Month: March 2021

Part 1

            Canadian’s have a stereotype known all around the world. To be Canadian is to be kind, friendly and polite. Canada is known as a cold, snowy, wooded and vast place. As a Canadian most of us know that there is some truth to these stereotypes and many of us have countless experiences that prove it. It is shown in my own self story as well as many of my peers/classmates stories. With so many similar experiences told, it’s easy to see how prominent this normative narrative is in our country.

            In Lyndzee’s story, we get a look into the “Canadian” personality even despite our brutally cold climate. It’s a common thing to see the comparison of the warm and friendly personality of Canadian’s being contrasted by our harsh weather. It is very easy to relate to this story since these acts of kindness do make the draining winter weather easier to tolerate. “As I start to brush and scrape a group of kids walking to school pass by and wave to me good morning which brought a slight smile to my face as I continue to clean off the buried car.” Almost all Canadian’s know the dreaded feeling of standing out in the freezing cold trying to clear off all the snow. The small acts of friendliness like the bundled up children giving a wave can brighten up ones day tremendously, especially during our long winters. This story brings out the normative narrative of Canada that people are always kind and friendly here, which this idealistic stereotype can be disrupted as seen in part two.

            In Jordelle’s story, the full affect of Canadian’s kind and selfless stereotype is shown. Once again facing the cold weather, a group of students are allowed to go brave the cold and help those stuck in the snow. The selflessness stereotype is shown in news stories all across Canada. It portrays Canadian’s as being kind and almost like heroes. “We provided help to anyone who needed it in the vicinity. Generally, Canadians are often perceived as helpful, polite, and considerate people and this experience helped uphold just that.” This quote shows the full affect of the normative narrative. The kindness is shown in my story as well with all the towns people gathering to support their students and Terry Fox.  As a Canadian I have witnessed these acts of kindness plenty of time, but it can not be expected to be the always norm in Canada. These stereotypes are considered to be the way of life here, which overshadows how often this stereotype isn’t true for many Canadians. Many Canadian’s uphold this stereotype because they like being idolized and thought of as the good guy. It’s easier to accept this stereotype then to look at Canada’s harsh realities.

Part 2

            Canada’s normative narrative is not hard to disrupt when you actually look at it. There are countless times in history and present day where our “kindness” is thrown out the window. However, actually bringing these issues to light instead of our stereotypes can be a big struggle. Canadian’s love to live by this stereotype and usually those that are stuck on it tend to be white, male or straight Canadian’s. This is due to them not experiencing the complete opposite of Canada’s kindness because of their identity. The “mainstream” stereotype type is idealized and silences other points of views about Canadian experiences.

            In Jerico’s story, a different aspect of Canada is shown then in the other self stories. Canada’s stereotype is disrupted. Jerico’s experience of discrimination and bullying is one felt by so many Canadian’s. “They must have never known the pain I felt when I heard words such as “fag” or “dyke”, let alone that these words were offensive.” This shows how discrimination is just as prominent in our society as these acts of kindness. Due to these “bad” Canadian stories not being shown in media about Canada, the normative narrative is upheld. It is important for all of us with different self stories about Canada to realize that many people aren’t experiencing the side of Canada that we are. Canadian’s need to highlight these experiences just as strongly to create awareness and work towards ridding Canada of its hidden discrimination.

            In the Clearing the Plains magazine write up by James Daschuk, a look into the horrible genocide of the First Nation’s people is looked at. This is a giant part of Canadian history but is once again hidden in order to not disrupt Canada’s normative narrative. People should know about this side of Canada just as much as the kind side. Canadians’ should be as passionate about educating on this part of Canada in order for a better future just as much as they are about embracing the Canadian stereotypes. Being a white Canadian my self story did reinforce the normative narrative. However even with my experiences it’s still very important to help disrupt the normative Canadian narrative as much as possible. Both these stories of Canada have truth to them and we can not just show the good side or else that is not being true to what Canada truly is.

Links:

Julie (My story)

Lyndzee’s story

Jordelle’s story

Jerico’s story

References

Daschuk, James. (2014). “Clearing the Plains”. Degrees: The University of Regina Magazine. Vol. 26, no. 2. p. 39-40

“YESSS!!” my team mate shouted as we knocked another pin down. I could feel the air rush past as the dodge balls flew by. Our team only had to knock down one more pin and we would win the best out of three games of dodgeball. We concentrated on knocking out the remaining guards on the other side. Red, orange, and purple balls tore through the air and my team mates and I grabbed at them to hurl back. Finally, someone got into the right angle to throw and the pin toppled behind the last two guards. Cheers from the team mates who were “out” filled the gym. The teacher blew his whistle and we began cleaning up. Good hearted jokes were made between friends as we all filled the packed storage room putting away the equipment. With a booming voice our gym teacher called as to gather around. With breathless smiles on our faces, we sat down on the floor, enjoying the rest as the ceiling fans cooled down the afternoon summer heat. He discussed with us how next period there would be a presentation/assembly in the gym and our great moods on a Friday afternoon increased as we realized we got to miss math. The rumble of our voices grew as we all turned to our friends excited about this good news. Smiling, our gym teacher quieted us down. The ten minute clean up bell rang out. He then informed us that we need to start setting up the chairs. We all rose and began walking over to the stage, under which the chairs were stored. Then we heard him say “just the boys. Girls you can go change”. We girls turned around surprised and exclaimed that we could help set up to. He gave us a pity smile that seemed to say “ya right” and told us “no, go change”. Tension filled the air as we all looked around at one another with fiery eyes and walked off to the girls change room. As soon as the door had closed our voices raised as we expressed our anger at this. There was around 250 chairs to set up and only about 11 boys. If we had been allowed to help, we could’ve set up for the assembly way faster. This treatment by the gym teacher we would later learn was a common thing and he only ever chose boys to help with heavy lifting around the school, even with plenty of girl hands up to volunteer their help. Our school was very sports driven and we had been keeping up with the boys completely fine for years. Yet we get told that because we’re girls we can’t lift and place plastic chairs in rows. There was not a single one of us who didn’t feel angered and bewildered by this treatment. Afterwards, the boys were not pleased about us not having to help out either. Two years later when we had a new gym teacher, every single girl picked up as many chairs at a time as they could possibly handle, trying to match and even show up the boys. Although that gym teacher wasn’t there, we all wanted to challenge his notion anyway. This continued throughout all of high school, and the boys could never complain about doing all the work again.

“Come on Mom I don’t want to be late for the party”. I was jumping around excitedly at the back door. A bright pink birthday present was in one hand and the other rested on the door knob anxiously waiting to open it and run out to the vehicle. My mom slowly made her way downstairs in an unrushed manner that was totally bizarre to my energy rushed young mind. As soon as her shoes were on, I flew out the door, runners tapping as they hit the sidewalk. I gave a heave as I slid open the heavy blue-green van door and the wrapping paper concealing the present rustled as I swung it onto the grey seat. Snap went the seatbelt into place and I clapped my hands in an excited anticipation as we pulled out of the driveway. I watched the familiar streets pass by as we headed across town. The same manners/politeness talk sounded from my mom in the driver’s seat as we grew closer to my friend’s house. The biggest smile spread across my face as the van parked on the side of the street and I saw other girls in my class arriving at the same time. My friends and I grabbed hands and danced around in the street as our parents briefly talked. Confidently walking up to the door, we knocked with two raps of our small fists. The birthday girl’s mom invited us in and took our birthday gifts for us as we left our shoes at the door. We each hugged the birthday girl and started playing with some toys as the last guests arrived. Then, the birthday girl’s mom announced that we could head to the back yard to play before the birthday games started. Twelve girls sat on the floor putting our shoes on, each declaring that we would win pin the tail on the donkey. Outside, we took turns on the swing set and talked. Some of the girls began discussing their newly bought designer jeans. They were the current big trend and each one started to show theirs off and “model” as they pretended the grass in front of us was a cat walk. My best friend and I looked at each other in our faded old blue jeans and then turned our eyes to stare at the ground. We both knew our parents could never afford to buy us such expensive pairs of jeans. Since we didn’t have any, we knew the girls would never let us have a turn modelling. Even if we did have a turn, we wouldn’t want to risk the mean comments about not having the designer jeans. Later at the party we made jokes to each other that we didn’t want the silly jeans either and that all those rhinestones on the pockets must make sitting a lot more uncomfortable. We continued our afternoon feeling happy together about our own outfits and with more confidence after being declared the winners of the two pin the tail on the donkey games. Cause who cares about designer jeans when you win a candy bag!

Your white privilege doesn’t just simply go away by not acting racist. People are so quick to prove they’re not racist because of how “bad” that is, yet they completely ignore or disregard systemic racism in our country and government. The white privilege one holds is evident immediately with the ability to say Canada has no systemic racism. It is there, you just have the white privilege in not seeing it because you aren’t affected by it. People of colour face systemic racism in their daily lives. Becoming educated on one’s white privilege and systemic racism is key to having all people in our society work together to rid the discrimination and inequality in a country that is untruly known as being completely equal to all peoples, regardless of race.

            When discussing white fragility, we can see people’s uncomfortableness to talk about race in our society. People often don’t want to believe that these aspects are so prevalent even in todays world. Ignoring the issue because it’s uncomfortable to talk about is not helping anyone so these uncomfortable conversations need to be had. For people of colour, there is no doubt about systemic racism in their society because it is very evident in their lives.

            The “bad apple” theory shows racism as an individual thing. It claims that racism only exists in todays society because of a few bad people. This belief tries to reduce the strength that racism and racist tendencies actually hold on all aspects of our life.

Whiteness is a racial construct article – https://spon.ca/whiteness-is-a-racial-construct-its-time-to-take-it-apart/2016/10/11/