I was recently a panellist on a webinar being held on the topic of how anti-Black racism shows up in organisations and chose to place my attention on the impact in schools and the workplace. I chose to do this to highlight the continuation of anti-Blackness throughout a persons’ career journey from education through to employment.
My presentation was on looking at examples of how anti-Black racism shows up as over-surveillance / stereotype response; underestimation, and; punishment as three themes (of many) and in highlighting these examples, I sought to make more obvious the impact being a lack of (equitable or even equal) advancement for Black people.
Here is the first place to look…
Over-surveillance in the workplace:
A 2019 Catalyst report on the topic of the day-to-day experiences of emotional tax* among women and men of colour in the workplace, data showed that:
77% of people of colour shared harrowing experiences of exclusion and being on guard in the workplace
50–70% of Black, East Asian, and South Asian professionals highly on guard had a high intent to quit
22–42% of Black, East Asian, and South Asian professionals highly on guard reported difficulties with sleep and other health problems
*Definition of Emotional Tax. Empowering Workplaces Combat Emotional Tax for People of Colour, Catalyst 2019.
Looking at the distinct ‘gendered’ experiences of Black employees, it showed that assertiveness in white men would be regarded as aggressive when done by Black men. This is not new, and it follows the same acts of surveillance that Black boys experience in schools. It showed that women of colour were more likely than men of colour to be on guard because they expect both gender and racial bias.
It’s worth reiterating the added health tax that is levied on Black people in these workplaces. Where Black employees reported being highly on guard in the workplace, it also resulted in 56% also reporting a lack of sleep as being an acute symptom.
In the context of schools:
Black students make up 12% of the TDSB population but almost half of all expulsions — 48%
‘Character classes’ & teaching of ‘fundamental values’ by those on ‘front line’ of ideology
Emphasis on surveillance and control of BIPOC/BAME students over their education
Though the first statistic might arrest the most attention, it’s actually in looking at the impact of the second and third where we can get an idea of how deep-rooted anti-Black racism is ‘in plain sight’.
Character classes and ‘fundamental values’ invite teachers into the position of being at the frontline of ideology. Within each classroom and in every interaction on the school campus, there is the opportunity for teachers to act as though there is a threat against whatever notion of societal values they arrive with, one that those who pre-judged to be deficient in these are already targeted.
What is considered to be good for ‘character building’; what is the difference between a ‘Canadian’ or ‘British’ value and any that Black students heritage also provides? and what priority does it have over them anyway?
It’s crucial in this instance to really frame the power differentials that exist between students and teachers in this setting. The exploration and construction of values and character would be great leveller, especially in an learning environment when explored from a place of equal curiosity, giving and taking, it’s obvious that in schools there is a power dynamic in which the teacher has more positional power than the student. Therefore, as much as the policy of character and value might be determined at the leadership level, it’s just as important — though rarely discussed — to look at the policing role given to individual teachers to surveil for those who don’t fit the mould of white, Judeo-Christian appearance, attitudes or behaviours:
Who needs to know that they speak too loudly and needs to wait their turn?
Who needs extra eyes on them because they wear their religion visibly and audibly?
Who needs to be reminded that being in an alike group is threatening and needs to be broken up?
I’m going to reverse the lens on this question to ask who is at the highest risk of being excluded from the ‘norm’ — in a bid to simultaneously reduce anxiety threat to ‘whiteness’ [read as ‘national values’] and maintain attention on it as the dominant narrative?
If teachers are ‘unaware’ of these actions amounting to surveillance, Black students will certainly know it to be as such, not least because of the intergenerational experiences and conversations that happen inside Black homes. It’s an inevitability that parents/guardians would expose their child to on-guard behaviours or symptoms associated with emotional tax. Moreover, though I’ve not seen any reports on the matter, I’m sure if Black students were asked how on edge they were in school (their place of work), it would likely translate over to the reports their adult counterparts given when in employment.