We Have Some Reconciliatory Work to Do: Kitchen Table Conversations Between Black and Brown Scholars in Canadian Academe

Authors

  • Maryam Khan Wilfrid Laurier University
  • Ciann L. Wilson Wilfrid Laurier University

Keywords:

community psychology, social work, racialized communities, education institutions, resistance

Abstract

This critically reflexive, conversation-based paper traces the lived intersectional experiences of systemic racism of two racialized women educators (Black and Brown-South Asian settler) at a Canadian university located on the traditional territories of the Anishnawbe, Haudenosaunee, and Neutral peoples. We discuss experiences of navigating whiteness in relation to “model minority” status and the discourses of diversity that permeate academe. We reflect on how racism, and specifically anti-Black racism and whiteness, are embedded in research. Some key questions we wrestled with are: How are the conversations about model minority status really about white supremacy and proximity to whiteness? How are Brown bodies played against Indigeneity and Blackness to further disenfranchise the latter and serve capitalist interests? How have academic institutions co-opted Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) policies to benefit the status quo? The spirit of the paper encapsulates the two authors’ building solidarity by resisting racist hierarchies enshrined within academia.

Author Biographies

Maryam Khan, Wilfrid Laurier University

Maryam Khan, PhD is Assistant Professor, Lyle S. Hallman Faculty of Social Work, Wilfrid Laurier University, Kitchener, ON, Canada (mkhan@wlu.ca).

Ciann L. Wilson, Wilfrid Laurier University

Ciann L. Wilson, PhD is Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Wilfrid Laurier University, Kitchener, ON, Canada (ciwilson@wlu.ca).

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Published

2023-09-29

How to Cite

Khan, M., & Wilson, C. L. (2023). We Have Some Reconciliatory Work to Do: Kitchen Table Conversations Between Black and Brown Scholars in Canadian Academe. Reflections: Narratives of Professional Helping, 29(2), 84–97. Retrieved from https://reflectionsnarrativesofprofessionalhelping.org/index.php/Reflections/article/view/1954