Critical Reflection 5

The most interesting and unfortunate way that racism persists is systemically and it is arguably the new form of racism in the 21^st century, replacing the overt racism, not to say that overt racism doesn’t still exist. I did a reflection in response to Mills’ “Racial Liberalism” which was my personal introduction to the phenomenon of systemic or new racism. After reading Audrey Kobayashi’s “Now you see them: Woman of colour in Canadian Academia” I feel that it has really struck me how systemic racism is not only present but is all around us and in regards to her article it even prevails within the universities. As a white male it is hard to understand the real effects and feelings of being so radically marginalized and it’s hard to imagine that it would be happening even in academia. In this reflection I will be focusing on where I can see racism in the university even though it is from an outsider point of view and the other focal point will be on Kobayashi’s reference to whiteness as guilt.

Saint Mary’s University has a relatively high population of international students, many of whom are not white, and many racialized people from within the country. Before this article I would not have realized the amount of systemic racism that goes on here, I would have assumed it was almost non-existent considering the wide variety of races in its attendance. However, I now feel that I have at least a bit of background knowledge on the subject and

feel as though my eyes have been “trained” enough to point some of it out. From the start of my schooling at this university I have had roughly the same amount of woman as men but I’ve only had white professors. For an individual of a race other than white this would be an instance where they may feel marginalized as they’re being taught in the Eurocentric structure and lectured by predominantly whites. It seems that this would only serve as a statement or reminder that they live in a world with a white power structure. It is not only the professors who are white in this university though. The people who work in student services are predominantly white, in fact, from what I have witnessed, all of them are while the people of colour that you see working around the university make up the lower level jobs. This is to say that if you’re a person of colour then you are being taught in a white structure by mostly white professors, told what classes to choose by mostly whites, seeing a student therapist who are mostly white and so on and then see the only non-whites working low paying jobs. Saint Mary’s does provide services and events for people of color, but the majority of the time they are under the white colonial power.

In regards to Kobayashi’s explanation of whiteness I found “whiteness as Guilt” to be very interesting. It has always frustrated me when somebody becomes so emotional about something that they simply couldn’t understand. Kobayashi makes a list for people who experience white guilt and what those people must understand. In part of her first point she says “It is after all a great privilege to be able to express one’s emotion openly and to be confident that one is in a cultural context where one’s feelings will be understood” (Kobayashi, 2007, p.72,), which simply means it would be part of that person’s white privilege and a sort of selfishness that they are attempting to be relieved of their guilt. I think the second point “It serves no purpose” (Kobayashi, 2007, p.72) is the most valid argument of all three because it’s undeniably the case. There has to be changes; attitude, behavior, structuring and trying to make oneself feel better will not make any progress therefore people must avoid “whiteness as guilt” if they are to help the cause.

Kobayashi, A. (2007) "Now You See Them, How You See Them: Women of Colour in Canadian Academia". 61-75.