Hey folks! It's me, Michael Bach, your Diversity Dude, and this is Monday Morning Musings.
(upbeat music)
So, happy Monday, everyone, from our office here in Calgary.
It's a little... pretend you don't see the boxes.
They're over here.
Let's just do this.
I'll talk like this.
How's that?
(laughs)
We're in a brand new office, things are getting unpacked.
Not the point.
I wanted to talk this morning and continue my discussion about race and racism,
in a continued effort to force this dialogue about race and racism in Canada.
And today, I wanted to talk about race as a social construct.
Now some of you probably went "Whaaaa...?"
I understand.
Let me break it down for you.
Race is a social construct.
That's me breaking it down.
Merriam-Websters defines a social construct as "an idea that has been created and accepted by the people in a society."
So 'race is a social construct' means that the concept of race is something that we, as people, created and accept.
So what does that mean?
Okay.
(sighs)
There is no such thing as the white race.
There's no such thing as the Black race.
We made it up.
Being white or Black means you're part of a parti... parti-blah-blah... a particular ethno-cultural group.
So if you are Black, you might be of Jamaican heritage or Nigerian heritage.
If you're white, you might be of British heritage, German heritage, doesn't really matter.
There is no such thing as the white race.
There's only one race: it's the human race.
Why do I start there?
Because until we start realizing that race is a social construct then we will not be able to tackle racism,
which again is something that we created.
It's a belief system.
Not gonna talk about that right now; save it for another video.
But you need to understand that race is a social construct.
It's something we made up.
And if it's something we made up, then it's something we can deal with.
Ethnicity, it's a bit of a social construct.
It's a real thing.
It's a national identity.
You *are* Nigerian, you *are* South African.
That's because you were born there.
We can get into the conversation about ethno-cultural identity, because that's really what we're talking about,
because you can be South African but you can be of Indian descent, or white, or Black.
You can be Canadian and you can be of Chinese heritage, or insert ethno-cultural group here.
Race is a social construct.
It's one we made, so it's one we can take apart.
That's it for me.
Thanks for watching.
There'll be more videos on race and racism in the coming months, so stay tuned for those.
Please do remember to subscribe to my channel by clicking on the link, and remember to like the video.
Like the video, like the video, because I need constant adoration.
(whispers) I don't really, but whatever.
(Normal voice) And share it with your friends and colleagues and complete strangers on your social media platforms.
You can also connect with me on social media, I am @diversitydudemb,
and connect with CCDI, they are @CCDISocial.
Also, don't forget to pay attention... pay attention's the wrong word... maybe I can edit that, anyway.
Also, remember to check out our podcast if you haven't done so already, Talking to Canadians.
It's a wonderful opportunity.
I have conversations...
(mutters) I want to start this over.
And remember to check out my podcast, Talking to Canadians, available wherever you get your podcasts,
as long as that's the three places we post it,
or you can go to TalkingToCanadians.ca to get all of the links.
It's a great conversation with average Canadians.
We've got a bunch of podcasts already posted there
and the remaining season will be coming out over the coming weeks and months this year.
I think that's it.
Have a fantabulous week.
Stay safe.
My thoughts are with my friends in Newfoundland who are digging their way out.
And people across the country, stay warm,
and I will see you next week for another episode of Monday Morning Musings.
Bye!
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