Being smart or educated is no cure for structural/systemic racism or sexism

by Clover Hemans, MD

I have always been a tall Black woman. I am the Co-Chair of the OMA Women Committee and President of the Federation of Medical Women of Canada. I have never felt by virtue of my colour that I did not belong in the place of higher education or as a professional health care provider.  

I am a physician and have been a nurse. For both of those professions I earned a degree. In both professions, my classes had less than three of “us.” I noted it, was disappointed, but not surprised. That was the reality of my campus experience. Thirty years later, I completed a Masters of Science degree in Quality Improvement & Patient Safety. There was still only ONE Black student in my class. Change is ponderously slow.  

Over the years, I’ve been a recipient of sexism as well as rare, blatant, in-your-face racism. “Get that N-word out of my room – I don’t want her Black hands touching me.” Their loss. 

I am assumed to be a nurse in my hospital unless they know me. That said, I have also been asked to wash beds and so on, the odd time they assumed I was part of the cleaning staff. I laughed it off. 

My stated comments have been ignored at meetings until a male colleague repeated them at my request, got thanked for it, and then gave credit back to me. I am frequently asked to work for free. 

 I am often asked where I’m from. When I say ”Jamaica,” I’m told: “You don’t look Jamaican.” I usually raise my brow to inquire: “What does a Jamaican look like – since I’ve not yet figured that out?” 

I’ve been disrespected, had roadblocks deliberately put in place, and have been passed over for leadership positions when I was most qualified. Herein lies an interesting question: Which biases were levelled in these instances? The jerks versus systemic racism/sexism dichotomy. Is it even important? 

I was raised to expect adversity, acknowledging that my ethnicity could make it more difficult – and – that intellect, diligence, and hard work would lead to accomplishment of goals.  

I was expected to look beyond the “race card” as reasons for failure, to locate the boundary and find another path to the goal. That may have been naive. Hard work, perseverance and intellect does not always trump privilege.  

As I entered university, I recognized that gender would play an essential role in launching obstacles to success.  

I struggled to put my upbringing and life experiences into the current context. I called friends and colleagues (some a generation younger, some a generation older) to validate my experiences and cultural viewpoints. Many, but not all, had Caribbean ancestry. All were immigrants to Canada. All had similar indirect social directives. Not all of them are people of colour. Almost all had achieved personal success. 

How do these stories connect with colonial inspired, patriarchal discrimination and systemic racism and sexism? After some research and reflection, it is more to obvious (to me) that: being smart or educated is no cure for privilege, bias, bigotry, hubris (or any other deadly sin). 

Here comes the uncomfortable realization: Canada, the country that I love, as beautiful as it is, is mired in antiquated colonial standards of white supremacy, patriarchy and Euro-cultural centricity. This statement flies in the face of our collective national identity of Canada – a loving multicultural vista.  

Or does it? 

Canada does indeed joyfully celebrate the varied cultures that comprise our populace. This, however, does not obliterate the prodigious barriers encountered by Black, Indigenous and people of colour (BIPOC). At a minimum, we must focus a critical lens on how these walls were erected, permitted and sustained.  

Writing in the Boston Globe recently, Barbara Smith, the author, activist and scholar, characterized structural racism this way: “Because our power structures have always refused to acknowledge institutionalized, systemic racism, many people do not believe it exists. Most people are confused about what the term even means.” Structural racism, Ms. Smith also wrote, and “white supremacy does not need individual bigotry in order to function, because it is a universal operating system that relies on entrenched patterns and practices to consistently disadvantage people of colour” and privilege those …(who look like the founding fathers). 

White supremacy does not mean you belong to a voluntary racist group or organization. It’s seen in looking at the daily way we do things around here. Who are the leaders in your organization? Do they mirror the surrounding population? Do they value diversity? 

McCarthy Tétrault’s Dave Leonard, CEO of one of the country’s pre-eminent law firms, admitted recently to the Globe and Mail that he’s not proud of the fact that just 2% of its roughly 700 lawyers are Black. 

“I recognize that I’m here because of hard work and intelligence and all the rest of it. But I’m also here because of my role and my place in society, and where I grew up and how I grew up and the colour of my skin and my gender…my white privilege, and that too much of our partnership looks like me,” Mr. Leonard told the paper.  

After all, it took 268 years for Canada to recognize that immortalizing E. Cornwallis, British Governor of Halifax (1749-52) on a pedestal, with a career characterized by assumptions of racial superiority, violence, and bounties for scalps, was wrong. And that, as the Globe and Mail recently noted, the “continued public commemoration of his role (was) incompatible with current values.”  

So, we’re getting awoken. What we permit, we promote. Start with the self. Reflect. Move on to actively dismantling perceptions, conceptions of old discriminatory norms and seek to action change that values the lives, health and contribution of the perennially oppressed Black and Indigenous peoples. 

Despite my not fitting the colonial mould, I am here – with so much more I wish to do.  

Demolishing structural/systemic racism, sexism and colonial biases has been a long time coming. This is a time for action. It is imperative to include the disadvantaged in discussions at the table. Let us continue this work so all of us can benefit equally. System changes are needed. Data must be gathered as a baseline for improvement – then measure the changes. Talk is cheap. Having a measurable organizational dashboard data on diversity, inclusion and equity is required to determine if our power structures walk the talk. This includes data on race as well as gender. 

Funding mentorship opportunities for BIPOC is crucial to allow them to step up into positions of leadership, just like their non-BIPOC contemporaries. We must stop hiding behind the notion that there are no qualified BIPOC or women to fill positions of leadership. They simply are unseen.  

Imagine a society where we all reach our full potential. 

Dr. Clover Hemans is President-Elect of the Federation of Medical Women of Canada, Co-Chair of the OMA Women Committee, and a Clinical Lecturer at the University of Toronto.