A few weeks ago I took an anti-racism and anti-oppression training from the Toronto Hostels Training Centre. I enjoyed training in a participant group as culturally diverse as Toronto itself, and exchanging viewpoints with participants who work in various social service agencies throughout Toronto.

I’m getting familiar with the standard tools used in anti-oppression training (I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve been in a training that received Peggy McIntosh’s Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack reading, available online in many places; and I’ve completed many versions of the power flower, or social identity wheel, in training workshops). Toronto Hostels Training Centre took the training a bit further with scenarios and role-plays of oppressive or racist situations encountered in social services agencies in Toronto, and the option of an advanced training offered later in the year.

I’ve found their list of “typical roles played during discriminatory incidents” helpful in considering what roles are being played, and what role needs to be played, when I witness a discriminatory event. The typical roles they identify (adapted from Komiotis and Dale, Toronto, 1998 ) are: the instigator (the source of the discrimination), the colluder (allows or joins in on the discrimination), the target, the silent observer (may be uncomfortable or opposed to the discrimination, but by his/her silence offers collusion), and the active opponent. Options available to the active opponent include: reframing what was said, asking questions, providing information, challenging beliefs, direct naming of what happened, and providing or seeking appropriate follow-up or debrief for individuals involved.

I’m looking for examples of these roles being played, and challenging myself to find ways to be the active opponent. Along a similar vein, I’ve been able to incorporate a Social Justice day into the leadership course I’m teaching at the Royal Ontario Museum, and tomorrow we’ll start out in the exhibit Out From Under: Disability, History, and Things to Remember, and will analyze barriers to participation that might be experienced by someone with a disability joining our leadership course.