recent debate around whether a University of Ottawa professor\u2019s use of the n-word<\/a> was justified.<\/p>\n\u201cYou don\u2019t have to debate this and it\u2019s harmful to us when you do. It\u2019s just reinforcing all of the attitudes that say our lives and our value as Black people is up for debate,\u201d Cole said.<\/p>\n
The event was an opportunity for attendees to reflect on the systemic racism on their own campus.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat sparked my interest was the fact someone was able to articulate and document what I already knew existed and didn\u2019t stop at a certain point. He went all the way with his critique,\u201d said Rebecca Sattaur, one of the organizers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe campus where you go to school dictates a big part of your life,\u201d another organizer, Sena Aydoner said. \u201cIt\u2019s really important to make sure students feel that they are being heard.\u201d<\/p>\n
This event came after a summer filled with action to push towards racial equity and justice.<\/p>\n
Sattaur said the School of Policy and Public Affairs provided funds for this event and listened to the BSPA\u2019S calls for more diverse workshops. This is a big step forward, according to Sattaur.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope that students who face these struggles and experience these things can see these events and know we are trying to recognize this the best we can,\u201d organizer Megan Pannozzo said. \u201cThis is a very important conversation to have, especially in a space where we can amplify Black voices and Indigenous voices as much as we can.\u201d<\/p>\n
Though the event organizer and the BSPA agree the hosting of this event was a step forward for racial equity at Carleton University, Cole does not think the work can stop here.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re living in a time of real performativity where folks like me can be invited to do talks like this,\u201d Cole said. He said universities will point to this to show that they are listening to BIPOC students, but he wants to see changes on campus.<\/p>\n
Sattaur also hopes to see change at her school.<\/p>\n
\u201cI definitely hope they continue to hire more black professors, not only that but professors who have progressive stances,\u201d Sattaur said. \u201cSome ideas can still be harmful.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI would also like more general people of colour,\u201d organizer Maisie Wong said. \u201cOther people might not understand the struggle or the privilege they have sometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Toronto based Black activist Desmond Cole made a virtual appearance at the \u2018In Conversation\u2019 speaker series hosted by Carleton students on Tuesday. The event was hosted by the Arthur Kroeger College Educational Students\u2019 Society and the School of Policy and Public Affairs. Cole spoke about anti-Black racism in Canada but, more specifically, on Canada\u2019s post-secondary…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":34193,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[57,221,3265],"tags":[2771,5260,3328,1931,3226,4248,5261,5262],"radio":[1290],"origine":[267,269,1571],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34186"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/74"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34186"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34186\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34186"},{"taxonomy":"radio","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/radio?post=34186"},{"taxonomy":"origine","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/origine?post=34186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}