Page 52 - Walking_The_Red_Road

Racism Persists, But We Can Overcome It
I was always scared to go to town because I would hear a bunch of racism and stuff like that.
In our generation we were not taught about First Nations people in school, as it is now in the schools. However, it has to be more widespread. Our culture, our people, it has to be infused in the system...our children need to see themselves in every aspect of life and that is what we are lacking.
Our community members experience racism, yet many are optimistic that education and awareness-raising activities will increase knowledge and improve perceptions of Aboriginal peoples.
One of the goals of the project was to mobilize North Bay’s Aboriginal and non-aboriginal communities to work together to address racism. By developing new relationships and partnerships across cultures, working together through the Community Action Circle, and “shining a light” on Aboriginal achievements, U-ACT aimed to promote cross-cultural learning and increase awareness of and respect for Aboriginal culture.
Even so, almost anytime we brought Aboriginal community members together in focus groups and sharing circles to talk about issues such as mental health or seeking employment, or when we conducted life history interviews, racism came up.
I have heard this since I was a young child; they all think we are drunks.
We are living off Canadians, we are living off tax payers, we are tax free, we are a bunch of bums, we don’t want to work, we are welfare, we do not want to look after ourselves, we are raping the land and killing all the fish, the animals. That is the perceptions. That is what is coming across from people.
A friend of mine was in a line up at Tim Horton’s, and he could hear a group of older men talking about gill netting in a very racist way – it was stemming from an article put in the North Bay Nugget [newspaper] about gill netting changes. “They are the ones that are taking away our privileges, because they are the ones that can keep going out and fish and net all they want.” And they even said “They throw away all the fish, they just throw them in the dump.”
Everything in our life we have to fight for: to start a business on reserve, we have to wait for approval by the government. How are we supposed to get ahead when we have to wait for approval of the government? Are we children needing approval from our parents?
Walking the Red Road | REPORT OF THE URBAN ABORIGINAL COMMUNITIES THRIVE PROJECT | 52
,, ,,