Idle No More founder says Canadian society inherently racist, needs to change

“Most people have a difficult time seeing Gerald Stanley as a perpetrator of violence and murder, as he was, so they will come up with stories as to why this happened. They’ll bring up self defense, or it being an accident when the evidence is clear that this was premeditated.”

McLean’s presentation was based on debunking myths of “Canadian innocence.” She said the nation paints a false global picture that it is multicultural and accepting of all different types of people. McLean said Canada was actually founded on racist ideas and white superiority, which still effects minorities today.

McLean said Canada sells the idea of meritocracy to people, which she believed is another myth about our country.

“Meritocracy is the idea that all you have to do is work hard and things like intelligence and work ethic are what get you ahead in society,” McLean said. “What I show, and what I focused on tonight, is that it is actually very racist policies and practices that have allowed white settlers to become politically, economically and socially dominant.”

McLean believes it was these racist colonial policies that have created inequality, particularly to the Indigenous.

The teacher added education is the key to change how people think and talk about inequality, which will in turn change how people address it. McLean said she is seeing positive change across Canada and added more people are understanding what changes need to be made and are fighting for those changes.

“Indigenous people have of course been fighting for self determination and sovereignty for as long as colonialism has been on this continent. What I see is more and more non-Indigenous people accessing this education to be able to work in solidarity with indigenous people in order to address inequality and violence towards indigenous people and the racism.”

McLean also wanted to debunk the myth of genetics when it comes to different races. She said there are social constructs that imply Indigenous people don’t work as hard as white people or are more violent, which she said are not traits that can be attributed to race.

The teacher used her own heritage as an example.

“I used to say my grandparents came here with nothing and built a life, but that simply isn’t true. My grandfather was a straight white male, so when he moved here he was given opportunities other minorities weren’t allotted, like the right to vote, purchasing land, free mobility and loans.”

McLean said her family was essentially given land from the government on the promise they would use it for agriculture.

“That is why my grandfather insisted we be a farming family, because in order to keep the land he had to prove he was farming on it.”

She added Indigenous people who had been there well before her family weren’t given the same opportunities because of their skin colour.

McLean said racism towards indigenous people is entrenched in Canadian society and she has seen it first hand through assimilation.

“I have seen immigrants who come here from other countries and they want to fit in to normal and elite society. Within a week or two, I have seen them adapt to believe that indigenous people are somehow below everyone else, because that is how our society sees them as. They are only going along with it because they want to fit in. So we need to change that.”

Ultimately McLean wants to change Canadian society by addressing the problem head on. When asked why she chose the negative sounding “anti-racism” label for her campaign opposed to something like pro-equality, McLean said the latter implies we have achieved equality and are trying to maintain it. She added because there is currently racism in the country, she wants everyone to acknowledge it and only then can it be changed.

greg.higgins@jpbg.ca

On Twitter @realgreghiggins

by Greg Higgins

Idle No More founder says Canadian society inherently racist, needs to change

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