April 2024: The burden of talking about Indigeneity, race and racism

Meeting Facilitators: Dr. Carl Ruest, Anastasia Zhuravleva, and Sadia Shad

In this online meeting of the LLED Antiracist Caucuses (IBPOC/Racialized caucus and White caucus), we will discuss ways of talking about Indigeneity, race, racial issues and racism without further burdening the IBPOCs in classroom settings and beyond. The overarching question is: How do we invite White people to talk about Indigeneity and racism so that the burden is not put on Indigenous and/or racialized people alone? 

Stimulus texts: 

Please read/view the following materials before our meeting on April 24th from 12:00-1:30 PM:

  1. YouTube Video: I’m Tired of Talking About Race | Jasmine Roberts | TEDxOhioStateUniversity (11-min watch)
  1.  Article: I’m tired of feeling like I have to speak for all Indigenous people – The Globe and Mail (5-mins read)

Optional stimulus texts: 

  1. OPINION: Fighting Racial Dialogue Fatigue (5-min read): https://southseattleemerald.com/2020/09/03/opinion-fighting-racial-dialogue-fatigue/
  2. Litia Fleming: The Burden of Representation (5-min read): https://www.bctf.ca/news-and-opportunities/news-details/2023/05/17/the-burden-of-representation 

Discussion questions: 

Before our meeting, please take a few moments to look over and reflect on the following discussion questions:

  • What are your general reactions to the stimulus texts? What issues regarding racial dialogue fatigue or burden did it raise for you?
  • How do we manage (sensitive/uncomfortable) situations where IBPOCs are put on the spot? How to cope with situations like that?
    • (a) If you feel comfortable sharing, share your experience if, as a racialized person, you’ve experienced or witnessed a situation where you/another racialized person were put on the spot to speak in the name of “all your people”. How did it make you feel? How did you cope with it?
    • (b) If you feel comfortable sharing, share your experience if, as a white person, you’ve experienced or witnessed a situation where you/another White person were put on the spot to speak in the name of “all your people”? How did it make you feel? How did you cope with it?
  • How can we avoid the trap of the racialized/marginalized people as the spokesperson of their group? 
  • What are some strategies you use/have used to initiate and/or conduct discussions about Indigeneity, race, racial issues and racism without putting this weight on racialized and Indigenous people alone in the following contexts:
    1. classroom
    2. workplace
    3. everyday life