A federal report recommended universities mandate anti-black racism training and establish an “Award for Black Excellence.”. Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council .“A wider range of topics may be explored to understand the implications of blackness,” wrote advisors to the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, which receives $1.2 billion annually from the federal government..“We must remember black studies are not about integration and assimilation into the ways of the dominant society,” said the report..“Black studies are not about ivory tower politics or parochial and esoteric matters.”.“Black studies are fundamentally about a scholarly tradition or intellectual paradigm that is self-determinative and counter-insurgent to the ways of white supremacy, anti-blackness, colonialism and neo-colonialism of African peoples wherever they reside,” said the Advisory committee in its final report Address Anti-Black Racism in Research and Research Training..“Black studies derive their legitimacy from critical assessment and reflections on the material needs of the masses of black people, not white liberalism.”.The report was published by the Humanities Research Council, a federal granting agency that annually covers scholarships for 4,900 students and subsidizes academic work..“We must be relentless in our pursuit of equity for black scholars,” said the report..The report recommended the Research Council “launch an Award for Black Excellence,” have “dedicated scholarships” for black students and “set a target for research funding to black applicants.” .It also suggested universities that receive federal funding “mandate training on anti-black racism,” “create new distinct research prizes” for black studies and “increase the visibility of black students and scholars and their research.”.Professors wrote black people in Canada “have resisted slavery, residential and educational segregation and anti-black racism in all its forms since the 17th century.” They did not elaborate..No Canadian Parliament legalized slavery. No Fathers of Confederation were slaveholders..According to Blacklock’s Reporter, legislators in what is now Ontario abolished slavery in 1793, 40 years before the UK Parliament passed an Act for the Abolition of Slavery in all colonies..“The field of black studies focuses on the life experience of people of African and Caribbean descent, and its analysis is rooted in the historical lived experiences of black communities,” said the report..“Black studies are growing in popularity and getting more recognition at Canadian universities.”.“There is an opportunity for the Humanities Research Council to stimulate interest in understanding the lived experience of members of the black diaspora across a broad array of funding opportunities to manifest and promote discovery of intersectional and disaggregated realities,” wrote advisors.
