Skip to main content

“I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, or free to choose those who shall govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind.” ~~ John G. Diefenbaker

WUN FEATHER -- Just because Justin Trudeau says us Canadians are racist, does not make it so. When people like him say stuff like that, the rest of us know he is a liar

I can't keep quiet about what I read yesterday on a Facebook group.


Because I spent a great deal of my youth in the central interior of BC, I pay attention to the Prince George, Fraser Lake, Fort Fraser and Vanderhoof, BC, Facebook pages.

Yesterday I read a comment that made my blood boil; someone said ... "Vanderhoof is still racist"


The way they said it made it sound like all the people there are bigots and racists.

I have reached the brink of my endurance when it comes to generalizations like that one. Way too many people speak matter-of- factly about groups of people, or communities, or sectors of society, and they lump them all in as one.


I have lost track of the number of times that I have heard the following:

 

"Indians are drunks" ... "Cops are corrupt" ... "The RCMP treats brown people bad" ... "Muslims are terrorists" ... “White people are trash"

And the list goes on and on.

When it comes to discrimination, people have asked me what I do to fight it. Well, the very least I can do is speak up about it whenever I am given the chance. Yesterday, when I heard that Vanderhoof is racist, I almost blew a gasket. Back in the old days there were definitely a few people who had issues with us Indians, but there is no way that I can say the whole region was racist.


I became very close to a couple of families who had immigrated from the southern United States. My own daughters’ grandparents had strapped all their belongings to horse drawn buggies and rickety old trucks, and made their way to the land of opportunity.


I can remember when I first met old George and Anne Millard on their ranch, the old timer gave me the second degree. I thought he was training to be another Sigmund Freud the way he pumped me for information. But he and the majority of his family always treated me with the deepest respect.


I won't stand idly by and let someone say that the village is racist. That would mean my children's own aunts and uncles and grandparents discriminate against them!


Okay, so maybe one or two did not like me, but I bet it has nothing to do with me being an Indian guy. And I must admit that there were a couple who were bigots, but I think that they have passed on.


My point is that we need to stop saying stuff like that. Just because Justin Trudeau says us Canadians are racist, does not make it so. When people like him say stuff like that, the rest of us know he is a liar.


Racism and bigotry are real, and it is still a major issue, but I know that if I take the thousands of friends I have, not one of them admits to being racist. I bet if I conducted a survey of all my Facebook friends, and asked them if they were racist, they would say no ... and I think most of them are being truthful.


So, what we need to is start calling out the people who have those tendencies. The same thing applies to crooked police officers, politicians, and people who hold influential positions in our society.


Let's stand up for the people who are honorable, and root out the ones who are not.


That is the only way we can end systemic racism, and this situation we are in right now.


And I will continue to stand up for my friends ... that's the least I can do for you.


Feel free to let me know if I am wrong about this -- I have an open mind. Or maybe Justin Trudeau is right when he says Canadians are racist?  It would be nice to know so I can give them shit.

 

 

About Wun Feather ... I am one of the last of my generation to have actually attended residential and Indian day schools. I have lived on and off reserve, and have seen the benefits and the hardships of my people in both situations.

My parents taught me that any time I fell down physically, or emotionally, I just needed to pick myself up, shake myself off, and continue in a forward direction. So, I cannot claim that I did it on my own; I had great Elders.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

'Very good news' that Supreme Court will hear B.C. mineral claims case, Eby says

The BC government needs clarity from the Supreme Court of Canada on a landmark mineral rights claim, Premier David Eby says. But the lawyer representing the challenger says that they would have preferred the province respect the lower court's decision. Eby said Thursday it is very good news that the court will hear its appeal of a ruling that found the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the provincial mineral claims regime are "inconsistent." The BC Court of Appeal ruled in December that the provincial Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, or DRIPA, should be "properly interpreted" to incorporate the UN declaration into the laws of B.C. with immediate legal effect. That ruling set off the appeal from the province amid concerns that it could cause economic uncertainty ... CLICK HERE for the full story 
Post a Comment
Read more

EBY OFFSIDE WITH NATIONAL INTEREST AS CARNEY AND SMITH BUILD BC'S ECONOMIC FUTURE WITHOUT HIM ~~ BC Conservatives

IMAGE CREDIT :  CBC News   Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith announced a landmark agreement today committing Ottawa to designate a new pipeline to BC's west coast as a project of national interest by October 1, 2026, with construction approval targeted for September 1, 2027. The deal pairs the pipeline with a new industrial carbon pricing framework and a fall 2027 construction start. British Columbia, the province where the pipeline ends, where the jobs would land, and where the export terminal would be built, was nowhere at the table. "This is a nation-building deal, and the BC NDP have been locked out of the room," said Trevor Halford, Interim Leader of the Official Opposition.  "While the Prime Minister and the Premier of Alberta were doing the hard work of growing the Canadian economy, the NDP is on the sidelines calling this pipeline a 'fiction' and an 'energy vampire.'  He chose petulance over partnership, and now BC ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Kamloops - North Thompson BC Conservative MLA Ward Stamer speaks to Bill 20 — K’ómoks Treaty Act

The following is a condensed version of Kamloops – North Thompson MLA Ward Stamer’s remarks, to the BC Legislature, on the afternoon of Tuesday May 19th : I rise today to continue remarks on Bill 20, the K’ómoks treaty, and to address what I believe are some of the most important constitutional, democratic and governance concerns facing this Legislature today. At the centre of this debate are two major issues. First, unresolved overlapping territorial boundaries tied to this treaty process. And second, the growing legal and political consequences arising from the provincial government’s implementation of the Declaration of Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, more commonly known as DRIPA. Much of the government’s defence on DRIPA rests upon references to the United Nations declaration on the rights of Indigenous Peoples, commonly known as UNDRIP. And this is where we must begin having a more honest and mature conversation in this province. UNDRIP was never originally designed to function ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Labels

Show more