current existence of racism in our world. Each week I will post voices of black people and people of colour as I hear their voices, and what I am learning.)

This week I read "So You Want To Talk About Race" by Ijeoma Oluo. This was the number one recommendation to understand the current problems with racism. Each chapter addresses a common thought or theme we hear raised these days. Oluo uses a combination of very personal stories, stories from others, and statistics to create a powerful eye-opening narrative that is impossible to ignore. If you are wondering about policing, privilege, affirmative action, school-to-prison pipeline, cultural appropriation, microaggressions, and aggressive tones, read this book.

This book has given me a better understanding of what Black people and people of colour are going through every day. It has opened my eyes to the extent of systemic racism that I previously didn't understand. It has equipped me to talk about these issues and address questions from friends and family.

Here are a few passages that were particularly powerful for me:

"Definition of racism: any prejudice against someone because of their race, when those views are reinforced by systems of power."

"If you hear someone at the water cooler say, "black people are always late," you can definitely say, "Hey, that's racist" but you can also add, "and it contributes to false beliefs about black workers that keeps them from even being interviewed for jobs, while white workers can be late or on time, but will always be judged individually with no risk of damaging job prospects for other white people seeking employment."

"The concept of privilege violates everything we've been told about fairness and everything we've been told about the American Dream of hard work paying off and good things happening to good people. We want to know that if we do "a" we can expect "b," and that those who never get "b" have never done "a."

"So, acknowledging us, believing us, means, challenging everything you believe about race in this country. And I know that this is a very big ask, I know that this is a painful and scary process. But I'm not lying and I'm not delusional. I am scared and I am hurting and we are dying. And I really, really need you to believe me."

"Talk. Please talk and talk and talk some more. But also act. Act now, because people are dying now in this unjust system...We have to learn and fight at the same time. Because people have been waiting far too long for their chance to live as equals in this society."