Visualizing Decolonization: Leveling the Playing Field for All Cultures
While discussing the topic of decolonization, a classmate of mine in the Doctor of Education program suggested an article from Dr. Dustin Louie on separating the Western from the colonial (2024). It was a profound reading that addressed common generalizations when conceptualizing decolonization and a valuable reminder of not becoming the bully when working to empower the underdog. The main learning I gained from the reading was this: that decolonization is not about attacking Euro-Western knowledge and worldviews, but it is about removing their imposed ways onto other cultures, particularly the Indigenous cultures. Louie (2024) explains that a European cultural practice can be a valuable and legitimate way of life within a European context, but the same cultural practice can become colonial and harmful when it is forced upon other cultural contexts with tones of superiority and universality.
To understand this better, I visualized a puzzle piece that do not belong to the rest of the pieces in a box. I imagined that there is a box of puzzle pieces that represent European knowledge systems and ways of life, and another box of puzzle pieces for the Cree knowledge systems and ways of life. Each of the puzzle pieces are valid and belong in their respective contexts. But the problem of colonialism occurs when someone takes a European puzzle piece and forces it into the Cree box. The person forcing this foreign puzzle piece onto the Cree system insists and campaigns that the European puzzle piece is better and that the other pieces in the Cree box must work with it so it can belong in the Cree box. This person even insinuates that there must be something wrong with the puzzle pieces in the Cree box because they are not able to fit with the imported European piece. Over time, more and more European pieces are brought to the Cree box, and each time it creates a ripple effect that repeatedly devalues the Cree pieces and shames them. That is the act of colonialism as I understand it now, when knowledges and ways of life from one culture are forced upon others, when they have no business of doing that and being there.
Another key learning I gained from the Louie reading (2024) was that decolonization is the work of dismantling and removing the imposing and overbearing aspects of Euro-Western ways without erasing their ways in their valid contexts, in Canada. It is also about creating space for additional cultures to present their ways of living and recognizing the validity of such ways in their own contexts as well. It removes the hierarchy between cultures and the dominance of one culture over others. It reminds me of the notion of the multicultural mosaic, where each culture exists independently of others.
For this understanding, I visualized a race track where cultures are on a straight path (unlike the circular tracks), perhaps my subconscious making connections to the recent Paris Olympic Games. On this linear racetrack, colonialism has campaigned for centuries to rig the the game so that the Euro-Western athlete's starting point is much ahead of the others. Colonialism has also worked hard to disqualify other athletes from joining the race by unfairly judging them in comparison to the Euro-Western athlete's standards. One athlete would be disqualified because their hair was not as long as the Euro-Western athlete's hair. Another athlete would be disqualified because their food was different from that of the Euro-Western athlete's. Unfair comparisons that delegitimize non-European cultures. And with each race, colonialism champions the Euro-Western athlete and uses the collection of wins as proof that the racetrack and the organizers should continue to alter the game and impose rules on the race to give priority to the one successful athlete.
To decolonize the above athletic competition rigged by colonialism, we need to make several changes. We need to first pull back the unfair starting point of the Euro-Western athlete, so that all athletes start in equal footing. This also involves removing unfair rules of the race created to prioritize the Euro-Western athlete. No more rules that unfairly compares other athletes to the European one. We would also change the rules of the competition to remove the need for winners and losers. Without the repeated honoring of the Euro-Western athlete or any athlete at the end of each race, everyone exists in their own respective lanes to advance in their own valid ways without the need for comparison and judgement. And with these colonial guidelines removed, more athletes would be able to join the race. This means the organizers would need to expand the racetrack to add additional lanes, to allow for more diversity and inclusion of athletes from different cultures, all provided equal starting points as the European athlete. This is the vision of decolonization.
As a Social Studies teacher, I cannot resist but to make connections of this analogy to the teachings of the Two Row Wampum Belt: Gaswéñdah. You can read the full story of the Gaswéñdah here (link: https://www.onondaganation.org/culture/wampum/two-row-wampum-belt-guswenta/). The Gaswéñdah Wampum was created to record the agreement between the Haudenosaunee and the Dutch to stay in their own lanes of living without interfering with each other. The two purple row design on the belt signify the two paths of the two cultures' boats in the river. The two lines are parallel and do not cross to demonstrate mutual respect and autonomy between the two peoples. This is what decolonization would allow between all cultures.
Returning to the example of the racetrack, it is important to note that we do not punish the Euro-Western athlete for the centuries of colonialism's wrongdoings. We would simply reframe and restructure the system while maintaining the dignity of all athletes in the race. Again, it is important to not become the new colonizer when working to decolonize. With decolonizing the game and changing the rules of the system to be fair and equal between players, there would be no need to punish the Euro-Western athlete and restart the cycle of unfair treatments. The pulling back of the Euro-Western athlete's starting point would already be enough of a shock that inflicts feelings of punishment. We would need to resist the urge to marginalize the Euro-Western after having decentered it, because it would maintain the colonial structure of centering one and marginalizing others.
Reference
Louie, D. W. (2024). Barriers to Engaging with Reconciliation in Canadian Education: Confusing Colonial and Western Knowledge. Canadian Journal of Education Revue Canadienne De l’éducation, 47(2), 466–491. https://doi.org/10.53967/cje-rce.6325