Amin, N., & Dei, S.G. (Eds). 2007. The Poetics of Anti-Racism. Reviewed by Laurelle Jno Baptiste, University of Toronto

Amin, N., & Dei, S.G. (Eds). 2007. The Poetics of Anti-Racism. Halifax, Nova Scotia: Fenwood Publishing Pp. 174         ISBN 9781552662083 Reviewed by Laurelle Jno Baptiste Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto February 6, 2009 Poetics of Anti-Racism was inspired by a panel discussion conducted at an American Educational Research Association (AERA) conference; this panel discussion was entitled ‘Inclusive Schooling in Canadian Contexts: Challenges and Possibilities’. Encouraged by positive audience responses and follow-up discussions, the authors produced an edited volume based on papers presented at the conference. The end product is an anthology with a focus on linguistic racism and its ability to perpetuate racist thinking and racist educational practice. The book’s title implies a treatise on anti-racism that is somewhat light in nature. However, an examination of the research interests of the contributors as well as the editor’s introductory comments reveals a very informed and experienced perspective on linguistic racism and anti-racism practices within the context of schools and educational routine. Framework for Reading As part of the introduction, Dei sets the stage for the book by first identifying what he terms “the productive functions of power” (p. 14). Specifically, he draws a connection between dominant groups in society and the challenges they pose for anti-racist and social justice work. Dei contends that the book’s poetic approach to anti-racist education “provides linguistic form through which to express anti-racist education” (p. 14). And, by examining schooling and education, the authors do not deny the successes of some minority students nor do they seek to implicate all educators. He pays homage to educators who are “doing their outmost to promote the cause of education for diverse communities” (p. 14). Nevertheless, Dei holds the view that the failure of many minority students in contemporary education systems provides evidence of the need for alternative educational outlets that engage students spiritually and emotionally. Each author’s submission is presented as a separate chapter and Dei provides a synopsis of each chapter in the introduction. He begins the introduction by situating linguistic racism and the centralization of language in the discourse of anti- racism and identifies language as the entry point of discussion for many of the contributors. Dei writes that due to the engagement of some of the authors in linguistic work, “they show, through pedagogical implications, the impact of race and racism in the everyday discussion of language and power” (p. 18). Assessing the Content Chapter 1, ‘Language, Race And Anti-Racism Making Important Connections’ establishes a relationship between language, race and social oppression. Dei states that the main goal in writing this piece is “to situate language-based racism and exclusion in anti-racist education” (p. 24). He identifies language as an “important medium of cultural, ideological, political, colonial and imperial domination in society” (p. 24). This author contends that, along with race, language is used to stereotype immigrants and he asserts throughout the chapter that linguistic racism works to promote assumptions of White racial dominance in society. Dei touches on many important topics throughout the chapter although at times his ideas appear to lack association with his central theme. That said, Dei clearly demonstrates that our school systems use cultural assumptions about language to stereotype and discriminate linguistically. He shows how race and language are interrelated and effectively makes a case for the inclusion of language possibilities in anti-racist education. Chapter 2, ‘Language, Linguistic Discrimination And Polyvocality’ is comprised mainly of a dialogue between George J. Sefa Dei and one of his doctoral students, Meredith Lordan. This chapter is a continuation on the topic of language based racism. In their introduction to the dialogue, the authors capture the essence of the discussion by stating, “The accent – how we are heard to speak, our inflection of place and identity through speech – is used as a “durable marker” in the process of social division and differentiation” (p. 31). During the dialogue, Dei recounts his experiences as a recent immigrant student with an accent and demonstrates language as capital in our communities. Because of its personal nature, this chapter presents a very human perspective on the struggles in Western English speaking societies of immigrants with an accent. In addition, questions posed by Lordan to Dei allow Dei to share some practical examples and life lessons on how educators can accommodate different accents in the classroom. Chapter 3, ‘Rethinking Displacement, Language And Culture Shock’ explores the cultural translation and negotiation process of Black immigrants to North America. The chapter includes parts of a larger ethnographic study that looked at the lives of African immigrant youths attending a French-language high school in Ontario and the formation of their social identity. Based on results from the study, the author observes that though each student has individual identities such as Sudanese and Somali they all adopt certain behaviors in language and culture that are characteristic of ‘Blackness’. The author astutely captures the transition to Blackness and the translation, negotiation and often times confusion that can accompany such a transition. However, he misses an opportunity to connect the literature review to the study’s outcomes because a conclusion is not part of the chapter. Chapter 4, ‘Apprehension And Antagonism’ examines teacher education programs and the preparation provided to teacher candidates for dealing with multicultural and anti-racist education. In this chapter, the authors present some of their findings from a questionnaire administered to teacher candidates. The questionnaire was designed to capture the teacher candidates’ impressions of their multicultural and anti-racism education. The authors conclude that teacher education programs do not prepare teachers to deal with a diverse ethnic student body. This chapter provides the most significant learning opportunities thus far. First of all, the authors present a conceptual framework which allows for an in depth understanding of the concepts being explored. Secondly, they provide a summary of the findings from the questionnaire. Most important is the inclusion of a discussion of the results which brings to light some of the reasons why the teacher candidates were dissatisfied with their multicultural and anti-racist teacher education. Chapter 5, ‘Putting Them In Their Place’, is an examination of language policies for newcomers to Canada. The authors write that both English and French “have gained discursive force and legitimacy of being official languages, not only through a historical dismissal of Aboriginal languages, but also as the result of marginalizing all other minority languages” (p. 73). The authors venture into a discussion on Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) and conclude that such policies lead to a “denigration of newcomers” (p. 83) by mandating assistance to cultural groups, including newcomers, in order for them to participate in society. This chapter is significant because it provides a historical perspective of Canada’s language policies and the implications for newcomers. It helps to connect some missing pieces from the last four chapters because this is the first chapter to show how Canada’s language policies fail to provide newcomers with the language skills required for integration into Canadian society. Chapter 6, ‘Being International’ examines the experiences of non-white International students attending Canadian universities. The chapter’s tone is set in the introduction with a summarized depiction of the experiences of Bannerji (1995). Bannerji is portrayed as a non-white International student whose experiences in a Toronto classroom during the 1970 encouraged feelings of alienation, confusion and frustration. The author proposes “the consideration of International student experiences in the design of pedagogy on the post secondary campus” (p. 87). To sustain this viewpoint, he shares the result of a pilot study which explored the campus experiences of International students. The author concludes that though Canada’s demographics have changed, experiences like Bannerji are still quite common today. A very thorough accounting of some of the challenges faced by International students on campus and in the classroom is gained as a consequence of the study. Nevertheless, the author acknowledges that research in this area is scant. Topics for future research are presented at the end of this chapter and this inclusion represents one of this segment’s most valuable contributions to the overall treatise. Chapter 7 is entitled, ‘Assessing The Puzzles Of Specific Learning Disability Disorder and Support Services For African Refugee Students In K-10 Public Schools of British Columbia’. This chapter, as the title implies, examines the learning disability processes and services available to African refugees in British Columbia. The authors contend that a significant number of African children are misdiagnosed as having learning disabilities because educators fail to understand the challenges these children face when integrating into a Canadian classroom. The strength of this chapter lies with the author’s connection of classroom practices of the dominant culture with consequences that lead to misunderstanding, and ultimately, misdiagnosis of refugee children. The points made as part of this segment are very well supported with extensive references imbedded in the discussion. Chapter 8, ‘Encoding Domination’ results from a research study on classroom oppression. The author draws on comparative research between Canada and Germany to “illuminate the mechanism through which attention is deflected from some of the significant contributions to school failures of minority students” (p. 123). She argues that classroom oppression and marginalization of the non-culturally dominant occurs through cultural exclusion, especially in the area of language. This is one of the shortest chapters in the book and for this reason provides only an introduction to a very complex discussion on the structural frame of racism in the classroom. The author poses some compelling questions but most are left unanswered. Chapter 9, ‘Inclusive Education And Anti-Racist Classroom Practice In Teacher Education Programs’ revisits some of the issues raised in Chapter 4. Specifically, this author examines the dynamics of creating an inclusive classroom and analyzes “teachers approaches to inclusive classroom practice and impediments to changing the status quo” (p. 130). She opines that Canadian classrooms are not inclusive. The argument presented makes the case for creating an inclusive classroom by addressing issues of equity and social justice from a historical, religious, legal and socio political perspective in teacher education programs. Since most of the book’s message centers on the challenges posed by different forms of racial discrimination in educational practice, the information shared by this author appears repetitive. A redeeming strength of this chapter occurs at the end where the author suggests strategies to promote inclusive schooling. Chapter 10, ‘Language, Race And The Poetics of Anti-Racism’ begins by making a connection between this author’s submission and Dei’s introduction on language and linguistic racism. She describes her contribution to this treatise as assigning definition and dimension to the term linguistic racism. The chapter is concerned with the global hegemony of English and repercussions for non-white people. Unlike the other submissions, this author takes a more global approach by looking at linguistic racism for non native English speakers in third world countries. She attempts to cover a lot of ground and in so doing looks at language bias in teacher education programs, touches on the language challenges faced by International students in English speaking Western societies, and the difficulties encountered by non-white speakers of English who seek to teach English as a second language. Because she is trying to cover so many topics she only manages to reach an introductory level of treatment. Certain insights are formulated but she fails to clearly meet the objectives of recognizing, defining and describing linguistic racism as concepts established in her introduction. Overall Impressions Many of the authors characterize those affected by racial discrimination using the term minorities. For example, in his introduction, Dei writes that “minority students need to see representation of themselves in their teacher to feel like justice is being done” (p.16). There are many in this field of research, including the racialized, who take issue with the term minority. They hold the view that minority implies minor, and by definition, minor is associated with words and feelings of inferiority and unimportance. With that said, the efforts of the editors are commendable because they were able to take separate papers and combine them into a format that makes for an easy read. Though at times the information shared bears a resemblance from one chapter to the next, the authors are true to the topic and provide insight to a form of racism that is often underestimated and frequently misunderstood. I have very little negative criticism of the book. The contributors were faced with the difficult task of writing about issues that are not often discussed at Canadian educational institutions and within Canadian society. The book serves as a very rich source of information and opens dialogue that hopefully will stir further research and action. About the Reviewer Laurelle Jno Baptiste is a Doctoral candidate at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto. She also works in corporate education in Canada and speaks extensively on immigrant integration issues in Canada.