University of Waterloo Athletics

My name is Marshall Bingeman.  I admittedly grew in a very white environment, and really didn’t meet many people from the BIPOC community until high school.  Even then, I was part of a very white group.  Coming to Waterloo to play football, I was exposed to greater numbers of people from the BIPOC community.  I made friends and had roommates from the BIPOC community.  I have been involved for over 30 years with Warrior Football program and the last few years as Wellness Coordinator for Athletics.  This time has greatly expanded my exposure to the BIPOC community.
 
BUT, I don’t know if I have racist tendencies because I never really thought of systematic racism and my place in it.  Have I been an enabler?  Have I been a proponent?  Have I treated or considered people from the BIPOC community differently?  These are the questions that sometimes keeps me up at night now. The questions that make me rethink some of my past decisions…
 
This is why I want to be part of the action with the Alliance.  To learn about systematic racism, to learn my role in the propagation of systematic racism and to change the way my actions affect the BIPOC community. I want to become an ally rather than an enabler.  If I can affect change in myself, hopefully I will be able to influence others to change as well and be a small part of the solution.
 
Change will not be tsunami of people all seeing the light at once, change will come one person at a time….

 To connect with Marshall please email alliance@uwaterloo.ca