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Dear Adam J. Cheshier, thank you for inviting conversation about something I too am very uncomfortable with and yet strive to understand. I have made a concerted effort to read, follow and sign up for newsletters of Black and other minority authors. It is not reading for the faint hearted. But compulsory for the pale hearted. I am still in a sand storm of whiteness. But I accept the need to move towards equity by imposing diversity quotas in academic centres, on representational committees, in service provision etc. I have white male students who complain bitterly that they no longer have white male privilege. In fact they claim they are “discriminated against” for not identifying as a gender and/or ethnic minority. As far as I know this preferential treatment for non-whites does not apply for CEO promotions or being asked to become a partner in a law firm. Non-whites may face discrimination when renting a suite from a white landlord. The door opens preferentially for non-whites to enter college, gain acceptance to medical schools where diversity of language and culture are crucial to serve ethnic communities. It is arguably necessary in order to equalize opportunities and engagement of minorities who have been disadvantaged. The best way to understand white privilege is to immense oneself in the inter generational trauma and disenfranchisement of minorities the world over. And writing about it. As you are doing,
For most days of the summer I attended a memorial to over a thousand Canadian Indigenous children. I brought food to volunteers at the vigil of children’s shoes, toys and clothing that honour the ever growing number of bodies of children discovered. These unmarked graves are still being found in the school yards of over a hundred residential schools where children were abducted, de-cultured and abused. Nuns, priests and other church representatives were perpetrators of every imaginable atrocity including experimentation. The governments of the time facilitated. My article below describes the current goals and strategies to right the wrongs of racial oppression and inter generational trauma for Indigenous people. Trusting us and ours to hope, health, happiness and harmony.
