Post by kkj on Sept 14, 2017 22:03:25 GMT
This is an initial attempt to articulate my own relationship to the topic of Critical Race Theory (CRT). Although my prior formal experience with CRT failed to explicitly identify it as such, I imagine that my readings of the work of cultural theorist, Stuart Hall from my first year undergraduate course in Sociology encompassed this with respect to media representations of the other. Daily largely negative lived experience has shaped my evolving relationship to CRT as a woman of colour who immigrated to Canada. Especially as a social worker, my experiences of colonialist white supremacist xenophobia inform my understanding of CRT, and the need for its promotion.
Although I have explicitly learnt about racism in Canada, I did not always recognize the implicit expectations that I should refrain from making white folx uncomfortable when discussing the trauma I have experienced at the hands of bigotry. I now reflect on years of knowing which individuals I could trust with my assaults from white supremacy, as fellow folx of colour would not gaslight me with silencing or derailment if I turned to them for support, but I had been conditioned to prioritize the feelings of the unoppressed, so I purposefully attempted to avoid such conversations with white folx, or put a rosy filter on for their benefit, as demanded of the model minority.
Over time though, I realized how my behaviour only reinforced that these expectations would continue for folx that look like me hundreds of years from now, as my commitment to the comfort of white folx only propelled their cognitive dissonance. In understanding this, I reflect on Maya Angelou’s sentiments that we should do better once we know better, which is why I am now monumentally bound to growing awareness of white supremacy, in an effort towards equitable outcomes for all, unhindered by race.
Although I have explicitly learnt about racism in Canada, I did not always recognize the implicit expectations that I should refrain from making white folx uncomfortable when discussing the trauma I have experienced at the hands of bigotry. I now reflect on years of knowing which individuals I could trust with my assaults from white supremacy, as fellow folx of colour would not gaslight me with silencing or derailment if I turned to them for support, but I had been conditioned to prioritize the feelings of the unoppressed, so I purposefully attempted to avoid such conversations with white folx, or put a rosy filter on for their benefit, as demanded of the model minority.
Over time though, I realized how my behaviour only reinforced that these expectations would continue for folx that look like me hundreds of years from now, as my commitment to the comfort of white folx only propelled their cognitive dissonance. In understanding this, I reflect on Maya Angelou’s sentiments that we should do better once we know better, which is why I am now monumentally bound to growing awareness of white supremacy, in an effort towards equitable outcomes for all, unhindered by race.
