Conference Information

Thinking through race, coloniality and Indigeneity, critical conversations regarding the ongoing violence around us are necessary. Recently, we have witnessed the capitalization and commodification of Anti-Racism Education, and Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. These have become veneers of racial justice and progressive action, mere distractions to evade racial accountability. We recognize the ongoing crimes of settlers against Indigenous, Black and racialized humanity.[1] How do we engage in critical anti-colonial theorizing as social agents and creative resistors inhabiting our multiple ways of Being and being seen? The prevailing problem of coloniality lies in the valuing
and devaluing of different lives. Expectations of
Whiteness— conformity, policing, surveillance,
and punishment—continue to exact a heavy toll
on the non-White majority. Conflating the jargon
of diversity with racial justice ensures that the
racial injustice remains intact. Clearly, the project
of dismantling White supremacy calls on us to
build new futures, not just to live in the present.

In spite of the proliferation of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI), the blatant disregard for lives that are not White has become more evident. We cannot be oblivious to how Black, Brown and Indigenous tragedy has been normalized in the global imagination, including global media. International demonstrations of solidarity to White suffering have not been extended to Black, Indigenous and racialized communities’ tragedy. Black and Indigenous deaths are normalized, we have become desensitized to it. Furthermore, we are now seeing the unleashing of calculated endeavors to distract from this violence, often through misguided cries against ‘wokenism.’ As Collinson notes, “misinformation, conspiracy theories, lies, culture wars, and barely concealed racism dominate” public discourse and Conservative politics[2].  Rather than addressing power and privilege, these are now seen as avenues for political power with histrionics and viral media moments becoming “vicious political play for base voters”[3].  

                                                        There is a muzzling of anti-racist discourse: a desire to
                                                        maintain a ‘colour-blind’ world and the race-coloniality
                                                        tandem. In North America, particularly — though not
                                                        exclusively—in the U.S., the twin problems of settler
                                                        colonial retrenchment and Conservative backlash through
                                                        legislation serve as a vicious retaliation to critical race
                                                        theory, the teaching of Black History, and calls for a
                                                        ‘Parents’ Bill of Rights.’ White fear, anger, grievances,
                                                        bigotry, and victimhood are visualized in ways that perceive these bodies as bearing the brunt of racism. We must call out this White supremacist logic and examine how it engenders settler consciousness. We must amplify our voices to make it clear: the onus is on them to identify and resolve their inaction, which is deeply rooted in incessant denial.

Our intellectual praxis must operate on the offensive, not only to meet people where they are, but to change the tenor of conversations and direction of our political actions. When we stay silent in the face of White supremacy, vitriol hate wins and we are all demeaned by this. When we target Black, Indigenous and racialized groups through racial tropes, we end up hating and diminishing ourselves. The teaching of race, [trans]gender, sexuality, disability, slavery,
and history is not indoctrination, but rather
good, solid critical teaching that every
learner deserves. If nothing else, the 

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In doing so, we can recognize how Reconciliation, for instance, is no substitute for restitutions for colonial harm and past wrongs. Reconciliation cannot be attained with “empty promises and mandates that ultimately serve to maintain colonial power and colonial futurity”[4]. We must reveal how reconciliatory rhetoric cloaks reconfigurations of settler violence and works to “cover the tracks” of ongoing coloniality [5] .

[1] Grande, S. (2016). Refusing the University. In E. Tuck & K.W. Yang (Eds.), Toward What Justice? (47–65). Routledge.

[2] Collinson, S. (6 April 2022). Obama and Romney are back, and show how American politics have changed for the worse. CNN.

[3] Collinson, S (2022), as above.

[4] Dhaliwal, K. (2022). Continued Settler Violence & Educational Sites: (Re)conciliation? Lessons for Decolonial Futurity. Unpublished paper. OISE, UT. Course 3914H

[5] Dhaliwal, K.(2022). Continued Settler Violence & Educational Sites: (Re) conciliation? Lessons for Decolonial Futurity. Unpublished paper. OISE, UT. Course 3914H

Daigle, M. (2019). The spectacle of reconciliation: On (the) unsettling responsibilities to Indigenous Peoples in the Academy. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 37(4), 703–721.

Gaudry, A., and Lorenz, D. E. (2018). Decolonization for the Masses? Grappling With Indigenous Content Requirements in the Changing Canadian Post-Secondary Environment. In. L. T. Smith, E. Tuck, and K. W. Yang (Eds.). Indigenous and Decolonizing Studies in Education: Mapping the Long View (pp. 159-174). New York: Routledge.

Veracini, L. (2011). Introducing, Settler Colonial Studies. Settler Colonial Studies, 1(1), 1-12.