Actions done and words spoken with good intentions can still perpetuate discrimination
This is a response to the column published Feb. 25 titled “Godwin’s law, meet Onderwater’s law”. Eric Onderwater, from one white guy to another: you need to check your privilege. I’m going to try to walk you through this real slow.
I’d like to introduce you to a concept called “intention” and the difference between intention and practice. The facts are, Eric, that Aboriginal peoples in Canada have been subjected to systemic discrimination and violence at the hands of our colonial government, and this by no means ended with the shutting down of residential schools. We can see this systemic violence in action today with the Highway of Tears, the Missing Women Commission and the undermining of Aboriginal rights by the Harper government in its greedy grab for resources, to state only a few of many examples.
If I say that the government has no responsibility to Aboriginal communities, while my so called “intentions” may not be explicitly racist, these colonial ideologies put into practice are racist. The government, and we as citizens, have a responsibility to root out and combat this systemic discrimination, and taking away Aboriginal “hand-outs” as you call them would be a form of colonialism and violence against Aboriginal peoples — so yes Eric, that would be racist, and while the people acting out this violence and discrimination may truly be appalled at being called racist, their lack of awareness of how their words and actions affect others becomes a subtle form of racism.
Also, “Idle No More” is about Aboriginal rights and autonomy, and to oppose “Idle No More” is to oppose a fight against the ongoing colonization and violence perpetrated against Aboriginal peoples. I’m not saying that people need to attend every rally to somehow avoid being racist, but just because I’m not throwing around racist slurs does not mean my “intent,” put into practice, is not, ultimately, racist. Do you get that now?
By comparing someone who is calling out racism to someone who inappropriately compares an issue with the rise of Hitler, you are in fact using the very same “cheap rhetorical” tool that you claim to critique. Please do your homework before making a rhetorical analysis.
You and I are both white males living in a Western patriarchy, and because of that we have a responsibility to try to understand the world from different perspectives, which is what the author of the article published on Feb. 17 has done an exceptionally good job of doing. I am not saying that I am a perfect ally; that is something that I have to work on constantly. But I am inviting you, and all others who were fortunate enough to be born into a position of privilege, to take a closer look at your position in society and to take a closer look at the positions of others as well.
