The Centre for Research on Health Equity and Social Inclusion (CRHESI) stands in solidarity with those who are speaking out and calling for the elimination of anti-Black racism in Canada and around the world. We recognize the deeply embedded racism that exists at all levels and across all sectors, in Canada, in Ontario, and in London. We are firmly opposed to the rationalization, minimization, or denial of racism and its impacts on racialized groups and our society as a whole.
As a research centre established as a university and community partnership, CRHESI exists in both academic and non-academic spaces. We have witnessed first-hand the many ways in which structural racism shapes the work we do – the research questions we ask, how we ask them, and what we do with the knowledge we generate. And we have seen how racism influences whose voices are heard, and whose are not.
We recognize there are ways in which we as individuals and as an organization contribute to the existence and experience of historical, interpersonal, and systemic racism and racial injustice, and are committed to listening, learning, and strengthening our capacities and actions to eliminate racism and enhance equity.
We acknowledge evidence of the direct and indirect negative impacts and harms racism inflicts on health and wellbeing, and in shaping and perpetuating health inequities.
We hear and firmly support the Black Lives Matter movement and leaders of various Black organizations in Ontario and Canada in their call for anti-Black racism to be declared a public health crisis and for concrete action for positive change.
We echo the respective 2018 statements of the Canadian Public Health Association and the American Public Health Association naming racism and law enforcement violence against marginalized populations as significant public health issues.
As a community-focused centre for research on equity, we commit ourselves to reflexive practice and to ensuring that our research and knowledge exchange activities contribute to the dismantling of institutional and systemic racism and racial injustice, and to the deep understanding and establishment of health equity. And we are committed to the conduct of research that is explicitly anti-racist. To achieve this, we must learn about our history and its harmful consequences. More specifically, we will:
- Revisit our Statement of Principles through an anti-racist lens
- Commit to understanding, articulating, and implementing anti-racist and decolonizing research methodologies, and sharing our insights with the broader community of academic researchers within and outside of Western University
- Forge ongoing relationships with Black organizations to co-construct our vision, mission, principles, and work
- Reflexively examine how we as individuals and an organization contribute to oppression
- Collaboratively create knowledge exchange opportunities that address anti-Black racism by leveraging existing resources to support the voice, actions, and leadership of others in this space
This, “We recognize there are ways in which we as individuals and as an organization contribute to the existence and experience of historical, interpersonal, and systemic racism and racial injustice, and are committed to listening, learning, and strengthening our capacities and actions to eliminate racism and enhance equity.” perhaps, the most crucial statement underpinning your objective. How far has CRHESI truly delved to uncover the roots of “systemic racism” and “racial injustice”?
How are agencies and organization inherently perpetuating harm to certain groups of people through use of language?
What does true inclusion look like?
What needs to be done to Prevent Racism and Promote Dignity and Respect for certain groups of people?