“My role is to facilitate conversation”: New STU course “Defunding the Police: Rhetoric vs. Reality”

Written for The Aquinian

(‘Dialogue’, by Incé Husain)

The George Floyd murder in 2020 ignited the “defunding the police” movement, a stance against anti-Black racism. Today, the term is loaded with ideologies about how to change police-community dynamics, and it’s scope extends to all racialized communities.

Among other things, the term has been associated with reallocating police funds to other social initiatives, implementing police reforms, retasking the police, or abolishing the police altogether.

But in this fervour, the movement has started to lose sight of what is practically feasible for society.

Devised by Dr. Sulaimon Giwa, STU’s Endowed Chair of Criminology and Criminal Justice, the seminar course “CRIM4003: Defunding the Police: Rhetoric vs Reality” strives to reintroduce practical nuances to the discussion. It provides students a space to candidly share their prior knowledge, ask questions, and justify their views around the topic.

Giwa describes the course design as an “inductive approach” to understanding the phenomenon, and considers his role as that of a facilitator who nurtures critical thinking throughout student discussion.

“I really, truly just want to get students talking about this issue,” says Giwa. “Sometimes people gravitate towards what’s current without necessarily having the context... so my role is to facilitate conversation where people can actually ask questions frankly and openly and also be open to their ideas being challenged.”

Alongside the discussion-based format, Giwa has prepared readings and assignments that build on each other to develop student thought. The course begins with a writing assignment on personal opinions and preconceived notions on the topic, then builds to student-led presentations discussing the course readings, and ends with a creative group project. Throughout, Giwa plans to invite people from different communities and organizations to the class to expose students to the unique practical issues the movement poses in different social groups, like sex workers or the Fredericton police in rural versus metropolitan areas.

“What we are calling for is more nuanced conversations and engagement with different stakeholders (in society) that will be impacted by defunding the police,” says Giwa. “I think there is this kind of universal belief that the ways in which we’re talking about defunding the police is something that applies to all police organizations and agencies... It’s not (that) straightforward.”

In Canada, dynamics between Indigenous communities and the RCMP have been chronically negative. Giwa says that this unites Indigenous and Black communities, something he calls “group formation”.

“That joined partnership helps amplify and substantiate some of the concerns that both groups are speaking to,” says Giwa. “I think that partnership might explain why Indigenous groups themselves are not starting their own movements around that - because they are already in partnership with Black and racialized communities around these issues.”

As a topic that spans racism, colonialism, violence, and politics, Giwa shares that it is difficult to discuss the issue neutrally, and that claims of neutrality should not be made. Rather, he accepts that everyone will be meeting the discussion with their unique lived experiences, including himself, and simply urges students to justify their views. The closest one can get to neutrality is to recognize and integrate everyone’s perspectives.

“In a democracy, we need to create space for people to be able to have their opinions heard,” says Giwa. “We don’t need to accept them, but at least we need to hear them - they might actually be helpful to us for tweaking an idea we might already feel is perfect.”

Giwa believes that defunding the police can be conceptually broken down and discussed with people of any age, and considers his course design to be easily translatable to high school levels. He enjoys the opportunity to engage students on these issues and help them thrive as critical thinkers.

“I value people’s ability to think for themselves,” says Giwa. “I think it’s our job as professors to facilitate (critical thinking) environments for students regardless of the (ideological) positions they are holding. Positions may not be well-informed, so it’s our responsibility to engage those students, allow them to elaborate, and then have a meaningful conversation.” ♦

A modified version of this article appeared in The Aquinian on September 29th, 2022:

https://theaquinian.net/stu-course-explores-what-it-means-to-defund-the-police/