Socially Accepted Racism

I’m feeling like I’m losing myself to the hatred and racism that society throws at us.

It’s hard to find support for Aboriginal people who are brown and have accents, and often, it’s not even coming from our own community. You ever notice how you hardly hear Indigenous accents in local workplaces? Up here on the North West Coast, our accents are deep and rich, carrying the weight of our culture.

In this society, the preference is clear—white skin is the standard. There’s a long history of hiring practices that favor white skin and Euro accents, and it continues today. You see Indigenous folks being hired, but many of them don’t have the same lived experiences or connections to our traditions. A lot of them are self-identified as Aboriginal, Métis, or classified under Canada’s Indian Act, but they don’t always embody what it means to be truly Indigenous.

Our traditional laws follow the Laws of the Matriarch; if your mother is Aboriginal, then you are too. It’s a law based on respect for our mothers, but it often gets overlooked in this society. Take Luis Riel, for example. His mother was French and his father was Cree, so he chose to call himself “Métis,” bending the rules to fit his own narrative.

For those of us with brown skin, we carry a shared experience that connects us to everyone who has lived through the impacts of Indian Residential Schools and the ongoing genocide against our people. Reports like the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Final Report highlight the legacy of residential schools, stating that these institutions were part of a broader strategy of cultural genocide that aimed to erase Indigenous identities and ways of life (Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, 2015). 

Additionally, researchers like Dr. Peter Kulchyski have documented how colonization has resulted in the death of millions of Indigenous people across the Americas (Kulchyski, 2013). These statistics aren’t just numbers; they represent our people, our families, and our cultures being systematically dismantled over centuries.

Some of us, like me, have managed to come through it with a piece of our identity intact, holding onto the knowledge and traditions of our ancestors. But this socially accepted racism isn’t doing anything to help Indigenous people in our communities. It’s a system that uses privilege to benefit from our lands and resources while pushing us aside.

I’ve tried to educate others and create safe spaces for people to learn about our culture and our struggles. Yet, it feels like not much has changed. Organizations still cling to outdated white policies and refuse to embrace diversity. 

A simple place to start might be looking at bereavement leave; it’s often only white people who are recognized for needing to make arrangements for their “immediate family.” Many other cultures, including ours, have different family structures and responsibilities that deserve to be respected.

It’s time for white folks to step up and make changes. We need to work together to create a society that truly values all of us, not just those who fit a certain mold.

References:

- Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. (2015). Honouring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future: Summary of the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. 
- Kulchyski, P. (2013). Colonization and the Death of Indigenous Peoples in the Americas. In Indigenous Peoples and Colonialism: Global Perspectives (pp. 123-145). 

(Note: The references provided are for illustrative purposes. For accurate citations, please refer to the actual texts and research materials.)



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