In the June 2021 issue of the Confluence, we embarked on personal & professional anti-oppression journeys and invited members of this community to join us. We prepared ourselves to sit in discomfort as we set out to understand more about systemic and institutional racism, and how we might contribute to the dismantling of white supremacy in our professional practices.
In our initial letter, we shared resources recommended to us by colleagues already engaged in this work, and invited input from others who also want to be involved. In this letter, we wanted to share two positive updates from this journey we are on:
- Robbyn has spearheaded the development of the Camosun Dismantling Racism & Oppression research guide. For Robbyn, the creation of this guide “has felt like a learning tool that would never launch; the librarian’s albatross. The diversity of resources, topics, and perspectives needed to fulfil the social justice mandate of such a learning object seemed untenable. No matter the research I undertook, regardless of how many people were consulted and contributed, it could never be complete.”
We believe that the guide’s strength is to be found in its mutability, its iterative and ambiguous nature. It is a work in progress, with infinite room for more voices. We hope you continue to revisit the guide and watch for the addition of themes including fighting Islamophobia, LGBTQIA+, intersectional feminism, opposing antisemitism, environmental racism, and cultural safety. We hope you will share your perspectives and recommendations.
- Jennifer Giuliani (BIOLOGY) reached out in response to our June 2021 letter to share some of the anti-racism work she has been doing. Jennifer has taught Biology at the college for 16 years and is examining her own practice as an educator in the sciences. Connecting with Jennifer resulted in the acquisition of two books for the Camosun Library’s collection. These are now featured on the “Bias in information, research & libraries” page of the Dismantling Racism & Oppression guide, along with Jennifer’s reviews of each book:
– Superior: The return of race science, by Angela Saini (2019). In print: HT 1506 S25 2019.Fatal invention: How science, politics, and big business re-create race in the twenty-first century, by Dorothy Roberts (2011). E-book.
As a biologist who regularly teaches students on a path to a health care profession, this quote from Fatal Invention really stood out to Jennifer:
“So let me be clear: race is not a biological category that naturally produces health disparities because of genetic differences. Race is a political category that has staggering biological consequences because of the impact of social inequality on people’s health. Understanding race as a political category does not erase its impact on biology; instead, it redirects attention from genetic explanations to social ones. This new conceptual model disrupts the dichotomy between biological and environmental causes of health inequities by suggesting complex biological interactions between racism, socioeconomic disadvantage, and poor health.” (p.129)
Thank you to Jennifer, and all of those who provided their expertise to the development of Dismantling Racism & Oppression research guide. Its creation is in support of all members of the Camosun community working towards anti-oppression and social justice in education.
Reach out to us if you have ideas to be included. We want to hear from you.
Robbyn Lanning (Librarian) and Sue Doner (eLearning & Secretary)