Racism in Southern Alberta and Anti-racist Activism for Change

Drawing on reflective personal narrative, experiential research, and critical theoretical engagement, this collection connects localized experiences with broader structural and systemic forms of intersectional racism. These detailed examinations of the various forms of racism faced by immigrants and Indigenous people living and working in Southern Alberta reveal how institutional racism continues to saturate modern Canadian culture and practice.

A meaningful contribution to the theory and practice of anti-racism and decolonization in Canada. Bridging academia, activism, and public policy, these clear and engaging contributions offer a historical record of actions and activities in Southern Alberta and raise the profile of the difficult, but creative, anti-racist work being done.”

Tamari Kitossa, author of Appealing Because He Is Appalling: Black Masculinities, Colonialism and Erotic Racism

A significant contribution to Canadian anti-racism work and scholarship. This volume deepens our understanding of racist logics in Southern Alberta in a profound and important way by giving a sense of the inspiring but difficult histories and the lived experience of many different racialized groups who have sought to create belonging and resistance. The contributors also highlight Indigenous generational trauma in a Western context.”

Shanti Fernando, author of Race and the City: Chinese Canadian and Chinese American Political Mobilization

About the Editors

Caroline Hodes is associate professor in the Department of Women and Gender Studies at the University of Lethbridge. Glenda Tibe Bonifacio is chair of the Department of Women and Gender Studies at the University of Lethbridge.

Contributors: Deema Abushaban, Carly Adams, Darren J. Aoki, Rabindra Chaulagain, Roxanna Balbido Epe, Dustin Fox, Monique Giroux, Jason Laurendeau, Gülden Özcan, Migueltzinta Solís, Ibrahim Turay.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Part I  Everyday and Institutional Racisms
   1. 1. Conditioned for Resilience / Dustin Fox
   2. 2. Niksookowaks / All My Relations: Reflections on Reconciliation / Reconciliation Lethbridge Advisory Committee
   3. 3. Filipino Duoethnography: Race in the Classroom / Glenda Tibe Bonifacio and Roxanna Balbido Epe
   4. 4. Resettlement, Racism, and Resilience: Lived Experiences of Bhutanese Refugees in the City of Lethbridge / Rabindra Chaulagain
3. Part II  Belonging/Unbelonging
   1. 5. Métis in Lethbridge: A Conversation with Elder Roderick McLeod / Monique Giroux and Roderick McLeod
   2. 6. Distance, Desire, and Diaspora: Using Ephemeral Trans Territories to Rethink Belonging and Place / Migueltzinta Solís
   3. 7. Of Ice Cream, Potatoes, and Kimono-Clad Japanese Women: Forgetting and Remembering the Japanese Racialization of Lethbridge’s Sensuous Geographies / Darren J. Aoki and Carly Adams
   4. 8. Beneath the Olive Tree / Deema Abushaban
4. Part III  Policing and Carceral Logics
   1. 9. The Colour of Policing in Lethbridge / Gülden Özcan
   2. 10. A Discourse-­Historical Analysis of Racial Profiling in Lethbridge News Media / Ibrahim Turay
   3. 11. “This Type of Thing Doesn’t Happen in Small Cities”: The Discursive Framing Racism and Sexual Violence in Lethbridge/ Caroline Hodes
   4. 12. “Meanwhile, in Canada”: Systemic Racism, “Happy Points,” and Some Challenges and Possibilities for Anti-­racism in Lethbridge / Jason Laurendeau
5. Contributors

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