I don’t have anything truly meaningful or insightful to add on the continued and renewed discussion on fighting against racism. I think everyone else is saying what needs to be said better than me. If you look at the events which have been going on for years and years all throughout the United States and Canada, and in other countries, you shouldn’t need someone to describe why racism is wrong. There is a vein of thought now though that saying nothing means you are a racism denier, or worse, a racism supporter. I am not. I feel forced into chiming in and adding my opinion or views, as useless and personal as they may be.
I don’t think I should have any platform to speak on this issue. I’m not qualified.
The one thing I can offer is my experiences learning about Systemic Racism in North America. The focus now is on the issues facing people of colour in the United States and Canada. But systemic racism happens all over the world to any ethnic group that is targeted and marginalized by the majority. I see it in South East Asia all the time. It is abhorrent and disgusting. But with the events happening now, and the amount of focus on the US, I thought I should share some of the sources of information that have helped me understand systemic racism better.
I hear a lot about how to be an “ally”. How to behave, think or act. I think the best thing anyone can do is to educate themselves. I’m not here to tell you to feel guilty, or not to. I’m not trying to signal to a certain cause. But if you truly want to learn more about the realities facing the Black community in North America, these are good places to start. Take the time, listen, be open to understanding what Black youth and people of colour face. I never experienced this kind of racism. I have felt discriminated against for being mixed, both by whites and by asians. But let me be clear, I never felt like it threatened my life or altered my ability to succeed. I never felt that kind of oppression or fear, but I believe some of my friends growing up did. It makes me angry, sad and furious. I hope sharing these links and topics might help people learn something and help bring more understanding.
This conversation now is about the experience of Blacks in North America, but there are other conversations that need to happen as well. For our Indigenous and First Nations Communities, for Jews, Arabs, Sikhs, and many other visible and invisible minority groups. But those are discussions we could, and should have, seperately.
When They See Us
The real life survivors of the Central Park 5.
When They See Us is a recent True Story, 4 part Netflix series that shows in brutal detail and unflinching reality the miscarriage of justice that was the detainment, charging and trial of the Central Park 5 in 1989 over the rape of a white woman jogging in Central Park.
This show will make you uncomfortable, it will make you extremely sad, angry, furious and also feel hopelessly futile, as the reality of this kind of racism still continuing today, and for the past 40-50 years, sinks in. You will also be shocked to learn that the people involved with such a corruption of justice, the racists who helped to railroad and convict these young boys, were still working and practicing law up until the documentary was released! You should watch, and you should feel uncomfortable, and you should feel enraged.
The Wire (HBO tv series)
The Wire is often quoted as one of the greatest tv shows ever produced. A lot of people don’t really understand why and fail to realize that its distinction as something truly powerful and incredible is not its entertainment value, but rather its social commentary and honesty about the realities of living in the projects in West Baltimore. The show centers on gang activities, drugs, and other organized crime. It deals with ethnic issues, issues of sexism, racism, bigotry, exploitation and the dangers of power. Most importantly, it shows real characters, struggling with real life situations, albeit in a fictional representation, but one that mirrors the real world so accurately its haunting.
Here is a description of the background of some of the shows creators, giving you some perspective on the veracity and credibility of the show when it portrays social and current issues:
It’s a long show and does require active listening and attention to appreciate, so I understand its not everyone’s cup of tea. But if you want a real lesson on race relations in places like Baltimore, watch season 4, where they directly cover the nature of schools in these under privileged, at risk communities, and how broken and corrupt and heart breaking the American school system is. It’s not simply a matter of racist teachers or schools, its a matter of even the people trying to overcome those barriers, the ones trying to help and reach out to youths full of potential, being shut down, broken and worn down by the entire systems inherent disease and rot. Watch the entire season, there are moments to celebrate, moments to laugh at, but also a lot of moments to realize that a fictional show about crime ridden America is not really a fiction at all. Its a mirror that most of us can’t stand to look into.
In my undergraduate studies at the University of Toronto, I took a course on Canadian Black History. It was an eye opening course led by an incredibly passionate and inspiring professor and covered some very very difficult and controversial topics. It tore away the veneer of Canadian politeness and “goodness” and shone a very harsh, revealing light on the systemic racism that most of us ignore. I grew up feeling relatively non-racist. I went to an “inner city” school, with a vastly diverse student population. I had as many friends of colour or from visible minorities as I did white friends. Actually, probably a lot more friends from visible ethnic minorities. I never really saw them in a different light, we all interacted from our own cultural backgrounds and racism never really played into our school life. But I also saw some of the areas in Brampton and Bramalea where my friends lived. Crime, vandalism and drugs were definitely more problematic. But these weren’t “black” problems, these were problems of poverty and hardship. I had white friends, Hispanic friends, Vietnamese friends, and Black friends, all mixed up in gangs or violence or drugs. It was only later that I truly learned some of the racist policies in Canada that led and fostered these segments of society which were ignored, neglected or victimized.
One book I would recommend, with a very controversial title, that I read in university for my class is “Niggers, This is Canada.” It is a harsh, biting and condemning first hand look at life in Toronto which most of us never suspected. What’s even more shocking is that his experiences are not far off memories from a different age, but recent (1980’s and 1990’s) events which still carry the heavy shame of racism. It is uncomfortable to read, but it forces you to see truths we often leave hidden away where it is comfortable.
Podcasts
People often only think of racism as overt comments or actions which we experience and see. Obviously this is only a small subsection of racism in North America. I think we are all aware that silent and hidden racism exists all around us, from the Korean owner of an embroidery store asking me to watch every black youth who walked in, nudging me and implying they were not to be trusted (I did catch a Korean kid trying to steal a hat, but never had any issue with anyone else), to subtle remarks which point out supposedly understood “truths” about certain people. However real systemic racism exists in Government policies, laws, economic rules, and more insidiously, through housing and zoning laws and systems within education that actively target Black people and their communities. These podcasts deal with those very real, and very present forms of Systemic Racism.
For most of these podcasts, click on the title for a link to the online version.
Shots Fired: Radio Lab
An episode made in the aftermath of Ferguson and other incidents of police injustice against Black victims, it really highlights the problems in the Police Force and what can be done to actually help stop racist police policies.
Description: “A couple years ago, Ben Montgomery, reporter at the Tampa Bay Times, started emailing every police station in Florida.
He was asking for any documents created - from 2009 to 2014 - when an officer discharged his weapon in the line of duty. He ended up with a six foot tall stack of reports, pictures, and press clippings cataloging the death or injury of 828 people by Florida police.
Jad and Robert talk to Ben about what he found, crunch some numbers, and then our reporter Matt Kielty takes a couple files off Ben's desk and brings us the stories inside them - from a network of grief to a Daytona police chief.
And next week, we bring you another, very different story of a police encounter gone wrong.”
House Rules: This American Life
This American Life looks at the very real systemic racism which is continued to be supported and propagated by housing acts and the legal code in the United States.
Description: “Where you live is important. It can dictate quality of schools and hospitals, as well as things like cancer rates, unemployment, or whether the city repairs roads in your neighborhood. On this week's show, stories about destiny by address.”
The Miseducation of Larry P: Radiolab
A sobering look at how even initial rules and laws designed to protect ethnic minorities, like Black Americans, can be perverted and used to victimize them.
Description: “Are some ideas so dangerous we shouldn’t even talk about them? That question brought Radiolab’s senior editor, Pat Walters, to a subject that at first he thought was long gone: the measuring of human intelligence with IQ tests. Turns out, the tests are all around us. In the workplace. The criminal justice system. Even the NFL. And they’re massive in schools. More than a million US children are IQ tested every year.
We begin Radiolab Presents: “G” with a sentence that stopped us all in our tracks: In the state of California, it is off-limits to administer an IQ test to a child if he or she is Black. That’s because of a little-known case called Larry P v Riles that in the 1970s … put the IQ test itself on trial. With the help of reporter Lee Romney, we investigate how that lawsuit came to be, where IQ tests came from, and what happened to one little boy who got caught in the crossfire.”
Revisionist History:
Malcolm Gladwell has several episodes of Revisionist History which deal with elements of American racial history and more contemporary issues of systemic racism that still plague the United States. I highly recommend these podcasts as they touch on the long term effects of past decisions and laws, and also illustrate the harsh realities facing Black American youth and the structures which bar their potential for success.
Description: “Carlos is a brilliant student from South Los Angeles. He attends an exclusive private school on an academic scholarship. He is the kind of person the American meritocracy is supposed to reward. But in the hidden details of his life lies a cautionary tale about how hard it is to rise from the bottom to the top—and why the American school system, despite its best efforts, continues to leave an extraordinary amount of talent on the table.”
This episode really highlights the systemic issues and imbalance in North America, even to those youth lucky enough to be given scholarships and support. The realities of coming from a disadvantaged social class and ethnic minority can’t be ignored. As a teacher, this episode scares me and really makes me wish we could somehow fix this broken system.
Educate yourself on some of the legal precedents and history of racial law in the United States
The Foot Soldier of Burmingham
Description: “Birmingham, 1963. The image of a police dog viciously attacking a young black protester shocks the nation. The picture, taken in the midst of one of Martin Luther King Jr.’s most famous marches, might be the most iconic photograph of the civil rights movement. But few have ever bothered to ask the people in the famous photograph what they think happened that day. It’s more complicated than it looks.”
Description: “The first of a two-part story about the lawyers who helped crack the colorlines of the Jim Crow South. A man rapes a woman. Vernon Jordan and his mentor come to the man’s defense--and in the process learn a difficult lesson about justice.”
Mr. Hollowell Didn’t Like That
Description: “A man named Willie Nash is arrested for the murder of a white man in 1954, in Augusta Georgia. Witnesses place him at the scene. The victim picks him out of the lineup. He confesses. He is headed for the electric chair. Until his young black attorney, Donald L. Hollowell, mounts a defense that rivets black spectators and gives them hope.”
Daryl Davis is an incredible human who has single handedly been converting HUNDREDS of Klans members and educating them on the sheer idiocy and stupidity of their racist views. How does he do it? By being intelligent, being an active listener, and being fearless. I highly recommend listening to this man’s incredible perspective on life, how he openly embraces people who might hate and wish him harm, and how he wins them over through the sheer beauty of loving everyone as your brother and being a good human.
Dr. Cornel West is an incredibly inspiring, hauntingly intelligent philosophy professor and author who beautifully weaves the issues, struggles and ethos of so many social issues, especially those facing Black Americans through all forms of philosophy, history and literature. Listen to this man to understand the depth and wisdom leading some of the greatest thinkers commenting and writing about racial issues in America. He will inspire you, he will humble you, and he will open your eyes to how everyone is affected by matters of race and how we all have a part to play in this human drama.
Systemic Racism in Baltimore: Michael Woods was a member of the Baltimore Police Department and left the force for various reasons, including the incredible systemic racism that he saw in the city’s largest “gang”, the Baltimore Police Department. He gives first hand accounts of going on raids, strategizing to target black communities, and evidence of the legal precedent in the city to limit upward mobility of blacks, make it illegal for them to own property in desired areas, and the vicious cycle of gangs and drugs most black youth in the city are faced with.
OJ Simpson: Made in America
5 Part Documentary Series by ESPN
While this obviously centers around OJ Simpson and the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ryan Lyle Goldman, it also goes into great depth and detail revealing the cultural nature and volatility of race relations in the United States leading from the 70’s, into the 80’s and 90’s. You really get a sense for the violent and despicable treatment of Black Americans in the US, especially by the Police. I had no idea of a lot of the trends and norms and watching this helped me put current events into context and understand the continue legacy of oppression and victimization.