About STARS

University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
The Student Teachers Anti-Racism Society (STARS) promotes anti-racism education at the College of Education, University of Saskatchewan through the support of the College. We work collaboratively to understand, identify, and address individual and systemic racism and its interlocking forms of oppression based on gender, sexuality, ability, class, religion and other socially constructed categories. We believe that anti-racist and decolonizing education, when woven together, can create humanizing and emancipatory change for everyone.

Monday, August 16, 2010

"Saying Nothing is Saying Something": The Act of Speaking Out

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men [and women] to do nothing." -Edmund Burke
 
This quote rings true for the countless injustices that take place on our planet everyday. Although we may not agree with racism, sexism, violence, wars, genocide, corporate crime, etc. etc. our power to stop these things is lost when we do not exercise our right to speak out against them.

Racism has been granted institutional and systemic power through history because not enough people speak/spoke out against it.

Speaking out is all to often regarded as too 'political' and too 'extreme.' However, we forget that remaining neutral, or remaining silent is an extremely political act as well. The oppressor uses this silence to his or her advantage. By saying nothing we encourage the status quo.

Jason Carney does a beautiful job expressing how the act of silence has worked to shape his life. Check out "My Southern Heritage":




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