Land Acknowledgements and Reconciling Our Settler History

[asher__jo]

If white Canadians have any responsibility to the indigenous peoples, it must be to demand their integration into settled industrial society and give them the same access to the privileges of industrial society that every other disparate ethnic group that immigrated to Canada has.

Yeah, I’m not doing anything with this ridiculous thread. Do not tag me in any further discussion

 

[Undead]

I've heard all this generic brainwashing in college and the only thing it's done is push me away from the modern left. My people were serfs for centuries and were seen as subhuman during the second world war. So miss me with all that nasty race rhetoric.

I get when you're white you can laugh off opposition to slave ownership and atrocities against people of color as 'fashionable' or synonymous with being an asshole, and nothing more, but to people of color and indigenous people, the fact that these symbols are still uplifted, supported and defended to this day show that we have a long way to go to make this an equitable and just society. Every shrug of the shoulders and dismissive response like this is a missed step on the path to progress.

 

[kyler]

I've heard all this generic brainwashing in college and the only thing it's done is push me away from the modern left. My people were serfs for centuries and were seen as subhuman during the second world war. So miss me with all that nasty race rhetoric.

oh man it's almost as if multiple kinds of people can be oppressed! But you were the ultimate victim, got it

 

[Northern Light]

oh man it's almost as if multiple kinds of people can be oppressed! But you were the ultimate victim, got it

You're being needlessly confrontational.

 

[lenaitch]

I was listening to a radio interview the other day and the person being interviewed spoken of 'settlers', used the term 'Turtle Island' and said she was part of the 'knowledge keeper' culture. I thought for certain she was Aboriginal; it turns out she was a student from South Asia.

I guess cultural appropriation isn't always considered a bad thing.

 

[Parkdalian]

Reading these responses, I can tell that issues about Indigenous people and race brings up a lot of fear and anxiety for people! It seems like people want simple answers like "the past is past" or "everyone was discriminated against in the past" so that they don't have to feel personally responsible for anything that happens in the present. But the same issues with discrimination and racism against Indigenous people are still happening now.

Picking out random people from "the left" to argue against some ideas is not very convincing because it is often a straw man argument. Are some of the people who have progressive beliefs silly, confused and not very thoughtful? Yes. But you shouldn't dismiss a belief because you can find an annoying person with that belief. You should consider the validity of the ideas themselves.

I have my own issues with Land Acknowledgements because I think they can be very usefully plugged into corporate seminars and tend to become rote. I think more institutions should be doing more for Indigenous people in general. But opposing Land Acknowledgements won't make Indigenous people's lives better, and at the very least, they do remind us of the complexity of the heritage of our country.

It's easy to say "that's not my responsibility!" or "don't make me feel guilty!" or "these folks on the left are annoying!" But it's maybe harder to actually deeply consider these ideas, and how you can try to make the world better for other people.

 

[kyler]

You're being needlessly confrontational.

I like to match the energy of the person I'm responding to.