SURVIVING RACIST CULTURE: STRATEGIES OF MANAGING RACISM AMONG GAY MEN OF COLOUR—AN INTERPRETATIVE PHENOMENOLOGICAL ANALYSIS SULAIMON GIWA A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY GRADUATE PROGRAM IN SOCIAL WORK YORK UNIVERSITY TORONTO, ONTARIO November 2016 © Sulaimon Giwa, 2016 Abstract Racism, a unique source of stress, occupies a peripheral point of analysis in the literature on gay, lesbian, and bisexual (GLB) health research. Canadian investigators have not examined the coping strategies that non-White gay men use. Lacking knowledge of the group’s coping responses overlooks the dynamics of resistance and prevents interventions for addressing racism from being developed. The current study’s aims were to explore the contexts in which gay men of colour experienced gay-specific racism; to investigate their understanding of factors contributing to the experience of racism; and to examine strategies they used to manage the stress of racism. Foregrounding issues of White supremacy and racial oppression, the study used frameworks from critical race and queer theories and minority stress theory, integrating insights from the psychological model of stress and coping. Data were collected in Ottawa, Canada, employing focus groups and in-depth interviews with 13 gay men who identified as Black, East Asian, South Asian, and Arab/Middle Eastern. Using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), the study concluded that racism was pervasive in Ottawa’s GLB community, at individual, institutional, and cultural levels. Racial-cultural socialization processes were found to influence racist attitudes and practices. Racism’s subtle, insidious forms undermined discrimination claims by gay men of colour, in that White gay men denied any racist attitudes and actions. In general, participants used problem- and emotion-focused coping techniques to moderate the impact of racism. The value of social support for coping with the stress of racism was highlighted, revealing a vacuum of care in public health and social work practice with gay men of colour. Social workers and allied health professionals should neither view the experiences of gay men of colour through the lens of sexual orientation alone, nor focus solely on sexual behaviours that place them at risk of HIV/AIDS. In doing so, they would risk not only discounting the ii complexities of the men’s lives, but also sustaining and perpetuating a life without potentialities beyond deficit. The implications and limitations as well as recommendations for future study are discussed. Keywords: race, racism, discrimination, stigma, minority stress, stress and coping, gay men of colour, IPA, critical race theory (CRT), queer critical theory (QCT), Ottawa, Canada iii Dedication To the most important woman in my life, my mom, Alhaja Khadijat Kuburat Olasoji Giwa. Thank you for your kindness, devotion, and endless support and prayers. Your selflessness will never be forgotten. I pray that the blessings of Allah always be upon you. —With love, your son, Wale iv Acknowledgements I have longed for some time now to write this part of my dissertation. It represents for me the end of a very long journey, with many ups and downs. The loss of my grandfather and grandmother, early in my doctoral education, was very difficult; they died a year apart. I fondly remember my formative years spent with them in Nigeria; they helped to raise me into the man that I am today. Along the way, everyday financial issues slowed me down considerably, threatening to derail my progress and the completion of my degree. I had to take on full-time work in precarious, low-wage positions while completing my degree on the side. Internal institutional politics left me with a negative impression of academia, causing me to doubt if I had chosen the right career. Lingering scars from that early experience in the world of academia lay just below the surface. Yet the many academics I met along the way, some of whom I had the privilege to collaborate with on peer-reviewed publications, showed me a different side of academia, which I have come to enjoy and value. Among them is Dr. Karen Schwartz at Carleton University, who, after seeing the work I did on a federally funded community police race-relations project in Ottawa, planted a seed in my heart: I could complete a doctorate degree. I would be remiss not to acknowledge my personal spirit of survivorship, for I have navigated my way successfully through this difficult, important period in my life, allowing me to bring this project to fruition. In doing so, it prepared me for the next and subsequent phases of my personal and professional life. The success of this project is also due to the dedication of many people who championed my achievement from the start. First, I would like to thank my doctoral supervisory committee (Drs. Narda Razack, Uzo Anucha, and David J. Brennan) for their faith and confidence in my v ability as a scholar. I am profoundly indebted to all of you for the opportunity to learn and grow under your tutelage. You showed great care in your mentorship of me as a critical scholar, and knew when to push and when to pull back. Your unspoken actions communicated your high expectation of me, and I hope that my work reflects the depth of your important contribution to my professional development as a critical race scholar. I hope to collaborate with all of you again soon, as colleagues. The culmination of this work would not have been possible without my internal and external examiners. I am grateful to my internal examiner, Dr. Amar Wahab, and external examiner, Dr. Chong-suk Han, for their invaluable feedback during the oral defence. Your insightful comments and advice will help to strengthen my work in the future. My deepest gratitude to Dr. Wilburn Hayden for chairing the oral examination. To my friends and compatriots-in-arms at the Black Gay Research Group (Drs. Marlon M. Bailey, Edward Brockenbrough, La Marr Jurelle Bruce, Sheldon D. Fields, Orlando O. Harris, Xavier Livermon, Micah Lubensky, Lance McCready, LaRon E. Nelson, Ron Simmons, Mitchell J. Wharton, and Leo Wilton, among others): words cannot describe the depth of my gratitude for the love and camaraderie you have continued to show me. January 2010, in Atlanta, Georgia, was a pivotal moment in my life, one I am sure never to forget. As I stood in front of that crowded room to deliver my presentation, the energy of the room was palpable to me—as I am sure to you as well—and, for the first time since I was in Nigeria, I experienced the full weight and love of a large congregation of Black men. It is not every day, in Canada, that I have the opportunity to commune with other Black scholars and intellectuals on such a large scale. On that day, my sense of identity was deepened; I awoke to the existing possibility of such vi unconditional love and affection, both of which have sustained me through this challenging but rewarding academic journey. From the deepest of my heart, thank you for this special gift. The stories of the participants in this study are mine and those of countless other gay men of colour who, each day, find the strength to survive the experience of racism. They showed courage and bravery in their willingness to speak so publicly about their own experiences of racism and their coping responses to it. This research project would not have been possible without their selfless contribution. I owe a great debt of gratitude to you all for your patience, optimism, and inspirational attitude. Thank you all for your trust in me. I hope that the words written in these pages accurately and richly describe the stories you individually and collectively shared with me. Finally, to my immediate and extended family, thank you for your unconditional love and support. I know it could not have been easy to deal with my hectic and endless work hours in front of the computer. Thank you for being so kind and lenient with me when I was tough on myself. Although I cannot make up the lost time, I hope to be more present in each of your lives, and to be there for my nieces and nephews much more than I have been. Mom, you are an inspiration to me! Your strength of mind and courage is what I have modelled my life after. You left the comfort of Nigeria to come to Canada for your children to have a better life. Our accomplishment is a testament that you made the right decision. You were selfless in your action and in the process revealed to us the depth of your unconditional love. Your own thirst for knowledge is a gift that you passed on to us; thank you for instilling in us a love of learning and service. Teniayo, what can I say? You are simply beyond words. Your innate ability to find the simplest pleasure and joy in all things mundane has kept me humbled and grounded. I could not vii have asked for a better life partner. You have been and continue to be my number one champion, always urging and nudging me to fight the good fight. Your profession as a police officer belies the view that, at heart, you are the quintessential critical social worker. For the sacrifices you made for me to reach the mountain top of my academic career, I am forever indebted to you. The last 12 years together has been nothing short of incredible; the journey has been filled with many ups and downs. Through it all, we have remained strong and steadfast in our conviction that everything will work out.