The Book
In an article in the Star, Shree Paradkar states:
If there’s one thing The Skin We’re In by Desmond Cole makes clear, it is how integral racism is to Canadian life. It winds its way through the justice system, military decisions, child welfare, the education system and of course, the media, and leaves in its wake a trail of destruction for many, but particularly cruelly for Black, First Nations, Inuit and Métis people.
There are books that address racism through a Black perspective and some through a lens of the impact on being Indigenous in Canada. Desmond Cole’s book invites us to see the systems in place in Canada as a whole.
The article in the Star discusses how educators are engaging in deeper conversations about the need for change and for influencing change. This is something not for teachers alone. This is a prompt for all of us to pause and reflect, to develop our literacy around racism and to have the courage to have courageous conversations that lead to real change.
The Podcast
VoicEd Radio Canada offers podcasts for educators. They did a series on racism in schools today. The first book discussed is “The Skin We’re In”. There are 5 podcasts on this book alone.
This series is for those who want to take a deeper dive into this subject matter. While the discussions are focused on education, the examples of the impact on individuals who are racialized apply across all contexts.
Many of the podcasts are about racism in general and all are focused on what this means in the classroom; however, Episode 3 speaks about such topics as the history of Canada, Colonialism, the Indian Act, the problem with formulaic Land Acknowledgments.
Worth a listen for those who are awakening to the biases we all carry.