{"panels":[{"content":{"params":{"text":"

A story about a Black student's experience with institutional racism and how they fought against it. <\/p>\n"},"library":"H5P.AdvancedText 1.1","metadata":{"contentType":"Text","license":"U","title":"Untitled Text"},"subContentId":"84508d79-bccb-4c6c-9f96-40be4125ac00"},"title":"\u201cNo, You Can\u2019t Say the N-Word\u201d by Anonymous"},{"content":{"params":{"text":"

One of the greatest barriers that I faced in post-secondary was racism, more specifically, the institutional whiteness of my university. This was a barrier to my academic success because I spent much of my time and energy trying to overcome the challenges I faced because of institutional racism. If this had not been my reality, I could have solely focused on academic pursuits like many of the other students that attended my school. During university, most of my white classmates suffered from a lack of repeated exposure to Black people and people of colour, which meant that they often projected their preconceived notions onto classmates that did not look like them. Black students and international students also faced open and overt racism, especially in social and professional settings. The response to reports of racism, from people in positions of authority and in administrative roles, was characteristically lackluster or incompetent.<\/p>\n"},"library":"H5P.AdvancedText 1.1","metadata":{"contentType":"Text","license":"U","title":"Untitled Text"},"subContentId":"ca295e04-e0f4-47da-bb8f-61d21fbb3107"},"title":"The Wicked Problem"},{"content":{"params":{"text":"

My response to this wicked problem was multilayered. In my first year, I submitted an essay to an alumni-sponsored essay competition about how racism had become one of the shaping elements of my university experience. The following year, I co-founded an advocacy group that confronted the Students\u2019 Union about its lack of representation for students from diverse backgrounds. In my final years of university, I joined the Students\u2019 Union at the Executive-level to highlight equity issues at the highest levels of student and university decision-making. I also received a grant to examine the impact of racism in post-secondary. This project allowed me to connect with students from my university and facilitate open and honest discussions about what their experiences were like. Students that participated also provided recommendations for moving forward that were later presented to university administration.<\/p>\n"},"library":"H5P.AdvancedText 1.1","metadata":{"contentType":"Text","license":"U","title":"Untitled Text"},"subContentId":"23c81a9b-e7a9-4a7b-bf9a-7bee242c1fea"},"title":"Finding a Solution"},{"content":{"params":{"text":"

Racism exists everywhere; through schools, police, media, and textbooks. In schools, we challenge; police, we abolish; in media, we contradict, and in textbooks, we colour.<\/p>\n"},"library":"H5P.AdvancedText 1.1","metadata":{"contentType":"Text","license":"U","title":"Untitled Text"},"subContentId":"23867478-8833-4c06-af90-a7018f32529f"},"title":"Final Thoughts"},{"content":{"params":{"text":"

\u201cNo, You Can\u2019t Say the N-Word.\u201d<\/em> (2021, October 26). Liberated Learners. <\/span>https:\/\/wicked.liberatedlearner.ca\/navigator\/no-you-cant-say-the-n-word\/<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n"},"library":"H5P.AdvancedText 1.1","metadata":{"contentType":"Text","license":"U","title":"Untitled Text"},"subContentId":"03f493e8-b36d-439b-9c9a-5a05e18c3e14"},"title":"APA Reference"}],"hTag":"h2"}

“No, You Can’t Say the N-Word”

Liam Peart