In June 2020, President Ono reaffirmed our institutional commitment to inclusion and called for the acceleration and intensification of our efforts to build a more inclusive campus. More information on UBC’s Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence at UBC initiative is available. The School of Nursing convened a task force at that time to consult the faculty, staff, and students and propose recommendations for further anti-racism efforts within the School.
After a year of consultations and planning, in February 2021, the School of Nursing Faculty Caucus voted to establish the Antiracism Committee (ARC), and on June 21, 2021, ratified the terms of reference for creating the ARC as a standing committee of Faculty Caucus. These initiatives solidify our longstanding commitment to health equity, supported by our Canadian nursing code of ethics; this includes an obligation and responsibility to dismantle systemic and interpersonal racism in all contexts.
ARC works collaboratively with the Indigenous Cultural Safety Committee (ICS), a standing committee of Faculty Caucus since 2018, to foster an equity-oriented, culturally safe, and decolonizing environment for excellence in teaching, learning, research, policy, and service.
In alignment with UBC’s stance on racism, the School of Nursing acknowledges that affects all facets of society, including academic institutions, health care delivery, and health outcomes. The members of the School of Nursing commit to taking action based on the aimed at redressing an array of historical and ongoing colonial harms affecting Indigenous peoples, and the ongoing calls to disrupt the harms of systemic racism on Black people, and People of Colour. Anti-racism and anti-Indigenous racism action in the School of Nursing are united through UBC’s stance on racism. Within the context of UBC’s commitment to Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, we strive to create an environment where people of all identities are respected and encouraged to participate in dialogue and learning.systemic racismTruth and Reconciliation Commission’s directions
The goals of the ARC are to build a welcoming, diverse School of Nursing for all that functions as a model, leader, and facilitator of structural change throughout the university and health care by:
- Creating anti-racist culture,
- Embedding an anti-racist orientation in all structures, policies, and practices,
- Building the capacity of all faculty, staff, and students to take a leadership role in creating an anti-racist culture in the academy, the nursing profession, clinical settings, and health care system,
- Engaging diverse stakeholder communities.
Updates on ARC activities and actions will be posted here. For further information, please contact the co-Chairs:
Resources:
References:
Bailey, Z. D., Krieger, N., Agénor, M., Graves, J., Linos, N., & Bassett, M. T. (2017). Structural racism and health inequities in the USA: Evidence and interventions. The Lancet, 389(10077), 1453-1463.
Brockie, T., Clark, T. C., Best, O., Power, T., Bourque Bearskin, L., Kurtz, D. L. M., Lowe, J., & Wilson, D. (2021). Indigenous social exclusion to inclusion: Case studies on Indigenous nursing leadership in four high income countries. Journal of Clinical Nursing.
Bourque Bearskin, L., Palmer, B. C., Brown, L., Brown, M., & Marsden, N. (2021). Gum yan asing Kaangas giidaay han hll guudang gas ga. I Will Never Again Feel That I Am Less Than: Indigenous Health Care Providers’ Perspectives on Ending Racism in Health Care. International Journal of Indigenous Health, 16(1), 13-20.
Johansen, C., Nakagawa, B., Hacker, C., & Oetter, H. (2021, May 11). Racism in Health Care: An Apology to Indigenous People and a Pledge to Be Anti-Racist. British Columbia College of Nurses & Midwives, College of Dental Surgeons of British Columbia, College of Pharmacists of British Columbia, & College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia.
Kétéskwēw Dion Stout, M., Wieman, C., Bourque Bearskin, L., Palmer, B. C., Brown, L., Brown, M., & Marsden, N. (2021). Gum yan asing Kaangas giidaay han hll guudang gas ga. I Will Never Again Feel That I Am Less Than: Indigenous Health Care Providers’ Perspectives on Ending Racism in Health Care. International Journal of Indigenous Health, 16(1), 13-20.
Public Health Agency of Canada. (2020). From Risk to Resilience: An Equity Approach to Covid-19. The Chief Public Health Officer's report on the state of public health in Canada 2020,
Public Health Agency of Canada. (2019). Addressing stigma: Towards a more inclusive health system. The Chief Public Health Officer's report on the state of public health in Canada 2019.
Footnotes:
- Systemic or structural racism (often used interchangeably with institutional racism) “refers to the totality of ways in which societies foster racial discrimination through mutually reinforcing systems of housing, education, employment, earnings, benefits, credit, media, health care, and criminal justice. These patterns and practices in turn reinforce discriminatory beliefs, values, and distribution of resources” (Bailey et al, 2017, p. 1453). The intersections between interpersonal and structural racism have important implications in the Canadian context (Brockie et al., 2021; Kétéskwēw Dion Stout et al., 2021; Johansen et al., 2021; Public Health Agency of Canada, 2020, 2021). BACK TO TEXT
- Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Honouring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future: Summary of the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Available at: Honouring the Truth Reconciling for the Future July 23 2015.pdf. BACK TO TEXT