The Sleepy Middle

The “Sleepy Middle” is an archetype that emerged in the research development of Shift Lab 2.0. Picture a continuum of racism: On one end are the tiki torch-carrying, KKKsupporting racists who care only for people who look like them; on the other are Critical Race Theory activists, who seek equity through direct, sometimes polarizing methods. The Sleepy Middle is somewhere between these two poles. People in this middle may think of themselves as good people who “don’t see colour.” They disapprove of racist jokes but are also unaware of what residential schools were, or think that police brutality is the result of a few “bad apples.” They have varying levels of understanding of what racism is, whether it still exists, and why it’s important to work to end it. Determining skillful ways to engage the Sleepy Middle and create within them allies for positive change was identified as a powerful leverage point for systems change.

Why the Sleepy Middle?

The reason we focussed on the Sleepy Middle was not to coddle or shelter the privileged. What emerged from our research was that if the Sleepy Middle could become better allies for racial justice, then they could become powerful systems-change agents — because the Sleepy Middle is connected with and even commands many systems. What Shift Lab 2.0 had to explore was what approaches and interventions could truly shift the Sleepy Middle to change, become allies and avoid further polarization. We recognized from the outset that this was experimental and unconventional compared to some current practices. Additionally, a key learning was that it is not appropriate to default to racialized persons to explain to the Sleepy Middle that racism still exists, how it manifests, and why it’s so painful. Our intention was to be strategic, question any and all practices presumed to be working to reduce racism, and do our best to carve out effective pathways forward that make a difference.

Top: Core Team in action Bottom: Tool used in the lab showcase behaviour change principles “Who is the sleep middle? From my perspective, the sleepy middle could be defined as the so-called helpers, whether they are government officials, doctors, lawyers, nurses, teachers, social workers, etc. They all come with their own belief systems, their own ideas on how to ‘fix the Indian problem’ and it is often these folks with good intentions who embody systemic racism; they are the gears that move systemic racism. They are the sleepy middle.” — Jodi Calahoo-Stonehouse