Me and White Supremacy Day 12: You and Racist Stereotypes
There are a lot of racist stereotypes that I’ve encountered in Canada: indigenous people are considered lazy drunks who should just get over the whole residential school thing, Jews are greedy and only care about money, Muslims are here to force shariah law onto Canadians, Arabs aren’t trustworthy, Asians are bad drivers but are good at math, and black people don’t belong in Quebec at all.
One of Saad’s questions for today is, “What are the racist stereotypes, beliefs, and thoughts you hold about the different racial groups of people? In what ways do you paint them all with one brush rather than seeing them as complex individuals?” I know I’ve said this a bunch of times, but I had a hard time answering this. I really want to do this work honestly and get to the bottom of any racist stereotypes I hold. But I have long made an effort to avoid seeing people as cardboard cutouts of the social categories they belong to. My recent entries have shown that I am guilty of painting my black neighbours with a brush in terms of thinking we don’t have much to say to each other. I need to work on that. But I recognize that my neighbours are individuals with their own likes, dislikes, loves, hopes, and dreams.
“How do you think about and treat indigenous children and non-Black children of color differently from white children?”
I don’t have much contact with indigenous children, to be honest. My daughter has recently made friends with a young Inuk boy who is the son of a friend of mine. I don’t think I treat him any differently than any other kid. That’s not to say that I interact with him in a “colour-blind way,” ie. denying how his background shapes him. But I have yet to be in a situation with him where I would have to treat him differently. I would like to think that I would respond in a way that would address any needs he had in that moment.
I do respond to Asian students differently than I do my white students, but that is from having lived in Asia and seeing what they can be up against. For example, I know that my Asian students in secondary school face a lot of pressure from their parents and probably aren’t sleeping adequately. I know that they may be at particular risk for plagiarizing because it’s more culturally acceptable in Asia than it is here. International Asian students who are boarding with local families may not be receiving enough emotional support from their host parents, or they may be having to run a household and look after younger siblings while their parents are in another country. To me, this is an example of how it simply isn’t true that pointing out difference is racist. If I didn’t acknowledge the different challenges that my Asian students face, I wouldn’t be serving them well.
The last question is, “In what ways have you super-humanized parts of the identities of indigenous people and POC while dehumanizing other parts?”
I have definitely super-humanized indigenous people, seeing them as having this magical connection to the earth that gives them almost supernatural abilities. This is not to deny that indigenous groups do have a special connection to nature, but there’s a difference between the connection as they express it and North American society’s collective white fantasy about that connection as some mystical supernatural knowledge. I have completely bought into that fantasy on many occasions.
I think this is because my mom’s family has long been interested in knowing about our indigenous ancestry, which was vehemently denied and suppressed by previous generations. But the collective white fantasy of the “Mystical Indian” has had a huge impact on how my family thinks about the ancestry we’re so disconnected from.
It’s common to hear white people say things like, “I’m one eighth Cherokee” without knowing if it’s actually true, and disregarding how destructive the concept of blood quota has been on First Nations and Native American communities. No effort is made to learn about the culture or people they are ostensibly descended from, nor do they have to surrender their white privilege and experience life as an indigenous person. Indigenous people spend their lives fighting all kinds of systemic racism that put them at a disadvantage. But if you’re white, having just a little bit of indigenous blood makes you “cool.”
My family members and I have often indulged in the fantasy of being descended from these mystical Aboriginal ancestors from whom we have inherited special awareness and insights. Family members have claimed descent from various First Nations tribes, such as the Cree and the Iroquois.
I’m not trying to come down hard on my family about this (especially since I have been a full participant many times). We had a lot of racist white ancestors who worked hard to erase our indigenous past. I think many of my family members (myself included) carry sadness about this. I now find myself wondering if there is a way to set the fantasy aside and work towards genuine understanding of the culture we have lost. I did some research and discovered we are descended from the Kichespirini tribe. I don't know what to do next with that information. Figuring it out will be an important part of my anti-racist journey as well as my personal journey.