These selections are drawn from our longer Confront Racism Bibliography. Have suggestions? Use our Contact page to get in touch.
Ces sélections sont tirées de notre bibliographie Lutte contre le racisme. Avez-vous des suggestions? Partagez-les en vous servant de notre page Contactez-nous.
#TheorizingWhileBlack a TWAIL Review Symposium
Introduced by Sara Ali, University of Toronto, manager of The Inclusion Project
With contributions from Kamari Clarke, Rob Knox, Babatunde Fagbayibo, and Siba N’Zatioula Grovogui, this forum sheds light on the fact that “the challenges of theorizing while black do not begin in the academy, and certainly do not end once black students become well-respected scholars in international law and elsewhere.” In her introduction, Sara Ali writes: “While academic streams in Ontario high schools (where students can choose a stream based on their future aspirations of attending college or university) made sense in theory, in practice black and Indigenous students were encouraged to choose courses in streams for the non-university bound regardless of their demonstrated ability, effectively limiting their choices upon graduation. In a 2017 report on the Toronto District School Board in Ontario, 53 percent of black students were streamed into academic programs compared to 80 percent of students from other racialized groups and 81 percent of white students. The response to Ontario’s decision to end the streaming system last year had mixed reactions: anger and confusion for many of those whom it didn’t impact and celebration for many of those whom it did.”
Tuck and Yang analyze multiple “settler moves towards innocence” as they argue that decolonization brings about the repatriation of Indigenous land and life; it is not a metaphor for other things that we might want to achieve to improve our societies. This is an important article in a context where many Canadian universities are attempting to “decolonize” and “Indigenize”.
