Challenging Antiblack Racisms and Sociology for Black Liberation

Black affirming pedagogy: Reflections on the premises, challenges and possibilities of mainstreaming antiracist black pedagogy in Canadian sociology

“…Higher educational institutions also promote colonialism, neoliberalism and western traditions of knowledge which are tied to White Supremacy, capitalism and patriarchy (Coburn & Crichlow, 2020; Giroux, 2010; Patel, 2021). They reproduce fear of radical Blackness to the extent that Black intellectuality and critical/oppositional perspectives are alienated and devalued (Dei, 2020).…”

“…The contributors noted that anti-Black racism in Canada's education system is reflected in: (a) the exclusion of Black content from curricula (see also UN 2016); (b) the underrepresentation of Black Canadians in higher education institutions and leadership; (c) discrimination in the academy/workplace; and (d) the lack of meaningful engagement with Blackness (Dua, 2009;Henry, 2017;James, 2020;Newton, 2017;Walcott, 2020). Coburn and Crichlow (2020) lament that in academia, Black people are dehumanized as merely "problems" or data to be studied. Black faculty and students are especially viewed as unwanted in the academy (Corburn & Crichlow, 2020;Henry, 2017;Newton, 2017).…”

“…Antiblackness is also reflected in the portrayal of Black people in the media, policy and public sphere (James, 2012;Walcott, 2020). Black Canadian males are stereotyped as criminals, violent, drug traffickers and social misfits, while Black females are marked as angry, "welfare queens" and sexually permissive (Coburn & Crichlow, 2020;James, 2012;Mullings et al, 2016;Walcott, 2020). Negative and dehumanizing stereotypes are also applied to Black people more than any other racialized group (Zamalin, 2019).…”

“…Canadian higher education institutions are predominantly white colonial spaces where antiblackness is reproduced and fostered (Dei, 2020(Dei, /2018Dua, 2009;Henry & Tator, 2009). A special 2020 thematic issue in this journal titled Sociology of Black Liberation highlighted that the system has been complicit with systemic, institutionalized and cultural antiblackness (see Coburn & Crichlow, 2020;James, 2020;Lawson, 2020;Okeke-Ihejirika, 2020;Walcott, 2020). The contributors noted that anti-Black racism in Canada's education system is reflected in: (a) the exclusion of Black content from curricula (see also UN 2016); (b) the underrepresentation of Black Canadians in higher education institutions and leadership; (c) discrimination in the academy/workplace; and (d) the lack of meaningful engagement with Blackness (Dua, 2009;Henry, 2017;James, 2020;Newton, 2017;Walcott, 2020).…”