If society is to address systemic racism, we must listen and understand before we act together.
That’s the message delivered to city council members during a workshop titled “Our Shared Journey: Unpacking Systemic Racism” on Monday evening.
“We have to unlearn, to feel uncomfortable,” commented Mayor Cam Guthrie. “We want everyone to be involved. That is the best way to continue this journey together.”
The two-hour workshop was organized to assist council members in their role as municipal and community leaders as they work to galvanize “support and action toward important anti-racism, diversity and inclusion initiatives,” states a staff report.
“Thank you for deciding you want to do the right thing,” workshop co-facilitator Marva Wisdom told council. “Be prepared to get comfortable being uncomfortable outside of your comfort zone.”
Wisdom, a diversity consultant and founding past-president of the Guelph Black Heritage Society, plays a key role in the city’s Community Plan which aims to make Guelph a more inclusive community.
She encouraged council members to think of society as a sphere, inside of which are different layers – one of institutions, another of policies intended to keep those institutions running, and another of individuals within those institutions.
“It’s not set up to be welcoming to others,” Wisdom said of the systems within the sphere, noting there are many things that remind some members of society “you don’t belong” – often little things said without malicious intent but based on stereotypes and assumptions.
“It causes mental health issues, year after year feeling like you don’t measure up,” she added. “It’s death by a thousand cuts.”
Fellow co-facilitator Giidaakunadaad (Nancy) Rowe, a Mississauga, Ojibwe of the Anishinaabek Nation, is an acknowledged elder for this territory, an educator, consultant and a traditional practitioner of Anishinaabek lifeways, views and customary practices.
She stressed the importance of relationships and getting to know one another in order to gain a better understanding of each others’ history and experiences.
“Our heart is in the intent of trying to repair that relationship,” she said of the impact of colonialism and Canada’s historical treatment of Indigenous people. “We can’t make decisions on what we don’t know and understand.”
To that end, the city is actively involved in conversations with the Guelph Black Heritage Society and local organizers of Black Lives Matter, with plans to include the Muslim, Indigenous and LGBTQ+ communities, among others.
“We’re having many, many conversations continuously so that these groups can have their own conversations and provide the kind of leadership that is needed so that we can get information from their perspective,” Wisdom said of the Community Plan, encouraging council to “lead from behind” so others’ voices can be heard. “The city is providing tremendous support to make sure that these conversations take place.”
If we are to end systemic racism, we must “strategize together,” added Rowe, but first people must fill the gaps in their knowledge to understand the scope of the situation.
“We really shouldn’t be trying to make decisions … until we have education around the things we don’t know,” she said.
In the new year, city staff intend to recommend to council that Guelph join the Canadian Coalition of Inclusive Communities, a United Nations initiative intended municipalities improve their practices to promote social inclusion, establish policies to eradicate racism and discrimination in all its forms, and promote diversity.
