Mo Dhaliwal, a young Vancouver high-tech executive whos passionate about eliminating racism, shares Dixons assessment. Racism toward aboriginals is in Canadas bones. Dhaliwal noticed it first in Abbotsfords Punjabi community, where he grew up. Some people would talk about them, like, Theyre just a bunch of chugs, Dhaliwal says. In the Punjabi community, if you talked about Indians it was just dismissive. It was an assumption that they were savages, drunk and lazy. Dhaliwal says he believes Canadian immigrants are deeply sensitized to systemic racism because of what they face upon arrival. But they also quickly recognize Canadas racial pecking order, with aboriginals stuck at the bottom. Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, B.C.s Representative for Children, probably knows better than anyone the institutional and personal racism that aboriginals face in B.C. Turpel-Lafond - a Harvard-educated judge from Saskatchewan who is Cree - and her husband, George Lafond, a treaty commissioner in Saskatchewan, are arguably at the top of Canadas meritocracy, and look the part. But even they face racism. It is painful, I bear witness, she says. We see the situation where weve gone to the pharmacy and my husband buys mouthwash and theyve made the point to him, Please dont drink it. Its the reminder that this is how we see your family, this is how we see your children. Its imprinted on me.
Posted on: Mon, 21 Oct 2013 08:42:44 +0000