By Jasmin Chahal (Contributor) – Email
Print Edition: February 18, 2015
“Silence about race is a deterrent to people coming forward [with their stories],” says Satwinder Bains, director of UFV’s Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies.
In an effort to challenge this silence surrounding race, UFV’s Race Anti-Racism Network (RAN) is launching an on-campus project that will draw on student, faculty and staff stories to paint a picture of what racism on campus really looks like.
RAN, whose primary mandate is to raise awareness about racism and race-related issues at UFV, has been hosting on-campus events and dialogues since 2006. Their latest project comes as an attempt to engage the UFV community in issues of discrimination and racism. After reading break, postcards will be dispersed across campus upon which students, faculty and staff will be able to leave an anonymous message about their own stories or thoughts on racism. The postcards will be made available at key campus locations, including the library and cafeteria, and can be dropped off at the Abbotsford Library, Chilliwack Library and Mission Oreg area. You can also submit an opinion or story outline at: www.ufv.ca/ran.
Once collected, the RAN team will analyze the stories brought forth and develop a report based on the recurring themes. Intending to search for themes of safety, discomfort, and human rights violations, the team will use the data as a launching point for further research into solutions for the issues at hand.
The postcards themselves will be set up for display on March 19 as part of a visual presentation at the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
While racist vandalism at UFV may come as a shock to a university community that generally takes pride in its diversity, the silence surrounding such issues has been a difficult obstacle to overcome, and incidents have occurred at UFV, according to Bains.
“There have been racial slurs written on U-House [in the past],” she said.
Prior to the launch of this project, racism or discrimination-related issues on campus have been tackled through private inquiries. Bains, an organizer for RAN since its inception, recognized the difficulty in finding a “voice” for experiences of discrimination without open community dialogue.
She also recognized the importance of this project for victims of discrimination who may feel unsafe or uncomfortable voicing their stories publicly. The anonymity of the project will ideally open the doors for dialogue that would otherwise be difficult.
Stressing the importance of each and every story, Bains encourages the UFV community to “deeply reflect on issues of race on campus.” Each story adds a critical piece to the puzzle of community unification.
For more information relating to the project or Race Anti-Racism Network, contact Satwinder Bains at satwinder.bains@ufv.ca or Sharan Sandhra at sharanjit.sandhra@ufv.ca or call 604-851-6325.
