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The Race/Culture Divide in Education, Law and the Helping Professions

The Fifth Annual Critical Race Conference

May 4-6, 2006 University of Regina

By Alice Propper, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, York University

31 May 06 - This conference (the fifth annual) was organized by Researchers and Academics of Colour for Equality/Equity (R.A.C.E.) in order to reflect critically on contemporary race issues across the professions, particularly law and education. Next year the conference is planned for a Toronto location (not yet specified).

R.A.C.E.’s goal is to seek ways to achieve more equitable outcomes for racialized groups in schools, hospitals, courses and social services by examining how the inequitable outcomes were created and replicated over time. It encourages the use of Critical Race theory to understand, examine and challenge the ideology of white supremacy and racial oppression in Canadian society. Participants were repeatedly challenged to scrutinize how racism, power and privilege operate in their workplace and to value ways of thinking, teaching, learning, and storytelling by Aboriginal peoples. Only people of colour can join R.A.C.E.; others can join as Friends of R.A.C.E.

(Contact Univ. of Toronto, c/o Dr. Sherene Razack, Dept of Sociology and Equity Studies in Education, O.I.S.E, M5S 1V6. Dr. Razack edits RaceLink. Volume four was distributed to conference presenters: it provides a list of references to information about the ongoing colonization of Aboriginal peoples by Europeans/white settlers through violence that is legally and socially authorized.)

Faculty associated with the Centre for Social Justice and Anti-Oppressive Education (Centre) in the Faculty of Education, U of Regina assisted R.A.C.E. with the Regina conference. The Centre is currently soliciting articles for a book planned for 2007 publication and requested that presenters submit their 2006 Conference papers for posting at http://uregina.ca/justeduc/. No papers had been posted before I submitted this report: presenters will be revising their oral presentations before submitting them.

An Overview

The conference brought together scholars and community activists. Many of the sessions that I attended focused on the negative efforts of settler colonization upon Native/Aboriginal Canadians. But the organizers are interested in all forms of anti-colonial scholarship, anti-racist practice and structural change to reduce inequities and the negative effects of all racial hierarchies.

Privileged groups were urged to acknowledge the racial hierarchies and to think of ways to systematically improve the conditions of those at the bottom. Activism must address poverty and structural/institutional/systemic inequities of power in all societal institutions. And it must target the reduction of poverty in all disadvantaged racialized groups.

Following is a summary of my take on

1. the pre-conference workshop,
2. three Aboriginal keynote speakers,
3. presenter’s views on institutional problems - presenters often focused on complaints about police, but some discussion of courts and education is included, and
4. my post-conference 3-day visit to the Okimaw Ohci Healing Lodge, a unique prison facility on the Nakaneet Reserve in SW Saskatchewan for Aboriginal federal female offenders serving more than a two year sentence.

A. THE PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOP ON RACISM AND OPPRESSION IN SOCIETAL INSTITUTIONS

Attendees were offered the opportunity to participate in a program that has been used in some secondary schools to make students aware of discrimination and racism and to address school-based racism. Participants were encouraged to think of and portray differences-in-power/structure-of-domination through drama, creating body sculpture/poses, and moving objects such as chairs. The group of roughly 25 was guided by six or seven trained facilitators who posed questions and helped participants analyze images/sculpture/poses. Participants were then challenged to reduce the inequalities. The brainstorming and differences in participant’s perceptions and interpretations created many surprises and new insights about how racism could be understood and challenged in a variety of contexts.

The theory underlying the exercises is that if participants develop consciousness of systemic and individual racism, they can learn strategies to challenge incidents of racism and domination. This enables change in societal systems and professional practice that in turn produce fundamental change in the social structures which underpin and reinforce racism.

B. ALL THREE KEYNOTE SPEAKERS IDENTIFIED THEMSELVES AS ABORIGINAL OR MÉTIS WOMEN

1) Verna St. Denis, College of Education, U. of Sask. Keynote Speaker May 4, 2006

• Dr. St. Denis articulated a position that set the tone for the conference. She argued that many Aboriginal students did badly and dropped out due to poverty and racism. Improved school success for Aboriginal people requires addressing how racialization, colonization and white supremacy has resulted in poverty. If Aboriginal students are to achieve success, society needs to address these determinants of educational inequity. 

• The main negative effect of Aboriginal people being disenfranchised and losing their culture is to romanticize the culture and convey the wrong message that Aboriginal people should resist modernity.

• Often people err by assuming that Aboriginal students are culturally homogeneous.

• To tell young people that they should get an education, but not to let that education change them, is to convey a confusing and impossible goal. The long-standing functionalist anthropological tradition suggests that social change is harmful: that intellectual tradition needs to be challenged. An education helps people meet the goal of having a dignified life that meets basic needs and enables meaningful relationships.

2) Andrea Smith, Culture and Women’s Studies, U. of Michigan, author of Conquest: Sexual Violence and American Indian Genocide – Keynote Speaker May 7, 2006

• Decolonization requires building mass-based movements of activists organizing for social change. This involves decolonizing the academy by questioning and changing its colonial structure.

• Activists should specify goals such as liberation, freedom, sovereignty and justice to enable assessment of progress and achievement of the goals. Don’t count on political leaders to reduce poverty, injustice and racism: build movements for social justice by forming coalitions with former enemies. Smith believes that activists can change people’s minds so that they will join movements working for social justice.

• Recognize and challenge all human rights violators—including North American politicians. Challenge the legitimacy of nations using violence to control people and obtain resources of less powerful nations.

• Challenge violence in all spheres: work to eliminate the violence rather than create more structures/institutions. For example, rather than build more shelters, end male violence toward women. When the state is involved in domestic violence, racialized minorities are criminalized and the power of the state is increased.

3) Emma LaRocque, Department of Native Studies, U. of Manitoba. – Keynote Speaker May 8, 2006

• Images in media and advertisements have often presented native people as ignoble savages. Colonizers have often exploited native culture for entertainment and profit.

• The term Aboriginals should be avoided: it is too impersonal.

• While Emma LaRocque mourned the loss of good things in native culture, she also alerted the audience to the importance of allowing a dynamic and changing native culture, rather than only a static focus upon the past. There are sometimes unintended and negative effects from teaching young people to only function “in the past lane,” as conveyed by the emphasis on tradition, the teaching of elders. This is harmful when it results in young people feeling as though they are betraying a native identity if they choose a contemporary vocation. The pressures to live traditionally can cause young people to feel anomie (a sense of normlessness and conflicting values) and may contribute to paralysis, despair, and even suicide.

• The pressures for native peoples to be different do not always serve the best interests of native people. Native young people need guidance on how to be contemporary and modern and authentically native at the same time.

• Dr. LaRocque was particularly critical of male violence toward women and pointed out that both white and native men attack, batter, and assault Aboriginal women. It is inappropriate to tolerate such violence by natives on natives in the name of cultural violence and she was critical of pressures to require victims of violence to forgive their abusers.

• A large proportion of girls and women in jail (higher proportions in the prairies) are native, probably because they are forced to live in a state of rage. That rage brings them in conflict with the law.

• Emma LaRocque has contributed an article on native feminism to a forthcoming book edited by Joyce Green.

C. A SAMPLING OF MY INTERPRETATION OF OTHER (NON-KEYNOTE) SPEAKERS’ COMMENTS ON EDUCATION AND THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM

Ideally, I would have liked my interpretations subjected to a Wikipedia-type correction by the authors to insure that my representation of what they said is consistent with the message that they intended to convey.

i) The Need for Anti-Racist Practice to End Systemic/Institutional Inequality in Education

Closing the Aboriginal academic achievement gap suggests that the poor socio-economic conditions of many Aboriginal families and high rates of mobility among them need to be addressed. The speaker observed a grade nine teacher, reputed to be effective with native students, and found that the teacher employed more story-telling and observational learning, infused native content, used the visual-sensory modality, and showed warmth and respect for the students.

Observations of the class found that many students were absent because i) they were required to care for younger siblings, ii) poor families required them to work for extra income, iii) they were required to attend court; additional reasons were iv) incarceration and v) high mobility rates because of unstable housing. Other studies have shown that factors such as racism, low status of Aboriginal students, and teen pregnancy contribute to low educational success. (Yatta Kanu, U. of Manitoba).

Shauneen Pete described a self-study narrative based on her experience as a native woman teaching students (predominantly white, middle-class and planning to be teachers) to recognize forms of systemic or institutionalized racism. She challenged students’ assumptions of meritocracy or the idea that if you “just work hard enough you can achieve your goals”. Readings alerted them to normative discourses which support systemic domination, oppression, and race privilege in education.

As students begin to identify how ideology informs and sustains discriminatory practice, they “begin to see the story of oppression not merely as a story of the marginalization of the racial other, but the privileges gained by those closer to norm, themselves included.” An analysis of students’ autobiographies revealed that few initially understood differences in social class and race. Many expressed strong emotional responses and anger when confronted with their homophobia, sexism, and racism. Pete considered their complaints about this dis-ease as a normal reaction to the healing process involved in students moving from lack of awareness about difference to accepting responsibility for creating practices and structures that support disadvantaged/different students. (Shauneen Pete, U. of Regina).

ii) Colonizing Effects in the Justice System and Restorative Justice Education and Practice/Initiatives to Disrupt Racism

There is a high level of court activity involving Aboriginal people because of high levels of violence and drug and alcohol abuse. Several efforts have been made to make the Canadian criminal justice system more responsive to Aboriginal people. Aboriginal policing is desirable because the officers have better knowledge of the community. Courts should use the language of the victims and accused so that nothing is lost in translation. Native judges, criminal diversion programs, sentencing circles and a focus on restorative justice, healing and community values – rather than punishment and revenge (Eurocentric/adversarial) are helping to transform social structures and actions to improve outcomes for Aboriginal people. But the justice system is at the tail end of other issues that need to be addressed before matters get to the criminal justice system. (I understood these issues to be poverty, violence.) (Margot Hurlbert, U. of Regina and John McKenzie, SaskPower)

Restorative justice that is based on the cultural values of the Aboriginal Community can challenge the colonization, racism, and retributive justice system that has been used to suppress and control Aboriginal people in Canada—and better meet the needs of victims, offenders and Aboriginal community members. Aboriginal models of healing work better than the colonizers’ system of justice, even though some sentencing circles are patriarchal, and deviate from tradition where women are equal. (Jan Hansen, University College of the North).

iii) Systemic Injustice by Police Demonstrates Need for Anti-Racist Practice*

End racial profiling as it stigmatizes groups and legitimates stereotypes, discrimination and police brutality. It decreases police ability to prevent and solve crimes and has created poor police-community relations. (Sulaimon Giwa, Carleton)

Many students do not recognize that race is socially constructed to support domination and inequitable rewards and inhumane social conditions. They do not acknowledge colonialism, oppression and imperialism and say that all is equal today – that opportunities are equal. It is dominant groups that generally initiate violence, yet the oppressed are labeled as violent, barbaric, wicked, and ferocious. (MacDonald Ighodaro, St. Mary’s)

Multicultural celebrations and celebrating diversity often divert people’s attention from racism and structures supporting inequality. (Lynn Caldwell, OISE)

The poverty experienced by many racialized women makes them vulnerable to smuggling narcotics across borders. They are often duped and coerced and bribed with money—then disproportionately punished without any discernable impact upon the availability of drugs. This treatment is symptomatic of a criminal justice system that denies systemic discrimination in decision-making. (Rkahi Ruparella, U. of Ottawa).

The processes of colonialism are the impulse for the structural racism that is encoded in practices of the police and state, and transmitted through generations. This was illustrated by the failure to lay charges against police who took Aboriginal men on “starlight tours,” i.e., to isolated areas. The death of Neil Stonechild prompted a public inquiry in 1993. The inquiry failed to recognize how systemic racism was maintained by the dominance/superiority of whites, instead emphasizing cultural difference.

This kind of analysis might mislead us into thinking that police officers sharing a smudge will change brutal practices such as “starlight tours”. Yet neither this nor mild condemnations of individuals effectively change the status quo of white dominance. Decolonization by ethical and pragmatic leaders is the necessary political project required to systematically dismantle the power structure that supports the kinds of systemic practices that killed Neil Stonechild et al. (Joyce Green, U. of Regina)

Instead of focusing on changing Aboriginal people, focus on changing white society to change the racism, lack of training and alienation that lead to high rates of youth unemployment. This and other forms of current Aboriginal misery are a direct consequence of being dispossessed of land. Instead of focusing on individual symptoms of the negative effects of colonization, we need to develop a post-colonial discourse which recognizes the systemic causes of colonialism and which offers Aboriginal people more self-determination. The power imbalances are designed and maintained in the interests of settler society and are intended to socialize Aboriginal people to the dominant view. (Joyce Green, U. of Regina and Ian Peach, Sask. Institute of Public Policy)

First Nations and Afrikans -- not Africans because most traditional languages on the continent spell Afrika with a ‘k’ -- need to unite to reduce police brutality. Police will be racist if they can get away with it. For example, (a) the Rodney King beating was videotaped but the jury said the police did nothing wrong, and (b) in the movie Crash, a white police officer rapes (by feeling her body and inserting his finger into her vagina) a black woman to humiliate her black husband because he knows he will not be punished for it. (Elder Carl C. Wilson Jr. Esq *Zenas Law Assoc.).

The film, Crash, was one of many films shown during the conference. In it, the rape victim experiences incredible anger at her husband’s failure to stop the white cop’s finger fucking her: their anger has implications for many of their later actions.

Trial transcripts and media accounts of a 2001 sexual assault case can be deconstructed to demonstrate how racist ideology is encoded in Canadian institutions. The three white male offenders are portrayed as good guys and the victim portrayed as equal to them and as having agency (she was only 97 lbs. and 12 years old). Men’s use of booze was considered as a mitigating rather than a contributing factor, to their assault. (James McNinch, U. of Regina)

D. OKIMAW OHCI HEALING LODGE (FEDERAL WOMEN’S PRISON) ON NEKANEET FIRST NATION RESERVE

I wanted to visit this prison because it was the first prison to be developed with First Nations’ communities (later healing lodges were established for male offenders: 85% of Canada’s Healing Lodge offenders are male). Okimaw Ohci’s architecture and philosophy is based on Aboriginal teachings, including principles of healing, spirituality, and traditions. Visiting was an opportunity to see and learn about how these principles have been implemented and practised at this unique facility, completed in 1995, with a population of approximately 25 inmates/residents, classified as both minimum and medium security.

This report provides some background, several links for those who may want to know more about restorative justice and healing lodges, some specifics about my visit, and a concluding reflection.

Some background. Research on inmates in the now-closed Prison for Women (P4W) in Kingston, Ontario demonstrated many negative effects, including self-harm such as suicides and slashings. A disproportionate number of these inmates were Aboriginal women. This formed the basis for a complex process resulting in a vision for change described in Creating Choices: The Report of the Task Force on Federally Sentenced Women, 1990.

That vision taught that change for inmates was only possible if they were empowered, treated with respect, and provided with a supportive environment. The result was the building of seven regional facilities for women serving more than a two-year sentence (and the closing of the Kingston Prison for Women in 2000). Currently, seven federal prisons for women operate in Truro, Nova Scotia; Joliette, Quebec; Kitchener and Kingston, Ontario; Edmonton, Alberta; Abbotsford, British Columbia, and Okimaw Ohci Healing lodge (OOHL) in Maple Creek, Saskatchewan. The recently released (Apr. 27, 2006) Ten Year Status Report on Women’s Corrections shows photos and geographical locations.

The guiding philosophy of the Lodge is “one of healing through Aboriginal teachings, spirituality and culture, so as to recover from histories of abuse (both personal and institutional), regain a sense of self worth, gain living skills and rebuild esteem.” (Norma Green, Kikawinaw, 2002).

The budget is approximately four million dollars annually (p. 32). OOHL is difficult to visit and to staff because of its remote location on the Nekaneet First Nation Reserve—a 38 km. drive on a dirt road from the closest town of Maple Creek, with no taxi or bus service to hire. The drive is 420 km. from Regina and more than 150 km. from the closest city and airport (Medicine Hat, Alberta).

My visit. I was extended extraordinary hospitality by the Lodge’s Assistant Kikawinaw (Warden/Director/“Our Mother” in Cree), who explained the philosophy behind the prison’s creation and programs and introduced me to many other managers, residents, and correctional staff who added their own explanations. Staffing is based a family model, including a mother, aunts, and older sisters. The lodge can accommodate 28 residents in 13 attached bungalows. Residents wear their own clothes and there are no bars or perimeter fences.

a) Monday, May 8. I attended the Morning Circle, a daily meeting, which is held at the incredibly beautiful cedar-lined, circular, teepee-shaped Spiritual Lodge. For pictures of the inside and outside of the building and a brief description of the Lodge’s philosophy, click here.

The centre fireplace burns with coals: some will be lifted from the fire and placed in an abalone shell to burn sweet grass and/or sage for smudging / cleansing of body, mind, and spirit. For the prayer meeting, Lina (the Elder) sat opposite the main doorway and women sat on buffalo skins (except if they were menstruating)* and cushions around the interior and exterior circles.

The Elder began the talking circle by giving the “girls” some advice on how to approach horses and telling them that she loved them. (I observed several residents approach her with hugs later in the day). A rock was passed from person to person in the talking circle and I was introduced to everyone as Dr. Alice. My turn followed and I explained that I taught a course on Women in the Criminal Justice System and wanted to learn about the Lodge so that I might tell my students about it. They smiled when I told them that my idea of a good time was to visit prisons— I have visited women’s prisons in Venezuela, Greece, the U. S. and Ontario. Last week I came to Saskatchewan to attend a Race Conference in Regina. As I was in the neighborhood (everyone laughed), I came to OOHL to spend a few days learning more about what happened here at the Lodge first-hand. Many residents welcomed me when their turn came in the talking circle. Most also said that they had a good weekend, although a couple told of suffering with bad colds.

After the prayer circle, I spoke to the Elder, who suggested that I should see the residence. An Aboriginal “Older Sister”/correctional officer showed me the beautiful two-bedroom bungalow, town-house-style homes. Each had a kitchen (where residents made breakfast and dinner) with a yellow shadow-board for a paring knife and scissors, a well-stocked refrigerator and pantry, a dining room, and living room with television, and a comfortable, roomy bedroom. I was asked not to take any photos of the interior.

Staff and residents had a buffet lunch (salad, cottage cheese and grill cheese sandwiches with fresh fruit for dessert). At the end of the line was a bin of fruit (apples, kiwi fruit and oranges) that could be taken for a snack. Coffee, tea, cranberry and orange juice were offered to staff and residents all day in the dining room. The main dining room was a lovely bright, airy space with round tables seating six or eight to facilitate conversation.

An unpublished document explains the importance of food: “Food ... . In all social gatherings, the sharing of food is symbolic for expression of respect, gratitude and socialization.” This is the rationale for each home having “a kitchen and dining room in addition to the main kitchen and dining area.” (p.24, Okimaw Ohci Healing Lodge, no date)

b) Tuesday, May 9. I spent a couple of hours interviewing a resident/inmate who told me that she had killed her spouse with a sharp object (not a gun or a knife), and who had many prior violent convictions. The interview was conducted in beautiful and large daycare centre (outside is a well-equipped play area): no children visited or lived at the Lodge at the time of my brief visit.

Grace (a pseudonym) learned about OOHL through another inmate who had read about it in Chatelaine magazine. She experienced abuse and addiction both in and out of prison and had assaulted both men and women frequently. Talking to me (and others--she told me someone had made a video of interviews with her and a couple of other inmates) was a way to overcome the shame and guilt that hobbled her healing when she had been silent about her offences.

After lunch with staff and residents in the main dining hall, I attended a meeting of the pivotal/central Spirit of a Warrior Program from 1 to 3:30 pm. The seven residents, two facilitators, and I met in the gorgeous Spiritual Lodge. The residents took turns identifying their Nation and geographical origin, crime, background, and what they learned in the Spirit of the Warrior group. The atmosphere was relaxed and supportive with the facilitators injecting some commentary and teachings. These women were a month into the 14-week (3 ½ days a week) program. My visit was characterized as an opportunity for review and assessment/reflection by the group.

c) Wed. May 10. I attended a managers’ meeting: each stated his or her plans for the day. I then spoke briefly to two teachers about the school program. They told me that several students had completed their high school equivalency at the lodge, but that work and treatment programs have higher priority than education.

This morning, I attended the third day meeting of the one month Nekaneet Horse Program. The group consisted of seven residents, an Elder and a man with expertise in horses. The program began with a smudge ceremony. The Elder suggested that I offer a lecture. I declined, explaining that I was here to learn, and asked if he could tell me a bit about how he became an Elder. He offered a detailed explanation of the process, mentoring, and levels of energy. He emphasized how teachings acknowledged the power of women during the moon time and how important it was to respect gender differences. For similar explanations, click here.

Later in the morning, I listened to a talented resident play (on piano) and sing a couple of songs that she had written. She had auditioned for a university music program a week earlier. I also had an opportunity to speak to a couple of residents semi-privately (no staff was present, but another inmate on cleaning duty intermittently joined us). We discussed lesbian relationships in prison, correspondence with male inmates, fairness of sentencing, and the likelihood that residents were honest when they told me how much they liked the program (since staff witnesses assessed the residents).

After a terrific lunch of mixed vegetable salad (with choice of toppings including parmesan cheese and bacon bits and salad dressings) liver, ham, potatoes, mixed fresh fruit, I offered thanks to my lunch-mates and others in nearby offices and was sent off with thoughtful gifts. My favourite is a lanyard that says Okimaw Ohci Healing Lodge and has a safety break in case anyone tries to choke me with it.

Concluding Thoughts. I learned a lot and still have many questions. My impression is that OOHL is a successful integration of traditional Aboriginal approaches and non-punitive modern approaches emphasizing teaching, rather than punishment. It is, however, very expensive to operate and I wonder whether residents (most of whom will return to urban centers) require more education and work skills to function successfully after release.

Research seems to indicate that government and community resources/money are best targeted at crime prevention. The likelihood of stable employment and improved parenting skills are increased when at-risk families are offered pre-natal and infant monitoring programs, improved educational and vocational opportunities, and stable housing. Everyone benefits when children and adults are loved, provided with emotional and material support, and engaged in routines that keep us progressing toward fulfilling socially acceptable goals. Traditions can be understood, while moving forward toward greater equity for all disadvantaged people. It’s not easy, but it is achievable.

*A unpublished document which describes a typical day at OOHL states: “8:30-9:30 a.m. Smudge, prayers and talking circle in Spiritual Lodge. For those women who cannot attend due to moon time attend their normal morning work placement” (p.4 Okimaw Ohci Healing Lodge, no date). Today, women can attend morning ceremonies, but are taught not to sit on the buffalo hides during moon time/menstruation: sitting on the hides is seen as taking power from men, even in an all-female circle.

The special treatment of menstruating women was discussed in a recent (May 19, 2006 Hamilton Spectator article titled Menstruation can overwhelm Male Power). Jordan Power, Professor Emeritus of York University, found that North American Native rituals and beliefs showed “that men avoided menstruating women not because they were considered "unclean," but because they were seen to be in possession of a power that could overwhelm male power. He said, “If it overwhelms male power, that's not good for the family or for society… . You need the powers of both men and women so you don't want to weaken either."

Other Reports from this Conference:
Sheila Lewis's Report
Narda Razack's Report