Thursday, March 21 is the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
Pauline Streete, executive director of the TRU Office of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Anti-Racism, shares her thoughts about this day and its significance:
The intentional aspect of this day speaks to the fact that racial discrimination is a reality — everywhere. People are racialized depending on whether they belong to the racial majority of that geographic region or not. For instance, Black people are racialized in Canada and may experience overt or covert forms of discrimination because the majority of people in the country are white.
We need to call for the elimination of all racial discrimination. Necessary elements of this call action include but not limited to:
- acknowledging it is everyone’s responsibility,
- creating shared meaning of what racial discrimination is and how it is manifest within systems and structures,
- ensuring accountability mechanisms in place are functional and effective.
Enacting the three elements consistently can have tremendous impact on this day and beyond. Public awareness and commitment at a local level has the potential to transcend borders, oceans, and seas to become global action.
If you are committed to taking action to advance the elimination of racial discrimination at a local level, please attend the Unearned Assets Conference on Wednesday, May 29 and Thursday, May 30. At this event, anti-racism is a defined pillar of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at Thompson Rivers University.
