Tag Archives: Racism

Racism

Module 4, Entry 5

Tyler Ohashi

Racism

Towards the end of ETEC 521, I have been thinking about racism as a result of all the discussions around the dominant Western culture. It has caused me to think about what it would be like to feel excluded and oppresses by the dominant culture.

In a short personal story from Tami Pierce, director of Indigenous Education and Community Engagement at Vancouver Community College she experiences racism by just being earshot away from a conversation about “Indians”. She was not being talked to directly, but the impacts of racism still made her feel terrible and the details of the conversation revealed how misinformation, stereotypes, and stigma are very present today. Even today, people still use a generic paintbrush to project false opinions about Indigenous populations. To counteract this display of racism, Tami advocates the importance of being proud of who you are and “It’s not about fitting in or being someone that you are not — be proud of who you are and where you come from.” Her personal story makes it clear to me the need to dispel stereotypes of Indigenous people through education and proper representation.

Next, I started wondering about “systemic racism” because it is something that I have been hearing a lot lately. Therefore I looked at how Indigenous people have been affected by racism which landed me at this paper that looks at Indigenous experiences with racism and its impacts. This paper takes an insightful look at racism with respect to government policies (including residential schools), healthcare, and the judicial system and how these impact Indigenous people. Indigenous people have been racialized by most (all) levels of government which continues to be a problem today. “Systemic racism” is something I am just beginning to understand and how big the problem really is. Directing racism at one person is small and perhaps manageable, but racism on a scale that includes all levels of modern society is hard to wrap your head around.

References

Loppi, S., Reading, C., & de Leeuw, S. (n.d.). INDIGENOUS EXPERIENCES WITH RACISM AND ITS IMPACTS. https://www.nccih.ca/. https://www.nccih.ca/docs/determinants/FS-Racism2-Racism-Impacts-EN.pdf.

Pierce, T. (2018, June 8). Racism. Indigenous Peoples Atlas of Canada. https://indigenouspeoplesatlasofcanada.ca/article/racism/.

Module 4 – Post 1 – Joining the Circle: Guide for Educators

Joining the Circle is a guide for educators that can used for students and educators of all ages; to increase the “confidence and sensitivity in education practices” to aid in facilitating the growth of Metis, Inuit, and First Nations students; to introduce schools and communities to the languages, history, perspectives, and culture of Metis, Inuit, and First Nations; and to “support our individual capacity and help create systemic change for safe, strong and free school communities with and for Indigenous students and families” (COPA, 2016, p. 9). This guide discusses the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), the Indigenous Education Strategy, the role as an educator, describes Metis, Inuit, and First Nations peoples, and the terminology that is used throughout this guide.

This guide focuses on the barriers faced by Metis, Inuit, and First Nations. Some barriers that are faced are their culture and identity, spoken language, their spirituality, the contributions they made to Canada (aka: Kanata), land, treaties, relocations, the Indian Act, Residential Schools, intergenerational trauma, racism and discrimination in students’ lives, racism and bullying, suicide, lateral violence, internalized racism, the missing and murdered indigenous women, marginalization, Indigenous youth and children that are in care, students had to study away from their home, working in reserve communities, and children having parents in prison. Yes, there are TONS of barriers faced by Indigenous peoples. It is not only residential schools.

This is such a good read for educators to educate themselves and to also find a starting point for teaching students about the different barriers faced by Indigenous peoples.

Reference

COPA. (2016). Joining the circle: Guide for educators. Retrieved from http://copahabitat.ca/sites/default/files/educatorsguide_en.pdf

The Importance of Teachers

Module 2 – Entry 5 – Tyler Ohashi

In the May/June issue of BCTF’s Teacher magazine, I came across an article authored by Kristina Cockle (2021) where she describes a teacher that had a strong positive influence on her as a person. Kristina opens her article with some background on her experiences with racism as she grew up. She witnessed major differences in the treatment of Indigenous students compared to their white counterparts. Indigenous students were considered a lower class of students. However, racism did not just affect Indigenous students, racism can affect any student. When Kristina’s grade 5 /6 teacher witnessed racism, she would call it out and provide reasoning why it is not okay. This teacher was challenging the way students interact with racism. The teacher was providing opportunities for reflective thinking, to challenge criticism, and to make things right.

(Image from May/June Teacher Magazine p.18)

I like this article because it demonstrates the importance of recognizing how influential teachers can be. We must critically assess our actions, what we teach, how we teach, the content we teach because every action we do as a teacher will have some sort of effect on our students. This article inspires me to be the best teacher I can be for my students and makes me realize I must set good examples for my students.

Reference

Cockle, K. (2021, May 1). The greatest gift was being held accountable for my racism. Teacher Magazine, May 2021. https://bctf.ca/teachermagazinemayjune2021.aspx.