RustyBadger

So, those of you who know my family know that Thing Two, who is 12, attends a small school where he is the only non-native kid (at least since the Mexican girl moved away!). This, I think, is great, because it gives him a chance to experience a different culture without having to travel a long way from home. He gets along great with the Nisga’a kids, and nobody bugs him because he’s white (not seriously, anyhow), and he doesn’t get bullied because he’s part of a visible minority. But he does get to experience racism first hand, which is something I had hoped to avoid. After all, this is the 21st Century, right? And racism should only be rearing its ugly head in Third World countries like Sudan and Iraq, right? Hmm….nope! It’s alive and well right here in Canada, that Most Enlightened of Nations.

What happened is this: a local agency ran a contest, in essay-writing, with a top prize of a brand-new Toshiba laptop. It was advertised in Thing Two’s school, along with a number of other First Nations schools in our area. Unfortunately, it was only open to Native students. Funded, of course by federal dollars (through Human Resources Development Canada). Needless to say, he was a bit disappointed, since he’s a pretty creative writer and knew he had a good chance of winning, or at least coming close. The Goddess and I encouraged him to express his frustration in a constructive manner by writing an essay for the contest regardless, and perhaps using the opportunity to address the conflict caused by the entry criteria. This he did, with the support of his teacher and principal, and off went the entries.

When the dust settled FOUR of his 12 classmates had won shiny new lappys and he had received a nice letter from the agency telling him to get stuffed for being white. Ok, it wasn’t quite like that, but here’s a great quote:

“First Nations have always been separated from everybody else for almost two hundred years and counting. I do not anticipate this to change in my lifetime.”

And the really funny one (from the same person, no less!):

“…we encourage you to continue working hard in school and consider our program again this fall if you fit our eligibility criteria.”

Erm, WTF? Is he going to get Status all of a sudden? He’s a WASP, for crying out loud - his ancestors are Irish and English; they were United Empire Loyalists! How does he have a hope in hell of ever meeting the criteria when the ONLY criteria is to BE A NATIVE? Sheesh - logic, people?

At any rate, it did give us a chance to have a good talk about racism and how hurtful it is. We got to discuss the fact that it’s important for children to be punished for the poor behaviour of their ancestors (or other people who lived at the same time as their ancestors). It was helpful to explore the positive aspects of racism - how it’s important that regardless of who you are, or what colour your skin is, if you’re a visible minority you need to experience discrimination of some sort in order to better understand the Human Experience.

Actually, that last paragraph is utter bull - I think we said “Get used to disappointment” in that particular voice Wesley used in The Princess Bride. Because in our family, we prefer to use humour to triumph over other people’s stupidity and ignorance.

Anyways, I have to go now - Thing Two is challenging me to a game of Halo and I can’t put off my imminent thrashing any longer. He seriously pwns me every time, but I would kick his tahookas in chess, and he knows it!