Managing with Anti-Racism in Mind exercise - Shared Experiences by

SVPAO — 2024-11-12 18:26:29 UTC

This is a personal past experience that I had as an employee of a different organization. I am white and my significant other is a minority. During a performance evaluation under areas to improve there was a statement that I was "a Government employee and should conduct myself as such." Upon questioning what it was I needed to improve upon (dress, language appearance, actions etc) I was told that it was related to a witnessed show of affection that I had with my significant other. This occurred outside the building in the parking lot at the end of my lunch hour as I was returning to work. When I questioned how this had anything to do with my job performance and refused to sign the evaluation, I was told never mind they would remove it but that I needed to "get used to this criticism from others if I was choosing to be in a interracial relationship". This experience left me with anger, fear and resentment towards the management.

SVPAO — 2024-11-12 18:26:43 UTC

In one of my programs, ..., students work on each other to learn specific therapeutic techniques. For as long as I can remember, when a Muslim woman is a student in the program, there have been concerns about men seeing these students in a state of undress and working on them. Students have insisted that they can only be seen and worked on by women and they cannot work on men. The concerns that have been discussed among the faculty have included the fact that this program prepares students to be regulated healthcare providers and that once they become registered massage therapists, they cannot discriminate against anyone who comes to them for help. Another concern involves gender diversity related to this religious request. If we had to ask only females to work with Muslim women, asking for gender diverse individuals could be considered discrimination. In the end, after much discussion and consultation with risk management and the College's legal team, this program feels confident that they can require all students to work on all body types regardless of race or religion in preparation for a career in a regulated health profession.

SVPAO — 2024-11-12 18:27:01 UTC

A staff person, a person of colour, engaged with a client who according to the staff person was displaying repeated racist behaviours toward them. I was being asked to address those behaviours. I did not believe that I had enough evidence (and certainly not enough lived experience) to state categorically that the behaviours were racist. Instead I used the policies we had within the college values to address the behaviours but did not categorize them as racist. To this day I do not know how else I could have behaved but I have wondered how to listen better to whether behaviours are or are not racist and if so how to handle them in an investigation.

SVPAO — 2024-11-12 18:27:29 UTC

During the last Quebec referendum (October 30, 1995), I was working at the ..., the French language college in Quebec. Passions were high at the time and many of the students, faculty and staff were pro-independence, often activity sharing their opinions. As someone who spoke French with a strong English accent, and coming from Western Canada, it was hard not to stand out. This was the only time in my working life that I felt like a "other", someone who does not belong because my opinions did not align with the majority. After the referendum, passions subsided and working life slowing refocused on things other than Quebec independence.

SVPAO — 2024-11-12 18:27:46 UTC

In the late 1980s, I attended a large post-secondary institution in the United States that attracted students worldwide. I was immediately struck by how students tended to form groups based on race inside and outside the classroom. In the cafeteria, for instance, white students would sit on one side while black students would gather on the other. Coming from Canada, I was unprepared for such stark divisions. Despite this, I developed strong friendships with many students from diverse backgrounds. However, I was continually surprised by how many others maintained friendships strictly within their racial groups.

SVPAO — 2024-11-12 18:28:06 UTC

I have worked a lot with students from various cultural backgrounds over many years. Getting to know these students well has given me deep insights into the impact that cultural conditioning has on the way we see the world and behave. Such insights shed light on behavioral differences such as students' reluctance to ask questions in class, their desire to mimic information from authoritative sources such as text book writers or professors rather than emphasizing their own ideas, and their attitudes towards collaboration with others. Having a positive, open, and curious attitude towards people who are different from me has been an effective way to continually learn and relate effectively to people from diverse cultural and racial backgrounds. When I approach people with openness and curiosity, the response is very positive.

SVPAO — 2024-11-12 18:28:27 UTC

When I was professor, I taught a section with very high international student enrolment. This was the first time I had taught a section with this ratio of domestic vs. international students and my weekly schedule and course planning had a major assignment due during a time where many of my students were celebrating a religious holiday. The necessary adjustments and accommodations were made, but this was clunky, and the overall experience was a very powerful learning opportunity/lesson learned. The learning experience of these students could have been significantly improved had the course planning included awareness of the dates of this holiday rather than treating the holiday as an afterthought.

SVPAO — 2024-11-14 12:49:49 UTC

Throughout my career, I have been lucky to work in diverse workplaces that celebrate different cultures. This includes the food we shared at potlucks, such as Portuguese French toast, Inuit whale blubber (muktuk), and Chinese hundred-year-old eggs. Sharing food can be a great way to appreciate diversity. However, I have noticed that colleagues with heavy accents often receive less patience from listeners.

SVPAO — 2024-11-18 14:58:23 UTC

I recently met with a student who had come in to voice concerns about a professor who had told the class there was no such thing as reverse discrimination. This was in reference to a white student stating that they were tired of being passed over for others who were black, LGBTQ or disabled or whatever the "trend of the day" was and that they were being discriminated against as a white female. They did not feel that the professor had any right to say to the class that as a white individual, one would not experience discrimination or racism in the same way as others might. They felt this was misinformation.

SVPAO — 2024-11-19 16:16:22 UTC

There is a industry partner (PAC member) for the last 4 years who does not acknowledge me if there is another male college employee around. He only speaks to the men in the room.