Zoom meeting tackles ways of ending racism in society
With the Black Lives Matter movement making waves in Regina, the University of Regina held a virtual town hall on what the movement means for Saskatchewan and the university community.
More than 250 people, many of them U of R staff and faculty members, joined the Zoom meeting held Friday afternoon.
The discussion was led by panellists Jerome Cranston, dean of education; Delasi Esslien, a doctoral student in the faculty of nursing; Russell Fayant, a faculty member with the Saskatchewan Urban Native Teacher Education Program (SUNTEP); David Flomo, a senior lecturer with the faculty of social work; Michelle Stewart, an associate professor in the faculty of arts; and Cathy Rocke, dean of social work.
During the town hall, Cranston said colonization has had a lasting impact on his life, noting that his grandmother died of starvation because of the famine created in West Bengal under British colonizers.
“Colonization, decolonization and where we’re at in history is part of who I am. This is the skin I grew up in,” he said.
“I’ve encountered racism from childhood right through ’til yesterday. This is not something that goes away.”
Three rallies in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held in front of the Legislative Building in Regina in the past two weeks, attracting thousands of people who spoke out against the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis and other injustices.
The panellists addressed questions of how to have conversations about racism, what the Black Lives Matter movement means for the education environment at the U of R, what defunding the police could look like in Regina and what longterm change needs to be made to create equity in Canada.
Living in North Central, Fayant said he has seen the tense relationship between police and his community firsthand and said “police are a symptom of a diseased society and not exactly the cure.”
He has found it troubling to hear members of the RCMP across Canada recently deny systemic racism within the force (some have since backtracked on those comments). Without the institution recognizing the issue, he said there is no chance to reform it. Instead, he suggested Regina look at how it could move funding from police to community organizations slowly over time.
“If we’re really truly looking at creating a more equitable society, then I think we need to fund the organizations that work to create that equitable society, and that’s not the police,” he said during the discussion.
Having constructive conversations about racism can be difficult, said Rocke, but necessary. She said discussions need to be built off relationships so people can truly listen to and learn from one another. This helps prevent people from taking the issue too lightly or from shaming one group of people.
In an interview after the discussion, Cranston said he has been encouraged to see such a broad community response to the movement. He was also pleased to see the U of R administration “take on the risk” of having a town hall focused on the issue, but he said he will be disappointed if the discussion — both within the U of R and in Regina as a whole — stops when the rallies fade.
“If we continue to have conversations and commit to the actions that are actually required, then it will be what I hope it will be,” he said.