Anti-Racism As A Path Toward Decolonization

Increasingly, educational institutions around the world are establishing policies and departments regarding anti-racism, diversity, equity, and inclusion. This trend is much needed and welcome, particularly when most professionals in educational settings on Turtle Island (also known as North America) are middle-class and White. This creates an educational system where students of non-White backgrounds can be marginalized and underrepresented, resulting in lower academic attainment and greater instances of discriminatory treatment in schools. Learning of knowledge is further alienated from students who have non-White ancestry and family traditions, as assimilation to White culture at school is seen as necessary to succeed. Instances of racially marginalized students learning to code-switch between identities, let alone language styles, are well-documented. Should the elimination of the need for code-switching be the ultimate goal of ideal learning environments?

Our public school systems are highly colonized. They are designed with Eurocentric philosophies in mind and with consumerist capitalism as the underlying essence. Therefore, the implementation of anti-racism in schools would aid in the mission to decolonize public education. The caveat is that the anti-racism efforts must center Indigenous worldviews rather than centering another settler worldview. Anti-racism could start the conversation regarding dismantling White colonial dominance in education systems, and it could be a very effective means to open the door to the crucial self-reflection needed by many educational professionals. But then we must take another step further and replace the dominant Eurocentric identities for the establishment of Indigenous attitudes as the foundation of our institutions. This way, all settler cultures and ideas are just that, novel thoughts that were brought over from other places, but have no permanence in this jurisdiction of Indigenous land. We must pivot our educational system and societal institutions to establish such a mindset, that even our language is a borrowed tool of communication that does not belong. We must teach and broaden Indigenous languages as the local and dominant mother tongue, and English can become a separate way to communicate with outsiders who are not integrated with the Indigenous land system. But every local community on the continent would have such a system, similar to how countries around the world may have an Indigenous language but still speak more "global" languages such as English, French, and Spanish. Interesting how these three examples all originate from Western Europe.

Our world is grossly colonized by Eurocentrism. Diversities in language, culture, and thought are in danger due to such dominance of Western European languages and cultural norms. The need for diversity for the thriving of anything is evident in ecology, where different genetics within a population allow for survival from diseases, natural disasters, and other threats. Diversities in flora also allow for key medicines considered essential in today's world for health. So how can we preserve and promote diversity while reducing the dominance of colonial forces? Decolonizing such dominant forces, considered to be "mainstream," is needed so that the unique and more varied forces may be allowed to breathe. Public policies and educational institutions must actively fund and promote Indigenous languages, cultures, and studies, while maintaining or even cutting back the mainstream programs. The thought of funds and funding programs is based on a capitalistic and colonial model itself. How do we escape from the over-encompassing nature of colonialism?