tag:theconversation.com,2011:/fr/topics/black-50065/articlesBlack – The Conversation2023-12-14T15:54:12Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2197042023-12-14T15:54:12Z2023-12-14T15:54:12Z‘American Fiction’ asks who gets to decide Blackness<iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/american-fiction-asks-who-gets-to-decide-blackness" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>The much-anticipated <em>American Fiction</em> comes to theatres this month. As a long-time scholar of Percival Everett, the author whose 2001 novel, <a href="https://www.ctpublic.org/2023-12-12/advice-from-a-critic-read-erasure-before-seeing-american-fiction"><em>Erasure</em></a>, was adapted for this critically praised film I am curious how the main themes of the book will be explored.</p>
<p>Directed by Cord Jefferson and starring Jeffrey Wright, the film presents an opportunity to talk about race, power and white supremacy within intellectual and cultural spaces, including higher education. Specifically, what version of Blackness is acceptable or saleable within American culture? </p>
<p>Thelonious “Monk” Ellison, the protagonist of <em>American Fiction</em>, is a novelist and an English professor. He struggles with the power that determines which versions of Blackness “count” and who makes these determinations. </p>
<p>In <em>Erasure</em>, Monk is constantly told that his work is not “Black enough.” But the determination of his Blackness is most often decided by people who are not themselves racialized within American society. </p>
<p>He finally gets so fed-up by the lack of sales for his literary novels, that he decides to write a satirical novel as a joke. </p>
<p>To his complete surprise, his ghetto novel, <em>My Pafology</em>, becomes a bestselling, award-winning novel. The film rights eventually sell for millions. But Monk’s ambivalence is unavoidable, since his work’s “success” is based entirely on terms set by other people. </p>
<p>And now, a novel satirizing how stereotypical versions of Blackness are often preferred by and sold to American culture has been made into <em>American Fiction</em>, a major motion picture, with wide cinematic release. It’s difficult not to feel ambivalent.</p>
<p>As a scholar who has written two books and given numerous interviews and talks on Black identity and race in Canada and as a longtime university English professor and now a university administrator, I am not Monk. But I get Monk. Like him, I have been frustrated and confused by the disjunctions between theory and practice so characteristic of life in the academy, especially in those moments when race — and particularly Blackness — is being discussed. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/american-fiction-is-a-scathing-satire-that-challenges-pop-culture-stereotypes-of-blackness-217988">'American Fiction' is a scathing satire that challenges pop-culture stereotypes of Blackness</a>
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<h2>Questions of power</h2>
<p>In my own setting, as a Black man born in Canada, working and teaching at an American college, I too am asking which versions of diversity matter and who decides how and when it matters.</p>
<p>Everett’s novel highlights racist mechanisms within society, many of which appear so natural that we no longer think of them as mechanisms at all.</p>
<p>In her 2019 book, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/jan/20/shoshana-zuboff-age-of-surveillance-capitalism-google-facebook"><em>The Age of Surveillance Capitalism</em></a>, American philosopher and scholar Shoshana Zuboff analyzes power through the role that giant tech companies play in our lives, often without our noticing them. Her book asks a question crucial to the understanding of how power works: “Who knows? Who decides? Who decides who decides?” </p>
<p>I find Zuboff’s questions useful in thinking about how power in relation to race works in colleges and universities, especially as institutions emphasize their commitment to “diversity,” on the one hand, while maintaining a glacial pace of change, on the other. </p>
<h2>Diversity needs a wholesale renovation</h2>
<p>Recently, someone at the Council of Colleges of Arts and Sciences <a href="https://www.ccas.net/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3940&pageid=1">(CCAS)</a> conference said the most effective way to diversify university faculties is through hiring. But the idea of hiring for diversity has led to a backlash in some quarters. </p>
<p>Recent attacks against <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/10/the-diversity-backlash-here-s-how-to-resist-it/">“diversity, equity and inclusion” policies</a> and <a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/what-critical-race-theory-means-why-its-igniting-debate-2021-09-21/">misunderstandings of critical race theory</a> have pitted historical holders of power against those usually only spoken about. Controversies like these do not promise speedy progress where race is concerned.</p>
<p>I’m often equally perplexed by those who purport to be on my side. </p>
<p>Like Monk, the sources of much misunderstanding among my academic peers are people who say they want to help members of underrepresented groups on their campuses. </p>
<p>The expression “underrepresented groups” is another of these natural-looking expressions, now quite prominent in diversity policies. It actually obscures the important questions about the mechanisms and decisions that have resulted in these particular groups becoming underrepresented in universities in the first place. </p>
<p>The way that progress within a culture looks depends on who is doing the looking. At the CCAS conference, sociologist Nicole Stokes, interim vice-chancellor of student affairs at Pennsylvania State University (Abington), put all of this very well. She said a lot of the diversity work she sees looks a lot like surface remodelling, like putting new doors on old kitchen cabinets for example. But diversity work needs to be a wholesale renovation: when you take your kitchen down to the studs and start again.</p>
<p>In a way similar to who decides what is a saleable artifact from a minority culture, those deciding whether to remodel or to renovate are usually not those most directly affected by the history that has brought the need for such policies into being.</p>
<p>I’ve been a college professor for 28 years, and I’m currently an associate dean. If I feel this way, then how do you suppose junior colleagues of colour, or, more importantly, students of colour might feel? </p>
<p>For diversity policies to be taken seriously, we need to come clean on who has always decided their direction and value, and then work from there.</p>
<p>In the end, power dynamics don’t change in <em>American Fiction</em>, but at least Monk gets a bestseller and a movie deal.</p>
<iframe height="200px" width="100%" frameborder="no" scrolling="no" seamless="" src="https://player.simplecast.com/edde9889-d430-40cb-b879-4b21d58d2936?dark=true"></iframe><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/219704/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anthony Stewart does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The release of ‘American Fiction’ presents an opportunity to talk about race, power and white supremacy: What version of Blackness is acceptable or saleable within American culture?Anthony Stewart, Associate Dean (Arts and Humanities), Bucknell UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2179882023-12-14T15:54:09Z2023-12-14T15:54:09Z‘American Fiction’ is a scathing satire that challenges pop-culture stereotypes of Blackness<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563028/original/file-20231201-27-tecr8d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=134%2C0%2C4250%2C2910&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Erika Alexander is Coraline and Jeffrey Wright is Monk in 'American Fiction.'</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Claire Folger/Orion)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>In this episode, Vinita sits down with two experts to break down the many layers — and Black stereotypes — in the much anticipated new film, American Fiction.</em></p>
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<p>The lead character of the new movie <em>American Fiction</em> is Monk. He’s a Black man but never feels ‘Black’ enough: he graduated from Harvard, his siblings are doctors, he doesn’t play basketball and he writes literary novels. </p>
<p>Directed and written by former journalist Cord Jefferson, <em>American Fiction</em> won this year’s People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival, and it has its much anticipated North American release in theatres this month. It’s been called an “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/sep/10/american-fiction-review-cord-jefferson-jeffrey-wright">incisive literary satire</a>” by the <em>Guardian</em>. </p>
<p>The film, starring Jeffrey Wright, is an adaption of the 2001 novel <em>Erasure</em> by Percival Everett. The book and the film are centred on Monk, a novelist who’s fed up with a white-led publishing industry that profits from Black entertainment and tired tropes. As a Black man who thinks about race but also rages against having to talk about it, Monk gets so frustrated that he decides to poke fun of those who uncritically consume what they are sold as “Black culture.”</p>
<p>He uses a pen name to write an outlandish “Black” book of his own. It’s about “thug life” and is called “My Pafology.” But plot twist: his attempt at satire is lost on his audience and the book ends up becoming wildly successful. Suddenly, Monk is among those profiting off the stereotypes he so despises. The rest of the story explores “<a href="https://variety.com/2023/film/reviews/american-fiction-review-jeffrey-wright-1235718392/">the unfairness of asking individual artists to represent the entire Black experience</a>.”</p>
<p>In this episode of <em>Don’t Call Me Resilient</em>, Prof. Vershawn Ashanti Young of University of Waterloo and Prof. Anthony Stewart of Bucknell University join forces to break down the many layers of Monk’s story and why Black stereotypes remain so persistent in pop culture.</p>
<h2>Read more in The Conversation</h2>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-stories-about-alternate-worlds-can-help-us-imagine-a-better-future-dont-call-me-resilient-ep-7-165933">How stories about alternate worlds can help us imagine a better future: Don't Call Me Resilient EP 7</a>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/cultural-appropriation-and-the-whiteness-of-book-publishing-79095">Cultural appropriation and the whiteness of book publishing</a>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/blackkklansman-a-deadly-serious-comedy-101432">'BlacKkKlansman' -- a deadly serious comedy</a>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/harriet-tubman-film-does-not-deserve-the-twitter-hate-127493">Harriet Tubman film does not deserve the Twitter hate</a>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/american-fiction-asks-who-gets-to-decide-blackness-219704">'American Fiction' asks who gets to decide Blackness</a>
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<h2>Resources</h2>
<p><a href="https://lsupress.org/9780807172643/"><em>Approximate Gestures: Infinite Spaces in the Fiction of Percival Everett</em></a> by Anthony Stewart</p>
<p><a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2023/08/awards-insider-first-look-american-fiction">First Look: American Fiction Challenges Hollywood’s “Poverty of Imagination” About Black People </a> (<em>Vanity Fair</em>)</p>
<p>“<a href="https://slate.com/culture/2016/09/how-amos-n-andy-paved-the-way-for-black-stars-on-tv.html">How Amos ’n’ Andy paved the way for Black Stars on TV</a>” (<em>Slate</em>)</p>
<p><a href="https://www.harpercollins.com/products/native-son-richard-wright?variant=41224345419810"><em>Native Son</em></a> by Richard Wright</p>
<h2>Listen and follow</h2>
<p>You can listen to or follow <em>Don’t Call Me Resilient</em> on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/dont-call-me-resilient/id1549798876">Apple Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/37tK4zmjWvq2Sh6jLIpzp7">Spotify</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_mJBLBznANz6ID9rBCUk7gv_ZRC4Og9-">YouTube</a> or wherever you listen to your favourite podcasts. </p>
<p><a href="mailto:DCMR@theconversation.com">We’d love to hear from you</a>, including any ideas for future episodes. Join The Conversation on <a href="https://twitter.com/ConversationCA">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/dontcallmeresilientpodcast/">Instagram</a> and <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@theconversation">TikTok</a> and use #DontCallMeResilient.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Trailer for ‘American Fiction’ (Orion)</span></figcaption>
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In this episode, Vinita sits down with two experts to break down the many layers — and Black stereotypes — in the much anticipated new film, ‘American Fiction.’Vinita Srivastava, Host + Producer, Don't Call Me ResilientDannielle Piper, Associate Producer, Don't Call Me Resilient, The ConversationLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2114722023-09-21T20:21:14Z2023-09-21T20:21:14ZWhy we should stop using acronyms like BIPOC<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/547900/original/file-20230912-19-wvnut7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=45%2C7%2C5060%2C3092&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The term BIPOC amalgamates distinct experiences of racism and colonialism and misses those that do not fit within one category, like individuals of mixed ancestry.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/why-we-should-stop-using-acronyms-like-bipoc" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>When I first heard the acronym <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bipoc-meaning-where-does-it-come-from-2020-04-02/">BIPOC</a>, my stomach tightened and I immediately felt resistance. It was a gut reaction at having my identities seemingly collapsed into an acronym. </p>
<p>Exploring this discomfort, I read <a href="https://chatelaine.com/opinion/what-is-bipoc/">an article</a> by American author Kearie Daniel. She shared similar unease from her perspective as a Black woman. Reading Daniel’s words, I knew I was not alone in my reaction to the abbreviation.</p>
<p>BIPOC is an acronym for “Black, Indigenous and People of Colour,” and has become increasingly popular in recent years. The acronym came about as a way to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/article/what-is-bipoc.html">address the erasure of Black and Indigenous Peoples</a> and centre their unique struggles while promoting solidarity. </p>
<p>However, the problem is BIPOC amalgamates distinct experiences of racism and colonialism and misses those that do not fit within one category, like individuals of mixed ancestry.</p>
<h2>What’s in an acronym?</h2>
<p>Acronyms like <a href="https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/poc">POC</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/bipoc-or-ibpoc-lgbtq-or-lgbtq2s-who-decides-which-terms-we-should-use-159188">BIPOC, IBPOC</a>, <a href="https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/bame">BAME</a>, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/01/us/asian-american-aapi-terms-history-cec/index.html">AAPI</a> and others can highlight the similar ways racism, colonialism and inequality impact different communities. However, they can also undermine and gloss over the distinct experiences of those who do not easily fit into one of those letters.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2016.1140793">Observed race</a> can shift based on context, clothing and appearance. For instance, if I show my tattoos or wear clothing with Haida designs, I am more likely to be seen as broadly Indigenous. Based on my appearance, I might be vaguely classified as a person of colour, however, I am also white. Instead of being Haida, Irish, Ojibwe and British, my identities are collapsed into an acronym for ease of reference.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">An explainer on the term BIPOC. Acronyms for racialized people have become more common over the years.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>Indigenous identity: contestation and self-determination</h2>
<p>Indigenous Peoples have long been subject to <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/44188">identity control</a> through <a href="https://doi.org/10.5663/aps.v3i3.22225">legislated elimination</a> in the Indian Act and categorized as non-status versus status Indian, Inuit or Métis. </p>
<p>Our Nations have been identified as one group (Aboriginal, Native, First Nations, First Peoples, Indian, <a href="https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429454776-14">Indigenous</a>) to facilitate colonial control, and the BIPOC acronym contributes to the further <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1477-7053.2005.00166.x">grouping of distinct identities</a>. </p>
<p>Being Indigenous in Canada involves continually pushing for our self-determination and inherent rights to be recognized while ensuring <a href="http://www.socialjusticejournal.org/product/bonita-lawrence-and-enakshi-dua-2/">our survival as distinct nations</a>. Acronyms like BIPOC represent a step back in the struggle to assert and sustain nationhood. </p>
<h2>Oppression Olympics</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/675719/rehearsals-for-living-by-robyn-maynard-and-leanne-betasamosake-simpson/9781039000650">Scholars have argued</a> that Indigenous and Black liberation movements are interconnected, and the possibility of coalition-building increases the chances for racial justice. </p>
<p>However, despite the intentions of those who use BIPOC, the combination of these experiences can have the opposite effect and contribute to a sort of oppression Olympics. </p>
<p>For example, some organizations and news outlets have more recently switched the order of the acronym to IBPOC (Indigenous, Black and people of colour) to recognize Indigenous Peoples as First Peoples. This Indigenous first acronym is an inadequate solution. It still results in racialized people being broadly categorized and essentialized. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/547898/original/file-20230912-15-yyy0qu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A group of random scrabble letters." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/547898/original/file-20230912-15-yyy0qu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/547898/original/file-20230912-15-yyy0qu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547898/original/file-20230912-15-yyy0qu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547898/original/file-20230912-15-yyy0qu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547898/original/file-20230912-15-yyy0qu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547898/original/file-20230912-15-yyy0qu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547898/original/file-20230912-15-yyy0qu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Acronyms can highlight the similar struggles of different racialized groups, but they can also undermine and gloss over their distinct experiences.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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<p>Furthermore, these kinds of debates over the order of letters can also disrupt coalition-building among racialized people. American activists <a href="https://culturalstudies.ucsc.edu/inscriptions/volume-7/angela-y-davis-elizabeth-martinez/">Angela Davis and Elizabeth Martinez</a> suggest that competition between racialized peoples, or the oppression Olympics, perpetuates harm and division. </p>
<p>This kind of debate further reinforces white supremacy and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0309132515613166">settler colonialism</a> that rely on the continued marginalization of racialized peoples.</p>
<p>Indigenous Peoples are in a place of contestation over lands, rights, self-determination and reparation. Being amalgamated further into acronyms distracts attention from our work towards self-determination. Rather than accepting the convenient terminology of BIPOC, IBPOC, First Nations, Indigenous or Aboriginal, we need to assert our Nationhood and unique identities.</p>
<h2>So, what should we call people?</h2>
<p>When discussing individuals, use the terms they use to identify themselves where possible and do not assume someone fits within a predetermined category. Many people occupy the space in between racialized categorizations. If a broad term is required, “<a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/racialization">racialized</a>” is much more appropriate. It includes recognition of the socially constructed nature of race and allows room for further specificity.</p>
<p>The terminology that we use has real-world impacts. Racial justice requires recognizing the distinct and socially situated identities of racialized people and providing space for those with diverse identities.</p>
<p>The right of Indigenous self-determination is asserted and affirmed in the <a href="https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/11/UNDRIP_E_web.pdf">United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples</a>. To protect our identities as distinct Nations, we must be cautious of the language we use to describe ourselves and others use to describe us.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/211472/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michaela M. McGuire receives research funding from the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship. </span></em></p>Acronyms like BIPOC can highlight the similar ways racism impacts different people. However, they can also gloss over the distinct experiences of communities.Michaela M. McGuire, PhD Candidate, School of Criminology, Simon Fraser UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2062592023-06-01T15:37:24Z2023-06-01T15:37:24ZListen: Trans scholar and activist explains why trans rights are under attack<iframe height="200px" width="100%" frameborder="no" scrolling="no" seamless="" src="https://player.simplecast.com/e2ecabe1-cf01-433c-bd7e-7aac7f1d241a?dark=true"></iframe>
<p>This year we’ve seen an aggressive push to implement anti-trans legislation across the United States. There are currently more than <a href="https://translegislation.com/">400 active anti-trans</a> bills across the country. </p>
<p>Some of the legislation <a href="https://time.com/6265755/gender-affirm-care-bans-u-s/">denies gender-affirming care to youth</a> – and criminalizes those health-care providers that attempt to do so. Other bills <a href="https://apnews.com/article/transgender-nonbinary-hormone-puberty-missouri-lawmakers-5a8922430ffab9e43cf9b7ce254bff9f#:%7E:text=Charlie%20Riedel%2C%20File">block trans students from participating in sports</a> and still others have banned books with trans content. </p>
<p>These bills have at least two things in common. They all aim to make being trans harder in an already hostile society and they are being spearheaded by the far-right. </p>
<p>Where does anti-trans sentiment come from? </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529186/original/file-20230530-23-atrb5u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529186/original/file-20230530-23-atrb5u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529186/original/file-20230530-23-atrb5u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529186/original/file-20230530-23-atrb5u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529186/original/file-20230530-23-atrb5u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529186/original/file-20230530-23-atrb5u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529186/original/file-20230530-23-atrb5u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Black Lives Matter activists organize a sit-in at Yonge Street and College Street during the Trans Pride March, in Toronto, 2016. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Eduardo Lima)</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/society/transphobia-white-supremacy/">enforcement of a gender binary</a> likely has much to do with the preservation of white power. And, <a href="https://www.advocate.com/commentary/2022/5/20/through-line-critical-race-dont-say-gay-great-replacement">violence</a> against trans people continues as a result. </p>
<h2>Is Canada better?</h2>
<p>What do things look like in Canada? Are we a safe haven or are we following some of the same trends?</p>
<p>Recently, a <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/us-transgender-asylum-petition-1.6779692">petition</a> signed by <a href="https://petitions.ourcommons.ca/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-4268">over 160,000 people</a> asked the Canadian government to extend asylum to trans and gender non-conforming people from nations in the West, previously considered safe. </p>
<p>To get a better understanding of trans histories in Canada, <a href="https://dont-call-me-resilient.simplecast.com/episodes/listen-to-an-american-canadian-trans-scholar-and-activist-explain-why-trans-rights-are-under-attack">we are joined by Syrus Marcus Ware</a>, an artist, activist and assistant professor at the School of the Arts at McMaster University. He is a co-curator of Blockorama/Blackness Yes! and a co-editor of <a href="https://uofrpress.ca/Books/U/Until-We-Are-Free"><em>Until We Are Free: Reflections on Black Lives Matter in Canada</em></a>.</p>
<p>We discuss the history of anti-trans and queer actions in Canada. We also speak about backlash and ways to move forward.</p>
<h2>Listen and Follow</h2>
<p>You can listen to or follow <em><a href="https://dont-call-me-resilient.simplecast.com/episodes/listen-to-an-american-canadian-trans-scholar-and-activist-explain-why-trans-rights-are-under-attack">Don’t Call Me Resilient</a></em> on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/dont-call-me-resilient/id1549798876">Apple Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5zaW1wbGVjYXN0LmNvbS9qZFg0Ql9DOA">Google Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/37tK4zmjWvq2Sh6jLIpzp7">Spotify</a> or <a href="https://dont-call-me-resilient.simplecast.com">wherever you listen to your favourite podcasts</a>. </p>
<p><a href="mailto:DCMR@theconversation.com">We’d love to hear from you</a>, including any ideas for future episodes. Join The Conversation on <a href="https://twitter.com/ConversationCA">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TheConversationCanada">Facebook</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/theconversationdotcom/">Instagram</a> and <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@theconversation">TikTok</a> and use #DontCallMeResilient.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A person with a rainbow on their shirt holds up a hand with a pointed finger and a sign in the other hand. They appear to be yelling." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529465/original/file-20230531-24-q99it2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529465/original/file-20230531-24-q99it2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529465/original/file-20230531-24-q99it2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529465/original/file-20230531-24-q99it2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529465/original/file-20230531-24-q99it2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529465/original/file-20230531-24-q99it2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529465/original/file-20230531-24-q99it2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Brenna Thompson protests this month against an abortion ban and restrictions on gender-affirming care for children in Lincoln, Neb.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Justin Wan/Lincoln Journal Star via AP/KOLN-TV OUT</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Resources</h2>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1215/23289252-3814961">All Power to All People? Black LGBTTI2QQ Activism, Remembrance, and Archiving in Toronto</a> (<em>Transgender Studies Quarterly</em>) by Syrus Marcus Ware </p>
<p><a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2023/05/30/pride-flag-wont-fly-at-york-catholic-schools-after-board-votes-against-the-motion.html">‘A travesty’: Outrage swells over York Catholic board’s rejection of Pride flag</a> (<em>Toronto Star</em>) </p>
<p><a href="https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2022/10/05/supreme-court-cant-ignore-equality-rights-claims-of-refugees.html">Supreme Court can’t ignore equality rights claims of refugees</a> (<em>Toronto Star</em>) </p>
<p><a href="https://xtramagazine.com/power/toronto-bathhouse-raids-40-years-194590">Everything you need to know about the Toronto bathhouse raids</a> (<em>Xtra</em>) </p>
<p><a href="https://xtramagazine.com/power/what-the-national-inquiry-into-missing-and-murdered-indigenous-women-and-girls-means-for-two-spirit-canadians-158992">What the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls means for Two-Spirit people</a> (<em>Xtra</em>) </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1215/10642684-2009-015">Settler Homonationalism: Theorizing Settler Colonialism within Queer Modernities</a> (<em>Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies</em>) by Scott Lauria Morgensen </p>
<p><a href="https://blockorama.ca/">Blockorama/Blackness Yes!</a></p>
<h2>From the archives - in The Conversation</h2>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/transgender-hate-crimes-are-on-the-rise-even-in-canada-121541">Transgender hate crimes are on the rise even in Canada</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/cuts-to-telehealth-in-ontario-mean-fewer-trans-and-non-binary-people-will-have-access-to-life-saving-health-care-198502">Cuts to telehealth in Ontario mean fewer trans and non-binary people will have access to life-saving health care</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/i-went-to-cpac-to-take-maga-supporters-pulse-china-and-transgender-people-are-among-the-top-demons-they-say-are-ruining-the-country-201442">I went to CPAC to take MAGA supporters' pulse – China and transgender people are among the top 'demons' they say are ruining the country</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/right-to-party-20-years-of-black-queer-love-and-resilience-80040">Right to party: 20 years of Black Queer love and resilience</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/206259/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
This year, there are more than 400 active anti-trans bills across the U.S. What do things look like in Canada? Are we a safe haven or are we following those same trends?Vinita Srivastava, Host + Producer, Don't Call Me ResilientBoké Saisi, Associate Producer, Don't Call Me ResilientLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2017662023-05-09T12:24:08Z2023-05-09T12:24:08ZPeople of color get so used to discrimination in stores they don’t always notice bad customer service<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524915/original/file-20230508-251777-14ycmf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=61%2C76%2C5042%2C3672&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Discrimination can be hard to pick up.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/business-meeting-royalty-free-image/898393140?phrase=bank+loan+people+business">aluxum/iStock via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/research-brief-83231">Research Brief</a> is a short take about interesting academic work.</em> </p>
<h2>The big idea</h2>
<p>People from underrepresented ethnic and racial groups tend to rate poor customer service less negatively than white people do, according to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/722689">new peer-reviewed research</a> we co-authored.</p>
<p>Many companies in the service sector, such as banks and airlines, use customer satisfaction surveys so they can figure out how to improve their operations. There’s an implicit assumption that the feedback given will accurately reflect the actual quality of the service provided. </p>
<p>Companies <a href="https://doi.org/10.1509/jmkg.71.3.194">may also assume</a> that customers, regardless of their socioeconomic background, will give similar evaluations for good service – and that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11002-021-09581-9">people will recognize</a> poor or discriminatory service when they experience it. </p>
<p>Our research team wanted to see if that’s really the case.</p>
<p>In our first study, we recruited nine male small-business owners in Los Angeles to act as “mystery shoppers” to help us compare the treatment of different racial groups. They had similar ages, heights, builds and education; three were Black, three were Hispanic and three were white. </p>
<p>We then sent the men, who wore identical shirts and pants, to a total of 69 banks to ask for a loan based on identical customer profiles. They also secretly recorded the meetings using a camera embedded in their shirt – a method approved by the state’s attorney general’s office. After each meeting ended, participants filled out a questionnaire describing the experience, including their level of satisfaction. </p>
<p>Overall, we found that participants, regardless of race or ethnicity, reported similar levels of satisfaction during the bank encounters. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/676689">Since past research</a> has found that Black and Hispanic customers experience objectively worse treatment, we wanted to dig deeper to understand why satisfaction levels were similar. </p>
<p>We analyzed 26 of the videos to see if there were objective disparities in how our mystery shoppers were treated. We found that Black and Hispanic participants were given significantly less time than white participants, waited longer to see a bank employee, and experienced other subtle forms of discrimination. </p>
<p>We wanted to see how pervasive these differing perceptions of good and bad customer service were for people from underrepresented groups. In two additional studies, we recruited over 300 people from a variety of backgrounds to watch clips from these videos that show positive and negative interactions and evaluate the encounters. We found that while all groups rated positive scenarios similarly, Black and Hispanic viewers tended to perceive negative experiences in a better light than white viewers. </p>
<h2>Why it matters</h2>
<p>Research has shown that discrimination in customer-worker interactions in the service sector is often <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11002-021-09581-9">difficult to detect and fix</a>. This is particularly challenging when the biases are subtle and less obvious in slights <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/hypa.12390">often referred to as microaggressions</a>.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, customers from underrepresented ethnic or racial groups may become indifferent, desensitized or even accepting of repeated discriminatory service over time. In one-on-one exchanges in places like bank branches, customers may be less aware of discriminatory service because they are unable to directly compare the service they receive with that of other customers. So relying on customer feedback to detect service failures may be a poor way to fix discriminatory behavior.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/676689">Research has shown</a> that discrimination in financial services has far-reaching implications for underrepresented consumers. These include the inability to get a loan or mortgage, accumulate savings and build wealth. Financial service institutions’ <a href="http://thearf-org-unified-admin.s3.amazonaws.com/MSI/2020/06/MSI_Report_18-121-1.pdf">reputation for discrimination</a> also makes it difficult for these companies to attract employees and customers.</p>
<p>To avoid these problems, we believe managers should find more objective ways to evaluate the discriminatory treatment of underrepresented customers and find ways to improve. </p>
<h2>What’s next</h2>
<p>We believe more research is needed on the underlying assumptions managers make in tracking, evaluating and eliminating discriminatory behavior – which, in our view, is the ultimate service failure.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/201766/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>New research found that Black and Hispanic people tended to give banks a pass for poor customer service.Samantha N. N. Cross, Associate Professor of Marketing, Iowa State UniversityStephanie Dellande, Professor Emerita of Marketing, Menlo CollegeSterling Bone, Professor of Marketing, Utah State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1851112023-03-07T13:44:09Z2023-03-07T13:44:09ZLeading American medical journal continues to omit Black research, reinforcing a legacy of racism in medical knowledge<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483105/original/file-20220906-16-z1jwf1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C6%2C3637%2C2709&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Medical research is one of the keys in providing health care. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/8hHxO3iYuU0">SJ Objio for Unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The leading U.S. medical journal, read regularly by doctors of all specialties, systematically ignores an equally reputable and rigorous body of medical research that focuses on Black Americans’ health. </p>
<p>The American Medical Association created a segregated “whites only” environment more than 100 years ago to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0027968415309354">prohibit Black physicians</a> from joining their ranks. This exclusionary and racist policy prompted the creation in 1895 of the <a href="https://www.nmanet.org/page/History">National Medical Association</a>, a professional membership group that supported African American physicians and the patients they served. Today, the NMA represents more than 30,000 medical professionals. </p>
<p>In 2008, the AMA publicly apologized and pledged to right the wrongs that were done through <a href="https://journalofethics.ama-assn.org/article/american-medical-association-and-race/2014-06">decades of racism</a> within its organization. Yet our research shows that despite <a href="https://www.ama-assn.org/sites/ama-assn.org/files/corp/media-browser/public/ama-history/ama-apology-african-americans.pdf">that public reckoning</a> 15 years ago, the opinion column of the AMA’s leading medical journal does not reflect the research and editorial contributions by NMA members. </p>
<p>Invisibility in the opinion column of one of the <a href="https://www.healthwriterhub.com/top-medical-journals/">most prominent medical journals</a> in the U.S. is another form of subtle racism that continues to <a href="https://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-the-national-medical-association">lessen the importance of</a> equitable medical care and health issues for Black and underserved communities. </p>
<p>As <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C38&q=mya+poe&btnG=">rhetoricians</a> and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C38&q=gwendolynne+reid&oq=gwendolynne+r">researchers</a> who study scientific communication, we look at the ways scientific writing perpetuates or addresses racial inequity. Our <a href="https://blog.petrieflom.law.harvard.edu/2022/06/07/citational-racism-how-leading-medical-journals-reproduce-segregation-in-american-medical-knowledge/">recent study</a> traced how research is referenced by medical professionals and colleagues, known as citations, of flagship journals of the NMA and AMA: the <a href="https://www.nmanet.org/page/History">Journal of the National American Association</a> and the <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama">Journal of the American Medical Association</a>. </p>
<h2>Invisible research</h2>
<p>Our research began with a question: Has the <a href="https://www.ama-assn.org/sites/ama-assn.org/files/corp/media-browser/public/ama-history/ama-apology-african-americans.pdf">AMA’s 2008 apology</a> had any effect on the frequency with which JAMA opinion writers draw on insights and research of JNMA scholars and authors? </p>
<p>We studied opinion columns, also referred to as editorials, precisely because they are useful <a href="https://www.peterlang.com/document/1043716#document-details-anchor">indicators of current and future research as well as priorities and agendas</a>. The <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3190447/">purpose of editorials</a> is to critically analyze and sift through various opinions and evidence. <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3190447/">Effective editorials</a> in scientific journals are especially rich forums for debate within the medical community. </p>
<p>Medical publications like JNMA and JAMA do not simply convey knowledge. They also establish professional community values through the topics that are studied and who is credited for ideas related to research. When writers choose to reference or cite another scholar, they are acknowledging and highlighting that expertise. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/492834/original/file-20221101-26-bicird.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="X-ray of a chest, several ribs, shoulder bone." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/492834/original/file-20221101-26-bicird.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/492834/original/file-20221101-26-bicird.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492834/original/file-20221101-26-bicird.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492834/original/file-20221101-26-bicird.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492834/original/file-20221101-26-bicird.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492834/original/file-20221101-26-bicird.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492834/original/file-20221101-26-bicird.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Influential medical journals serve to inform and shape health care.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/ouyjDk-KdfY">Harlie Raethel for Unsplash</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As such, citations play an important role in the visibility of research. Articles and authors with more citations are more likely to have a greater effect on the scientific community and patient care. Opinion pieces can shape the broader conversation among medical professionals, and citations can widen that circle of communication. </p>
<h2>Invisible racism</h2>
<p>We <a href="https://blog.petrieflom.law.harvard.edu/2022/06/07/citational-racism-how-leading-medical-journals-reproduce-segregation-in-american-medical-knowledge/">traced how frequently</a> JAMA and JNMA opinion writers referenced one another from 2008 to 2021 by reviewing the 117 opinion pieces published in JNMA and 1,425 published in JAMA during this 13-year period. We found that JAMA opinion columns have continued to, in effect, uphold racial bias and segregation by ignoring JNMA findings. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/492836/original/file-20221101-18-bfntf0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A Black medical professional adjusts gloves in front of a mirror." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/492836/original/file-20221101-18-bfntf0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/492836/original/file-20221101-18-bfntf0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492836/original/file-20221101-18-bfntf0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492836/original/file-20221101-18-bfntf0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492836/original/file-20221101-18-bfntf0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492836/original/file-20221101-18-bfntf0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492836/original/file-20221101-18-bfntf0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The work of Black medical proessionals is being overlooked in national medical journals.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/kJwZxH6jins">Piron Guillaume for Unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Even when focusing on race, racism and health disparities, topics that JNMA has explored in great detail, JAMA opinion columns did not reference JNMA colleagues or research. Only two <a href="https://blog.petrieflom.law.harvard.edu/2022/06/07/citational-racism-how-leading-medical-journals-reproduce-segregation-in-american-medical-knowledge/">JNMA articles</a> were credited and referenced in the 1,425 JAMA opinion pieces that we reviewed.</p>
<p>Editors at JAMA did not respond to our requests for their comments on our analysis.</p>
<h2>Racial equity in medicine</h2>
<p>The story of the AMA and NMA is not only a reminder of the racist history of medicine. It demonstrates how the expertise of Black professionals and researchers continues to be ignored today. The lack of JNMA citations in JAMA research undercuts the <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2780911">AMA’s own work on racial equity</a> and potentially compromises the quality of medical knowledge published in its journals. </p>
<p>For example, a recent study in the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1915378117">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a> found that scientists from underrepresented groups innovate, or contribute novel scientific findings, at a higher rate than those from majority groups.</p>
<p>An article published in the weekly medical journal of the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1001918">Public Library of Science</a> noted that diverse research teams are often more successful in developing new knowledge to help treat women and underrepresented patients with greater precision. </p>
<h2>Dissolving systemic bias</h2>
<p>One way to intentionally tackle racial bias and segregation in medical knowledge is by deliberately referencing Black researchers and their work. To change this dynamic of racial bias, medical journals must pay attention to how much and how often the Black medical establishment is referenced. Health issues in underserved communities would likely become more visible and achieve greater quality of care in keeping with the <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2780911">AMA’s commitment to social justice</a>.</p>
<p>Journal editors could tell writers and editorial staff to prioritize citation practices. Individual authors might conduct research and evaluate their reading habits to intentionally include research from the Black medical community. </p>
<p>However, this work must go beyond individuals. Undoing decades of collective habits and embedded racism requires collaborations that work across systems, institutions and disciplines. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/492838/original/file-20221101-28600-4atxo6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="One hand holds a bottle of pills and the other hand holds three white pills." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/492838/original/file-20221101-28600-4atxo6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/492838/original/file-20221101-28600-4atxo6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492838/original/file-20221101-28600-4atxo6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492838/original/file-20221101-28600-4atxo6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492838/original/file-20221101-28600-4atxo6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492838/original/file-20221101-28600-4atxo6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492838/original/file-20221101-28600-4atxo6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Racial disparities in health care often result in lower-quality medical treatment and worse health care outcomes for Black Americans.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/medicine">Towfiqu Barbhuiya for Unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For example, libraries, databases, and search engines that help researchers find and evaluate medical publications might review today’s research tools. It is hard to contribute to a research conversation if your work is invisible or can’t be found.</p>
<p>Many tools, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4150161/">like impact factors</a>, rank research according to how influential it is. If research begins in a category of less importance, it can be harder for the technology to rank it equitably. JNMA’s work was already marginalized when the tools that rank research were developed. </p>
<p>Thus, search results can hinder efforts of individual authors to work toward equitable citation practices. Black researchers and their research of Black health were excluded from the beginning, and existing systems of sharing knowledge and drawing attention to important studies incorporate that structural racism.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.ama-assn.org/sites/ama-assn.org/files/corp/media-browser/public/ama-history/ama-apology-african-americans.pdf">AMA apology</a> in 2008 and its recent progress on <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2780911">addressing racism</a> in its publication process are promising steps. Influential medical journals serve to inform and shape health care. Who is referenced in these journals matters to the medical establishment, research funders and, ultimately, to the patients that are served by innovations in medicine.</p>
<p>Attention to citation can help <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0165178121005904?via%3Dihub">reduce systemic bias</a> in medical knowledge to achieve greater fairness in health care and, in the long run, help increase attention and resources that will help solve health issues in underserved communities.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/185111/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The lack of visibility by Black researchers and physicians in scientific literature perpetuates systemic racism in medicine.Cherice Escobar Jones, PhD Candidate, Northeastern UniversityGwendolynne Reid, Assistant Professor of English, Emory UniversityMya Poe, Associate Professor of English, Northeastern UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1961912023-03-02T13:23:11Z2023-03-02T13:23:11ZCOVID-19’s housing crisis hit many Asians in the US hardest – but only after government aid began flowing<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/512743/original/file-20230228-784-m5nxpk.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=198%2C53%2C3036%2C2100&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The pandemic put millions of people on the edge of eviction.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/RentReliefNewYork/d39802bf7d5e4a0c8aa067e473708ed2/photo?Query=eviction%20housing&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=888&currentItemNo=29">AP Photo/Mary Altaffer</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/research-brief-83231">Research Brief</a> is a short take about interesting academic work.</em> </p>
<h2>The big idea</h2>
<p>People of Asian descent living in the U.S. experienced an increase in housing vulnerability in 2021 – as measured by the share who said they had fallen behind on their rent or mortgage payments – even as the government <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/03/11/us/how-covid-stimulus-money-was-spent.html">spent over US$5 trillion</a> trying to relieve the COVID-19 pandemic’s burden on Americans. Meanwhile, housing vulnerability among white people, Black people and Hispanic people all fell during this period. </p>
<p>These are the main findings of <a href="https://www.iza.org/publications/dp/15835/in-need-of-a-roof-pandemic-and-housing-vulnerability">our recent working paper</a> that examined housing vulnerability during the pandemic. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://doi.org/10.1007/s41885-021-00092-5">massive upheaval sparked</a> by the pandemic in early 2020 put millions out of work and made it harder for many people to afford basic necessities like rent amid government-imposed lockdowns. In December 2020, over 2 million homeowners were <a href="https://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/cfpb_Housing_insecurity_and_the_COVID-19_pandemic.pdf">more than three months behind</a> on their mortgage payment, and 8 million renters were behind on their rent, according to a March 2021 Consumer Finance Bureau report.</p>
<p>We wanted to better understand what was driving this degree of housing vulnerability, how that changed during the pandemic and across ethnic groups, and how it differed between renters and homeowners. To find out, we examined data from the <a href="https://www.census.gov/data/experimental-data-products/household-pulse-survey.html">Census Household Pulse Survey</a>, which has sought to quickly measure the social and economic toll from the pandemic in frequent surveys, for three different periods: April/May 2020, April/May 2021 and April/May 2022. </p>
<p>We found that housing vulnerability was high for all groups in early 2020 as the first financial shock of the pandemic struck, though people of color and renters were especially hard hit.</p>
<p>Among homeowners, the overall share of people who said they were not caught up on their mortgage payments was elevated in 2020 but declined in 2021 as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/03/11/us/how-covid-stimulus-money-was-spent.html">government aid helped relieve</a> household hardships. An exception was for homeowners of Asian descent, who reported even higher levels of housing vulnerability in 2021 – and more than any other group. By 2022, housing vulnerability had come down for all groups. </p>
<p><iframe id="DZFgX" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/DZFgX/3/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>The picture was much worse for renters. About 25% of Black renters reported being behind on rent in 2020, compared with 18% for Hispanic respondents and 9.5% for Asians. While the figure fell slightly in 2021 for Black people and Hispanics, the share soared for Asians to 17.1%. The figures stayed elevated in the double-digits for all groups except for white people in early 2022. </p>
<p><iframe id="vR5RX" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/vR5RX/3/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>An additional econometric analysis we conducted, which adjusted the data for levels of education, income levels and other factors, confirmed our results.</p>
<h2>Why it matters</h2>
<p>Housing vulnerability is an important measure to look at because it signals someone may be at risk of losing their home, whether they’re an owner or a renter. In addition, research shows there’s a link between housing vulnerability and other negative health outcomes, such as <a href="https://jech.bmj.com/content/73/3/256">higher stress levels</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1136/jech-2021-216764">mental distress</a>.</p>
<p>Our own research uncovered disparities in how different groups experienced this vulnerability during the pandemic, when the government was <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/03/11/us/how-covid-stimulus-money-was-spent.html">spending trillions to support families and businesses</a>. It suggests some groups benefited more than others from these relief efforts. </p>
<h2>What still isn’t known</h2>
<p>Our study didn’t reveal why Asian housing vulnerability increased from 2020 to 2021 and why this group of people didn’t seem to benefit as much from the federal aid as other groups did. </p>
<p>An August 2020 <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/public-and-social-sector/our-insights/covid-19-and-advancing-asian-american-recovery">McKinsey report</a> suggested aid to Asian small businesses would likely lag behind other groups due to language barriers or a lack of understanding of the system. The same thing might be true for aid to households as well.</p>
<h2>What’s next</h2>
<p>In our future research, we plan to investigate what factors contributed to the rise in housing vulnerability among Asians relative to other groups. We believe it’s important for policymakers to examine these issues in hopes of making future aid programs more equitable.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/196191/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>While all groups experienced increased housing vulnerability after the pandemic hit, only people of Asian descent continued to see their situations worsen in 2021 as the US spent trillions trying to soften the impact.Kusum Mundra, Associate Professor of Economics, Rutgers University - NewarkRuth Uwaifo Oyelere, Associate Professor of Economics, Agnes Scott CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1725722022-11-23T17:05:56Z2022-11-23T17:05:56ZBlack Panther is a step in the right direction and a diverse audience is hungry for more inclusive roles and storylines<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/497086/original/file-20221123-14-yey8kp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=44%2C13%2C2950%2C1985&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Letitia Wright as Shuri.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.marvel.com/articles/movies/black-panther-wakanda-forever-shuri-nexus-of-the-movie">Marvel</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>From <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9419884/">Doctor Strange: In the Multiverse of Madness</a> to the recent <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10857160/">She-Hulk: Attorney at Law</a>, comics and their adaptations or spin-offs are big business. The just-released <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9114286/">Black Panther: Wakanda Forever</a> earned an astonishing <a href="https://www.boxofficepro.com/weekend-box-office-black-panther-wakanda-forever-opens-to-180m-domestic-330m-global/">US$330 million worldwide</a> (£278 million) in its opening weekend. </p>
<p>US comics and graphic novels, meanwhile, made <a href="https://www.comichron.com/monthlycomicssales/2021.html">US$600 million in 2021</a> – 36% more than the previous year. And <a href="https://www.boxofficemojo.com/year/world/">four of the most popular films of 2022</a> are based on comics – with the Black Panther sequel joining the top ten a week after release.</p>
<p>These days more and more comics are featuring a diverse range of performers and roles. In Marvel’s <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9140554/">Loki</a>, for example, the God of Mischief <a href="https://eu.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/tv/2021/06/24/director-kate-herron-confirms-marvel-loki-disney-bisexual/7781779002/">is bisexual</a>, while the Black Panther films and the animated Spider-man movies have people of colour <a href="https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a25616148/spider-man-into-spider-verse-2-characters-cast-plot-release-date-spin-off/">as their leads</a>.</p>
<p>There’s also been the introduction of new characters to bridge the diversity gap, such as <a href="https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Kamala_Khan_(Earth-616)">Ms Marvel, played by Kamala Khan</a> and <a href="https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/America_Chavez_(Earth-616)">America Chavez</a> played by <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm7961780/">Xochitl Gomez</a>. Ms Marvel’s Muslim faith has been well received and seen as a “<a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/ms-marvel-muslim-identity-a-changing-hollywood-1234666/">gamechanger</a>” for depictions of the religion on screen. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/m9EX0f6V11Y?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<h2>Queering characters</h2>
<p>Both Marvel and DC have massively increased LGBTQ+ representation onscreen and in comics in recent times. Though a notable difference is that Marvel’s LGBTQ+ superheroes are mainly new characters, whereas DC has changed the sexuality of older characters. </p>
<p>Marvel’s Young Avengers, for example, has long featured <a href="https://www.pride.com/geek/2020/4/23/will-mcus-young-avengers-characters-all-be-lgbtq">a large number of LGBTQ+ characters</a>. And DC recently created a <a href="https://theconversation.com/supermans-not-the-first-hero-to-be-portrayed-as-bisexual-but-hell-bring-hope-to-lgbtq-fans-169898">bisexual narrative</a> for Superman’s son, Jonathan Kent – though he is still presented as straight in the <a href="https://arrow.fandom.com/wiki/Jonathan_Kent">current TV adaptation</a>.</p>
<p>DC also recently changed another previously straight character, the third male Robin, Tim Drake, to have him <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/aug/11/batmans-sidekick-robin-comes-out-as-lgbtq-in-new-comic">attracted to another man</a>. Meanwhile Aquaman’s teen protege, Aqualad, was changed from a <a href="https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Garth_(Prime_Earth)">straight white teen</a> to <a href="https://laist.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/how-the-new-gay-aquaman-is-being-reintroduced-by-a-black-socal-writer">a gay black teen</a> – first in an animated TV series and then in comics. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Robin, aka Tim Drake, with his boyfriend, Bernard." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495685/original/file-20221116-24-bzj1fs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495685/original/file-20221116-24-bzj1fs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=299&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495685/original/file-20221116-24-bzj1fs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=299&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495685/original/file-20221116-24-bzj1fs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=299&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495685/original/file-20221116-24-bzj1fs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495685/original/file-20221116-24-bzj1fs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495685/original/file-20221116-24-bzj1fs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Robin, aka Tim Drake, with his boyfriend, Bernard.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.dc.com/comics/dc-pride-tim-drake-special-2022/dc-pride-tim-drake-special-1">DC.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Back in 2012, there was also the marriage of Northstar, a fairly minor member of the X-Men, to his <a href="https://www.marvel.com/comics/issue/40803/astonishing_x-men_2004_51">non-white husband</a>, which <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/x-men-gay-wedding_b_1536037">led to</a> <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/marvel-comics-hosts-first-gay-wedding-in-astonishing-x-men-235209/">positive reviews</a>. And in the same year, the original Green Lantern <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/green-lantern-comes-out-as-gay-in-earth-two-234596/">came out as gay</a>. </p>
<p>Some fans criticised how this was handled – not only was it suggested he had been <a href="https://screenrant.com/original-green-lantern-alan-scott-gay-infinite-frontier/">in the closet for years</a>, but rather than giving him a life-affirming storyline, the third issue to feature a younger version of the <a href="https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Green_Lantern">Green Lantern</a> character saw his boyfriend <a href="https://www.queerty.com/that-was-fast-green-lanterns-boyfriend-killed-off-almost-immediately-20120712">killed in a train crash</a>. </p>
<h2>What readers want</h2>
<p>When it comes to diversity, Marvel has had mixed responses from some employees. In 2017 for example, David Gabriel, Marvel’s senior vice president of print, sales and marketing, said “people didn’t want any more diversity … (or more) female characters,” but later <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/apr/03/marvel-executive-says-emphasis-on-diversity-may-have-alienated-readers">dialled back his comments</a>, adding “we are proud and excited to … reflect new voices and new experiences.” </p>
<p>In terms of readers, it seems that while changes to <a href="https://www.themarysue.com/hire-authors-of-color-in-comics/">existing characters</a> are not so welcome,
<a href="https://uncannymagazine.com/article/representation-matters-embracing-change-in-comics/">diversity in newer storylines</a> is seen as a positive thing.
Indeed, as <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-74974-3_1#Sec210">academic, Jos van Waterschoot</a>, puts it: “<a href="https://www.popmatters.com/fandom-negative-nostalgia-2648778748.html">fandom gatekeepers may be hostile to newcomers</a>”. Perhaps for some fans, a previously straight character feeling same-sex attraction is a step too far, even if <a href="https://psychcentral.com/health/coming-out-later-in-life#typical-ages">belatedly coming out of the closet</a> is hardly new.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496749/original/file-20221122-18-h8xw41.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="DC Superheros line up." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496749/original/file-20221122-18-h8xw41.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496749/original/file-20221122-18-h8xw41.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=454&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496749/original/file-20221122-18-h8xw41.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=454&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496749/original/file-20221122-18-h8xw41.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=454&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496749/original/file-20221122-18-h8xw41.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=570&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496749/original/file-20221122-18-h8xw41.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=570&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496749/original/file-20221122-18-h8xw41.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=570&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">DC Pride is an annual LGBTQ+ comic book anthology first published by DC Comics in June 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.dc.com/sites/default/files/imce/2022/04-APR/DCPRIDE_2022_WRAPAROUND_VARIANT_SWAY_624de10fd31852.69939736.jpg">DC.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But while narrative changes to <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315604626-4/superheroes-identity-carol-tilley">comics</a> may lead to <a href="https://ew.com/tv/2017/04/03/marvel-female-diverse-characters-hurting/">unwelcome criticism</a> if long-lasting characters are killed off or have their characterisation changed, when done well it adds to the storyline – and is <a href="https://movieweb.com/marvel-movie-character-deaths/">welcomed by fans</a>.</p>
<p>Writer, Mark Russell, for example, is noted for <a href="https://bookriot.com/nostalgic-comics/">reviving cartoon characters</a> in comics and giving them an <a href="https://www.salon.com/2019/06/10/snagglepuss-lgbt-hero-legendary-hanna-barbera-character-reborn-in-new-comic-series/">LGBTQ+ twist</a>. One of his <a href="https://www.cbr.com/mark-russell-best-comic-book-series-ranked/">celebrated creations</a>, <a href="https://thequeerreview.com/2020/04/13/book-review-exit-stage-left-the-snagglepuss-chronicles/">The Snagglepuss Chronicles</a>, reimagines the <a href="https://www.illustrationhistory.org/artists/hanna-barbera">Hanna-Barbera</a> cartoon character, Snagglepuss, as a gay US playwright in the 1950s being victimised under McCarthyism.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495688/original/file-20221116-18-z3eolp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Cartoon cat as The Statue of Liberty, draped in US flag." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495688/original/file-20221116-18-z3eolp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495688/original/file-20221116-18-z3eolp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=933&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495688/original/file-20221116-18-z3eolp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=933&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495688/original/file-20221116-18-z3eolp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=933&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495688/original/file-20221116-18-z3eolp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1172&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495688/original/file-20221116-18-z3eolp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1172&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495688/original/file-20221116-18-z3eolp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1172&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Exit, Stage Left!: The Snagglepuss Chronicles is a satirical comic book, published by DC Comics, that features a gay Snagglepuss being victimised under McCarthyism.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exit,_Stage_Left!:_The_Snagglepuss_Chronicles#/media/File:Exit,_Stage_Left,_The_Snagglepuss_Chronicles_Comic_Issue_1_Cover.jpg">DC.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>But more needed</h2>
<p>At least the inclusion of new <a href="https://www.cbr.com/young-justice-outsiders-aquaman-kaldur-gay/">positive diverse characters</a> seems to be leading to <a href="https://viewsfromabookshop.com/2021/01/09/diverse-comics-graphic-novels/">new readers picking up titles</a> – with Australia’s ABC News noting a “<a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-08-14/genre-fiction-comic-books-graphic-novels-diversity-storytelling/101299596">thirst for more inclusive works</a>”.</p>
<p>That said, comics have been accused of being a medium that gives <a href="https://www.peterdavid.net/2012/12/24/the-illusion-of-change/">the illusion of change</a>, when often they are just trying out various combinations of the <a href="https://www.gamesradar.com/how-marvel-comics-made-an-art-form-of-the-illusion-of-change/">same characters in different roles</a> – and so ultimately still end up <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/StatusQuoIsGod/ComicBooks">resetting the status quo</a> at the end of storylines.</p>
<p>Either way, even though LGBTQ+ and <a href="https://www.qualitycomix.com/learn/superhero-diversity-in-comic-books">minority</a> representation is <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/karltonjahmal/all-the-lgbtq-characters-in-the-mcu-so-far">improving on screen</a> and in comics, there’s still a way to go in <a href="https://www.flowjournal.org/2018/02/comics-%E2%9F%B7-media-bam-pow-comics-arent-just-for-white-men-anymore-benjamin-woo-carleton-university/">the push for diverse characters</a>. Especially so given that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2016/may/26/marvel-editor-in-chief-axel-alonso-civil-war-x-men">straight, white men</a> still feature strongly <a href="https://www.themarysue.com/run-the-comics/">on the page</a> and <a href="https://www.deseret.com/2016/7/14/20591832/marvel-s-heroes-may-be-diverse-but-their-employees-not-so-much">behind the scenes</a> in terms of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/jan/30/us-publishing-american-dirt-survey-diversity-cultural-appropriation">industry employees</a>. </p>
<p>It’s great that many comics are now more representative of the people who actually read them, but with a recent study noting <a href="https://morningconsult.com/2021/12/06/is-gen-z-too-cool-for-marvel/">13% of Marvel fans are Black and 18% Hispanic</a> – and this not currently depicted on the page – it’s clear there’s room for more diversity when it comes to our superheroes.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/172572/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alex Fitch receives funding from UKRI Centre for Doctoral Training, Design Star. </span></em></p>Many comics are now more representative of the people who actually read them but it’s clear there’s room for more diversity when it comes to our superheroes.Alex Fitch, Lecturer and PhD Candidate in Comics and Architecture, University of BrightonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1910012022-10-04T19:06:04Z2022-10-04T19:06:04ZThe Little Mermaid has always been a story about exclusion – and its author was an outsider<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487461/original/file-20220930-12-h27bv0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C101%2C3988%2C1892&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Edmund Dulac/IMDB</span> </figcaption></figure><p>Disney’s forthcoming live-action adaptation of <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5971474/">The Little Mermaid</a> has sparked an astonishing backlash. The <a href="https://youtu.be/xiyPHXkcz6s">trailer</a> for the 2023 film was met with millions of dislikes on YouTube, seemingly because the mermaid is played by Halle Bailey, a Black actress. </p>
<p>The 1989 <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097757/">animated Disney film</a>, on which the upcoming film is based, featured a red-headed mermaid named Ariel (and a singing crab with a Jamaican accent). The implication of much of the recent criticism is that a Black mermaid is not “authentic” to The Little Mermaid fairy tale.</p>
<p>But fairy tales are continually retold in new ways over time.</p>
<p>Hans Christian Andersen’s literary fairy tale is radically different to the 1989 film. He was a bisexual social outsider who struggled to express his desires. And his The Little Mermaid was not the happily-ever-after romance Disney fans are familiar with, but a tale of torturous unrequited love – which he worked on while a man he was infatuated with was getting married.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Qp4yfmOOv6Q?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Black girls react joyfully to The Little Mermaid trailer.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The first Cinderella was Chinese</h2>
<p>Outrage over fairy tales crossing cultural and racial boundaries is misguided. Variations of most popular tales are found in multiple cultures, and familiar tale types have a history of circling the globe. The way they’re told has adapted, too: from being shared orally, to literary versions (from the 17th century), and now film, television and games (from the 20th century). </p>
<p>Indeed, the very reason fairy tales have endured is because they are continually retold in new ways, to suit changing audiences and cultural norms. </p>
<p>The first recorded Cinderella variant, for example, is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ye_Xian">Yeh-Hsien</a>, from China. It was first published around 850; while Charles Perrault’s Cinderella, which influenced most adaptations we know today, was published in 1697. Yeh-Hsien does not have the aid of a fairy godmother; instead, she wishes on the bones of a fish. If fairy tales should only “belong” to the first culture in which they were ever told or written, then it would be logical to suggest we should only depict Cinderella as Chinese. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xpacm4ET-Cs?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The story of Yeh-Hsien is the first recorded variant of Cinderella.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid</h2>
<p>Disney’s animated adaptations, beginning with <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0029583/">Snow White</a> in 1937, have come to define our cultural understanding of fairy tales. It’s one reason why we’ve lost our cultural awareness of the diverse origins and traditions surrounding these tales. And these films, aimed at a family audience, sanitise earlier fairy tale variants – which were often more gruesome and disturbing than their Disney adaptations.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GC_mV1IpjWA?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The story of Disney’s Little Mermaid, Ariel, is very different from Hans Christian Andersen’s original.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Unlike the Disney films, Andersen’s The Little Mermaid is a tragic story of suffering and extreme sacrifice. P.L. Travers, the author of <a href="https://www.harpercollins.com.au/9780007398553/mary-poppins/">Mary Poppins</a>, wrote about her dislike of the mermaid’s protracted agony and found Andersen’s “tortures, disguised as piety” to be “demoralizing”. </p>
<p>Many of Andersen’s protagonists are small and delicate figures who arouse our sympathy. This frailty can be due to being poor and uncared for, as in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Little_Match_Girl">The Little Match Girl</a>. Or it can result from characters who are unable to move without difficulty. The tiny <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thumbelina">Thumbelina</a> must be carried from one location to another. And the Little Mermaid walks with the sensation of metal blades piercing her feet with every step. </p>
<p>The Little Mermaid is also a prime example of Andersen’s focus on female sacrifice and suffering. For a start, she has her tongue cut out by the sea witch and is made mute. And she maintains her delicate femininity with her “lovely, floating” walk on her hard-won human legs, despite the severe pain that is the cost of her bargain.</p>
<p>The mermaid saves the Prince on two occasions. First, she risks her life to rescue him from a shipwreck. Andersen’s fairy tale is not a love story, however, because the Prince never romantically desires the mermaid. He is impressed by her devotion but treats the mermaid like an animal or a child. He even gives her “permission to sleep on a velvet cushion at his door”. </p>
<p>The ultimate self-sacrifice of the Little Mermaid is evident when the Prince marries another woman and the mermaid holds the train of her wedding dress, while thinking only “of her death and of all she had lost in this world”. </p>
<p>The sea witch had promised that if the mermaid could make the prince fall in love with her, she would gain an immortal soul. If not, she would die of a broken heart on the first day after his marriage to someone else – and become sea foam on the waves. When she is faced with the choice to kill the Prince and rejoin her family in her mermaid form, she sacrifices her own life instead.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/mermaids-arent-real-but-theyve-fascinated-people-around-the-world-for-ages-150518">Mermaids aren't real – but they've fascinated people around the world for ages</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<h2>Andersen as outsider</h2>
<p>Andersen’s sad personal life unavoidably influences how his stories of downtrodden and pitiful characters are interpreted. In the case of the Little Mermaid, there is a close connection between the writing of the story and Andersen’s own feelings of isolation and rejection.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486741/original/file-20220927-18-d91da.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486741/original/file-20220927-18-d91da.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486741/original/file-20220927-18-d91da.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=915&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486741/original/file-20220927-18-d91da.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=915&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486741/original/file-20220927-18-d91da.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=915&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486741/original/file-20220927-18-d91da.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1150&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486741/original/file-20220927-18-d91da.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1150&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486741/original/file-20220927-18-d91da.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1150&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Hans Christian Andersen.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Andersen was a social outsider who never married – and potentially never had sex. He did become infatuated with both men and women and is therefore understood as bisexual. Yet he struggled to express his desires, an issue related to a series of complex psychological problems. </p>
<p>One of the men Andersen loved was his friend Edvard Collin, who did not return Andersen’s feelings. Biographer <a href="https://www.penguin.com.au/books/hans-christian-andersen-9780140283204">Jackie Wullschläger</a> notes that The Little Mermaid was written “at the height of Andersen’s obsession with and renunciation of Edvard Collin”. When Collin’s marriage to a woman was held in August of 1836, Andersen intentionally remained on the Danish island of Funen in order to avoid the wedding. There, he continued to work on The Little Mermaid. </p>
<p>It is possible to view the Little Mermaid failing to gain an eternal soul through marriage to the Prince as Andersen rejecting the idea that immortality must depend on love being reciprocated. As Wullschläger suggests, Andersen likely equated himself, a bisexual, with the mermaid’s understanding of herself as a different species to humans.</p>
<p>Andersen wrote that he deliberately avoided the convention found in other mermaid fiction, such as Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué’s <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/140996.Undine">Undine</a> (1811), in which human love enables the acquisition of a soul:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I’m sure that’s wrong! […] I won’t accept that sort of thing in this world. I have permitted my mermaid to follow a more natural, more divine path.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Andersen’s tales frequently promote his Christian religious ethics. The path to salvation with God that Andersen maps often entails a cheerful embrace of pain, suffering, or humiliation. Maria Tatar comments that Andersen’s protagonists embrace death “joyfully”. They “reproach themselves for their sins and endorse piety, humility, passivity, and a host of other ‘virtues’ designed to promote subservient behaviour”. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486742/original/file-20220927-12-djne7z.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486742/original/file-20220927-12-djne7z.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486742/original/file-20220927-12-djne7z.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=854&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486742/original/file-20220927-12-djne7z.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=854&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486742/original/file-20220927-12-djne7z.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=854&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486742/original/file-20220927-12-djne7z.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1073&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486742/original/file-20220927-12-djne7z.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1073&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486742/original/file-20220927-12-djne7z.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1073&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The mermaid and her sisters rescue the Prince.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Stephen Reid</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Most of Andersen’s protagonists are female. Fairy tales in the 19th century, such as those of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grimms%27_Fairy_Tales">Brothers Grimm</a>, commonly sought to direct the behaviour and morality of girls. In the case of the Little Mermaid, her harsh treatment and ultimate fate can be understood as punishment for her sexual curiosity in pursuing the Prince. It’s also a caution against attempting to leave the undersea home where she belongs. </p>
<p>The conclusion of Andersen’s tale transforms the Little Mermaid into sea foam and then a “daughter of the air” who may gain a soul after 300 years of compassionate, self-sacrificial behaviour. The moral educational function of fairy tales is especially evident in this ending. Child readers are informed their own good acts will shorten the length of time the Little Mermaid (and the other daughters of the air) must wait by one year, while bad acts will lengthen their wait. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-early-australian-fairy-tales-displaced-aboriginal-people-with-mythical-creatures-and-fantasies-of-empty-land-185592">How early Australian fairy tales displaced Aboriginal people with mythical creatures and fantasies of empty land</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Diversifying and adapting fairy tales</h2>
<p>Disney’s original, animated The Little Mermaid departs radically from Hans Christian Andersen’s published fairy tale. Some of these changes reflect developments in ideas about the purpose of stories of children. Young characters undergoing extreme self-sacrifice and unhappy endings now rarely appear in stories for children. </p>
<p>Disney’s transformation of a story of salvation and religious devotion into a straightforward romance is but one example of how fairy tales lend themselves to retelling in new contexts. The live-action adaptation starring Halle Bailey, which seeks to make children of colour feel represented in fairy tales, is one more iteration of the story.</p>
<p>This attempt to diversify fairy-tale adaptations builds on the queer history of The Little Mermaid. The story is already understood as having parallels with Andersen’s bisexuality – and the experience of transgender people. The most important UK organisation for supporting transgender, non-binary and gender-diverse young people, for example, is called <a href="https://mermaidsuk.org.uk/about-us/">Mermaids</a>. </p>
<p>It’s unsurprising that outsiders of all kinds connect with a story about a mermaid who cannot fit in the human world she desperately wishes to belong to. Whether that’s a beloved author in 19th-century Denmark, or an African American girl today.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/191001/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Smith does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Disney’s new Black mermaid has been called ‘inauthentic’ – but fairy tales have always been repurposed across cultures. And Hans Christian Andersen’s Little Mermaid was different from Disney’s.Michelle Smith, Senior Lecturer in Literary Studies, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1911412022-09-22T19:22:14Z2022-09-22T19:22:14ZAbout the Queen and the Crown’s crimes (or how to talk about the unmourned) — Podcast<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485973/original/file-20220921-24-oq5uau.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=25%2C79%2C1871%2C1601&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">After the death of Queen Elizabeth, questions arise about whose life gets mourned and who does not. Here is the Queen with the Guards of Honour in Nigeria, Dec. 3, 2003, for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Ben Curtis)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe height="480px" width="100%" frameborder="no" scrolling="no" seamless="" src="https://player.simplecast.com/fb609e39-d729-4a54-860a-8a411be157ae?dark=false&show=true"></iframe>
<p><iframe id="tc-infographic-572" class="tc-infographic" height="100" src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/infographics/572/661898416fdc21fc4fdef6a5379efd7cac19d9d5/site/index.html" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>At <a href="https://dont-call-me-resilient.simplecast.com/"><em>Don’t Call Me Resilient</em></a>, we’ve been busy planning season 4 of the podcast, which starts to roll out in November. We’re even starting to think about season 5. But we decided to stop production to talk about something we felt we couldn’t ignore.</p>
<p>We’ve watched this incredible spectacle around the Queen’s death and public outpouring of support and love for the British monarchy. </p>
<p>Here in Canada, Queen Elizabeth was the official head of state and her funeral this week was made a federal holiday. In Ontario, the Minister of Education directed schools to conduct a moment of silence “to recognize the profound impact of Queen Elizabeth II’s lifelong and unwavering devotion to public service.”</p>
<p>And yet next week, those same children will be exploring the history of Indian Residential Schools and the immense ongoing damage of that system — started and long supported by the Crown.</p>
<p>In the middle of this outpouring of love and grief for the Queen — and the monarchy she represented — not everyone is feeling it. Not everyone wants to mourn or honour her or what she represents. </p>
<p>And there are a lot of reasons why. </p>
<p>For example, the head of the Assembly of First Nations, RoseAnne Archibald <a href="https://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/i-can-t-feel-mournful-indigenous-leaders-reflect-on-colonialism-after-death-of-queen-elizabeth-ii-1.6062822">told CTV News</a> that the Royal Family should apologize for the failures of the Crown …“particularly for the destructiveness of colonization on First Nations people.” </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485969/original/file-20220921-15413-dd64gx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485969/original/file-20220921-15413-dd64gx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485969/original/file-20220921-15413-dd64gx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485969/original/file-20220921-15413-dd64gx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485969/original/file-20220921-15413-dd64gx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485969/original/file-20220921-15413-dd64gx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485969/original/file-20220921-15413-dd64gx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In this July 3, 1973 photo, Chief Frank Pelletier sits with Queen Elizabeth II in Thunder Bay, Ontario, as they view a display of Appaloosa horses and dancing.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Another example came from Uju Anya, professor at Carnegie Mellon University, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/09/world/africa/queen-africa-british-empire.html">who posted a tweet</a> in which she identified the Queen as overseeing a “thieving raping genocidal empire.”</p>
<p>To explore these ideas further, we reached out to two scholars who are regular contributors to <em>Don’t Call Me Resilient</em>. Both say that the Queen’s death could be a uniting moment of dissent for people from current and former colonies.</p>
<p>Veldon Coburn is Assistant Professor at the Institute of Indigenous Research and Studies at the University of Ottawa where he teaches a class called Colonialism, Territory & Treaties. He is Anishinaabe, Algonquin from Pikwàkanagàn First Nation and the co-editor of <em>Capitalism and Dispossession</em>.</p>
<p>Cheryl Thompson is Assistant Professor of media and culture at the School of Performance and the Director of the Laboratory for Black Creativity at Toronto Metropolitan University. She is the author of <em>Uncle: Race, Nostalgia, and the Politics of Loyalty</em>.</p>
<h2>Listen and Follow</h2>
<p>You can listen to or follow <em>Don’t Call Me Resilient</em> on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/dont-call-me-resilient/id1549798876">Apple Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5zaW1wbGVjYXN0LmNvbS9qZFg0Ql9DOA">Google Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/37tK4zmjWvq2Sh6jLIpzp7">Spotify</a> or <a href="https://dont-call-me-resilient.simplecast.com">wherever you listen to your favourite podcasts</a>. <a href="mailto:theculturedesk@theconversation.com">We’d love to hear from you</a>, including any ideas for future episodes. Join The Conversation on <a href="https://twitter.com/ConversationCA">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TheConversationCanada">Facebook</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/theconversationdotcom/">Instagram</a> and <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@theconversation">TikTok</a> and use #DontCallMeResilient.</p>
<h2>In the Conversation</h2>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/queen-elizabeth-ii-the-politics-of-national-mourning-left-no-space-for-dissenting-voices-190591">Queen Elizabeth II: the politics of national mourning left no space for dissenting voices</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/decolonize-the-queens-funeral-why-it-shouldnt-be-a-national-holiday-in-canada-190727">Decolonize the Queen’s funeral: Why it shouldn’t be a national holiday in Canada
</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/colonialism-was-a-disaster-and-the-facts-prove-it-84496">Colonialism was a disaster and the facts prove it
</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/cutting-ties-to-the-monarchy-could-loom-on-the-horizon-in-canada-190894">Cutting ties to the monarchy could loom on the horizon in Canada
</a></p>
<h2>Additional Sources</h2>
<p>“<a href="https://www.thestar.com/opinion/star-columnists/2022/09/14/no-i-do-not-mourn-the-queen.html?rf">No, I do not mourn the Queen,</a>” <em>Toronto Star</em> by Shree Paradkar</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485966/original/file-20220921-26-qbtdiv.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485966/original/file-20220921-26-qbtdiv.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485966/original/file-20220921-26-qbtdiv.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485966/original/file-20220921-26-qbtdiv.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485966/original/file-20220921-26-qbtdiv.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485966/original/file-20220921-26-qbtdiv.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485966/original/file-20220921-26-qbtdiv.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Will Prince Charles apologize for the wrongs of the Crown? Here he stands with Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, second from right, looking at a display of traditional hunting tools in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, during the Royal Tour of Canada, May 19, 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><em>The series is produced and hosted by me, Vinita Srivastava. Our senior producer is: Lygia Navarro and Jennifer Moroz is consulting producer. Shout out to our newest staff members: Dannielle Piper is a producer. Rukhsar Ali is an assistant producer. Rehmatullah Sheikh is our sound mixer. Ateqah Khaki is helping out with marketing and visual innovation. And Scott White is the CEO of The Conversation Canada.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/191141/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
In the middle of the tremendous outpouring of love and grief for the Queen and the monarchy she represented, not everyone wants to take a moment of silence. And there are a lot of reasons why.Vinita Srivastava, Host + Producer, Don't Call Me ResilientLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1819242022-06-01T12:12:08Z2022-06-01T12:12:08ZMore student or faculty diversity on campus leads to lower racial gaps in graduation rates<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/461090/original/file-20220503-26-eu2a47.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4992%2C3547&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">At colleges with a majority-Black student population, Black and white students graduate at the same rate. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/long-beach-city-college-graduates-having-a-good-time-at-news-photo/1154261552?adppopup=true">Brittany Murray/MediaNews Group/Long Beach Press-Telegram via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/research-brief-83231">Research Brief</a> is a short take about interesting academic work.</em></p>
<h2>The big idea</h2>
<p>College graduation gaps between Black and white students tend to shrink when there are more students of color or faculty of color on campus. This finding is based on analyses of 2,807 four-year U.S. colleges conducted by psychology researcher <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=zU8dI0QAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">Nida Denson</a> and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=NkNZmqIAAAAJ">me</a>. Our research appeared as a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.2021.1971487">peer-reviewed article</a> in 2022 in Volume 93, Issue 3, of The Journal of Higher Education.</p>
<p>Not only did we find that the gap in graduation rates between Black and white students is smaller at colleges with a larger percentage of Black students or faculty. We also found that the presence of one racial group may lead to smaller graduation gaps for other groups as well. For example, a greater percentage of Black students or instructors often helps shrink the graduation gap between other groups, such as Latino and white students.</p>
<p><iframe id="tcudn" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/tcudn/9/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>Our findings were mainly at colleges where almost no students attend online programs. Students in online coursework sometimes know the race of their instructor and other students. However, these racial identities may not be obvious in online courses on a day-to-day basis, especially if students have few chances to interact. </p>
<p>In addition, at colleges and universities with a majority-Black student population, Black students have the same graduation rates as white students. This same pattern is also seen for Latino and white students at colleges with a majority-Latino population. </p>
<p>Our findings hold even after we took other factors into account, such as how selective the college was, where it was located and how much it cost to attend. </p>
<h2>Why it matters</h2>
<p>College graduation rates <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/programs/raceindicators/indicator_red.asp">vary substantially across racial groups</a>. For instance, white students who began attending a four-year college in 2010 graduated within six years at a rate of 63.9%, whereas Black students who began college the same year graduated at a rate of 39.7%, <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d17/tables/dt17_326.10.asp?referer=raceindicators">federal data shows</a>.</p>
<p>Our research highlights an overlooked reason that may explain some of these gaps: the presence of a <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=98">large majority of white students</a> and faculty at many colleges. This finding is important, because colleges have some control over the students whom they choose to recruit and admit as well as the faculty they hire. </p>
<p>Our finding that majority-Black and majority-Latino colleges have managed to eliminate gaps in graduation rates – <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/aehe.20067">despite centuries of past and present racism</a> that affect student outcomes – is also notable. Some of these colleges have a founding mission of supporting students of color, such as historically Black colleges and universities, which were <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=667">originally created</a> for Black students who were prevented from attending white colleges. Others have a large percentage of students of color without this type of history, such as <a href="https://www.calstate.edu/attend/campuses/fresno">California State University, Fresno</a>.</p>
<p>Receiving a college degree provides benefits in terms of <a href="https://www.wiley.com/en-us/How+College+Affects+Students%3A+21st+Century+Evidence+that+Higher+Education+Works%2C+Volume+3+-p-9781118462683">future employment, income, mental well-being</a>, physical health and civic participation. Additionally, a well-educated population provides <a href="https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.soc.012809.102503">economic, health and civic benefits</a> to society overall. Therefore, promoting equitable graduation rates serves as one critical step in the effort toward creating a more racially just society. </p>
<p>Future research is needed to better understand how and why the presence of students and faculty of color may lead to equitable graduation rates. Moreover, colleges and universities may want to bolster their efforts to hire faculty of color to improve their students’ outcomes.</p>
<h2>What still isn’t known</h2>
<p>While this study shows that higher percentages of students and faculty of color tend to close racial gaps in graduation rates, it does not explain how this happens. This closing of gaps may occur from students of color feeling comfort when seeing other people of color on campus, having more interactions and friendships with students of color, or experiencing more inclusive classroom environments with faculty members of color.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/181924/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicholas A. Bowman receives funding from Western Sydney University (WSU) School of Social Sciences and
Psychology. </span></em></p>Students of color graduate at higher rates when they go to colleges where there are larger portions of the student body and faculty who are also of color.Nicholas A. Bowman, Mary Louise Petersen Chair in Higher Education, University of IowaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1774182022-05-16T12:14:30Z2022-05-16T12:14:30ZThe fight against school segregation began in South Carolina, long before it ended with Brown v. Board<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462856/original/file-20220512-13-ci3zoh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C35%2C3402%2C1899&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Millicent Brown, left, was one of the first two Black students to integrate a South Carolina public school, in September 1963.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/USAMillicentBrown/deb2f7f4e4f1406aa001d2be2b246af6/photo">AP Photo</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When it comes to the case of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Brown-v-Board-of-Education-of-Topeka">Brown v. Board of Education</a>, the 1954 Supreme Court decision that outlawed school segregation, the focus is often on Topeka, Kansas, the home of the Brown family and the school board that it sued. But the story of the case actually had several starts, years before the case was decided and more than a thousand miles away.</p>
<p>In 1947, Black families in Clarendon County, South Carolina, <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv6wgg3p">asked the county to provide school buses</a> for Black children, just as it did for white children. The county refused, so with the help of the NAACP, the nation’s oldest civil rights organization, 20 Black parents <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv6wgg3p">prepared to sue</a>, led by Joseph A. De Laine, a local reverend and public school principal. </p>
<p>Even before the suit was filed, one of the parents, <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/blinding-isaac-woodard-briggs-v-elliott/">Harry Briggs, was fired from his job</a> at a local service station and had to <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv10tq3jn">leave the state</a> to find a new one to support his family. And De Laine himself was <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv6wgg3p">fired from his principal’s position</a></p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462854/original/file-20220512-20-u2qaa1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A man in a clerical collar" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462854/original/file-20220512-20-u2qaa1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462854/original/file-20220512-20-u2qaa1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=693&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462854/original/file-20220512-20-u2qaa1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=693&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462854/original/file-20220512-20-u2qaa1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=693&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462854/original/file-20220512-20-u2qaa1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=871&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462854/original/file-20220512-20-u2qaa1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=871&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462854/original/file-20220512-20-u2qaa1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=871&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Rev. Joseph A. De Laine, a key advocate for school equality and integration.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://columbiavoice.cic.sc.edu/the-fight-to-carry-on-the-legacy-of-rev-joseph-delaine/">Columbia Voice, University of South Carolina</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Various legal and procedural hurdles followed, during which the NAACP decided the best strategy for making a case would be based not on busing but overall educational equity. In 1951, the organization <a href="https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/98/529/1899720/">filed a federal lawsuit</a> demanding that Black students should get the same educational resources and facilities as white children. The suit pointed to Scott’s Branch High School, an all-Black school in Summerton, one of the towns in Clarendon County. Even the school district’s lawyers admitted that the town’s all-white Summerton High School had <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/title/brown-vs-board-of-education-of-topeka-a-brief-history-with-documents/oclc/1085175082&referer=brief_results">substantially better facilities, equipment and educational quality</a>. </p>
<p>During a pretrial hearing, federal Judge <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv10tq3jn">Julius Waties Waring</a> persuaded Thurgood Marshall, the attorney handling the case on behalf of the NAACP, to <a href="https://www.postandcourier.com/opinion/waring-bravely-moved-ahead-of-his-time-for-racial-justice/article_6da043e7-0623-549e-9941-7b6a4e223414.html">argue against school segregation itself</a>, saying, “Bring me a frontal attack on segregation. I don’t want another separate but equal case.” A month later, Marshall brought a new case, <a href="https://brownvboard.org/content/brown-case-briggs-v-elliott">Briggs v. Elliott</a>, named for one of the 20 petitioners, arguing that school segregation in South Carolina was unconstitutional. This was <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv6wgg3p">the first lawsuit in the country</a> to challenge school segregation as a violation of the U.S. Constitution. </p>
<p>The Brown v. Board case eventually grew out of that South Carolina case. As <a href="https://news.clemson.edu/our-experts/roy-jones/">someone who has been in close contact</a> with descendants of several family members who had direct involvement in the Briggs case, I believe the outcome of their struggle was a turning point in the fight for equality. </p>
<h2>Fighting the constitution</h2>
<p>The plaintiffs of the Briggs v. Elliot case sought to challenge the <a href="https://www.scstatehouse.gov/scconstitution/scconst.php">South Carolina state constitution</a>, which established its separate school system. According to the 1895 state constitution:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Separate schools shall be provided for children of the white and colored races and no child of either race shall ever be permitted to attend a school provided for children of the other race.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>The lawyers defending South Carolina’s school segregation system acknowledged the state’s Black and white schools were not equal. But they pointed out efforts by the new governor, James F. Byrnes, a former U.S. Supreme Court justice and devout segregationist, to raise the state sales tax to <a href="http://www.scequalizationschools.org/equalization-schools.html">fund new buildings</a> and improved programs. That should be enough, they argued, to solve the problem at the heart of the lawsuit. </p>
<p>Since it was a challenge to the state constitution, the Briggs case had to be heard by three judges in the federal District Court in Charleston, one of whom was Waring. The ruling was a split decision, with Judges John J. Parker and George B. Timmerman ruling that South Carolina’s segregation requirement did not violate <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/amendmentxiv">the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution</a>. But Waring <a href="https://catalog.archives.gov/id/279306">disagreed</a>, writing “<a href="https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/98/529/1899720/">segregation is per se inequality</a>.”</p>
<p>When the case was appealed to the Supreme Court, it was combined with four other very similar cases, including the Brown v. Board case from Kansas.</p>
<h2>Retaliations</h2>
<p>Before the Supreme Court ruling, De Laine moved about 50 miles away, seeking to escape the harassment he was experiencing from segregationists in Summerton. After he moved, they <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv6wgg3p">burned down his Summerton home</a>.</p>
<p>In his new town, De Laine also faced opposition, including from S.E. Rogers, the attorney for the defendants in the Briggs case, who <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv10tq3jn">organized a group of local segregationists</a> to rally against integration.</p>
<p>De Laine’s new home, next to the church to which he had been assigned, was vandalized multiple times, and the church was burned down on the night of Oct. 5, 1955. Five days later, De Laine fled South Carolina after learning he would face attempted murder charges for shooting back at a car filled with <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv6wgg3p">threatening segregationists</a>. He eventually made his way to New York. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462855/original/file-20220512-13-1ulxfv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A one-story brick building with a flagpole out front." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462855/original/file-20220512-13-1ulxfv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462855/original/file-20220512-13-1ulxfv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=239&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462855/original/file-20220512-13-1ulxfv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=239&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462855/original/file-20220512-13-1ulxfv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=239&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462855/original/file-20220512-13-1ulxfv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=301&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462855/original/file-20220512-13-1ulxfv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=301&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462855/original/file-20220512-13-1ulxfv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=301&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The building that was Summerton High School, the town’s all-white school, closed in 1966 to avoid integration. Years later, it became a school district administration office.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Summerton_High_School.jpg">Bill Fitzpatrick via Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The aftermath</h2>
<p>It took <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2020/09/firsts-school-segregation-south-carolina/616492/">years after the landmark Brown decision</a> for its effects to really be felt in South Carolina. The first K-12 district in the state to desegregate was Charleston County School District, in <a href="http://www.scequalizationschools.org/desegregation-at-last.html">September 1963</a>. </p>
<p>Clarendon County school officials decided to close Summerton High School in 1966 to avoid integration. Instead, white parents sent their children to <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv10tq3jn">the newly built private Clarendon Hall school</a>. Meanwhile, the Black students remained at Scott’s Branch High School. </p>
<p>Summerton High School stayed closed for over 20 years, only reopening in the late 1980s as an administrative office for the school district.</p>
<p>Although the outcome of the Brown decision arguably led to equal facilities, resources and bus transportation, it fell short of significantly integrating Black and white students in the district’s public schools. In 2022, Summerton public schools remained <a href="https://www.publicschoolreview.com/south-carolina/clarendon-01-school-district/4501740-school-district">95% Black</a>, while most white students in Summerton attended the private Clarendon Hall school.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/177418/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>I have met and interviewed descendants of the Joseph A. De Laine family, Pearson family, Briggs family and Elliott family mentioned in the article.
I am a tenured Professor in the Educational & Organizational Leadership Dept., College of Education, Clemson University. </span></em></p>The Brown v. Board of Education case, which resulted in the Supreme Court outlawing school segregation, originally started in Clarendon County, South Carolina.Roy Jones, Professor of Leadership, Counselor Education, Human and Organizational Development; Executive director, Call Me MISTER, Clemson UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1781112022-04-20T12:16:39Z2022-04-20T12:16:39ZStudents of color in special education are less likely to get the help they need – here are 3 ways teachers can do better<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/451661/original/file-20220311-16-tvdrr3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C7769%2C5163&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Conversations around race and disability often get left out of schools. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/teacher-helping-special-needs-student-at-school-royalty-free-image/1364983986?adppopup=true">FG Trade/E+ via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When I was a special education teacher at <a href="https://publicschoolsk12.com/elementary-schools/fl/miami-dade-county/120039000470.html">Myrtle Grove Elementary School</a> in Miami in 2010, my colleagues and I recommended that a Black girl receive special education services because she had difficulty reading. However, her mother disagreed. When I asked her why, she explained that she, too, was identified as having a learning disability when she was a student. </p>
<p>She was put in a small classroom away from her other classmates. She remembered reading books below her grade level and frequent conflicts between her classmates and teachers. Because of this, she believed she received a lower-quality education. She didn’t want her daughter to go through the same experience. </p>
<p>Ultimately, the mother and I co-designed an individualized education plan – known in the world of special education as an IEP – for her daughter where she would be pulled out of class for only an hour a day for intensive reading instruction.</p>
<p>When compared to white students with disabilities, students of color with disabilities are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00131946.2019.1630130">more likely to be placed in separate classrooms</a>. This may lead to lower educational outcomes for students of color in special education, as students with disabilities <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0022466920925033">perform better in math and reading</a> when in general education classrooms. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458711/original/file-20220419-22-zlae4a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A student of color with down syndrome uses a tablet in the classroom." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458711/original/file-20220419-22-zlae4a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458711/original/file-20220419-22-zlae4a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458711/original/file-20220419-22-zlae4a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458711/original/file-20220419-22-zlae4a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458711/original/file-20220419-22-zlae4a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458711/original/file-20220419-22-zlae4a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458711/original/file-20220419-22-zlae4a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Students with disabilities perform better academically when placed in general education classes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/mixed-race-down-syndrome-student-using-tablet-royalty-free-image/508481885?adppopup=true">Robin Bartholick via Tetra images/GettyImages</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Researchers, such as University of Arizona education scholar <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11256-019-00496-4">Adai Tefera</a> and CUNY-Hunter College sociologist of education <a href="https://doi.org/10.3102/0091732X16686947">Catherine Voulgarides</a>, argue that systemic racism – as well as biased interpretations of the behavior of students of color – explains these discrepancies. For example, when compared to students with similar test scores, Black students with disabilities are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2021.10.002">less likely to be included in the general education classroom</a> than their non-Black peers. To curb this, teachers can take steps toward being more inclusive of students of color with disabilities.</p>
<p>As a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=YjHlSvUAAAAJ">Black feminist researcher</a> who focuses on the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2020.1771465">intersection of race and disability</a>, here are three recommendations I believe can help teachers to better support students of color with disabilities. </p>
<h2>1. Inform families of their rights</h2>
<p>Federal law requires that schools provide parents and guardians with <a href="https://sites.ed.gov/idea/regs/b/e/300.504">Procedural Safeguards Notices</a>, a full explanation of all the rights a parent has when their child is referred to or receives special education services. These notices need to be put in writing and explained to families in “language that is easily understandable.” </p>
<p>However, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1044207317751674">research shows</a> that in many states, Procedural Safeguards Notices are written in ways that are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0022466910362774">difficult to read</a>. This can make it harder for families, especially immigrant families, to know their rights. Also, families of color report facing <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2021.1937345">greater resistance</a> when making requests for disability services than white families do. </p>
<p>When meeting with families, teachers can take the time to break down any confusing language written in the Procedural Safeguards Notice. This can assure that the families of students of color are fully aware of their options. </p>
<p>For example, families have the right to invite an <a href="https://doi.org/10.1352/1934-9556-58.2.158">external advocate</a> to represent their interests during meetings with school representatives. These advocates can speak on behalf of the family and often help resolve disagreements between the schools and families. </p>
<p>Educators can tell families about organizations that serve children with disabilities and help them navigate school systems. <a href="https://thecolorofautism.org">The Color of Autism</a>, <a href="https://thearcus.surveymonkey.com/r/H7GZYKZ">The Arc</a> and <a href="https://www.easterseals.com/ways-to-give/black-child-fund.html">Easterseals</a> are striving to address racial inequities in who has access to advocacy supports. These organizations create culturally responsive resources and connect families of color with scholarships to receive training on how to advocate for themselves.</p>
<h2>2. Talk about race and disability</h2>
<p>Despite the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0013124518785012">growing diversity</a> within K-12 classrooms, conversations around race are often left out of special education. This leaves a lack of attention toward the issues that students of color face, like <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1053451218782437">higher suspension rates</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831219847966">lower grades and test scores</a> than their white peers in special education. </p>
<p>When teachers talk about race and disability with their colleagues, it can help reduce <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0033294118767435">implicit biases</a> they may have. Also, dialogue about race and disability can help to reduce <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/23328584211041354">negative school interactions</a> with students of color with disabilities. </p>
<p>Arizona State University teacher educator <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=2h8PiNoAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">Andrea Weinberg</a> and I <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/08884064211070571">developed protocols</a> that encourage educators to talk about race, disability, class and other social identities with each other. These include questions for teachers such as: </p>
<blockquote>
<p><em>Do any of your students of color have an IEP?</em></p>
<p><em>Has a student with disabilities or their family shared anything about their cultural background that distinguishes them from their peers?</em></p>
<p><em>Are there patterns of students not responding to instruction?</em></p>
</blockquote>
<p>The protocols also encourage educators to consider their own social identities and how those may shape how they interpret students’ behaviors and academic needs:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><em>Who do you collaborate with to help you better understand and respond to students’ diverse needs?</em> </p>
<p><em>In what ways are students and teachers benefiting from the diversity represented in the classroom?</em></p>
</blockquote>
<p>Educators using these questions in the Southwest, for example, say they help a mostly white teacher workforce understand their role in disrupting inequities. One <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/08884064211062874">study participant</a> said, “These things are not addressed, and they’re not talked about among faculty.” </p>
<h2>3. Highlight people of color with disabilities in the classroom</h2>
<p>Often, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/19388079909558314">classroom content</a> depicts disabled people – especially those of color – as people at the margins of society. For example, in “To Kill a Mockingbird,” <a href="https://doi.org/10.5325/critphilrace.10.1.0048">Tom Robinson</a>, a Black character with a physical disability, is killed after being falsely accused of a crime. Teachers can incorporate thoughtful examples of disabled people of color in their lesson plans to help students better understand their experiences.</p>
<p>When teaching about Harriet Tubman, educators can mention how she freed enslaved people while coping with the lifelong effects of a <a href="https://doi.org/10.3171/2016.3.FOCUS1586">head injury</a>. Tubman’s political activism provides a historical example of disabled people of color who helped improve society for all. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458714/original/file-20220419-15105-i8f6ja.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A man and a woman in a wheelchair pose together next to a painting." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458714/original/file-20220419-15105-i8f6ja.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458714/original/file-20220419-15105-i8f6ja.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=737&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458714/original/file-20220419-15105-i8f6ja.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=737&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458714/original/file-20220419-15105-i8f6ja.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=737&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458714/original/file-20220419-15105-i8f6ja.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=927&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458714/original/file-20220419-15105-i8f6ja.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=927&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458714/original/file-20220419-15105-i8f6ja.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=927&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Famous Mexican artist Frida Kahlo suffered from spinal and pelvic damage after a bus accident.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/eventosuc3m/14416334809">Universidad Carlos III de Madrid/flickr</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Art teachers can highlight Mexican artist Frida Kahlo and how she boldly addressed her <a href="https://doi.org/10.2522/ptj.20160036">physical disabilities in self-portraits</a>. Disabled people’s experiences are frequently shown from the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/09540253.2016.1247947">perspective of people without disabilities</a>. In her art, Kahlo displayed herself <a href="https://artincontext.org/the-broken-column-frida-kahlo/">with bandages</a> and sitting in a <a href="https://www.fridakahlo.org/self-portrait-with-the-portrait-of-doctor-farill.jsp">wheelchair</a>. Her portraits featured her own reactions to having disabilities. </p>
<p>Physical education teachers can discuss current events, such as recent news about Olympian Simone Biles’s <a href="https://www.espn.com/espnw/voices/story/_/id/17602540/bravo-simone-biles-taking-stand-adhd-stigma">attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1590/1516-4446-2021-0036">anxiety</a>. Her openness has sparked <a href="https://www.insider.com/simone-biles-adhd-meds-banned-japan-impacting-performance-2021-7">international conversations</a> about less noticeable disabilities. </p>
<p>Teaching students about the contributions that disabled people of color make to our society emphasizes that neither race nor disability should be equated with inferiority.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/178111/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mildred Boveda does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Students with disabilities do better when they remain in general education classes, but systemic bias often leads them to be placed in separate classrooms, a special education researcher writes.Mildred Boveda, Associate Professor of Special Education, Penn StateLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1721222022-04-05T12:28:49Z2022-04-05T12:28:49ZPeople are more likely to react to a Black person’s story of injustice – even if it happened to someone who is white<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/443837/original/file-20220201-13-9g6jya.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=49%2C58%2C2946%2C1931&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Black people are seen as more credible speaking on issues of racial injustice. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/saint-louis-university-student-jonathan-pulphus-speaks-to-news-photo/457212058?adppopup=true">Scott Olson/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/research-brief-83231">Research Brief</a> is a short take about interesting academic work.</em></p>
<h2>The big idea</h2>
<p>People appear more willing to boycott a retailer in response to a video message about a consumer’s experience of injustice while shopping when the narrator is Black, even when the source of the actual information is from a white person, according to research I conducted with several colleagues that’s currently under peer review.</p>
<p>We wanted to observe whether and how the race of the person telling a story of racial injustice affects the reaction of their audience. So we conducted three studies that manipulated details about the race of the storyteller and victim to isolate the role the storyteller’s race plays. </p>
<p>In the first study, we recruited 370 white male participants using a crowdsourced academic research panel. We asked them to watch a video in which a professional male actor portraying a consumer describes shopping in a store with his family and being unfairly suspected of shoplifting.</p>
<p>Half the participants heard the story from a white man, the rest from a Black person – who was seen as more credible on the issue in an earlier test. </p>
<p>But after finishing the story, the man reveals that the actual source of the tale was his friend Jay, who was reluctant to speak out. A picture of him is displayed on the screen. At random, some participants see a Black man, others see a white man. Others weren’t given this information, as a control condition. </p>
<p>Participants were then told that the speaker in the message is organizing a boycott and asked how willing they’d be to support it.</p>
<p>We found that people were most likely to support taking strong punitive actions against the retailer if the initial source of the information was Black, even when he reveals the incident happened to his white friend. But if the storyteller was white, there was significantly less support for a boycott – though that changed if the incident happened to a Black friend.</p>
<p>To better understand what is going on here, we conducted a second study, this time with 301 white men. The setup was the same except we didn’t use a control and asked more follow-ups. In particular, we asked participants to rank how morally outraged they were about the story – a process that <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1007/s10551-014-2487-y">has been explored in the literature</a> on consumer ethics and morality.</p>
<p>We confirmed our earlier results and also found that the Black source causes more moral outrage - a negative moral emotional reaction to unethical behavior. In other words, the Black storyteller was more effective at causing perceptions of injustice, which subsequently reduced their likelihood of altering their initial judgment in response to new information.</p>
<p>A third study, involving 300 white men and women, replicated the study but revealed the true source of the story of racial injustice at the beginning of the video. The impact was that participants were less likely to support punitive action if they learned at the outset that the actual source was white, even if the storyteller was Black. </p>
<h2>Why it matters</h2>
<p>More and more research on the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797617714579">persistence of misinformation</a> shows that people often do not update their beliefs formed in response to a message in light of new information. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1529100612451018">This past research</a> focuses on the enduring influence of message content. </p>
<p>Our research suggests that source-related judgments can exert similar enduring influence. For policymakers and others trying to share information with the public, this shows the importance of who they choose as the source of the message – such as a well-known <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/masonbissada/2022/01/27/evangeline-lilly-is-the-latest-celebrity-to-rail-against-covid-vaccines-or-mandates/?sh=2a7687056363">celebrity to combat vaccine misinformation</a>. For the rest of us, it helps to recognize this bias and pay attention to the source of a message – whether it’s in a television ad or in a tweet – and consider the message separate from the source.</p>
<h2>What’s next</h2>
<p>We would like to test how revealing source demographic information at the end of a message exerts influence in other contexts, such as sexual harassment. We also plan to move beyond intention measures to examine influence on participants’ actual behavior.</p>
<p>[<em>Over 140,000 readers rely on The Conversation’s newsletters to understand the world.</em> <a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?source=inline-140ksignup">Sign up today</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/172122/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anne Hamby does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>People may be more willing to boycott a retailer over an act of injustice that takes place at the store if the source of the story was Black – even if the incident happened to a white person.Anne Hamby, Assistant Professor of Marketing, Boise State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1777022022-03-30T12:40:07Z2022-03-30T12:40:07ZBlack college presidents had a tough balancing act during the civil rights era<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/450793/original/file-20220308-13-wpmmsm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5442%2C3351&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Some Black college presidents stood at the forefront of the civil rights movement. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/portrait-of-7th-president-of-morgan-state-university-martin-news-photo/513374749?adppopup=true">Afro American Newspapers/Gado/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Historians have documented <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/civilities-and-civil-rights-9780195029192?cc=us&lang=en&">again</a> and <a href="https://uncpress.org/book/9780807856161/ella-baker-and-the-black-freedom-movement/">again</a> how college students contributed to the civil rights movement. Less attention has been paid to the role college presidents played in the fight for equality. Here, Eddie R. Cole, author of the book “<a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691206745/the-campus-color-line">The Campus Color Line</a>,” discusses various ways these leaders contributed.</em></p>
<h2>1. What pressures did college leaders face in the civil rights era?</h2>
<p>College presidents between 1948 to 1968 had to deal with different segments of society that were at complete odds with one another.</p>
<p>On the one hand, they oversaw schools where students were increasingly protesting segregation. But they also had to deal with segregationist politicians who controlled state funding for their institutions. Some of those politicians were not shy about their opposition to the civil rights movement. For instance, on March 3, 1960, North Carolina Gov. <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691206745/the-campus-color-line">Luther H. Hodges urged</a> public college leaders to direct students not to participate in civil rights demonstrations.</p>
<p>For the most part, Black college presidents ignored such requests. </p>
<p>But not always. For instance, as president of Kentucky State College – which is now Kentucky State University - <a href="https://www.kentuckypress.com/9780813118567/a-black-educator-in-the-segregated-south/">Rufus B. Atwood</a> expelled 12 students for participating in a sit-in at a local lunch counter in Frankfort, Kentucky, in 1960.</p>
<h2>2. What was their position on boycotts and sit-ins?</h2>
<p>Most Black college presidents supported student sit-ins. </p>
<p>For example, Cornelius V. Troup, the president of Fort Valley State College - which is now Fort Valley State University - in Georgia, invited Martin D. Jenkins, president of Morgan State College - which is now Morgan State University - from Baltimore on Oct. 10, 1960 to be the keynote speaker at the university’s founders’ day celebration. During his speech, Jenkins expressed support of sit-ins at segregated lunch counters. </p>
<p>“We are witnessing in this country, and indeed throughout the world, an almost revolutionary movement against racial segregation and discrimination,” Jenkins said in his speech. “This movement has many facets. Certainly one of the most interesting of these, and one which may turn out to be of considerable long-term significance, is the so-called ‘sit-in’ or ‘sit-down’ developed by college students, chiefly Negro college students … This is a good movement, and it has surprisingly beneficial results.”</p>
<p>Other university presidents did more than just speak against segregation. Willa B. Player, the president of Bennett College in Greensboro, North Carolina, boycotted the <a href="http://libcdm1.uncg.edu/cdm/ref/collection/CivilRights/id/764">Meyer’s Tea Room</a>, a restaurant in 1960 that had prohibited Black people from sitting in the dining area.</p>
<h2>3. Did college presidents ever compromise?</h2>
<p>At the time, Southern states like Maryland were so opposed to integration that – rather than desegregate their all-white universities – they funded <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2021/02/08/biden-has-unique-opportunity-undo-years-education-inequality/">out-of-state scholarship programs</a> for Black residents to go to college somewhere else.</p>
<p>However, these scholarship programs were typically underfunded.</p>
<p>Despite the racist intent behind Southern states paying for programs for Black students to be educated in other states, some presidents of Black colleges and universities saw an opportunity to expand educational options for their students.</p>
<p>That’s why presidents of Black colleges, such as Jenkins, the Morgan State president, met with their respective state officials to increase funding to support these out-of-state scholarship programs. These programs helped students continue their education, especially at the graduate level, at desegregated schools.</p>
<p>Ultimately, not all Black college presidents were on the front lines of the civil rights movement. But many of those who weren’t still contributed to expanding educational opportunities for Black students from behind the scenes.</p>
<p>[<em>More than 150,000 readers get one of The Conversation’s informative newsletters.</em> <a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?source=inline-150K">Join the list today</a>.]`32</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/177702/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Eddie R. Cole has received research funding from fellowships with the Spencer Foundation, National Academy of Education, and Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation.</span></em></p>College presidents worked both at the forefront and behind the scenes in fighting for African Americans’ civil rights in the 1960s.Eddie R. Cole, Associate Professor of Higher Education and History, University of California, Los AngelesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1776762022-03-22T19:23:06Z2022-03-22T19:23:06ZHow adversity impacts the disproportionate suspensions of Black and Indigenous students<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453380/original/file-20220321-17-18hpwdg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Black and Indigenous students in North America continue to experience high levels of exposure to adversity.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In North American elementary and high-schools, <a href="https://edu.yorku.ca/files/2017/04/Towards-Race-Equity-in-Education-April-2017.pdf">Black and Indigenous students</a> are disciplined through suspension and expulsion more often than their peers. These same groups of students are also <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2015.06.013">more often exposed</a> to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2015.02.001">adversity and trauma</a> such as community violence, racism and inequity.</p>
<p>As a social worker for many years in the Greater Toronto Area and Vancouver, in children’s mental health, child protection, school social work and in classrooms for students who have been suspended or expelled, I have <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s12310-021-09481-3">seen firsthand</a> the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/08862605211056724">high level</a> of exposure to adversity
these <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpeds.2012.03.014">students experience</a>.</p>
<p>In fact, most teachers, school administrators, school social workers and psychologists are not surprised to hear about this level of adversity. Yet <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/08862605211056724">these experiences are rarely</a> acknowledged in school policy or research.</p>
<h2>Childhood adversity</h2>
<p>Adverse experiences are situations that are harmful or threatening, or <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.12784">where a child does not receive the kind of protection or stimulation that encourages healthy development</a>, such as exposure to violence or neglect. </p>
<p>In the ground-breaking <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S0749-3797(98)00017-8">Kaiser Permanente study on Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs),</a> a group of researchers, led by Vincent Felitti and Robert Anda, identified specific forms of adversity that can cause long term physical and mental health concerns. These early childhood adversities (ACEs) were defined as: </p><li>
psychological, physical or sexual abuse; </li><li>
physical or emotional neglect; </li><li>
death of a parent; </li><li>
violence against mother; </li><li>
parental separation or divorce; </li><li>
living with caregivers who misuse substances, experience mental illness or suicidal behaviour, or were ever imprisoned.
</li><p></p>
<p>While this research was indeed ground-breaking, the study <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2015.02.001">included mostly white, middle class participants and focused on experiences within the home</a>. </p>
<h2>Need more research</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A group of school children talk in a circle while another student stands alone, leaning on a school locker." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453105/original/file-20220318-21-g96mc4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453105/original/file-20220318-21-g96mc4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453105/original/file-20220318-21-g96mc4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453105/original/file-20220318-21-g96mc4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453105/original/file-20220318-21-g96mc4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453105/original/file-20220318-21-g96mc4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453105/original/file-20220318-21-g96mc4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Peer victimization, isolation and rejection are some of the many adversities Black and Indigenous students face today.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Researchers, community members, teachers and practitioners are calling to <a href="https://www.ajpmonline.org/article/S0749-3797(15)00050-1/fulltext">expand</a> the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2015.07.011">definition </a>of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2020.104522">adversities</a> to include those that occur outside the home and disproportionately impact marginalized students. </p>
<p>Such adversities include things like: </p><li> peer victimization, isolation and rejection;</li><li> exposure to school and community violence; </li><li> experiencing racism; </li><li> living in an unsafe neighbourhood;</li><li> close network member being seriously ill or attempting suicide; </li><li> low socioeconomic status; </li><li> and having lived in foster-care. </li><p></p>
<p>Expanded forms of adversity — things like community violence, racism and inequity — have not traditionally been viewed as ACEs. The lack of attention, resources and research on expanded forms of adversity experienced by students who have been suspended or expelled results in a lack of understanding of how different group of students are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/08862605211056724">coping</a>.</p>
<p>Students who experience these forms of adversity are too often seen as perpetrators of adversity, rather than children who are coping with the profound impacts of trauma.</p>
<p>And tragically, schools too often respond to these students with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2019.104149">discipline</a> rather than as children who have experienced adversity.</p>
<h2>Disproportionate school discipline</h2>
<p>According to a <a href="https://edu.yorku.ca/files/2017/04/Towards-Race-Equity-in-Education-April-2017.pdf">recent study</a>, Black students in Southern Ontario were twice as likely as white students to be suspended and four times as likely to be expelled. Indigenous students were expelled at over three times their representation in schools.</p>
<p>Male students are suspended most often making <a href="https://www.tdsb.on.ca/Portals/0/docs/Caring%20and%20Safe%20Schools%20Report%202017-18%2C%20TDSB%2C%20Final_April%202019.pdf">up 77 per cent of students who are suspended</a>.</p>
<p>Research indicates that this racial disproportion is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/soz095">not primarily caused by differences in behaviours</a>, but rather, differences in the way that students are treated and supported and differences in the characteristics of the schools that Black and white students attend.</p>
<p>Students feel they are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s12310-021-09481-3">more often disciplined</a> based on <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/08862605211056724">gender, race and the neighbourhoods where they live</a>. There are hopeful signs that <a href="https://www.tdsb.on.ca/Portals/0/docs/Caring%20and%20Safe%20Schools%20Report%202017-18%2C%20TDSB%2C%20Final_April%202019.pdf">the racial opportunity gap in education is improving</a> but much more must be done. </p>
<p>The disproportion in suspensions and expulsions pushes certain students away from post-secondary education and toward <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2018.04.002">systems of criminal justice.</a> It is important to note that as many as two thirds of incarcerated adults <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0034355218774844">have experienced significant and multiple early adversities resulting in severe trauma.</a> </p>
<h2>Institutional change</h2>
<p>While universal approaches aimed at reducing suspension and expulsion overall are important, they <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/edth.12173">don’t address broader social factors</a>, the impact of expanded forms of adversity on students and the <a href="https://www.infoagepub.com/products/Lets-stop-calling-it-an-achievement-gap">racial</a>, <a href="https://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/reports/role-race-and-gender-ontarios-growing-gap">gender</a> and <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/23594746">socioeconomic gaps</a> within education. </p>
<p>Therefore, institutional change should focus on the conditions that allow early exposure to expanded forms of adversity. This requires a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/669608">critical and intersectional</a> approach. </p>
<h2>Trauma-informed and culturally attuned schools</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A lady helps a school child with his school work." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453103/original/file-20220318-15-csrcie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453103/original/file-20220318-15-csrcie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453103/original/file-20220318-15-csrcie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453103/original/file-20220318-15-csrcie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453103/original/file-20220318-15-csrcie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453103/original/file-20220318-15-csrcie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453103/original/file-20220318-15-csrcie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A trauma-informed and culturally attuned approach developed through training, resources and support can equip educators to acknowledge and address the reality of adversity for their students.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Where exposure to adversity can be reasonably assumed, such as systemic racism or areas with high community violence, schools should be places of refuge. This means school staff <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s12310-021-09481-3">have time, training, resources, policies and ongoing support</a> for the difficult task of recognizing and connecting with students, families and communities who may be coping with adversity.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://doi.org/10.5070/B85110003">trauma-informed and culturally-attuned</a> approach can equip educators to acknowledge the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s12310-021-09481-3">reality of adversity for their students</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085920909165">Culturally-relevant disciplinary interactions</a> engage students as learners, provide positive messages about who they are, what they are capable of and build connection and belonging within their schools. When expanded forms of adversity are acknowledged, educators are better able to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/cs/cdy017">understand, listen and connect with their students</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2019.05.027">well in advance of, as well as at the point of, discipline.</a></p>
<p>Adversity negatively influences academic outcomes, yet its pervasive impact is rarely acknowledged as traumatic for students who have been suspended or expelled. Greater focus on this issue may help ensure schools are adequately resourced to meet the needs of all our students, providing a truly trauma-informed and culturally aware approach to discipline.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/177676/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jane E. Sanders received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council grant number 767-2017-1521. </span></em></p>A trauma-informed approach to education can help educators acknowledge and address the adversities faced by Black and Indigenous students.Jane E. Sanders, Assistant Professor, School of Social Work, Western UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1791972022-03-18T12:30:58Z2022-03-18T12:30:58ZHow poetry can help people get through hard times – 4 essential reads<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/452578/original/file-20220316-7879-d9br05.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=13%2C0%2C4492%2C3006&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Poetry can be a way for people to come together. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/poet-amanda-gorman-recites-one-of-her-poems-during-the-59th-news-photo/1230698197?adppopup=true">Saul Loeb - Pool/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When Russia invaded Ukraine, Ukrainian American writer Ilya Kaminsky’s poem “<a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/91413/we-lived-happily-during-the-war">We Lived Happily During the War</a>” went <a href="https://headtopics.com/us/ukrainian-american-poet-ilya-kaminsky-on-his-viral-poem-and-watching-a-war-from-afar-24515047">viral across social media</a>. </p>
<p>Poetry can often help people make sense of the world in difficult times. For <a href="https://en.unesco.org/commemorations/worldpoetryday">World Poetry Day</a>, The Conversation U.S. has gathered four articles on the power of poetry.</p>
<h2>1. Poetry gives people a voice</h2>
<p>In 1991, Kentucky poet Frank X. Walker coined the term “Affrilachian” after attending a poetry reading that featured several Black Appalachian poets. </p>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=Oyx-_UIAAAAJ&hl=en">Amy M. Alvarez</a>, assistant teaching professor of English at West Virginia University, and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=sikWDEQAAAAJ&hl=en">Jameka Hartley</a>, an instructor of gender and race studies at University of Alabama, <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-black-poets-and-writers-gave-a-voice-to-affrilachia-155706">wrote</a> on the history of how Black people in Appalachia found their voice in poetry.</p>
<p>“By coining the terms ‘Affrilachia’ and ‘Affrilachian,’ Walker sought to upend assumptions about who is part of Appalachia,” they write. “Rather than accepting the single story of Appalachia as white and poor, Walker wrote a new one, forging a path for Black Appalachian artists.” </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-black-poets-and-writers-gave-a-voice-to-affrilachia-155706">How Black poets and writers gave a voice to 'Affrilachia'</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>2. Comforting us in grief</h2>
<p>After many of her loved ones died, Emily Dickinson fell into a deep depression. She secluded herself in her home and wrote nearly 2,000 poems – many of which were about grief and death. One of her most famous poems, “<a href="https://www.clarabartonmuseum.org/dickinson/">It Feels A Shame To Be Alive</a>,” was written in the midst of the Civil War.</p>
<p>Dickinson’s poems resonate well during a pandemic that’s <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/14/world/europe/youth-mental-health-covid.html">left many people in despair</a>, wrote <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/matthew-redmond-1141608">Matthew Redmond</a>, a doctoral candidate in English at Stanford University. </p>
<p>“Dickinson’s imagery shows how keenly she would have understood what we might feel, dwarfed by a mountain of mortality that will not stop growing,” Redmond <a href="https://theconversation.com/emily-dickinson-is-the-unlikely-hero-of-our-time-144262">wrote</a>. “The same anger, exhaustion and sense of futility were her constant companions in later life.” </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/emily-dickinson-is-the-unlikely-hero-of-our-time-144262">Emily Dickinson is the unlikely hero of our time</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>3. Poetry can help students learn</h2>
<p>Amanda Gorman <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/20/meet-amanda-gorman-the-youngest-inaugural-poet-in-us-history.html">made headlines in 2021</a> when, at 22, she became the youngest inaugural poet in U.S. history. Her success was an opportunity for educators to use spoken-word poetry to teach students. </p>
<p>Three educators – <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/kathleen-m-alley-1200226">Kathleen M. Alley</a>, associate professor of literacy at Mississippi State University; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/mukoma-wa-ngugi-1205002">Mukoma Wa Ngugi</a>, associate professor of literatures in English at Cornell University; and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/wendy-r-williams-1200173">Wendy R. Williams</a>, assistant professor of English at Arizona State University – <a href="https://theconversation.com/amanda-gormans-poetry-shows-why-spoken-word-belongs-in-school-153838">wrote</a> on how teaching spoken-word poetry can benefit students. </p>
<p>Spoken-word poetry “holds the promise of helping young people to connect with ideas as well as providing a means to deepen comprehension and develop understanding and empathy, which can then be applied to real-world situations,” wrote Alley. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/amanda-gormans-poetry-shows-why-spoken-word-belongs-in-school-153838">Amanda Gorman's poetry shows why spoken word belongs in school</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>4. Poetry can helps us laugh in dark times</h2>
<p>James Bond is known for delivering classic one-liners, especially in the face of danger.</p>
<p>In “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059800/">Thunderball</a>”, Bond harpoons a villain and then jokes, “I think he got the point.”</p>
<p>[<em>Over 150,000 readers rely on The Conversation’s newsletters to understand the world.</em> <a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?source=inline-150ksignup">Sign up today</a>.]</p>
<p>But killer zingers like his can also be found in ancient poems. In Homer’s “<a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/22382">The Iliad</a>,” Polydamas spears Prothoenor in the shoulder. As Prothoenor dies, Polydamas jokingly suggests that his spear will be good tool for Prothoenor to lean on like “a staff when he descends to the underworld.”</p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/andrew-m-mcclellan-1196263">Andrew M. McClellan</a>, a lecturer in classics and humanities at San Diego State University, wrote about why ancient poets literally loved to add insult to injury. </p>
<p>“The jokes are for the audience, and it’s as close as the genre gets to breaking the fourth wall,” he <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-ancient-history-of-adding-insult-to-injury-170612">wrote</a>. “Viewers are attuned to these witticisms not simply because they are funny, but because they’re self-consciously ridiculous. They help distance the audience from the often horrific levels of violence on display.” </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-ancient-history-of-adding-insult-to-injury-170612">The ancient history of adding insult to injury</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Editor’s note: This story is a roundup of articles from The Conversation’s archives.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/179197/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
Poetry can unite people when all seems lost. The Conversation US has pulled together four articles from its archives that speak on the power of poetry.Alvin Buyinza, Editorial and Outreach Assistant, The Conversation USLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1715542021-11-10T15:17:33Z2021-11-10T15:17:33ZMaking our food fairer: Don’t Call Me Resilient EP 12<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/431117/original/file-20211109-19-hmxfiz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=37%2C41%2C2447%2C1620&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Almost 30 per cent of Black households and 50 per cent of Indigenous households experience food insecurity.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Bart Heird/Unsplash</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe height="200px" width="100%" frameborder="no" scrolling="no" seamless="" src="https://player.simplecast.com/98b5cd5f-0305-4650-9bdf-731605667fb7?dark=true"></iframe>
<p><iframe id="tc-infographic-572" class="tc-infographic" height="100" src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/infographics/572/661898416fdc21fc4fdef6a5379efd7cac19d9d5/site/index.html" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<blockquote>
<p>One of the most exciting parts of my job is the way that folks are rolling up their sleeves and they’re getting onto the land and taking the responsibility to feed each other again. - Tabitha Robin Martens</p>
<p>The best food banks say that they are working to put themselves out of business. Food banks are not a long-term solution. At the same time, I say it’s complicated because in this moment, because of the vast and dire nature of food insecurity, we’re talking about people’s lives, people having the sustenance to get from day to day, and people are truly dependent on that system. - Melana Roberts</p>
</blockquote>
<p>A lot of people think of Canada as a wealthy nation. But for many people across the country, access to healthy affordable food is still a real struggle. </p>
<p>According to <a href="https://proof.utoronto.ca/food-insecurity/">recent stats</a>, one out of every eight households in Canada are food insecure. For racialized Canadians, that number increases to two to three times the national average. For Black and Indigenous households, that number jumps even higher: <a href="https://foodshare.net/custom/uploads/2019/11/PROOF_factsheet_press_FINAL.6.pdf">Almost 30 per cent of Black households</a> and 50 per cent of Indigenous households experience food insecurity.</p>
<p>The pandemic has only made things worse. </p>
<p>Like shelter, food is a basic necessity of life. </p>
<p>It provides the calories and nutrients we need to survive. And food is also connected to our mental health, our culture and families and our sense of self. </p>
<p>But our food systems are failing to feed all of us. </p>
<p><a href="https://dont-call-me-resilient.simplecast.com/episodes/ep-12-making-our-food-fairer">In this episode of <em>Don’t Call Me Resilient</em></a>, we’re picking apart what is broken and talking about ways to fix it with two women who have been battling this issue for years.</p>
<p>Tabitha Robin Martens is a mixed ancestry Swampy Cree researcher and assistant professor at the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Land and Food Systems. When she’s not writing and teaching about Indigenous Food Sovereignty, she spends her time on land, working with her people and learning traditional Cree food practices.</p>
<p>And Melana Roberts is a food policy expert and food justice advocate, and the Chair of Food Secure Canada. She led the charge to help create North America’s first municipal <a href="https://www.toronto.ca/news/city-council-approves-first-black-food-sovereignty-plan/">Black Food Sovereignty Plan at the City of Toronto</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/making-our-food-fairer-dont-call-me-resilient-ep-12-transcript-171583">Read the transcript for this episode here.</a></p>
<h2>Additional Reading</h2>
<p>Each week, we highlight articles or books that drill down into the topics we discuss in the episode.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2019.09B.007">Our Hands at Work: Indigenous Food Sovereignty in Western Canada</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/why-are-babies-going-hungry-in-a-food-rich-nation-like-canada-165789">Why are babies going hungry in a food-rich nation like Canada? </a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/growing-a-garden-can-also-bloom-eco-resilient-cross-cultural-food-sovereign-communities-121543">Growing a garden can also bloom eco-resilient, cross-cultural, food-sovereign communities</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/at-a-new-york-city-garden-students-grow-their-community-roots-and-critical-consciousness-117459">At a New York City garden, students grow their community roots and critical consciousness
</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/indigenous-researchers-plant-seeds-of-hope-for-health-and-climate-106217">Indigenous researchers plant seeds of hope for health and climate
</a></p>
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Our food systems are failing to feed all of us.
In this episode of Don’t Call Me Resilient, we pick apart what is broken and ways to fix it with two women who battle food injustice.Vinita Srivastava, Host + Producer, Don't Call Me ResilientLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1715832021-11-10T15:16:35Z2021-11-10T15:16:35ZMaking our food fairer: Don’t Call Me Resilient EP 12 transcript<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/431175/original/file-20211109-17-6o5dcc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=119%2C95%2C3874%2C2562&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Community gardens can be an important source of food, but many were shut down during the pandemic.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Markus Spiske /Unsplash</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe height="200px" width="100%" frameborder="no" scrolling="no" seamless="" src="https://player.simplecast.com/98b5cd5f-0305-4650-9bdf-731605667fb7?dark=true"></iframe>
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<p><em>NOTE: Transcripts may contain errors. Please check the corresponding audio before quoting in print.</em></p>
<p><strong>Vinita:</strong> From <em>The Conversation</em>, this is <em>Don’t Call Me Resilient</em>, I’m Vinita Srivastava.</p>
<p><strong>Tabitha Robin Martens:</strong> Our food system has been deliberately decimated and food has been used as a means to control us for so long. And really, food was the means of the colonization of Canada.</p>
<p><strong>Vinita:</strong> A lot of us think of Canada as a wealthy nation, but for many people across the country, access to healthy, affordable food is a real struggle. According to recent stats, one out of every eight households in Canada are food insecure. For racialized Canadians, that number increases to two to three times the national average. And for Black and Indigenous households, that number jumps even higher. Almost 30 per cent of Black households and 50 per cent of Indigenous households experience food insecurity. The pandemic has only made things worse. Like shelter, food is a basic necessity of life. It provides the calories and nutrients we need to survive, and food is also connected to our mental health, our culture and families and our sense of self. But our food systems are failing to feed all of us. Today, we’re going to pick apart what’s broken and talk about ways to fix it with two women who have been battling this issue for years. Tabitha Robin Martens is a mixed ancestry Swampy Cree researcher and assistant professor at the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Land and Food Systems. When she’s not writing and teaching about Indigenous food sovereignty, she spends her time on land, working with her people and learning traditional Cree food practices. And Melana Roberts is a food policy expert and food justice advocate and the Chair of Food Secure Canada. She recently led the charge to help create North America’s first municipal Black food sovereignty plan at the city of Toronto.</p>
<p><strong>Vinita:</strong> Welcome Melana.</p>
<p><strong>Melana Roberts:</strong> Thanks. Glad to be here.</p>
<p><strong>Vinita:</strong> And welcome, Tabitha.</p>
<p><strong>Tabitha:</strong> Hi, so happy to be here. Thank you.</p>
<p><strong>Vinita:</strong> Melana, I want to start with you because I know that you just had this big victory at city hall in Toronto. As a consultant, you helped lead the way to get Canada’s first Black food sovereignty plan in place. So congratulations on making that happen, and I want to talk about the details of the plan, but I want to address first, why is such a plan necessary? What was broken? And I’m hoping that you can paint a picture of what things have been like.</p>
<p><strong>Melana:</strong> Yeah, thanks for the question and the interest. Before getting into it, I feel like it’s really important to just ground where I’m coming from. And so I am based living and working in the traditional territories of the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples, as well as many diverse First Nations, Inuit and Métis people who have really been the stewards of much of my initial understanding around sovereignty and work on this land in this place. And I think I’m also a product and a proud ancestor of many Afro-descended people who came to Canada, including a long line of strong matriarchs who really grounded my understanding and the importance of freedom in multiple contexts and understanding liberation and of the various systems of oppression that have kind of led me to feel deeply connected to this work. So in terms of thinking about why this plan is so important and how we got here, I think in the context of Black communities, particularly in Toronto, but in Canada broadly, I think we need to look at the food insecurity situation. So the pandemic really was, you know I hate to say it, but a window of opportunity because it really shone a stark light for the average Canadian, the average person who wasn’t necessarily engaged in food work. I mean, Tabitha might agree, that a lot of this stuff was no shock to folks who do this in their day in, day out. But we’ve had the highest food insecurity rates in Canada that we’ve ever seen ever. And when we look at Black communities, these rates are a lot higher. Similarly to Indigenous communities than the average Canadian Black family saw 3.5 times the rate of food insecurity, even before the pandemic, when compared to white families, and that includes things like 36.6 per cent of children living in food insecure households that are Black. We saw high food insecurity rates that have been linked to chronic diseases, so diabetes, cardiovascular disease, asthma, linked to depression. In poor health and education outcomes broadly for children and youth, and increasingly those things have also been shown to have more severe cases of COVID-19.</p>
<p><strong>Vinita:</strong> You know, I hear you saying you have this list, right? I think people, I mean that some people think, well, food insecurity means we are hungry or people are hungry. And what you’re saying is the implications are just so far reaching.</p>
<p><strong>Melana:</strong> Absolutely. I mean, even just take it back from, you know, when you think about people in the first memories that have, you know, growing up, it’s often or the deep connections they have to their grandparents, their family, it’s often linked to food, right? Food is so much more than just nutritional content. It is linked to our well-being. I mean, the other day, a Black activist, Wendie Poitras, who is based in Nova Scotia, said to me, “Food is the first fight,” and I just thought it was such a powerful way to understand why, when we start to tackle those challenges, we start to tackle so much more than food insecurity. You start to tackle how people are connecting to the land, to culture, to history, to community. And so that’s part of why Food Security Initiative and particularly a Black food sovereignty plan, was such a critical step and a win not only for myself, but for many of the Black activists and organizations who have been calling for this type of shift — long before I had the privilege of working with many of them to pull together a plan.</p>
<p><strong>Vinita:</strong> And Tabitha, what are some of the things that you’ve been seeing and hearing? Like, what does that look like?</p>
<p><strong>Tabitha:</strong> Thinking about what Melana said, like food is the first fight, like many people don’t realize that colonization and the desire to colonize the lands of Canada, were done so in order that early colonizers would be the indigenous peoples of this land. That was the desire, and in order to do that, they had to remove Indigenous bodies from the land. Like we had to be killed. And one of the mechanisms for doing that was starvation. And you can trace starvation over 300 years and most acutely over 150 years. And the history of that, the patterns of that starvation have never left and are still very present in Indigenous communities. And so really, food insecurity for Indigenous people is based on this colonial infrastructure. And a challenge that I have with food security is that it doesn’t address the power inherent in food. And for Indigenous people, that power has been used to control us, to manipulate us, to get rid of us. And so my work really focuses on a food sovereignty lens because food security fails to consider the power dimensions of food. And for communities of colour, that power dimension is one of the most important parts of our lives, whether we’re aware of all of the systemic ways that implicate this desire to keep us essentially unwell or under control or under-resourced.</p>
<p><strong>Vinita:</strong> So to make sure I understand, the food sovereignty lens takes into account power and systems of power and access to land.</p>
<p><strong>Tabitha:</strong> Yes, absolutely. And a big challenge for food security interventions is that they don’t challenge those systems of power. And so essentially, food security interventions continue to be Band-Aid solutions because we’re not addressing all the underlying issues, we’re not addressing that infrastructure.</p>
<p><strong>Vinita:</strong> You know, the two pandemics that we’re talking about — the pandemic and the racial reckoning that we experienced last summer and how that has exposed and also exacerbated many of the inequities in our society. I’m wondering, how have you seen it affect access to nutritious food in your communities? And I mean, Tabitha, could you talk a little bit about that?</p>
<p><strong>Tabitha:</strong> So there are myriad challenges, and I won’t be able to quite do it justice. This is so complex, right? We’re really looking almost at a spiderweb and if you tug at each strand, it’s it reverberates and is interconnected throughout. But I can talk about a few challenges. So one of those challenges for Indigenous communities, specifically reserve-based Indigenous communities, occurred around lockdowns. So what that has, of course, looked like is that when communities are in lockdown, special circumstances have to take place in terms of how food is transferred to remote First Nations communities, for example. So that poses a challenge. The third intersecting crises, or I think climate change is more of an epidemic, that has been layered on to this time. So for an Indigenous food system, we’re not really talking about just the physical components of food, right? We’re not just talking about the carrots or the moose. We’re talking about the systems and practices and processes that are embedded within our culture that give us direction in terms of how we eat and why we eat and how we celebrate food. And so we’re seeing fissures and breakdowns in family structures, in abilities to share food, in access to food. And then, of course, the underlying piece is this shaky ground, this instability that comes from poverty. So there are so many parts and pieces here that affect the ways that Indigenous peoples eat, and those, of course, were heightened during the pandemic.</p>
<p><strong>Vinita:</strong> Melana, how about the communities that you work with? How did things get worse during COVID?</p>
<p><strong>Melana:</strong> Yeah, I think that’s a really important question, and I really appreciate you hearing this idea of networks and the importance of that. So in the context of Black residents, Black communities in the city of Toronto and across Canada, even the statistics showed that some of that, particularly in the first kind of wave of the pandemic, a lot of the job losses that were seen were of Black women. They saw some of the highest job losses. And often, you know, statistics have shown that women are really the number of single households that are particularly impacted by food insecurity and more vulnerable to that who saw their income just completely fall away. And that’s a critical piece in determining whether someone has the agency, the ability to buy food. And so we saw this huge demand of folks who weren’t able to access food often lived in areas that Karen Washington terms food apartheid. So areas that are not food deserts, which are a natural phenomenon, the idea of connecting it to deserts with this idea of policy and decisions that have made it an area where there’s not a lot of grocery stores in that area.</p>
<p><strong>Vinita:</strong> And so, the idea of a food apartheid is like, this is a purposeful division.</p>
<p><strong>Melana:</strong> Yeah, purposeful division and planning decisions that negatively often impact low income communities, racialized communities in urban centres with less access to infrastructure and resources that would make food access easier. And so when you compound those challenges, we saw that there was a huge demand of the Black population to access food. And I think we have a number of organizations in the city of Toronto who provide culturally appropriate food specifically focussed on the Black community. And they were overwhelmed. The African Food Basket is an example of one of those strong longtime leaders here and just overwhelmed with the demand and couldn’t keep up. So we saw a number of grassroots organizations pop up, and when we saw funds being deployed to support these communities with resources to be able to deliver fresh produce and culturally appropriate food in those neighbourhoods, often those small, grassroots, community-based initiatives that were providing the support and addressing that need weren’t able to even access grants because they weren’t a charity or they weren’t at the designation of a non-profit. And so we saw the overworking, the burnout of those workers within the system, who themselves are often being vulnerable to being food secure, have increased susceptibility of contracting COVID because they’re out there in the frontline supporting community and not being able to meet that high demand of residents who were really struggling in this moment. So the importance of networks and relying on the community gardens, they were often closed during the pandemic, not even being able to have those additional backup resources that connect people, give them the power to be able to address shortfall in these moments.</p>
<p><strong>Vinita:</strong> What were some of the ways that people came together to figure things out at this time? Like you said, some community gardens were shut down. Are they back up and running, for example? Or are you seeing things that are working?</p>
<p><strong>Melana:</strong> So I think a number of different interventions. I think in this moment, we really did see people rally together. And one of the things that really struck me is the number of grassroots organizations that provide other types of services, so supporting women against gender-based violence. So, for example, with FoodShare Toronto, who was able to act as kind of an anchor, being able to distribute funds and food to these organizations to deliver them in different areas targeting populations who saw serious food insecurity during the pandemic. And so I think that that was some of the innovation leveraging those networks to be able to provide those supports. I think we also saw a lot of advocacy. So a lot of people recognizing the importance of farmers markets as key areas to be able to access fresh food and the closure of them creating a lot of challenges, not only for once again residents, but also for those farmers and particularly for Black farmers. It’s hard enough to be successful in farming and to be able to have those inputs as a racialized person, let alone Black farmers who are underrepresented within the agricultural space. And so not being able to sell their food and with the very niche market of providing cultural foods, the pandemic can be really challenging. So different approaches to help people transition, to be selling food online as a touchpoint to be able to connect with more folks was also an innovation we saw. And through some advocacy, we also saw farmers markets open up mid-pandemic, being recognized as a key space for people.</p>
<p><strong>Vinita:</strong> Tabitha, how about you? Did you see similar kinds of innovations or community work on the ground?</p>
<p><strong>Tabitha:</strong> Yes. One of the most exciting parts of my job is the way that folks are rolling up their sleeves and they’re getting onto the land and taking the responsibility to feed each other again. So various initiatives, like community freezer programs. In some communities, hunters were asked to go out onto the land and stock freezers within the community or stock elders’ freezers. There was a strong mobilization of Indigenous peoples that were really working to make sure that the elders were protected because the loss of the elders, and many died through the pandemic, but that’s a significant loss to an Indigenous food system because the elders really have the roadmaps for what our food systems can look like again. And so other initiatives, like medicine picking, where communities were sending people out into the bush or individuals were taking their own initiative to go out into the bush and pick lots of Labrador tea, for example, which is an important medicine during the pandemic. It’s often used for colds and flus, and we’re sending those to communities that were in lockdown, for example. So all of those initiatives in which we start to take care of each other again. I mean, that’s the work that makes my heart swell, and that’s the work that I think will fundamentally change our food system so that we can go back to a system where we feed each other again, where we both feed ourselves, but feed each other. But there are a lot of political pieces to what happened in the pandemic as well. I was part of a group that when the government announced the $100 million for food banks … Indigenous, there were activists and knowledge holders and elders and doctors. We got together to say, can some of that money be directly funded towards Indigenous communities? So like direct funding, rather than the funding come through other avenues that eventually trickle their way to our communities. Can we direct fund communities? So if a community says we want to create a freezer program where we’re stocking up freezers full of wild meats and wild fish, can we fund those directly? But unfortunately, the government felt that we were not in the position to be able to effectively distribute those funds and that we didn’t have a track record. And so the money ended up going to breakfast clubs and to food banks. And the challenge with that, of course, is that we continue systems in which outside parties are feeding Indigenous people, and that’s what got us in this mess in the first place. Our food system has been deliberately decimated and food has been used as a means to control us for so long. And really, food was the means of the colonization of Canada. And we see that further exemplified through residential schools in which children were punished for speaking their language, in which children were also experiencing malnutrition and starvation. So these patterns sort of occur over and over again, and what we wanted to see in the pandemic was Indigenous peoples responding to ourselves, you know, being able to come together in a community capacity to meet each other’s needs and so to support and work with each other. But we weren’t successful with that. And so there’s a lot of challenging pieces to this, but ultimately what we’re after is our ancestral and traditional food systems that allowed us to take care of one another. The elders say feasting is one of the highest ceremonies in our culture, and part of feasting is the gift of food. And one of the best ways that we can take care of each other is to feed each other at such a foundational principle. Certainly in my own Cree culture, but I know from working with other Indigenous communities that it’s similar, that we really wanted to get back to that. But we’ve always been innovative, I will say, and resistors and have found ways to kind of step outside of those systems and go back to how we can feed each other again. But there’s a lot there’s still a lot of colonial infrastructure that’s in place that prevents us from doing that.</p>
<p><strong>Vinita:</strong> You both mentioned food banks, and I think when people think about, you know, solutions to hunger, we think food banks as somewhere near the top of the list and you mentioned the Canadian government putting a lot of money towards that. What is the role of food banks? Melana?</p>
<p><strong>Melana:</strong> Yeah, the best food banks say that they are working to put themselves out of business. This is not, food banks are not a long-term solution. And so at the same time, I say it’s complicated because in this moment, because of the vast and dire nature of food insecurity, we’re talking about people’s lives, people having the sustenance to get from day to day, and people are truly dependent on that system. And so I think they are meeting an immediate need. But I think what we really need to think about is how do we start to put the solutions in place through bringing and providing the adequate resources and spaces, whether it be for Indigenous nations, whether it be for Black communities, other racialized communities, other communities that are experiencing challenges, bringing an understanding of how a sovereignty lens can support them to be able to address these needs themselves and start to address those barriers. So, yeah, I’d that I’d love to hear how Tabitha would explain that. But yeah, it’s a complicated issue with food banks. </p>
<p><strong>Tabitha:</strong> It’s very complicated, and I don’t want to deny the value of food banks and keeping people fed and alive. But at what cost? You know, we know that food banks as a charity model are considered dumping grounds for less desirable food, and we also know that many of those less desirable foods are linked to the high prevalence of diseases such as diabetes. And so it’s also about like the right food that we’re eating. And for Indigenous people, it’s really about this reclamation of our ancestral food system that includes hunting and fishing and trapping. Food banks, of course, can’t meet those needs. And for most First Nations communities, food banks are not an option because they’re too remote and they are not food banks located on each and every reserve. So that leaves out on-reserve populations entirely. And this notion of dependence that Melana talked about, I mean, that’s part of the architecture of colonialism was this desire to make Indigenous peoples in particular dependent on food. That was the means for the colonization of Canada, and it’s how many Indigenous chiefs signed treaties so that they could alleviate the hunger in their communities. So in many ways, we’re perpetuating the same ideas of the past. We think we’ve come a lot farther away from those, but they just look different now. But it’s certainly more insidious. So I understand and I respect the role that food banks play because we want people to live. But I also want us to get to a point where we stop treating food security with Band-Aid solutions because we aren’t moving the dial at all in that approach.</p>
<p><strong>Vinita:</strong> So let’s spend a little time then, because we want to talk about what needs to be done. You want to move the dial and we want to move forward. So we talked a little bit about what food justice looks like, but what does it look like? I know both of you are working, Tabitha, your focus is more the western part of the country. Are you seeing changes happening, local government or provincial policy in their approaches towards food sovereignty for Indigenous people?</p>
<p><strong>Tabitha:</strong> This is so interesting. Last year, someone asked me this question if I could talk about the changes. I’ve been doing this work for 11 years and they said, “I’m wondering if you could talk about some of the positive changes that you’ve seen as regards to government supporting this,” and I couldn’t think of a single thing. The most positive change that I am seeing is Indigenous communities taking this work on themselves and saying, we know this system is broken. We know we’re not going to be fed in the ways that we need to, and so we need to circumnavigate the system and do it ourselves. I think that one of the biggest challenges for our market-based food system in Canada is that we have done a really successful job of separating food from the land. And that is problematic because if we don’t at a household level, at a societal level understand that food comes from the land, then the government can get away with resource extraction at the levels that they are. And we don’t we haven’t yet made those those causal links to say, hang on. And I think many Indigenous communities in Western Canada are doing that with resistance against pipelines or with resistance against hydro development. You can’t alter and poison our lands. How will we live? I really wish that all of Canada would activate around this notion that food comes from the land for all of us and that the rate at which we are seeing climate change and that the rate at which resource extraction is taking place and the ways that we have valued capitalism over almost everything else is so deeply problematic and shortsighted that we are leaving our future generations with quite a mess.</p>
<p><strong>Vinita:</strong> So in some ways, what I’m hearing you say is that local and provincial governments need to get out of the way. You know, the circumnavigating that you’re seeing that’s happening, that governments need to make room for that and maybe fund it so that people don’t experience the kind of vulnerability and burnout you mentioned?</p>
<p><strong>Tabitha:</strong> Yeah, I mean, that’s a whole other piece to this that has not even necessarily been factored in. And that is problematic, especially with food security interventions, is that we expect people, you know, through the introduction of community gardens on reserves or other food programming, we expect all of that work to be done for free on top of everyone’s day-to-day job. We just don’t value food work in the way that we should, and that’s something that COVID has certainly shined a light on is the fact that we just don’t value our food workers, even our grocery store workers, in the ways that we should be.</p>
<p><strong>Vinita:</strong> Melana, as we mentioned in the beginning, you’ve actually had real success in doing some groundbreaking policy work in helping to pass the first Black food sovereignty plan for the city of Toronto, the first of its kind, I think in North America.</p>
<p><strong>Melana:</strong> And this plan is really trying to do a lot more than just address food insecurity, but to really draw on the structural levers and the role that I think the city of Toronto has been able to play in championing Black food leadership, which is really you have to see this plan as a community-led plan that’s facilitated by the city. Starting off with this idea of ensuring that Black-led, Black-serving organizations that are really at the forefront of this work are adequately resourced to be able to respond to this day to day food insecurity, crises and challenges to be able to do this work in a way that doesn’t lead to burnout. In addition to that, also ensuring, you know, in an urban context that the city is providing access to green and growing space in neighbourhoods with high Black populations. So, you know, before the pandemic and before the plan, it was very clear that in neighbourhoods with the highest Black populations, we saw the lowest access to green space and the city tree canopy cover. And you know, there’s been lots of links to that with mental health challenges and challenges during the pandemic as well. So ensuring that there is growing space that people can access and thrive in regards to urban agriculture as a key kind of tool to support food and security interventions. Thinking about our health system. So when we’re thinking about health, often times it’s just adequate nutritional intake of foods. We’re really understanding the importance of culturally appropriate food and of the long legacies of trauma and intergenerational racism and poverty that actually impact our health just as much as having the right foods to eat and the role of anti-Black racism in perpetuating poor health outcomes. And how we can bring those lenses into food programs, health programs to be able to to serve Black residents more adequately and increase access to infrastructure. So we have community kitchens across the city, different programs and initiatives just for businesses and Black businesses are often have challenges and access. Black youth in those neighbourhoods have challenges to access the spaces, so opening them up. And we’ve been able to partner even with museum sites that have land working with local Indigenous groups who’ve been addressing food security challenges among those populations to be able to increase their access to museum spaces with kitchen space and growing space to develop traditional gardens, responding with medicinal plants and other interventions supporting those communities. And in addition to that, of course, having increased food spaces so Black food hubs, food markets and other cultural spaces that improve access to food directly in those communities. So those are some of the types of pillars and interventions that have laid the roadmap to create a more sustainable Black food ecosystem in the city of Toronto that has really been identified directly by Black communities and built to develop and deliver a plan.</p>
<p><strong>Vinita:</strong> I understand Tabitha, as you said, it’s a spider web and there’s so much that we could cover. Guys, thank you. You couldn’t see me and I also try and keep myself quiet because what you’re saying is so amazing, but I was nodding a lot. Thank you so much for such a rich conversation.</p>
<p><strong>Tabitha:</strong> Thanks for asking important questions about it. </p>
<p><strong>Melana:</strong> I want to thank you. I think, you know the space to have this conversation. Being able to learn and be in conversation with Tabitha is a real honour and always something that I learn from.</p>
<p><strong>Tabitha:</strong> And I feel the same way Melana and I really love seeing the ways that we are pushing back against this notions that have divided marginalized groups historically in which we’ve been told that we can’t come together because we’re in competition with one another and that we should be so happy with the scraps that we receive. So I’d love to see the ways that you’re pushing back against that and that we’re working with each other.</p>
<p><strong>Vinita:</strong> That’s it for this episode of <em>Don’t Call Me Resilient</em>, and that’s actually it for our season. Thank you so much for listening. I learnt so much today from Melana and Tabitha about how to talk about food sovereignty. And I’d love to hear what you’re thinking after that conversation. I’m on Twitter @writevinita. And don’t forget to tag our producers @conversationca. You can use the hashtag #DontCallMeResilient. And if you’d like to read more about food sovereignty, you can go to <a href="https://theconversation.com/ca">www.theconversation.com</a>. We have all kinds of info in our show notes with links to stories and further research. And if you haven’t already listened, there are 11 other episodes in our feed. Please go and have a look around. There are so many amazing voices on this pod. Finally, if you like what you heard today, please tell a friend about us. And believe it or not, those positive reviews motivate us to keep going. So please leave us a review on whatever podcast app you’re using. </p>
<p><em>Don’t Call Me Resilient</em> is a production of <em>The Conversation Canada</em>. It was made possible by a grant for journalism innovation from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. The series is produced and hosted by me, Vinita Srivastava. Our producer is Susana Ferreira. Our associate producer is Ibrahim Daair. Reza Dahya is our incredibly patient sound producer and our fabulous consulting producer is Jennifer Moroz. Lisa Varano leads audience development for <em>The Conversation Canada</em> and Scott White is our CEO. And if you’re wondering who wrote and performed the music we use on the pod, that’s the amazing Zaki Ibrahim. The track is called “Something in the Water.” Thanks for listening, everyone, and hope you join us again. Until then, I’m Vinita. And please, don’t call me resilient.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/171583/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the problem of food insecurity for many people, especially racialized and Indigenous households.Vinita Srivastava, Host + Producer, Don't Call Me ResilientLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1659332021-10-06T12:30:45Z2021-10-06T12:30:45ZHow stories about alternate worlds can help us imagine a better future: Don’t Call Me Resilient EP 7<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/423639/original/file-20210928-22-1fo8ban.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=24%2C4%2C943%2C402&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The work of imagining alternate futures is also about re-casting alternative pasts, as is done in the award-winning novel, 'Washington Black' by Esi Edugyan and adapted for the screen by podcast guest Selwyn Seyfu Hinds. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Washington Black/Random House</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe height="200px" width="100%" frameborder="no" scrolling="no" seamless="" src="https://player.simplecast.com/add6ca9a-00ee-4443-b95b-e20204f36a6f?dark=true"></iframe>
<p><iframe id="tc-infographic-572" class="tc-infographic" height="100" src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/infographics/572/661898416fdc21fc4fdef6a5379efd7cac19d9d5/site/index.html" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>Stories are a powerful tool to resist oppressive situations. They give writers from marginalized communities a way to imagine alternate realities — and to critique the one we live in. </p>
<p><a href="https://dont-call-me-resilient.simplecast.com/episodes/ep-7-how-stories-about-alternate-worlds-can-help-us-imagine-a-better-future">In this episode of <em>Don’t Call Me Resilient</em></a>, two storytellers who offer up wondrous “otherworlds” for Indigenous and Black people speak about the crucial role storytelling has played in their lives. </p>
<p>Daniel Heath Justice is a Colorado-born member of the Cherokee Nation and Canada Research Chair and professor in Indigenous literature and expressive culture at the University of British Columbia. He is the author of <em>Why Indigenous Literatures Matter</em>, as well as the epic trilogy, <em>The Way of Thorn and Thunder: The Kynship Chronicles</em>. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/425011/original/file-20211006-21-dct5j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/425011/original/file-20211006-21-dct5j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=897&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/425011/original/file-20211006-21-dct5j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=897&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/425011/original/file-20211006-21-dct5j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=897&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/425011/original/file-20211006-21-dct5j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1127&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/425011/original/file-20211006-21-dct5j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1127&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/425011/original/file-20211006-21-dct5j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1127&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Cover of Esi Eduygan’s award-winning novel, Washington Black, Canadian edition.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Harper Collins</span></span>
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<p>Also joining the conversation is Selwyn Seyfu Hinds, an L.A.-based screenwriter and producer. He has been writing comic books and screenplays for a decade, including episodes for Jordan Peele’s <em>The Twilight Zone</em>. Hinds is currently adapting the award-winning fantasy novel <em>Washington Black</em> by Esi Edugyan, which won the Scotiabank Giller Prize in 2018. </p>
<p>A full transcript of the episode is available <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-stories-about-alternate-worlds-can-help-us-imagine-a-better-future-dont-call-me-resilient-ep-7-transcript-167520">here</a>.</p>
<p>Each week we highlight articles related to the topics we discuss in the episode. This week, Lina Nasr El Hag Ali from OCAD University writes about <a href="https://theconversation.com/afrofuturism-and-its-possibility-of-elsewhere-the-power-of-political-imagination-166002">Afrofuturism and the power of political imagination</a>.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381818/original/file-20210201-13-1g0n3ld.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381818/original/file-20210201-13-1g0n3ld.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381818/original/file-20210201-13-1g0n3ld.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381818/original/file-20210201-13-1g0n3ld.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381818/original/file-20210201-13-1g0n3ld.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381818/original/file-20210201-13-1g0n3ld.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381818/original/file-20210201-13-1g0n3ld.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://theconversation.com/ca/podcasts">Click here to listen to Don’t Call Me Resilient</a></span>
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<p>You can listen or subscribe on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/dont-call-me-resilient/id1549798876">Apple Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5zaW1wbGVjYXN0LmNvbS9qZFg0Ql9DOA">Google Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/37tK4zmjWvq2Sh6jLIpzp7">Spotify</a> or <a href="https://dont-call-me-resilient.simplecast.com/">wherever you listen to your favourite podcasts</a>. <a href="mailto:theculturedesk@theconversation.com">We’d love to hear from you</a>, including any ideas for future episodes. Join The Conversation on <a href="https://twitter.com/ConversationCA">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TheConversationCanada">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/theconversationdotcom/">Instagram</a> and use #DontCallMeResilient.</p>
<p><em>Don’t Call Me Resilient is a production of The Conversation Canada. This podcast was produced with a grant for Journalism Innovation from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. The series is produced and hosted by Vinita Srivastava. Our producer is Susana Ferreira. Our associate producer is Ibrahim Daair. Reza Dahya is our sound producer. Our consulting producer is Jennifer Moroz. Lisa Varano is our audience development editor and Scott White is the CEO of The Conversation Canada. Zaki Ibrahim wrote and performed the music we use on the pod. The track is called Something in the Water.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/165933/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
Stories about alternative worlds can be a powerful way of critiquing the problems of our own world.Vinita Srivastava, Host + Producer, Don't Call Me ResilientLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1610552021-06-23T12:22:12Z2021-06-23T12:22:12ZI have city kids make comic books to create a buzz about mosquitoes and ecology<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407115/original/file-20210617-21-u3xpfl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C0%2C5296%2C2988&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Campers at the "Mosquitoes & Me" summer camp in Des Moines, Iowa, learn about mosquito science through hands-on outdoor activities. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Katherine R. Bruna</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>If humans and mosquitoes had a battle at the end of the world, who would win? That’s the question I pose to 30 young kids each summer during a two-week camp called “<a href="https://youtu.be/0M3uxRbN3Mc">Mosquitoes & Me</a>” in Des Moines, Iowa. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0M3uxRbN3Mc?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The ‘Mosquito and Me’ summer camp in Des Moines, Iowa.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>I am an <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=azAMQkMAAAAJ&hl=en">educational anthropologist</a> who studies the cultural dynamics of science education. Along with my colleagues <a href="http://mcevbd.wisc.edu/partners/university-of-wisconsin-madison/dr-lyric-bartholomay">Lyric Bartholomay</a> and <a href="https://nihsepa.org/community/contact/erickson-sara/">Sara Erickson</a>, who help run the camp, we have the young camp participants explore the “end-of-world battle” question as they learn about mosquito biology, ecology and disease transmission. Based on what the kids learn from their hands-on activities, they design a mosquito comic book character that is either a hero or a villain. </p>
<p>Since this approach was such a big hit, we worked with Marvel Comics artist <a href="https://bobhall.com/about-me/">Bob Hall</a> to convert <a href="https://research.hs.iastate.edu/urban-ecosystem-project/">“Mosquitoes & Me”</a> into an <a href="https://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/nebraska/9781496224347/">actual comic book</a>. Some of our young scientists drew images of themselves and made up catchy public health slogans for a page about mosquito control. The idea is to reach kids who can’t attend “Mosquitoes & Me” camp by offering to teach them cool facts about mosquitoes. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407268/original/file-20210618-22-8mtifw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two pages from a comic book." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407268/original/file-20210618-22-8mtifw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407268/original/file-20210618-22-8mtifw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407268/original/file-20210618-22-8mtifw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407268/original/file-20210618-22-8mtifw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407268/original/file-20210618-22-8mtifw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407268/original/file-20210618-22-8mtifw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407268/original/file-20210618-22-8mtifw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A page from the ‘Mosquitoes & Me’ comic book.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Katherine R. Bruna</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
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<h2>Feeding habits</h2>
<p>Before we make the comic book, some serious science has to take place. While at the camp, a group of mostly Black and Latino elementary and middle schoolers who are interested in science work in teams. They learn everything they need to know to decide whether humans or mosquitoes would win in an end-of-the-world battle. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405708/original/file-20210610-13-13bfnsm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A young girl looks at a mosquito through a microscope." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405708/original/file-20210610-13-13bfnsm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405708/original/file-20210610-13-13bfnsm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405708/original/file-20210610-13-13bfnsm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405708/original/file-20210610-13-13bfnsm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405708/original/file-20210610-13-13bfnsm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405708/original/file-20210610-13-13bfnsm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405708/original/file-20210610-13-13bfnsm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Children at the ‘Mosquitoes & Me’ summer camp have the opportunity to study mosquitoes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Katherina R. Bruna</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
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<p>They explore mosquito ecology by looking for larvae in local water spots. <a href="https://www.reconnectwithnature.org/news-events/the-buzz/world-without-mosquitoes-not-as-easy-as-it-seems">They examine the important role</a> that mosquitoes play in the ecosystem. They tackle the logistics of disease transmission by thinking through whether mosquitoes actually “bite” or “suck.” And they learn about mosquito biology by feeding larvae foods made from their own kitchens.</p>
<p>The activities engage them in authentic science practices like data tabling, microscope use and dissection. At the end of camp, they create public service announcements to teach mosquito control and disease prevention.</p>
<h2>Taking a more involved approach</h2>
<p>Research has found that students who experience hands-on learning <a href="https://www.prweb.com/releases/stem-education/science-research-study/prweb12128837.htm">outperform students</a> who receive more traditional instruction. Most importantly, hands-on science gives them an experience with “object intimacy.” This is a feeling of developing a relationship with the thing they’re studying.</p>
<p>Broadening participation by helping young people “<a href="https://www.worldcat.org/title/falling-for-science-objects-in-mind/oclc/762197870&referer=brief_results">fall for science</a>” is imperative in increasing diversity in entomology – a field in which <a href="https://www.sciencenews.org/article/black-scientists-disparities-representation-stem-science">disparities persist</a>, particularly for African Americans. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/ae/60.3.146">Less than 2% of the membership</a> of the Entomological Society of America identifies as African American.</p>
<p>Students from underrepresented backgrounds who understand how science can serve their communities show <a href="https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.16-01-0067">stronger motivation</a> to persist in science studies. Our overarching goal is that the hands-on approach of “Mosquitoes & Me” helps youths, especially those who aren’t engaged by a traditional school science curriculum, see the relevance of science – and especially entomology – to themselves and their community.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407068/original/file-20210617-17-budo36.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1%2C0%2C796%2C850&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A young girl looks at a flask with larvae food in it." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407068/original/file-20210617-17-budo36.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1%2C0%2C796%2C850&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407068/original/file-20210617-17-budo36.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=639&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407068/original/file-20210617-17-budo36.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=639&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407068/original/file-20210617-17-budo36.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=639&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407068/original/file-20210617-17-budo36.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=803&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407068/original/file-20210617-17-budo36.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=803&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407068/original/file-20210617-17-budo36.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=803&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A camper observes the water conditions of her larvae.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Katherine R. Bruna</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Solving real-world problems</h2>
<p>In 2019 roughly <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/malaria">409,000 people died from malaria</a> worldwide. Even though the “skeeter scientists” of “Mosquitoes & Me” summer camps live far away from the countries where malaria remains a dire threat, scientists anticipate that climate change will <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41590-020-0648-y">exacerbate conditions</a> in the U.S. – especially in urban areas – for <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-51787-5">other mosquito-borne diseases</a>. These include dengue, West Nile virus, chikungunya Zika and yellow fever. </p>
<p>Community members play a significant role in reducing the prevalence of mosquitoes in urban areas. Since entomology is a predominantly white field, residents of urban neighborhoods may be <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-34161-9">distrustful of entomologists</a> who, to do their work, need to place traps in and around their homes or neighborhoods and do “surveillance” on trash, flower pots, toys, tires and other items that collect water and cause mosquito habitats. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405727/original/file-20210610-13-10pvgs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Pages from the 'Mosquitoes & Me' comic book." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405727/original/file-20210610-13-10pvgs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405727/original/file-20210610-13-10pvgs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=224&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405727/original/file-20210610-13-10pvgs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=224&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405727/original/file-20210610-13-10pvgs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=224&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405727/original/file-20210610-13-10pvgs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=281&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405727/original/file-20210610-13-10pvgs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=281&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405727/original/file-20210610-13-10pvgs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=281&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pages from the comic book explaining the life cycle and how ‘Mosquitoes & Me’ campers look for mosquitoes in local parks.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Katherine R. Bruna</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The young skeeter scientists of “Mosquitoes & Me” can help their families make sure that everyday items don’t end up holding standing water and become attractive habitats for mosquito moms to lay their eggs.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405704/original/file-20210610-25-1fbhxif.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A page from a comic book where rats roam around a wasted world." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405704/original/file-20210610-25-1fbhxif.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405704/original/file-20210610-25-1fbhxif.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=923&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405704/original/file-20210610-25-1fbhxif.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=923&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405704/original/file-20210610-25-1fbhxif.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=923&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405704/original/file-20210610-25-1fbhxif.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1159&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405704/original/file-20210610-25-1fbhxif.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1159&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405704/original/file-20210610-25-1fbhxif.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1159&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pages from the ‘Mosqutio and Me’ comic book where rats run around a dystopian world.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Katherine R. Bruna</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>“Mosquitoes Suck!” begins with humans winning the end-of-world battle. But promoting environmental education that avoids such a standoff is the prevailing theme. If humans drive mosquitoes to extinction, we will all lose. They are an essential part of life’s intricate interdependence. </p>
<p>Through “Mosquitoes & Me,” we are helping a future generation of diverse potential scientists and their educators fall for mosquitoes, and for science.</p>
<p>[<em>Over 106,000 readers rely on The Conversation’s newsletter to understand the world.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=100Ksignup">Sign up today</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/161055/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Katherine Richardson Bruna receives funding from the National Institutes of Health. </span></em></p>A hands-on approach to learning about bugs can help students from urban communities take an interest in science.Katherine Richardson Bruna, Professor, Sociocultural Studies of Education, Iowa State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1614922021-06-10T12:35:54Z2021-06-10T12:35:54ZHere’s what I tell teachers about how to teach young students about slavery<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/402972/original/file-20210526-21-117ljvx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C7%2C5093%2C3543&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">U.S. teachers often struggle to depict the realities of slavery in America. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/history-teacher-philip-e-jackson-speaks-to-a-group-of-his-news-photo/1164589935?adppopup=true">Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Nervous. Concerned. Worried. Wary. Unprepared.</p>
<p>This is how middle and high school teachers have told me they have felt over the past few years when it comes to teaching the troublesome topic of slavery.</p>
<p>Although I work with teachers in Massachusetts, their reaction to teaching about slavery is <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2019/08/28/teaching-slavery-schools/">common among teachers</a> throughout the U.S.</p>
<p>Fortunately, in recent years there have been a growing number of individuals who have weighed in with useful advice. </p>
<p>Some, such as history professors <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/20180131/teaching-hard-history#preface">Hasan Kwame Jeffries</a> and <a href="https://www.learningforjustice.org/podcasts/teaching-hard-history/american-slavery/resistance-means-more-than-rebellion">Kenneth Greenberg</a>, have advocated for helping students see the ways in which enslaved people fought back against the brutality of slavery. Whether through a focus on the fight to maintain family and culture, resistance at work, running away, physical confrontation or revolt, students get a deeper understanding of slavery when the lessons include the various ways that enslaved people courageously fought against their bondage. </p>
<p>Others, like James W. Loewen, the author of the popular book “<a href="https://thenewpress.com/books/lies-my-teacher-told-me">Lies My Teacher Told Me</a>,” have argued for a focus on how slavery has deeply influenced our popular culture through <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4648786/">movies</a>, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3315386/">television series</a>, <a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Copper-Sun/Sharon-M-Draper/9781416953487">historical fiction</a> and <a href="https://www.loc.gov/item/jukebox-128141/">music</a>.</p>
<p>There are also those who recommend the use of <a href="https://glc.yale.edu/digital-resources/teaching-resources">specific resources and curriculum materials</a>, like <a href="https://dev.glc.yale.edu/harriet-jacobs-selected-writings-and-correspondence-documents">the Harriet Jacobs Papers Project</a>, the four-part documentary series “<a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/home.html">Africans in America</a>” and the <a href="https://freedomonthemove.org/#about">Freedom on the Move database</a>, which features thousands of runaway slave advertisements. </p>
<p>Heeding some of these recommendations, in my work with teachers we have sought to come up with lessons that students like <a href="https://clarknow.clarku.edu/2021/05/25/at-penn-forum-hiatt-center-highlights-research-on-race-and-equity-student-voice/">Ailany Rivas, a junior at Claremont Academy</a> in Worcester, Massachusetts, say have helped them to become “more informed and educated about the brutal history of slavery and its legacy.” These lessons that I have developed take a variety of approaches but are all rooted in taking a look at the realities of slavery using historical evidence.</p>
<p>Many students have echoed Ailany in feedback that I have collected from nine different classes where I have helped design lessons about slavery.</p>
<p>And the teachers whom I have worked with have all shared informally that they are now confident in taking on the challenge of teaching the complex history of slavery.</p>
<p>Much of this confidence, in my opinion, is due to four things that I believe are mandatory for any teacher who plans to deal with slavery.</p>
<h2>1. Explore actual records</h2>
<p>Few things shine the light on the harsh realities of slavery like historical documents. I’m talking about things such as plantation records, slave diaries and letters penned by plantation owners and their mistresses.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/402702/original/file-20210525-19-g4y272.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Pages of a diary written in black ink." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/402702/original/file-20210525-19-g4y272.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/402702/original/file-20210525-19-g4y272.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402702/original/file-20210525-19-g4y272.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402702/original/file-20210525-19-g4y272.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402702/original/file-20210525-19-g4y272.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402702/original/file-20210525-19-g4y272.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402702/original/file-20210525-19-g4y272.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A former enslaved Black person, W. B. Gould, escaped the South during the Civil War and began writing in a diary.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/one-of-two-volumes-kept-by-w-b-gould-is-pictured-in-boston-news-photo/1229768827?adppopup=true">Lane Turner/The Boston Globe via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It also pays to examine wanted advertisements for runaway slaves. These ads provided details about those who managed to escape slavery. In some cases, the ads contain drawings of slaves. </p>
<p>These materials can help teachers guide students to better understand the historical context in which slavery existed. Educators may also wish to look at how people such as historian Cynthia Lynn Lyerly, who wrote a chapter in “<a href="https://uwpress.wisc.edu/books/5215.htm">Understanding and Teaching American Slavery</a>,” have used historical documents to teach about slavery.</p>
<h2>2. Examine historical arguments</h2>
<p>In order to better understand different perspectives on slavery, it pays to examine historical arguments about how slavery developed, expanded and ended.</p>
<p>Students can read texts that were written by abolitionists like Frederick Douglass and pro-slavery advocates like <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4h3141.html">George Fitzhugh</a>.</p>
<p>They should wade through the newspaper advertisements that provided details about those who managed to escape slavery.</p>
<p>Looking at these different arguments will show students that history is filled with disagreement, debate and interpretations based on different goals.</p>
<p>For instance, in examining arguments about slavery, teachers can show students how early 20th-century historians like <a href="https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/168963">Ulrich Bonnell Phillips</a>
sought to put forth ideas about kind masters and contented slaves, while others from the 1990s, such as John Hope Franklin, co-author of “<a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/runaway-slaves-9780195084511?cc=us&lang=en&">Runaway Slaves: Rebels on the Plantation</a>,” focused on how Black people resisted slavery.</p>
<p>Seeing these starkly different portrayals of slavery gives students a chance to examine how things such as choice, context, racism and bias might affect the way slavery is seen or viewed.</p>
<h2>3. Highlight lived experiences</h2>
<p>In my 11 years of teaching history, many students entered my classes with a great deal of misinformation about what life was like for those who lived under slavery. In pre-unit surveys, some stated that the enslaved worked only in the cotton fields and were not treated that badly. We know the historical records tell a different story. While many worked as field hands, there were others who were put into service as <a href="https://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtid=2&psid=3041">blacksmiths, carpenters, gunsmiths, maids and tailors.</a></p>
<p>To combat misconceptions like this, I advise teachers to use historical sources that feature details about the lived experiences of enslaved people.</p>
<p>For instance, teachers should have students read Harriet Jacobs’ memoir – “<a href="https://docsouth.unc.edu/fpn/jacobs/jacobs.html">Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl</a>” – alongside diaries written by white plantation owners.</p>
<p>Scrutinize photographs of slave quarters and excerpts from the <a href="https://www.loc.gov/collections/slave-narratives-from-the-federal-writers-project-1936-to-1938/about-this-collection/">Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers’ Project</a>, which contains more than 2,300 first-person accounts of slavery. </p>
<p>Ask students to examine various historical sources to gain a better understanding of how people lived through their bondage over time. </p>
<h2>4. Consider the relevance</h2>
<p>It is also crucial for teachers to consider the various ways in which slavery is relevant to the present with their students. I advise them to ask questions like: How has the history of slavery <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/06/17/most-americans-say-the-legacy-of-slavery-still-affects-black-people-in-the-u-s-today/">influenced the status</a> of Black people in the United States today? Why are there <a href="https://www.imdb.com/list/ls068771620/">so many movies</a> about slavery? </p>
<p>In Ailany’s class, we ended our unit by providing students with a chance to read and think about the relevance of recent picture books about slavery like Patricia Polacco’s “<a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/302658/januarys-sparrow-by-patricia-polacco-illustrated-by-patricia-polacco/">January’s Sparrow</a>,” Ann Turner and James Ransome’s “<a href="https://www.harpercollins.com/products/my-name-is-truth-ann-turner?variant=32130085421090">My Name Is Truth: The Life of Sojourner Truth</a>” and Frye Gallard, Marti Rosner and Jordana Haggard’s “<a href="http://www.newsouthbooks.com/bkpgs/detailtitlecoupon.php?isbn_solid=1588383563">The Slave Who Went to Congress</a>.”</p>
<p>We asked students to draw on what they had learned about slavery to consider and then share their perspectives about the historical accuracy, classroom appropriateness and relevance of a selected picture book. Students always have much to say about all three. </p>
<p>[<em>Over 100,000 readers rely on The Conversation’s newsletter to understand the world.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=100Ksignup">Sign up today</a>.]</p>
<p>Teaching slavery has been and will continue to be challenging. To teachers who are asked or required to take on this challenge, the four things discussed above can serve as strong guideposts for creating lessons that should make the challenge easier to navigate.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/161492/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Raphael E. Rogers does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Few issues are as difficult to deal with in the classroom as slavery in the US. Here, a professor who trains teachers on how to present the topic offers some insights.Raphael E. Rogers, Associate Professor of Practice, Clark UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1567252021-03-24T12:24:21Z2021-03-24T12:24:21ZMeisha Porter is the first Black woman chancellor of NYC schools – here are the challenges she will face<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/390982/original/file-20210322-19-f3jtfv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=4%2C4%2C2687%2C1790&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">New York City schools chancellor Meisha Porter speaks at a press conference.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/nycmayorsoffice/51062965213/in/photolist-2kMktXc-2kMpdQt-2kNiBeC-2kNj3ym-2kNj3y1-2kNeXRK-2kNiFQw-2kNj3wn-2kNg3xX-2kNk8QX-2kFcaRc-2kFcaQL-2kFcGZW-2kFcaRY-2kF8yYp">Photographer/Mayoral Photography Office</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Meisha Porter on March 15 became the <a href="https://abc7ny.com/meisha-porter-richard-carranza-resigns-nyc-school-chancellor-new-york-city-schools/10418803/">first Black woman</a> selected as <a href="https://www.schools.nyc.gov/about-us/leadership/doe-leadership-and-offices/chancellor">chancellor</a> of the New York City public school system. Here, <a href="https://www.stanlitow.com/about">Stanley S. Litow</a>, former deputy chancellor of the city’s school system, explains the significance of this development. He also addresses the challenges that Porter faces for what will likely be a limited tenure at the helm of the nation’s largest public school system as government leaders seek to fully reopen the nation’s schools.</em></p>
<h2>1. Why are her race and gender significant?</h2>
<p>This is of real significance not only in New York City but throughout the nation. According to the American Association of School Administrators, <a href="https://www.aasa.org/content.aspx?id=44397">only about 27% of superintendents are women</a>, with only <a href="https://www.k12dive.com/news/survey-superintendents-still-overwhelmingly-white-male/572008/">8.6%</a> of all superintendents being people of color. Yet, Hispanic students make up 27.6% of all public school students, and Black students represent 15%, <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=372#PK12_enrollment">federal data show</a>.</p>
<p>In the late 1980s I led the search committee that selected New York City’s first Black school chancellor, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1988/12/04/magazine/the-education-of-chancellor-green.html">Richard Green</a>. Since then, there have been 11 chancellors, and not one has been a Black woman until now. </p>
<p>Research has shown that Black leadership in education matters. For instance, <a href="https://edworkingpapers.com/sites/default/files/ai19-59.pdf">a Brown University paper</a> found that having a Black principal increases the number of Black teachers, which has a positive effect on learning for Black students but also increases the likelihood that Black teachers remain in their posts. All of this points to the positive results that emanate from diversity in school leadership.</p>
<h2>2. How can people judge her record?</h2>
<p>Porter served as a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/26/nyregion/meisha-porter-nyc-schools-chancellor.html">principal</a> for the <a href="https://www.bronxlgj.org/">Bronx School for Law, Government and Justice</a> and as a community superintendent for New York City’s <a href="https://www.district11nyc.com/">Community School District 11</a> with overall responsibility for some of the most challenged schools in The Bronx. The Bronx is the borough with the <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED604331.pdf">lowest achievement levels</a> in the city of New York. </p>
<p>Her detractors have pointed out that she has been accused of an <a href="https://nypost.com/2019/06/01/school-superintendent-celebrated-promotion-with-extravagant-gala/">ethical lapse</a> in arranging a party – one that featured a mandatory cash contribution – to celebrate her selection as a local superintendent. A city schools watchdog <a href="https://nypost.com/2019/12/07/schools-watchdog-allegedly-dropped-complaint-of-carranza-appointees-lavish-party/">dropped the investigation</a> in 2019.</p>
<p>In 2007, when the city graded schools based on student achievement, the school she had led for 10 years <a href="https://www.reportdoor.com/new-chancellor-meisha-ross-porter-barely-taught-before-rising-in-nyc-doe/">got a letter grade of “F</a>.” Yet, many parents <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/07/education/07schools.html?_r=2&ref=us&oref=slogin&oref=slogin">criticized the letter grade system</a> for judging schools solely on how test scores improve year to year. The grading system was <a href="https://media4.manhattan-institute.org/sites/default/files/IB-MW-0516b.pdf">discontinued</a> by mayor Bill de Blasio and then New York City school chancellor Carmen Fariña in 2014. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391000/original/file-20210322-13-5hpp36.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A group of school children and teachers wearing masks walk to school." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391000/original/file-20210322-13-5hpp36.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391000/original/file-20210322-13-5hpp36.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391000/original/file-20210322-13-5hpp36.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391000/original/file-20210322-13-5hpp36.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391000/original/file-20210322-13-5hpp36.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391000/original/file-20210322-13-5hpp36.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391000/original/file-20210322-13-5hpp36.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Elementary students are welcomed back to school in 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/elementary-school-students-are-welcomed-back-to-p-s-188-as-news-photo/1277365268?adppopup=true">Spencer Platt/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Porter has <a href="https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/news/2021/03/10/incoming-schools-chancellor-meisha-porter-on-re-opening--gifted-and-talented--and-more">pledged to focus</a> on safe school reopenings and diversity and inclusion in the city’s schools. Safe school opening will be a challenge, given the need to vaccinate teachers and all staff, the size and age of the system’s <a href="https://www.schools.nyc.gov/about-us/reports/doe-data-at-a-glance">roughly 1,800 schools</a> and the need to continue testing, tracing and social distancing. </p>
<p>While the <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/10/stimulus-update-house-passes-1point9-trillion-covid-relief-bill-sends-to-biden.html">passage of the COVID-19 relief bill</a> will in large measure resolve the resource issues, the logistical challenges will still be enormously significant.</p>
<p>The diversity issue is equally challenging. It goes far beyond the few specialized high schools where the admissions process largely <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/19/nyregion/nyc-schools-numbers-black-students-diversity-specialized.html">excludes Black and Latino students</a>. But admissions to those schools is embodied in state law and requires state action. In the city, far too many schools at all levels have <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/17/nyregion/public-schools-screening-admission.html">admission screens</a> that consider test scores, grades and other measures that have tended to deny students of color access to the best schools. The issue has <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/09/nyregion/nyc-schools-segregation-lawsuit.html?smid=em-share">led to a lawsuit</a> in March that accuses the system of worsening inequality by sorting students into different tracks early in their school careers.</p>
<h2>3. What are the top challenges that lie ahead?</h2>
<p>Beyond the challenge of a safe reopening, over the long term there will be challenges to address the <a href="https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/coronavirus/nyc-schools-2021-plan-looks-to-close-covid-achievement-gap-among-students/2773066/">lag in student achievement caused by the pandemic</a>. This is <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/public-and-social-sector/our-insights/covid-19-and-student-learning-in-the-united-states-the-hurt-could-last-a-lifetime#">particularly for low-income, Black and Hispanic students</a> for whom school attendance has been <a href="https://gothamist.com/news/nyc-public-schools-worst-attendance-are-areas-higher-covid-rates">unacceptably low</a> over the past year. </p>
<p>The most immediate opportunity to address this will be in planning and executing an effective use of the summer schedule. Research shows that students, especially those who lag behind in academic achievement, <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/research/summer-learning-loss-what-is-it-and-what-can-we-do-about-it/">lose ground during the summer recess</a>. A more effective use of the summer break could address this challenge.</p>
<p>But a plan for the fall semester ought to include a longer school day that integrates after-school programs with the standard school day. In 2013, Casimir Pulaski Elementary School in Meriden, Connecticut <a href="https://scholars.org/sites/scholars/files/ssn_basic_facts_benigni_on_expanded_learning_time.pdf">extended its school day</a> by 100 minutes a day, adding up to a total of 40 additional school days to the school year. Improvements in test scores followed.</p>
<p>Porter will also need to make more effective use of remote learning on days when schools are closed due to weather. </p>
<h2>4. How long does she have on the job?</h2>
<p>New York City has <a href="https://www.cityandstateny.com/articles/politics/excelsior-newsletter/understanding-mayoral-control.html">mayoral control of schools</a>, which provides the mayor the opportunity to select the next schools chancellor. </p>
<p>Since Mayor de Blasio is term-limited with an election for the next mayor coming up on <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/Mayoral_election_in_New_York,_New_York_(2021)">Nov. 2</a>, the likelihood is that Porter’s tenure will be very short. And while it is not impossible that her tenure might be extended, chances are it will not be since only <a href="https://www.cityandstateny.com/articles/politics/campaigns-elections/poll-1-10-political-insiders-approve-de-blasio.html">one of 10 political insiders</a> think positively about Mayor de Blasio’s performance. This, I believe, makes it highly unlikely that whoever wins the mayoral election will ask Mayor de Blasio’s final choice as chancellor to stay on.</p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/156725/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stanley S. Litow does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Meisha Ross Porter is the new chancellor of New York City’s public schools. A scholar of the politics of education touches on her background and what lies ahead.Stanley S. Litow, Visting Professor of the Pratice, Public Policy, Duke UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1522012021-02-03T15:51:46Z2021-02-03T15:51:46ZHow ‘Uncle Tom’ still impacts racial politics<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381189/original/file-20210128-13-f8xgsz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C32%2C534%2C405&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Bill Robinson dancing with Shirley Temple in 'The Little Colonel.'</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Little_Colonel_(1935_film)#/media/File:Bill_Robinson_and_Shirley_Temple_stair_dance_(cropped).jpg">(20th Century Fox)</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Published nearly 170 years ago, <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/322385/uncle-toms-cabin-by-harriet-beecher-stowe/9780140390032"><em>Uncle Tom’s Cabin</em> by Harriet Beecher Stowe</a> had a profound impact on American slavery. But Uncle Tom is not a relic from the 19th century: this complex figure still has a hold over Black politics. In fact, the Uncle Tom stereotype is quite possibly the most resilient figure in American history. He has survived pandemics, lived through 33 presidents (including President Joe Biden), and remains the most recognizable Black character in history.</p>
<p>While most people know that Uncle Tom is the titular character of <em>Uncle Tom’s Cabin</em>, few people know how and why this literary character has transformed since his initial appearance. <a href="https://chbooks.com/Books/U/Uncle">Why is Uncle Tom still alive in the 21st century?</a> </p>
<h2>Stowe’s Uncle Tom</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381816/original/file-20210201-21-13bolt7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381816/original/file-20210201-21-13bolt7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381816/original/file-20210201-21-13bolt7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=922&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381816/original/file-20210201-21-13bolt7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=922&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381816/original/file-20210201-21-13bolt7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=922&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381816/original/file-20210201-21-13bolt7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1158&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381816/original/file-20210201-21-13bolt7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1158&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381816/original/file-20210201-21-13bolt7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1158&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The book cover for ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Penguin)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The bestselling novel of the 19th century, and the <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-companion-to-nineteenthcentury-american-womens-writing/69C42A21FFA8CF5ED3A004D2EE87620E">second bestselling book of that century (after the Bible)</a>, <em>Uncle Tom’s Cabin</em> first appeared in the United States in 1851 as a serialized work of fiction published one chapter at a time, in the <em>National Era</em>, a weekly abolitionist newspaper edited by Gamaliel Bailey. </p>
<p>Today, we do not necessarily think of novels as shaping national identity. However, in 19th-century America, Stowe’s vision of Uncle Tom constructed a form of Black manhood that deeply impacted the nation. Despite being ripped from his wife and children, chained and sent off in a coffle with other enslaved men and women, let down by even a “good master,” and beaten, finally to death, Uncle Tom does not ever speak ill of anyone. He is loyal, passive in the midst of white violence and dies as a martyr. </p>
<p>Since then, various Black men have been called “Uncle Toms.” From Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to former president Barack Obama, at some point, they were accused of being <a href="https://face2faceafrica.com/article/do-you-know-why-malcolm-x-called-mlk-an-uncle-tom">too passive</a> or a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/nov/30/obama-white-house-barackobama">sell-out</a> to the race. </p>
<h2>Legalized rights did not translate to reality</h2>
<p>In the 1896 landmark case, <em><a href="https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/plessy-v-ferguson">Plessy vs. Ferguson</a></em>, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that African Americans had access to the legal system, equal to that of whites, but they had to maintain separate institutions to facilitate these rights. The ruling institutionalized a racial hierarchy that placed whites at the top and Black people at the bottom in nearly every facet of public life. </p>
<p>To live in North America meant that one had to choose not only between racial loyalty and disloyalty, but also between life and death. Survival meant performing servile roles as Uncles and Mammies, in public or on the job. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381814/original/file-20210201-13-1m01lx9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381814/original/file-20210201-13-1m01lx9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=613&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381814/original/file-20210201-13-1m01lx9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=613&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381814/original/file-20210201-13-1m01lx9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=613&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381814/original/file-20210201-13-1m01lx9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=770&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381814/original/file-20210201-13-1m01lx9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=770&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381814/original/file-20210201-13-1m01lx9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=770&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Chicago, Illinois. Pullman porter at the Union Station.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.loc.gov/resource/fsa.8d24965/">(Jack Delano/Library of Congress/FSA/OWI Collection)</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In this environment, Black people were forced to acquiesce to the white public’s desire to perpetuate the servile relations of slavery. Black men and women who violated these <a href="https://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/what.htm">Jim Crow</a> norms risked their homes, jobs and lives. </p>
<p>For survival in a racially segregated environment, <a href="http://www.paulwagnerfilms.com/miles-of-smiles-about-porters/">the Pullman sleeping car porters</a>, for instance, Black men who were employed on the railways of North America, had to perform the role of, and were measured against the image of, a servile Uncle Tom.</p>
<p>In Canada, the only reference for Uncle Tom is at <a href="https://www.heritagetrust.on.ca/en/properties/uncle-toms-cabin">Uncle Tom’s Cabin Historic Site</a>. The former home of <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/story-josiah-henson-real-inspiration-uncle-toms-cabin-180969094/">Rev. Josiah Henson, who lived from 1789–1883,</a> has been turned into a museum to showcase Henson’s life, as founder of the Dawn Settlement in Dresden, Ont., for fugitive African Americans. Stowe’s novel was loosely based on Henson’s biography, <em><a href="https://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/henson49/henson49.html">The Life of Josiah Henson, Formerly a Slave, Now an Inhabitant of Canada</a></em> published in 1849. The museum documents Henson’s life but also reaffirms his connection to Stowe’s Uncle Tom. </p>
<p>The insatiable appetite of the white North American public for a docile, symbolically emasculated Black male archetype and the Uncle Tom controversies that follows them, speaks profoundly to how monumentally resistant to change this character has been. </p>
<h2>From servant to sellout</h2>
<p>In the decades following the novel, Uncle Tom transformed into a stereotype of Black masculinity characterized by docility, castrated sexuality, a happy-to-please-whites attitude with a safe, child-like essence, at the same time. Shirley Temple’s blond ringlets paired with <a href="https://www.prweb.com/releases/2014/02/prweb11548760.htm">Bill “Bojangles” Robinson’s</a> soft-shoe routine in their “buddy” films of the 1930s is one example of the cinematic repackaging of Stowe’s Uncle Tom and his child-patron, <a href="http://utc.iath.virginia.edu/childrn/knowleshp.html">Little Eva</a>.</p>
<p>The servile Uncle Tom has been reproduced in Joel Chandler Harris’ <a href="https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/arts-culture/uncle-remus-tales">Uncle Remus</a> tales published in the 1880s, later adapted by Disney for <a href="https://www.indiewire.com/gallery/song-of-the-south-disney-you-must-remember-this/"><em>Song of the South</em></a>. Uncle Tom also became a feature at blackface minstrel shows known as “<a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/story-josiah-henson-real-inspiration-uncle-toms-cabin-180969094/">Tom shows</a>.” Later, he mutated into commodity spokespersons such as Rastus the Cream of Wheat trademark and Uncle Ben. </p>
<p>The concept of the sellout Uncle Tom, however, is characterized by the idea of a Black man who appears only interested in serving whites, the government, corporations or “the system” generally. The insult is meant to connote that these men, these “Uncle Toms” will ensure that white needs come before the needs of both the Black community and themselves. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381817/original/file-20210201-19-19dfora.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381817/original/file-20210201-19-19dfora.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381817/original/file-20210201-19-19dfora.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=901&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381817/original/file-20210201-19-19dfora.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=901&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381817/original/file-20210201-19-19dfora.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=901&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381817/original/file-20210201-19-19dfora.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1132&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381817/original/file-20210201-19-19dfora.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1132&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381817/original/file-20210201-19-19dfora.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1132&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The author’s new book, ‘Uncle: Race, Nostalgia and the Politics of Loyalty.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Coach House)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Men (or the fictionalized characters of men) who have faced accusations of being a sellout Uncle Tom include the film roles of actors like <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2000/oct/08/features.burhanwazir">Sidney Poitier</a> and, later, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1984/11/05/cosby-show-black-or-white/4ad8e415-b493-4970-b888-c35811288515/">Bill Cosby</a> during the height of his fame in the ‘70s and '80s, as well as <a href="https://theundefeated.com/features/was-chris-darden-a-race-traitor/">Christopher Darden</a> during the O.J. Simpson trial (not to mention O.J. himself), and even athletes like Tiger Woods. </p>
<p>Black people hate him, but it also seems we cannot live without him. The trope is especially brought up when it comes to political figures. Some political careers have been marred by Uncle Tom accusations. This includes people like <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-election-2020/joy-reid-msnbc-racist-clarence-thomas-uncle-clarence-b1595058.html">Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas</a>, and more recently Kentucky’s Attorney General <a href="https://thepostmillennial.com/cnn-contributor-calls-kentucky-ag-uncle-tom-and-step-fetch-negro">Daniel Cameron</a>. </p>
<h2>Foils for Black social progress</h2>
<p>The challenges that are brought to contemporary Black men in positions of authority, power and prestige who are either in service to white institutions or become the public spokespersons for white companies are very real. </p>
<p>The reason these Black men are accused of Uncle Tomism is that communities suspect them of thwarting Black social progress. It is a reliable trope called upon during moments when a Black individual is perceived by the Black community as maligning the race in order to win favour with white authority and institutions. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381806/original/file-20210201-13-cnjs92.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381806/original/file-20210201-13-cnjs92.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=915&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381806/original/file-20210201-13-cnjs92.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=915&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381806/original/file-20210201-13-cnjs92.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=915&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381806/original/file-20210201-13-cnjs92.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1150&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381806/original/file-20210201-13-cnjs92.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1150&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381806/original/file-20210201-13-cnjs92.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1150&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An image of an old box of Uncle Ben’s rice.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Mars)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Beyond politics, we are surrounded with imagery of Black men who serve one purpose: to make the public (imagined as white) feel safe. They are useful only if they are clearly committed to the American way of life, which is to say consumer culture. From Uncle Remus there to sell white childhood innocence, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/30/business/media/30adco.html">Uncle Ben</a> to sell rice, and even Michael Jordan’s squeaky-clean image, this image of Black masculinity has had a firm grip on what it means to be a Black man in North American society. </p>
<p>Why can Uncle Tom not just fade from memory, as have so many other characters from other mid-19th-century novels?</p>
<p>Stowe may have created this character to support the abolition of slavery. However, through constant reinvention and reproduction, Uncle Tom will continue to exist if the Black community remains divided on how to live within a <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/hbsworkingknowledge/2017/05/03/the-clear-connection-between-slavery-and-american-capitalism/?sh=63aba3ee7bd3">capitalist system built on slave labour</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381818/original/file-20210201-13-1g0n3ld.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381818/original/file-20210201-13-1g0n3ld.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381818/original/file-20210201-13-1g0n3ld.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381818/original/file-20210201-13-1g0n3ld.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381818/original/file-20210201-13-1g0n3ld.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381818/original/file-20210201-13-1g0n3ld.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381818/original/file-20210201-13-1g0n3ld.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://theconversation.com/ca/podcasts">Click here to listen to Don’t Call Me Resilient</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Yet this figure also reminds us to look deeper and to ask difficult questions about how we choose to relate to white society and its institutions. Uncle Tom will persist as long as anti-Blackness persists.</p>
<p><em>This article is adapted from Cheryl Thompson’s forthcoming book, 'Uncle: Race, Nostalgia and the Politics of Loyalty’ (Coach House Books).</em></p>
<p>Listen to Cheryl Thompson on Episode 1 of <a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-in-a-word-how-to-confront-150-years-of-racial-stereotypes-podcast-episode-1-show-notes-153790"><em>Don’t Call Me Resilient</em></a>, a new podcast from The Conversation.</p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Cheryl Thompson receives funding from the Social Sciences Humanities Research Council. </span></em></p>‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin,’ the best seller of the 19th century, is not a relic from the past. The complex Uncle Tom figure still has a hold over Black politics.Cheryl Thompson, Assistant Professor, Creative Industries, Toronto Metropolitan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1515092021-01-21T13:30:14Z2021-01-21T13:30:14ZHow African body markings were used to construct the idea of race in colonial Brazil<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/373845/original/file-20201209-18-1p7j6g9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A man in Brazil attends an event memorialising the struggle of black people and Africans against slavery.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Fabio Teixeira/Anadolu Agency/Getty</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the 1700s, the gold rush in southeast Brazil created a high demand for mining labour. The Minas Gerais region became one of the main destinations for African <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/in-brazil-the-wounds-of-slavery-will-not-heal/a-43754519">slaves</a>. For the first half of the century, demand was met by a trade circuit connecting the ports of the Bight of Benin to Salvador in Bahia. </p>
<p>People from those ports acquired a reputation among the Portuguese as the best hands for mining gold. </p>
<p>With time, they created a commercial system of slave classification. Many Africans were grouped with the understanding that they are naturally suited for certain jobs. Slaves were sorted by anatomy and the purported ability to function better in certain climates, resistance to diseases, and life expectancy. Based on this classification, they were either assigned to the fields or less rigorous housework.</p>
<p>This process of stereotyping was unwittingly aided by many Africans with body markings. The markings represented aspects of their lives. They were commonly scarification marks, tattoos and cuts. These indicated their identities, ethnicity, religious affiliation, life events, accomplishments and social status. </p>
<p>Sometimes they were made to obtain spiritual protection. Others were permanent beauty marks. These meanings were lost to the Portuguese. They used them simply to profile and identify slaves. The markings also helped to recapture escaped slaves and ensure slaveholders paid taxes.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/374217/original/file-20201210-18-4vbqd3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/374217/original/file-20201210-18-4vbqd3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/374217/original/file-20201210-18-4vbqd3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374217/original/file-20201210-18-4vbqd3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374217/original/file-20201210-18-4vbqd3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374217/original/file-20201210-18-4vbqd3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374217/original/file-20201210-18-4vbqd3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374217/original/file-20201210-18-4vbqd3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Scarifications on an Ethiopian Topossa man.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Eric Lafforgue/Art in All of Us/Corbis/Getty Images</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In my <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0144039X.2020.1814055">study</a> of colonial archives, I researched how physical attributes shaped the way Africans were viewed. Race relations in Brazil are generally thought of in terms of multiple skin colours categories associated with various interethnic relationships. But its largest enslaved population consisted of Africans. So, it is important to understand how colonial society dealt with their diversity of origins to construct blackness.</p>
<p>Slavery in Brazil did not, in fact, automatically erase the diversity of African origins and reduce people to one racial category – ‘Black’. It happened over <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/in-brazil-the-wounds-of-slavery-will-not-heal/a-43754519">time</a>. </p>
<h2>The slave economy</h2>
<p>In the Brazilian regions where gold and diamonds were mined, slave ownership was taxed. The tax office began listing slaves’ Christian names, ages, origins, purchase price and body markings in official registries. They also put this information on the identification cards that slaves had to carry with them. Scarification was then used as a marker of the person’s homeland. </p>
<p>Here’s a description I found from 1752: </p>
<p>“Domingos Sabarú, 20 years old, with smallpox pockmarks, and four small spears on top of his right eyebrow, two circles on top of the left eyebrow, a small grid in the middle of the eyebrows, a star at the temple in the corner of his right eyebrow and the more signs that are on every face of Sabarú, valued at 300 thousand réis”. (Sabarú is currently Savalou, Benin).</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A paper with a description of body markings." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/377544/original/file-20210107-17-qodkyj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/377544/original/file-20210107-17-qodkyj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=523&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/377544/original/file-20210107-17-qodkyj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=523&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/377544/original/file-20210107-17-qodkyj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=523&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/377544/original/file-20210107-17-qodkyj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=657&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/377544/original/file-20210107-17-qodkyj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=657&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/377544/original/file-20210107-17-qodkyj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=657&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A Brazilian colonial record describing African body markings.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Arquivo Público Mineiro, Matrícula de escravos.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These colonial interpretations of African scarifications oversimplified their original meanings. In several regions, their meanings went far beyond ethnicity or origin. In West Africa, some skin patterns express religious affiliation with specific entities of the hierarchy of gods and deified ancestors called <a href="http://www.afropedea.org/fon-pantheon-gods-vodun">voduns</a> in the Gbe-speaking area or called <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/orisha">orishas</a> in the Yoruba territories. In these cases, marking were acquired as part of the rites of initiation.</p>
<p>Other markings are records of significant events such as a death in the family. They can also symbolise belonging to a complex multi-levelled society. These marks indicated an individual’s age, medical history, and their social, political and gender-related status. Some marks are formed from the injection of medicines and substances believed to offer protection from unseen forces. Some were just creative expressions.</p>
<p>Brazil represented almost half of the entire Atlantic trade. Its 18th century colonial society never saw Africans as homogeneous people. Nor was the African body classified solely on the basis of skin colour. Identity was formed as a combination of body modifications and phenotypical traits, or physical attributes. </p>
<h2>African diversity and blackness</h2>
<p>The Portuguese colonialists were concerned with commerce and social control. They saw body markings as tools for identification and cataloguing, to increase the economic efficiency of commodified human lives.</p>
<p>In addition to body marks, clerks also habitually described anatomical features. The hair texture, skin tone and nose shape of individual Africans were recorded and contrasted with European features.</p>
<p>In the end, the same gaze that used visual markers to categorise the diversity of African origins eventually lumped them together in a simplified idea of ‘blackness’. But one did not exclude the other. They were two facets of the same process that transformed Africans into ‘Blacks’.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/151509/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This research was supported by the CAPES grant 0382/2016/ 23038.009186/2013-63
</span></em></p>A study of the historical records describing African slaves in Brazil yields some unexpected findings.Aldair Rodrigues, Adjunct assistant professor, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (Unicamp)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.