Fig. 1 - Becoming Anti-Racist In Canada (Chrona, 2023, p60). 

The work of anti-Indigenous racism requires an investment of time, personal reflection, and shared vulnerability. To truly move a system forward, it is important to slow down and create time for questions and reflections. (Higginbottom, 2023, p. 73)

Questions for Reflection:

...we must look clearly at the achievement gap of Indigenous students and ask why. Why is this disparity here? We must look carefully at history and the institutions that raised and educated us and ask what. What did we learn that we must now unlearn? What was missing and what can now be found? We must then look toward our collective responsibilities to ensure that the how, the how of fixing this gap, is addressed. (Higginbottom, 2023, p. 86)

    Chrona defines racism as "a belief that a group of people are "less than" or in some way inferior based on the colour of their skin or their ethnicity or culture." (2022, p76) In Wayi Wah! Indigenous Pedagogies(2022) she discusses both relational racism, overt racism such as bullying or teasing, and systematic racism, which shows up when systems do not produce equitable results for different groups of people based on bias entrenched in the system itself.  

    In alignment with widespread calls towards anti-racism, Wayi Wah! Indigenous Pedagogies(2022) reminds us that the “uncomfortable”(p15) process of creating anti-racist education systems “is a journey…a long process…[which] asks us to examine the roots of systematic racism…[and] acting to eliminate racism”(p59). In her book, Chrona presents a model representing the progression of “Becoming Anti-Racist in Canada”(p60) which begins in fear, separation and denial and moves through a learning zone towards an area of growth, advocacy and action. (see Figure 1) Like Southam (2021) and others, she sees the development of anti-racism as a journey of transformation. It seems like the idea of “ally” is rooted more in the “learning zone”, while the concept of “accomplice” is in the “growth zone” of this model.   Rather than seeing allyship as a singular concrete identity, a realization that anti-racism is a journey of learning and transformation towards Reconciliation seems to be a more helpful model.