Awareness alone won’t end racism and inequity
Survey finds Canadian attitudes toward Aboriginal Peoples remain deeply entrenched
One year after the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of Canada described Indian residential schools as a tool of “cultural genocide,” Environics’ Survey of Canadian Public Opinion on Aboriginal Peoples has revealed some hopeful trends. Canadians’ awareness of residential schools and their consequences has increased and more than three-quarters express interest in learning about Aboriginal cultures.
However, the survey also finds that a majority of Canadians (58 per cent) have not read or heard about the TRC, 95 per cent cannot name a single Call to Action, and negative attitudes remain deeply entrenched.
Two-thirds of Canadians believe that Aboriginal people feel “entitled” to support from government and taxpayers. Many claim that Indigenous people themselves — rather than Canadian government policies or public attitudes — are “the biggest obstacle to achieving social and economic equality.” And although most Canadians endorse the principle of reconciliation, support for specific measures, such as whether Indigenous people should control their own lands and resources, is lower.
Among the most significant findings is that, on average, Prairie residents have more negative attitudes than other Canadians toward Indigenous people.
Residents of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta are more likely to blame Indigenous people for their economic and social problems, less likely to acknowledge Indigenous peoples’ unique rights as the first inhabitants of Canada, and more pessimistic about the prospects for reconciliation. They are also more likely to endorse racial stereotypes. This is intriguing because the Prairie Provinces have a higher percentage of Indigenous residents than many Provinces where attitudes appear more positive.
According to many Canadians’ “common sense” and greater contact between members of different groups should reduce stereotypes and prejudice and facilitate more harmonious relationships. Many social psychologists agree. However, my own research on Indigenous-settler relations challenges this assumption.
The first problem is that proximity does not necessarily mean contact. In the Prairies, residents tend to be spread out over vast distances. Even within cities such as Winnipeg and Saskatoon, a high degree of residential segregation reduces the chances for meaningful interaction.
Thus, Indigenous and non-Indigenous residents may be making far less contact than one might expect.
Nevertheless, the Environics survey does find that residents of Western provinces are more likely to report at least occasional contact with Indigenous people than residents east of Manitoba.
The problem is that many of these interactions may not be occurring under favourable conditions. According to sociological group threat theories, contact under conditions of resource competition — competition for control of land, natural resources, jobs, post-secondary scholarships, etc. — may exacerbate inter-group tensions and racial prejudice.
When marginalized groups stand up for their rights and challenge the status quo, as Indigenous people have been doing across Canada, backlash is almost inevitable. Hence, the uptick in racist violence in response to the Idle No More movement of 2012/13.
But surely not all inter-group interactions are negative. In their daily lives, many Indigenous and non-Indigenous people work, shop and play together, become friends, and intermarry. With a growing number of Indigenous people living off reserve, such interactions may be increasing.
Yet, even under such circumstances, my research shows how a distinct set of social processes enables many non-Indigenous Canadians to uphold racist attitudes.
For one, Indigenous people who violate stereotypes are seen as “good Indians,” exceptions who prove the rule.
Similarly, many Canadians take comfort in (the minority of ) Indigenous people who perpetuate stereotypes about their own people.
Above all, Indigenous and non-Indigenous friends and neighbours tend to agree to disagree and avoid more than surface-level conversations about such uncomfortable topics as racism and colonialism and how non-Indigenous Canadians have benefited from these processes.
Yet, as the TRC report suggests, it is precisely these conversations we need to have if there is any hope of reconciliation. Non-Indigenous Canadians need to take responsibility for learning about residential schools and other colonial policies, as well as the ways in which we remain complicit in the structural oppression of Indigenous peoples.
Non-Indigenous Canadians need to realize that we have much to learn from Indigenous peoples, including knowledge about how to live in more just and sustainable ways.
At the same time, we cannot expect all Indigenous people to be willing to share, especially given the colonial trauma that many have experienced. We must earn their trust.
And this begins not by viewing them as “entitled,” but rather by questioning our own sense of entitlement to Indigenous lands and resources, by supporting apologies with meaningful actions to rectify injustices, and by honouring peace and friendship treaties.
Racism and inequity cannot be ended by contact or awareness alone, but only by accepting a genuine shift in power and resources to the original peoples of this land.