16°c Partly cloudy
22°c Thundershowers
Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Discuss racism of today, not yesterday
(JOE BRYKSA / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS ARCHIVES)
The Free Press on Saturday featured a column by Lindor Reynolds entitled Poison in a small town. In it, Reynolds discussed the publication of racist comments in the Morris Mirror by editor Reed Turcotte.
Reynolds states that Morris "was a small town like any other, before hatred oozed out." She continued, "Turcotte dragged Morris into the 1950s American South where uppity negroes were put in their place, and that place wasn't where decent, God-fearing white folks lived. That attitude wasn't right then and there, and it's not right here and now. Unless Morris wants to join Selma, Ala., in the annals of shame, it's time to stand up and be counted."
If there was even a remote possibility that readers still had not caught onto the analogy, she finished her piece with the words: "Montgomery, Ala. Little Rock, Ark. Memphis, Tenn. Unless Morris, Man., wants to join the roll call of shame, the majority of decent people here must stand up and agree name-calling is no substitute for reasoned debate."
It is very common to associate racism and oppression with the 1950s and 1960s but the problem with associating racism with a single time period is that it has the effect of closing rather than opening a discussion about a much longer and influential history of racial oppression that impacts us in a very real way today.
Morris was not "dragged into the 1950s" as Reynolds suggests. Rather, Turcotte responded in a very contemporary way to a contemporary expression of indigenous resistance using language that is very commonplace in Canada: "Indians/natives" / "who in some cases are acting like terrorists" / "want it all but corruption and laziness prevent some of them from working for it." Turcotte's statements are not out of time with present-day, every-day racism faced by indigenous people in the media, shops, restaurants, workplaces, schools and other places.
Just as we like to claim that racism resides in our past, we also like to claim that it resides elsewhere "in places like the U.S. South." Turcotte's racism is not something which was somehow parachuted in from elsewhere; in its characterizations and its subject matter, it is not out of place with southern Manitoba white settler communities.
It is not enough to point to the existence of histories of racism elsewhere; the Idle No More Movement encourages us to get to know our local history of racism.
For example, representing indigenous people as backwards, inferior and incapable of governing ourselves and our lands is very much linked to efforts on the part of colonial governments to fully access, exploit and take ownership of indigenous land and resources.
Over time, successive assaults and denigrations led many to believe that the dissolution of indigenous communities and the enfranchisement of indigenous people into the Canadian state were the only way forward.
It has been conveniently forgotten that this approach sidesteps our original nation to nation relationship and that there were and are other possibilities.
Reynold's references drawn from civil-rights-era confrontations over the extension of equality to African Americans in the end distracts from the important ways in which the theft of land and labour are linked by histories of colonialism experienced by indigenous and other racialized people throughout Canada and the U.S.
The objectives of Idle No More are not simply the inclusion of indigenous people into an otherwise healthy nation state. Rather the movement calls into question colonialism itself and calls on us to take part in building a different kind of place for our future.
A vital part of this process is to openly discuss and acknowledge the rights of indigenous people and to learn about the long history of racism in the place where we live here and now.
Mary Jane Logan McCallum is an assistant professor of history at the University of Winnipeg and a member of the Munsee Delaware Nation.
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition January 29, 2013 A6
More Analysis
- Back to Top
- Return to Analysis
More Analysis
(1 of 33 articles for this week)
Crazy Pete's an off-the-wall way of life
3:18 AM 0THOMPSON -- Ask Peter Zaworonok what the weirdest thing he sells is and he needs some clarification.
"It depends what you ...
Poll
Most Popular Analysis
- The Brazilian middle class awakens
- Hidden no more
- Hike to PST will bite Manitobans hard
- Don't let flood-evacuee problems kill the vision
- Canadian to expose alien collaboration with U.S.
- Bernanke averted a global depression
- Smart people SLEEP LATE
- Mau Maus win 50-year-long battle
- Firm sues governments over intellectual property
- Pimachiowin Aki is exceptional heritage
- Too rural, too white, too male
- Canadian to expose alien collaboration with U.S.
- Quebec's nationalism run amok
- Smart people SLEEP LATE
- Beauty and the (mortgage) Beast
- The Brazilian middle class awakens
- Was east side misled by NDP government?
- Expense scandal dogs Nova Scotia's fading NDP government
- The view of Bipole III from Hart Mountain
- Pimachiowin Aki is exceptional heritage
- Canadian to expose alien collaboration with U.S.
- Smart people SLEEP LATE
- Key of Bart: Video Killed The Mayor Who Hates The Toronto Star
- Too rural, too white, too male
- A sorry fact -- Katz finds it hard to apologize
- Ford puts Toronto on the map at last
- Manitoba Hydro's halcyon days are gone
- The key of Bart
- Ford can't resign as mayor soon enough
- Obama gets ‘revenge’ with Rice appointment
- Smart people SLEEP LATE
- Hidden no more
- Gadgets in classrooms are gimmicks
- Work, not retirement, saves lives
- Don't let flood-evacuee problems kill the vision
- UNESCO's concerns unrelated to Bipole III
- Smart people SLEEP LATE
- Shed more light on JTF2 secrets
- Hydro must serve citizens, not government
- The view of Bipole III from Hart Mountain
- Aging makes women proud — and loud
- Was east side misled by NDP government?
- Quebec's nationalism run amok
- Hidden no more
- Work, not retirement, saves lives
- No bailouts required for Pollock's
- Smart people SLEEP LATE
- Teachers should fast-track inclusive plan
- Manitoba Hydro's halcyon days are gone
- Hydro must serve citizens, not government
- Shocking exclusion
- Gadgets in classrooms are gimmicks
- Canadian to expose alien collaboration with U.S.
- ‘Stand your ground’ case not what it seemed
- Hydro plans will be scrutinized in public
Ads by Google
You can comment on most stories on winnipegfreepress.com. You can also agree or disagree with other comments. All you need to do is be a Winnipeg Free Press print or e-edition subscriber to join the conversation and give your feedback.
You can comment on most stories on winnipegfreepress.com. You can also agree or disagree with other comments. All you need to do is be a Winnipeg Free Press print or e-edition subscriber to join the conversation and give your feedback.
Have Your Say
New to commenting? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions.
Have Your Say
Comments are open to Winnipeg Free Press print or e-edition subscribers only. why?
Login SubscribeHave Your Say
Comments are open to Winnipeg Free Press Subscribers only. why?
SubscribeThe Winnipeg Free Press does not necessarily endorse any of the views posted. By submitting your comment, you agree to our Terms and Conditions. These terms were revised effective April 16, 2010.