International Day for Elimination of Racial Discrimination

The 21st of March is the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

This date was chosen as it is the anniversary of the Sharpeville massacre in South Africa. Ban Ki-Moon, the Secretary-General of the United Nations states:

Each year we mark this Day on the anniversary of the 1960 Sharpeville massacre. We can never forget the 69 unarmed and peaceful demonstrators who were killed by South African police as they protested the country’s unjust apartheid laws. Apartheid has long since been dismantled and there have been other important advances in the struggle against racism. These include treaties and declarations, the development of an international framework to combat racism, and national protection systems by numerous States. Despite much progress, racism remains a pervasive menace to individuals and ethnic and religious groups worldwide. It is a threat to stability and a grave violation of human rights. We must join forces to end racism, and sport can help reach this goal. On this International Day, let us recommit to ending racial discrimination and realizing our vision of justice, equality and freedom from fear for all.

It is my personal experience that Australian's do not have a sophisticated understanding nor an ability to identify, talk about and/or critically reflect on their own racism - individual, institutional and systemic. "I'm not racist" is frequently heard in the media as a defence. I would argue that probably all of us are racist to some degree or another. It doesn't make it okay of course. But it does mean that when you attempt to defend yourself with "I'm not racist", you look, sound and probably are being absurd, and un-productive. It takes a long time to grapple with one's own racism - to be able to self-identify it, to challenge it. It's an ongoing journey of reflection and personal challenge.

Here are some links that may assist you on your journey to better understanding racism -

• All Together Now - is a not-for-profit foundation set up to directly challenge and combat racism in Australia
• It Stops With me - campaign to challenge racism from the Human Rights Commission
• Racism: No Way - education campaign to challenge racism from NSW Government, Department of Education and Training

It's good to also share individual experiences of racism, so I've "mined" the Deadly Bloggers list for some personal reflections on racism -

• "Nigger" does not belong in the school yard from Not Quite Cooked
• I wonder what Johnny's mum was up to today from Not Quite Cooked
• White Privilege is Totes a thing from Sarah's World of Procrastination
• Response to racism in Rugby League from Dr Chris Sarra
• Am I White enough for you? from Clouds on a distant horizon
• The Racism post: I'm calling you all out from Black thoughts live here

I'll end with this poem by the very very deadly Murri poet Steven Oliver....

In Australia, other commemorations are also held on the 21st of March. These include Harmony Day and Closing The Gap.

If you know of any other deadly posts on racism, let me know so I can add update the list above ...

Cheers, Leesa

Some Aboriginal People Are More Aboriginal Than Others

Last September (2011) I attended the annual Oodgeroo Noonuccal public lecture at QUT by scholar Professor Aileen Moreton-Robinson. Her lecture was titled Race Matters: Representations of Aboriginality in the Media. In it she explored the racialised history of private media in Australia, particularly it's coverage of Aboriginal Peoples and 'issues'. It was a very timely lecture given the judgement of the Pat Eatcock v Andrew Bolt case due at the time.

Last night fellow edu-tweet Luke Pearson sent out the a link to a shortened version of that paper given at the Festival of Dangerous Ideas in Sydney (October) for the panel session: Some Aboriginal People Are More Aboriginal Than Others. The description for this session:

White Australia has always had a view on what makes a 'real' Aboriginal person. Andrew Bolt is the merely the latest in a long line of commentators who have put forward their views about 'black' and 'white' Aboriginals. Spread across a continent after 200 years of colonisation, Aboriginal people are diverse in a way that is at odds with media stereotypes of 'traditional' Aboriginal people living in troubled remote communities. At a crucial time for recognition and reconciliation, does 'white' or 'black' matter? Who speaks for Aboriginal people and defines who they are? 

Also on the panel was Associate Professor Bronwyn Fredericks who powerfully explored the politics of naming and identity.

When watching the lectures, take time to consider your (Indigenous or non-Indigenous) understanding of identity within Australia. Consider the ways in which you and those around you use language to define others according to criteria you decide. What is the impact of that on other people and the way they're represented?

Image below from someone on Twitter late 2011 during the post-Bolt flurry. You need to watch the video to understand the relevance of the slide below.

Leesa Watego

Free Range Scholar

I'm making up an acronym -  Free-Range-Scholar (I think I've plagarised it from @blogdiva - but because we're free-range its okay). I've referred to myself in recent years as an academic refugee - its like a Life-Long Learner, but kinda not, because despite ourselves, we do look for the rigour of academia (even if we don't always achieve it).

But I think we FRS' love reading academic texts - newspapers really are not enough & some stuff on the web is dodgy (not all - but some. This is fine if you're a university student or staff member, then you will have access to that stuff through your library's databases.

However, if you're NOT then its really hard to access some journals. They cost $$.

So, under the blog category of free-range-scholar, I'm linking good quality writings from the web (readings, journal articles & ejournals) about all kinds of topics.

The first is the International Journal of Critical Indigenous Studies. They're based at the Indigenous Studies Research Network based at QUT, Brisbane, Australia.

If you know of any good journals on the web, drop me a line.
Thanks, Leesa

7 Reasons I like critical theory

As a free-range scholar & educator, I tend to go off course a bit occasionally (well - maybe more than occasionally). I've recently re-discovered Critical Theory when preparing a guest lecture for Bianca Beetson's Indigenous Art, Protocols and Practice unit at Queensalnd College of Art - Griffith University.

7 Reasons to Like Critical Theory
1) It challenges accepted truths & norms, it asks you to dig beneath the surface.
2) It criqitues privilege & power, especially hidden power (like that which is racialised & gendered)
3) At its core is the concept of liberation & democratisation.
4) It assumes that there are no single truths and no absolutes.
5) Critical theory asks/demands that you become aware of yourself as knower/viewer.
6) Encourages you to get into action - don't just sit & watch the world - seek change & transformation - it gives you a framework to "be in the world.
7) It can form a framework for your practice regardless of what your field is - art, education, research, mathematics, science.

Wanna know more - check out these writers (in alphabetical order NOT importance)*
Sara Ahmed
Richard Cary
Marylin Frankenstein
Paola Freire
Henry Giroux
Ghassan Hage
bell hooks
Martin Nakata
Karen Martin
Aileen Moreton-Robinson
proppaNOW
Edward Said
bell hooks
* These are the author's I've read - have you got anymore you could share? We'd love to here from you & aslo from examples of educators using critical theory in the classroom.

(Originally posted on criticalclassroom on TypePad on 09/03/2010