“Nice White Meetings”

Abstract

Although the issues of diversity and representation are often discussed within academic librarianship in Canada and the United States, the field has made little headway in being inclusive of the Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) who work within it. If academic libraries are to become truly authentic and inclusive spaces where BIPOC are central not only to shaping the values of a library but also to determining how those values are accomplished, we must examine the traditional ways in which libraries function. One of these traditions is a reliance on bureaucracy and its associated practices such as structured group work and meetings, which are presumed to be inherently neutral and rational ways of working. Critical examinations of bureaucracy within higher education reveal how its overadoption is absurdly at odds with the social justice–oriented missions of most libraries. Furthermore, not all who are involved in libraries are equally harmed through this overreliance on bureaucracy; this article employs Critical Race Theory to uncover the insidious and specific deleterious impacts bureaucracies can have on BIPOC library workers. The antithesis of a neutral system, bureaucracy instead functions to force assimilation into a system entrenched in whiteness.

Black and Non-Black Library Workers’ Perceptions of Hiring, Retention, and Promotion Racial Equity Practices

“…Although libraries may be intentional about including their commitment to hire diverse candidates in job advertisements, bureaucratic processes, such as degree requirements, can make it so the library can skirt around hiring diverse candidates while still complying with federal law and institution-specific policies (Nataraj et al, 2020). A deep discussion of whether eliminating the masters of library and information science (MLIS) degree from the requirements for professional positions in order to make the profession more equitable and racially diverse is outside the scope of this article.…”

Decentering whiteness in libraries: relational work for an inclusive culture

“…In our own library we often see library-wide conversation occurring following an announcement. This means that the time spent in committee work soliciting knowledge and feedback from stakeholders across the library is just a performance of democratic process, as described in Nataraj et al (2020). This is a demoralizing moment that results in feelings of frustration and devalues individual and collective time spent in process (Nataraj et al, 2020, p. 6).…”

Indigenous Psychotherapy, COVID-19, and the Online Space: Yarning About Challenges and Opportunities

“…The added surveillance possible through virtual communications also presents safety and privacy risks for people who have been targeted for state-sponsored oppression, as have so many First Nations peoples. As Nataraj et al (2020) observed, in spaces where these white-centric norms are not interrogated and challenged, ostensibly neutral "bureaucracy instead functions to force assimilation into a system entrenched in whiteness".…”

“…Gávi: Research on the cultural dimensions of meetings has documented the wide variation in meeting structures, norms, and practices across cultures (Kemp & Williams, 2013;Nataraj, Hampton, Matlin, & Meulemans, 2020;De Souza, 2020). As a non-Aboriginal, hybrid polycultural man who also isn't from a white-Anglo Australian background, I've heard from many First Nations people around the world that white-Anglo-dominated meeting spaces are as alienating for them as they have been for me.…”

“…This is an area where systemic racism and colonisation often intersect. The norms of the "nice white meeting" (Nataraj et al, 2020) and the pervasiveness of white supremacy culture in organisations (Centre for Community Organizations, 2019) seem to contrast starkly with the emphasis on storytelling, circular (spiral-shaped, non-linear) narratives, 15/26 flexible and organic pacing, and collaborative, in-the-moment agenda-developing that are the norm in the Aboriginal communities with which I've had the honour of collaborating. I wonder when white-Anglo Australians form committees, prepare meeting agendas, or facilitate group meetings if they consider how many of the mundane aspects of their routine processes are likely to feel violent, silencing, and oppressive for people from many distinct cultures.…”