KITOSSA: Election shows Canadians still don’t understand what it means to be racist

Tamari Kitossa, Associate Professor in Brock’s Department of Sociology, had a piece published Friday, Oct. 4 in The Conversation about how Canadians can make better sense of racism.

Kitossa writes:

Why aren’t Canadians better at making sense of what racism is?

What we need — besides action and good policies — is a good, hard-nosed theory of racism. It should be a theory with interesting and useful metaphors. It should be a theory folks can grab hold of. It should be a theory that has the capacity to make sense to white nationalists and white supremacists.

Right now we use concepts like “white privilege” and “implicit racism.” These can be useful ways to quickly explain white racism in non-threatening ways in everyday life. They also include an understanding of the history and politics of racism. But they may also be too easy and too superficial and so they also also nurture white complacency.

Continue reading the full article here.


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