This week’s Teachings Tuesday is shared by one of our founding Culturally Committed members, Kyle Pearce. Kyle is a settler of English and French descent benefitting in many ways from his status as an uninvited guest on the traditional and unceded territories of the xwməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səl̓ilwətaɁɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.
Kyle has had a long journey towards unlearning racism, including his Masters thesis exploring the ways that white people’s identity is reinforced by continuous messaging in mainstream media. In the past 8 years, Kyle has been exploring ways that we can become stronger allies by looking within and unlearning our internalized and deep judgement of others by demystifying whiteness with information, through community and by adopting mindfulness practices. He is currently working on interrupting the ways that our nervous systems are conditioned by the constant reinforcement of messages that have convinced us that equity and Indigenous rights are a threat to white-identified settlers.
In today’s Teaching Tuesdays, Kyle shares his perspective on the Canadian Medical Association’s apology for past and ongoing harms. In it he shares his view that we need to do two kinds of work – changing our systems and addressing our mindset that continues to result in behaviour that harms rather than heals.
Thank you, Kyle, for your willingness to share your words with our readers. We value your contributions to this work very much.
“In September the CMA apologized for its role in the historical and ongoing mistreatment of Indigenous peoples. It was a strong example of how organizations can start with the truth so we can do the work of reconciliation.
Here are my thoughts on what the CMA will need to do to follow through on its commitment to healthcare that:
· is free of racism and discrimination;
· upholds Indigenous Peoples’ right to self-determination;
· values, respects and holds safe space for Indigenous worldviews,medicine and healing practices; and
· provides equitable access to culturally safe, trauma-informedcare for all First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples.
Much of this work needs to be done in relationship with Indigenous peoples. They are the only ones who can determine what culturally safe care means. We need to listen when they will tell us the extent to which we have reached these goals.
There are two other important kinds of work we need to do to maintain our effectiveness and resilience in this difficult path including what I call the “outer” work and “inner” work.
The outer work is about changing policies, practices and rules within the healthcare system. It’s about partnership with other parts of the healthcare system that are working to eradicate anti-indigenous racism like health authorities, other professional associations and Medical Associations across the country.
The outer work is about co-designing and implementing change that prioritizes the wellbeing of Indigenous patients. It is about setting up transparent and fearless mechanisms for coordinating activities, responding to incidents and finding meaningful metrics to report on progress.
The inner work is about changing mindsets, unlearning judgements and suspending stereotypes. It’s about coming to this work continuously with open hearts and a clear mind. And that’s no small hurdle.
People with privilege and power can experience fear, shame, blame, resistance and denial, and these prevent us from listening with an open heart. Neuroscience traces these back to our amygdala, and that is where we can start on this inner path.
Our amygdala has been conditioned to respond to the beliefs in which we are socialized. Growing up with privilege, we all learn negative things about Indigenous peoples but research shows that our amygdala becomes conditioned to respond to our acquired racial beliefs during adolescence.
To undo the amygdala’s conditioning, we can follow a path of unlearning combined with practices that regulate our nervous system.
Creating and maintaining containers for compassionate dialogue about our felt sense of race and racism lets us collectively explore what we have internalized. In these spaces, we can learn practices that help us to recognize when we are getting triggered so we can skillfully bring ourselves back to our receptive, listening and learning selves.
Through this work, we can also collectively envision a more equitable health care system and our place in it. We move from resistance and judgement to humility and curiosity.
Canadian-born physicians grew up in an environment shaped by anti-indigenous racism, and internationally trained physicians learn these when they arrive. We all need to unlearn so we can see patients as they are.
The CMA has taken bold steps towards reconciliation, but the road is long. It starts within us and in community with one another.”
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