Today you are asked to read through the following material and write some reflection points in preparation for a discussion on Thursday.

Required Material

Criminalization of Black Bodies

Maynard, Robyn (2017). Chapter Three: Arrested (In)justice. Policing Black Lives. Pg. 83-113

In this chapter of the book, Maynard focuses her attention on the criminalization of Black bodies in Canada. Looking at how anti-Black racism is embedded within the policing system at every step of the way. She begins the chapter with an evaluation of how crime is understood in Canada and who is conceptualized ad doing crime in Canada. In her assessment, she brings to light the historical context of confinement for Black bodies and how this foreshadowed the contemporary confinement of Black bodies. Racial surveillance is not a new tactic employed by the state, it has long existed and been used to target Black people to punish them. The association between Blackness and criminality has been traced back to the 17th century where Black runaway slaves were portrayed as criminals and thieves. She continues her discussion with the current policies and practices that target Black Canadians. Through this historical and contemporary understanding of Blackness and crime, Maynard posits that crime is not a neutral category. Crime and criminals have always inherently been raced and conceptualized as Black.

Sealy-Harrington, J., & Hamilton, J. (2018). Colour as a Discrete Ground of Discrimination. Canadian Journal of Human Rights, 2-33. Available at: https://cjhr.ca/colour-as-a-discrete-ground-of-discrimination/

Colourism is often discussed in terms of how certain Black bodies are valued based on their proximity to whiteness and what this means for beauty standards. The authors emphasize colourism as a distinct form of discrimination in which certain Black bodies are heavily punished and discriminated against systematically. Colourism exists within a hierarchy in which some bodies are privileged, and others are disadvantaged based on the tone of their skin. They state that the Canadian legal system is not comprehensive to address such forms of discrimination and call for legislation to catch up to the realities of many Black Canadians who are discriminated against for the colour of their skin.

Intersection of Racism and Sexism

Maynard, Robyn (2017). Chapter Five: Misogynoir in Canada. Policing Black Lives. Pg. 128-157.

In this chapter of the book, Maynard foregrounds her analysis of the state of surveillance and state violence concerning Black women. She defines misogynoir and why an analysis through this lens is imperative in dismantling white supremacy for Black Canadians. She explores the ideas of controlling images and enters an analysis of the depiction of Black women as welfare queens in Canada. She gives an account of how Black women have systematically been targeted through surveillance and policy that has criminalized poverty and access to social assistance. She ends the chapter by looking at how black women considering how they are under surveillance and the presence of the state in their personal lives, continue to be at heightened risk of violence and exploitation.

Arrested: Injustice and Misogynoir in Canada: Podcast with Dr Rai Reece, Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology, Toronto Metropolitan University [54 minute podcast link]

• You are asked to listen to this podcast, which will help inform our Day 2 discussion.
• Featuring Dr. Rai Reece in conversation with Olamide Akintomide, EBAAR Curriculum Consultant.  Dr. Rai Reece, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, Toronto Metropolitan University. Rai obtained her PhD in Women’s Studies from York University. Dr. Reece is an interdisciplinary scholar-abolitionist, whose work looks at carceral logics, systems of punishment and incarceration and how they are organized by capitalism, as well as white supremacy. Rejecting a tendency to focus on racial injustice in the United States, Rai’s work considers anti-Black racism, incarceration, and mass incarceration in the Canadian context and how it is maintained. She is particularly interested in the experiences of Black women who have been federally or provincially incarcerated and how the concept of misogynoir plays out in carceral spaces, as targeted and weaponized against Black women. Dr. Reece’s expertise includes Canadian Black feminism, critical race theory, anti-Black racism, critical feminist criminology, community-based ethnography, prison health, and equity as social praxis. Dr. Reece was recently honoured as one of the 100 Accomplished Black Canadian Women in 2020.

  This timely and critical episode explores systemic anti-Black racism in Canada’s carceral systems. The ever-present state violence enacted against Black bodies through laws, policies and police brutality tells the story of anti-Blackness in Canada. A story that fractures and deconstructs Canada’s celebrated identity as a multicultural nation, free from the racial violence and discrimination. As public awareness of the anti-Blackness embedded within Canada’s carceral system has grown, so too have calls for abolition. Calls that have been amplified by global protests, mass mobilizations, and social media campaigns that have forced a global racial reckoning of 2020 in the wake of George Floyd’s murder by Minneapolis police. Pointing to the deaths of Black Canadians when coming in contact with police, including Andrew Loku and Regis Korchinski-Paquet, scholars/activists are demanding accountability and structural change. From surveillance to misogynoir this episode considers how the carceral system is a tool of white supremacy. In so doing, the episode highlights the institutional anti-Black racism within Canada and how the carceral system functions as a major barrier to equity and liberation for Black Canadians. The provocative conversation also considers the future and righting the wrongs of the carceral systems.

Adultification Bias

Lockhart, P.R. (2019, May 16). A new report shows how racism and bias deny black girls their childhoods. Retrieved from Vox: https://www.vox.com/identities/2019/5/16/18624683/black-girls-racism-bias-adultification-discipline-georgetown

Short news article piece that articulates what the adultification bias is, how Black children are viewed thew the lens of white supremacy and the consequences of such a bias.

Core Concepts

Adultification Bias

Misogynoir

Colourism

Learning Activity

Optional Resources

• Moya Bailey, “Misogynoir Transformed: Black Women’s Digital Resistance” Podcast 
  • Dr Moya Bailey discusses her new book Misogynoir Transformed: Black Women’s Digital Resistance with host Dr Lee Pierce. Throughout the conversation, the two discuss how Bailey coined the term misogynoir, what encounters led her to name such an experience and the impact it has had on black feminist thought. They discuss how misogynoir presents in social and structural spaces and the way black women must constantly resist it. Bailey highlights the importance of gender non-conforming identities and their contribution to transforming the resistance against misogynoir. She focuses on digital spaces and the role that they have had in the resistance that has been taken by black women and gender non-conforming people to transform narratives.
• Tsekoura, P. (March 2, 2020). Peel Police racially discriminated against six-year-old girl. CTV News Toronto. Available at: https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/tribunal-says-peel-police-racially-discriminated-against-six-year-old-girl-1.4836082 
  • This article details the treatment of a 6-year-old black girl and how she was placed on the floor and handcuffed by police at school. School officials stated that the child’s behaviour had become violent and called the police to deescalate the situation. Police state that the child was handcuffed to prevent her from hurting herself and others. However,  police initially denied the child was ever handcuffed. The Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario ruled that racial discrimination was present when officers made their decision to handcuff the child. The article serves as an example of the adultification bias in Canada. From school officials calling the police to the actions of the police, the bias was present in the way all the adults treated the child and the actions taken against her.
• Bain, B. (June 21, 2019). Queer and trans say no to police presence at Pride parade. The Conversation. Available at: https://theconversation.com/queers-and-trans-say-no-to-police-presence-at-pride-parade-108643
• Video: End adultification Bias (Georgetown Law)
  • This video explains what the adultification bias is and how it presents in the lives of young black girls from sexualization to punishment. It gives examples of how black girls are treated compared to their white counterparts and what this means for their childhood.
• Video: A Girl Like Me (Kiri Davis, 2015)
  • This video foregrounds itself on the iconic doll test done by Dr Kenneth Clark to show how black children understood their blackness. The video explored the idea of colourism concerning beauty standards for young girls and how they understand themselves as black girls. The societal narratives and how black female bodies are defined, discussed, and perceived and how black girls navigate their identities when they are constantly told they are not enough
• Video: The Skin We’re In: Pulling back the curtain on Racism in Canada (CBC)
  • Canada often hides its atrocities on black bodies away with the guise of multiculturalism intending to differentiate itself from the US. In reality, the state violence against black bodies is just as horrific. In this documentary by Desmond Cole, there is an exploration of the state violence and anti-Black against black bodies in Canada to bring light to the current situation in Canada. Cole travels across Canada to hear the stories and experiences of Black identities and the racism that they face at the hand of the police. He discusses topics including carding, surveillance, carceral punishment.