Land Acknowledgment
I would like to begin by acknowledging that the land on which I write this from is located within the traditional and treaty lands of the Mississaugas [Miss-iss-sah-gas] of the Credit First Nation, known as Mississauga, “River of the North of Many Mouths” in Ojibwa [ow-jib-wei]. The region neighbours the city of Toronto and sits along Lake Ontario, which has historically provided a necessary connection for the Anishinaabe [a-ni-shi-naa-be] and Haudenosaunee [hau-deno-sau-nee] peoples between the Port Credit and Mississauga Regions. The Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee people provide an important source of interconnection across the city.
The biggest thing I’ve learned so far in this program is how lucky I’ve gotten to be in the neighbourhood I grew up in. I’m sure there have been moments in my life where the colour of my skin has played into certain phrases and looks I’ve received. But those moments never made me feel upset or out of place. The reason why I say that these moments weren’t significant to me at the time is because those moments went way over my head. Don’t be fooled by my headshot below; little me had A LOT of learning to do.
(https://www.acepnow.com/article/simple-strategies-for-combating-microaggressions-in-the-workplace)
I started this year off in my second semester at Humber College as an Arts Administration Student. I believe some of those moments I mentioned earlier are forms of microaggression. You’d think that having two different classes on cultural policy, equity, and pluralism would have made me re-evaluate all those little scenarios that have happened in the past. But the topics we have discussed in the Digital Internship Program seemed to make the biggest impact on me. That’s not to say that my classes didn’t make me question the way I saw the world, because they did. But as someone who didn’t give it much thought seven months ago, hearing the different perspectives from people across Canada and the States made me realize how lucky I’ve been to not deal with anything worse than a microaggression. Although, microaggressions can do a lot of damage.
Which brings me to my next point: what are microaggressions? What is something to consider when you take your next trip abroad? Merriam Webster defines a microaggression as “a comment or action that subtly and often unconsciously or unintentionally expresses a prejudiced attitude toward a member of a marginalized group (such as a racial minority)” (Webster). Furthermore, as mentioned by the Centre for Race and Culture, microaggressions can be verbal, behavioural, or environmental. An example of a microaggression that I have seen countless times, is a person clutching their bag or wallet when a person of colour walks by. Clutching your bag is an assumption that a person of a different race is a criminal. The Centre for Race and Culture has a great chart with examples of different types of microaggressions and what they insinuate. To read more on the different questions and comments that could be hurtful, click here.
(https://media.giphy.com/media/3oKIPhiCkJyK5X1opa/giphy.gif)
The theatre world still deals with racial inequities and microaggressions. People of colour can be seen as unfit for a role by a casting agent because of the colour of their skin. Having programs like the Arts Administration program at Humber College and the Digital Internship Program at Davis Shakespeare Festival that place the importance on informing students and interns of inequities in the arts is incredible! We’re one step closer to being far more culturally aware, diverse and equitable.
Sources
https://sph.umn.edu/site/docs/hewg/microaggressions.pdf
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/microaggression
Shajiba Sooriyakumar
She, Her, Hers
DSF Digital Internship Participant
Humber College, Arts Administration and Cultural Management, 2021