{"id":44,"date":"2018-06-21T15:18:06","date_gmt":"2018-06-21T15:18:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/indigenizationinstructors\/?post_type=chapter&p=44"},"modified":"2019-08-01T20:17:27","modified_gmt":"2019-08-01T20:17:27","slug":"how-racism-maintains-inequity-and-colonization","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/indigenizationinstructors\/chapter\/how-racism-maintains-inequity-and-colonization\/","title":{"raw":"How Racism Maintains Inequity and Colonization","rendered":"How Racism Maintains Inequity and Colonization"},"content":{"raw":" \r\n
Racism remains the theory, while intolerance, prejudice, and discrimination remain its integral practice. Although race is a false category, theories of racial superiority and discrimination continue to circulate, and critical cultural studies are only one of the many ways disciplinary knowledges are unpacking, acknowledging, and hopefully terminating racism.\r\n\r\n\u2013 Battiste (2013, p. 132)<\/blockquote>\r\nColonization was built on racism. Superiority and inferiority were concepts incorporated into Canadian policy, legislation, and practice, where Indigenous peoples were identified as savages and wards of the state. As settlers came and governments were built, Indigenous Peoples\u2019 presence and resistance to assimilation created an \u201cIndian problem\u201d that worked against normalizing a story of Canada as a champion of human rights and a progressive nation. The government\u2019s ongoing need to \u201cfix the problem\u201d continues to have far-reaching effects on identity, belonging, and meaningful participation.\r\n\r\nFor example, the chief and council system imposed by the Indian Act is based on a Western patriarchal model that disregards traditional forms of governance and community wellness. It is a foreign system that conflicts with the Indigenous place-based value of traditional territory and pits families against families. The system is also largely responsible for the lateral violence or intolerance witnessed in Indigenous communities. The \u201cCrabs in the Bucket<\/a>\u201d[footnote]Crabs in the Bucket article: http:\/\/www.trueactivist.com\/crabs-in-a-bucket-as-an-analogy-for-modern-human-society\/[\/footnote] metaphor is one way to describe lateral violence \u2013 as resentment and hostility toward self-determination and success.\r\n\r\nAnother example of the disruption of families and communities through racist policy is the Indian Act\u2019s definition of who is a \u201cStatus Indian.\u201d Status could be lost by enfranchisement, which included enrolling in and attending university, serving in the military, voting in federal and provincial elections, owning land, and marriage between Indigenous women and non-Indigenous men. These and other forms of enfranchisement applied from 1857 until 1985, when they were finally dropped from the Indian Act. Indigenous women and first-generation children had to prove Indigenous ancestry to regain status. Identity as \u201cstatus\u201d and \u201cnon-status\u201d is still disruptive today and limits access to such things as the ability to live on reserve and to receive health care. \u201cStatus\u201d students can seek educational funding support from their registered community, while \u201cnon-status\u201d students cannot. Educational attainment data<\/a>[footnote]Statscan educational attainment data: http:\/\/www12.statcan.gc.ca\/nhs-enm\/2011\/as-sa\/99-012-x\/99-012-x2011003_3-eng.cfm[\/footnote] show that women make up the highest percentage of Indigenous graduates (55%) and over half of all Indigenous graduates are \u201cnon-status\u201d and live off reserve (Statistics Canada, 2011). There are multiple stories and factors behind these statistics that demonstrate the inequity of the Indian Act.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_108\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"1024\"]\"A Fig 1.2: Status identity card.[\/caption]","rendered":"

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Racism remains the theory, while intolerance, prejudice, and discrimination remain its integral practice. Although race is a false category, theories of racial superiority and discrimination continue to circulate, and critical cultural studies are only one of the many ways disciplinary knowledges are unpacking, acknowledging, and hopefully terminating racism.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Battiste (2013, p. 132)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Colonization was built on racism. Superiority and inferiority were concepts incorporated into Canadian policy, legislation, and practice, where Indigenous peoples were identified as savages and wards of the state. As settlers came and governments were built, Indigenous Peoples\u2019 presence and resistance to assimilation created an \u201cIndian problem\u201d that worked against normalizing a story of Canada as a champion of human rights and a progressive nation. The government\u2019s ongoing need to \u201cfix the problem\u201d continues to have far-reaching effects on identity, belonging, and meaningful participation.<\/p>\n

For example, the chief and council system imposed by the Indian Act is based on a Western patriarchal model that disregards traditional forms of governance and community wellness. It is a foreign system that conflicts with the Indigenous place-based value of traditional territory and pits families against families. The system is also largely responsible for the lateral violence or intolerance witnessed in Indigenous communities. The \u201cCrabs in the Bucket<\/a>\u201d[1]<\/sup><\/a> metaphor is one way to describe lateral violence \u2013 as resentment and hostility toward self-determination and success.<\/p>\n

Another example of the disruption of families and communities through racist policy is the Indian Act\u2019s definition of who is a \u201cStatus Indian.\u201d Status could be lost by enfranchisement, which included enrolling in and attending university, serving in the military, voting in federal and provincial elections, owning land, and marriage between Indigenous women and non-Indigenous men. These and other forms of enfranchisement applied from 1857 until 1985, when they were finally dropped from the Indian Act. Indigenous women and first-generation children had to prove Indigenous ancestry to regain status. Identity as \u201cstatus\u201d and \u201cnon-status\u201d is still disruptive today and limits access to such things as the ability to live on reserve and to receive health care. \u201cStatus\u201d students can seek educational funding support from their registered community, while \u201cnon-status\u201d students cannot. Educational attainment data<\/a>[2]<\/sup><\/a> show that women make up the highest percentage of Indigenous graduates (55%) and over half of all Indigenous graduates are \u201cnon-status\u201d and live off reserve (Statistics Canada, 2011). There are multiple stories and factors behind these statistics that demonstrate the inequity of the Indian Act.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"A
Fig 1.2: Status identity card.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Media Attributions<\/h2>