A List of Actions

Written By Tammy Brimner

Today is Canada Day. There is much I love about Canada and I am very grateful to live here.

However, with everything that has been going on, I don’t feel like celebrating today.

What I do feel like is sharing a growing collection of ideas that have come to my attention that could make a difference to end (or at least move the dial closer to ending) racial and gender inequality in Canada -- and that would be worth celebrating.

My inspiration today came after reading BC Premier John Horgan’s thoughtful statement on Canada Day: “Canada Day is also an opportunity to reflect on the work ahead of us to make British Columbia a safe place for everyone – free from violence and discrimination – as we continue to right the wrongs of our past and present. On this day, we reflect on our colonial history and reaffirm our government’s commitment to walking the path to reconciliation with Indigenous peoples.” (1)

It was the words “commitment to walking the path to reconciliation” that struck me. A commitment is only valued if the actions consistently demonstrate that commitment. I’m well aware of the rhetoric on why certain actions haven’t been taken. I just don’t think this is good enough.

So in case you haven’t moved to action because you don’t know where to start or what might even be possible, I wanted to share just a few examples of what some groups are working on, big and small, to end racial and gender inequality for governments, businesses, academia and individuals.

Here we go:

  1. Decrease the role of police in situations that are not dangerous, while allowing medical and social services workers to take the lead. (2)

  2. Repealing the vast majority of mandatory minimum penalties in Canada which are, at minimum, violations of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. (3) (4)

  3. The federal government needs to study and implement recommendations from the Erasmus-Dussault Royal Commission, which was set up in 1991 by then Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. The Commission’s recommendations came out of 96 First Nation communities’ visits by Dene leader George Erasmus and Quebec Court of Appeal justice René Dussault in 1996. The commission called for “restorative justice by which we mean the obligation to relinquish control of that which has been unjustly appropriated: the authority of Aboriginal nations to govern their own affairs; control of lands and resources essential to the livelihood of families and communities; and jurisdiction over education, child welfare and community services.” (5)

  4. Darren Walker, President of the Ford Foundation shared his opinions on what would be needed for change to occur: “This will require rejecting Milton Friedman’s outmoded ideology: the dogma that a company must put shareholder value above all other objectives. It will require that corporations operate, in the words of the Business Roundtable, “for the benefit of all stakeholders — customers, employees, suppliers, communities and shareholders.”Reforming capitalism also requires policymakers to transform a financial system that favors short-term returns, gives companies incentives to take on huge amounts of debt, and protects the special tax treatment for carried interest, a gift for private equity.” (6)

  5. Take some lessons from the NBA. The NBA recognizes that there are rich and poor teams but in order for the whole NBA to survive and thrive, they have 3 practices that serve the good of the whole: 1) revenue sharing through equal distribution, 2) spending limits (i.e. salary caps), and 3) the new player draft gives top drafts to the worst teams. Why? Simply put, unregulated competition in the NBA would be a disaster. The top teams need other teams to play to bring in the fans and to have a level playing field for a fair fight. (7)

  6. “We need to begin with a common language and common set of definitions for racism...That work begins with an acknowledgement that racism/discrimination very possibly exists in your organization (and may be systemic), along with a commitment to understanding before trying to fix it.” (8)

  7. Walmart’s recent change in practice to discontinue placing multicultural hair care and beauty products in locked cases. (9)

  8. Disney is identifying productions that need to be labeled as outdated or leaving them off completely. (10)

  9. Britain adopted a blind-recruitment policy for its civil service in October 2015 after a number of organizations found the practice worthwhile. (11)

  10. BC is putting Black history into the province’s school curriculum for the first time. (12)

  11. The Faculty of Applied Science at UBC has already begun the work of Indigenizing and decolonizing their curriculum and culture. (13)

  12. “A coalition of AI researchers, data scientists, and sociologists has called on the academic world to stop publishing studies that claim to predict an individual’s criminality using algorithms trained on data like facial scans and criminal statistics.” (14)

  13. Check our assumptions and biases at the door. That requires us to increase our self-awareness. If you don’t know what your assumptions and biases are (particularly think about race and privilege), you can use the Implicit Association Test (or other instruments to assess bias) or work with a coach to uncover these unconscious biases and assumptions. (15)

  14. Austin Channing Brown said it best: “I tell people all the time that the work of antiracism is the work of becoming a better human to other humans.” (16)

  15. Austin Channing Brown also encourages organizations to “tap Black women in helping to craft the direction of the organization, the vision of the publication, the purpose of the ministry. When our voices are truly desired, numbers will cease to be the sole mark of achievement.” She also calls for “greater representation in leadership, greater influence over mission or strategy…It’s about diverting power and attention to the oppressed, toward the powerless. It’s not enough to dabble at diversity and inclusion while leaving existing authority structure in place. Reconciliation demands more.” Chapter 13. (17)

  16. Ibram X. Kendi writes, “Where antiracist power and policy predominate. Where equal opportunities and thus outcomes exist between the equal groups. Where people blame policy, not people, for societal problems. Where nearly everyone has more than they have today. Where racist power lives on the margins, like antiracist power does today. Where antiracist ideas are our common sense, like racist ideas are today.” In Chapter 17, Kendi goes on to outline successive steps to being an antiracist. (18)

My wish is that this list will provide hope and inspire action.

It is by no means an exhaustive list; we just need to start somewhere and then build on what we know.

What else can be done to end racial and gender inequality?

Resources

  1. Horgan, J. (2020) ‘Premier’s Statement on Canada Day’, Government of BC, Victoria, July 1. Available at: https://archive.news.gov.bc.ca/releases/news_releases_2017-2021/2020PREM0072-001203.htm (Accessed: 1 July 2020)

  2. Schuppe, J. (2020) ‘What would it mean to 'defund the police'? These cities offer ideas’, NBC News, June 10. Available at: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/what-would-it-mean-defund-police-these-cities-offer-ideas-n1229266 (Accessed: 1 July 2020)

  3. Wilson-Raybould, J. (2020) ‘When I was in cabinet I pushed for bold criminal justice reform. Nothing happened. Now Ottawa has another chance to do the right thing,’ The Globe and Mail, June 20. Available at: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-when-i-was-in-cabinet-i-pushed-for-bold-criminal-justice-reform/ Viewed on June 30, 2020.

  4. Author unknown. (2018) ‘Canadians don’t like mandatory minimum sentences’, The John Howard Society of Canada, August 27. Available at: https://johnhoward.ca/blog/canadians-dont-like-mandatory-minimum-sentences/ (Accessed: 1 July 2020)

  5. Fife, R. (2020) ‘Brian Mulroney calls for bold social changes to prepare Canada for a world after COVID-19’, The Globe and Mail, June 29. Available at: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-brian-mulroney-calls-for-bold-social-changes-to-prepare-canada-for-a/ (Accessed: 1 July 2020)

  6. Walker, D. (2020) ‘Are You Willing to Give Up Your Privilege?’ New York Times, June 25. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/25/opinion/black-lives-matter-corporations.html? (Accessed: 1 July 2020)

  7. Appelbaum, B., Schlossberg, T., and Blackwell, A. (2020) ‘Is It Basketball...or Socialism?, New York Times, June 29. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/video/opinion/100000007182805/income-inequality-nba-socialism.html (Accessed: 1 July 2020)

  8. Maedel, Cori. “Re Nothing About Us Without Us.” Message to Bill Semrau. 30 June 2020. Email.

  9. Meyer, Z. (2020) ‘Walmart will finally stop locking up hair products aimed at African Americans’, Fast Company, June 11. Available at: https://www.fastcompany.com/90515669/walmart-will-finally-stop-locking-up-hair-products-aimed-at-african-americans (Accessed: 1 July 2020)

  10. Jenkins, A. (2020) ‘Disney makes $5 million pledge to social justice organizations’, Fortune, June 4. Available at: https://fortune.com/2020/06/04/disney-pledge-social-justice-organizations-george-floyd/ (Accessed: 1 July 2020)

  11. Common, D. (2016) ‘Could a 'blind recruitment' policy make Canada less racist?, CBC News, February 25. Available at: https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/blind-recruitment-marketplace-1.3462061 (Accessed: 1 July 2020)

  12. Hyslop, K. (2020) ‘George Floyd’s Killing Brings Change to BC’s Schools’, The Tyee, June 6. Available at: https://thetyee.ca/News/2020/06/06/George-Floyd-Killing-Brings-Change-BC-Schools/ (Accessed: 1 July 2020)

  13. Olson, J. (2020) ‘Dean’s Message: We Must Act Together Against Racism and Discrimination’, The UBC Faculty of Science, June 4. Available at: https://apsc.ubc.ca/news/2020/06/deans-message-we-must-act-together-against-racism-and-discrimination (Accessed: 1 July 2020)

  14. Vincent, J. (2020) ‘AI experts say research into algorithms that claim to predict criminality must end’, The Verge, June 24. Available at: https://www.theverge.com/2020/6/24/21301465/ai-machine-learning-racist-crime-prediction-coalition-critical-technology-springer-study (Accessed: 1 July 2020)

  15. Project Implicit is a non-profit organization and international collaboration between researchers who are interested in implicit social cognition - thoughts and feelings outside of conscious awareness and control. The goal of the organization is to educate the public about hidden biases and to provide a “virtual laboratory” for collecting data on the Internet. Project Implicit was founded in 1998 by three scientists – Tony Greenwald (University of Washington), Mahzarin Banaji (Harvard University), and Brian Nosek (University of Virginia).

  16. Brené Brown. (2020) ‘Brené with Austin Channing Brown on I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness’, brenebrown.com, June 10. Available at: https://brenebrown.com/podcast/brene-with-austin-channing-brown-on-im-still-here-black-dignity-in-a-world-made-for-whiteness/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=LinkedIn&utm_campaign=bb_unlocking-us. (Accessed on July 13, 2020)

  17. Brown, A. C. (2018) ‘I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness.’ Convergent Books, New York.

  18. Kendi, I. X. (2019) ‘How To Be An Antiracist.’ One World, New York.

Photo: Tammy Brimner/TLBVelo Photography

Tammy Brimner
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