Review of the crisis in Attawapiskat

Housing Conditions in Attawapiskat

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The crisis of Attawapiskat has been a dominant story in recent news and part of an enduring problem among the first nations people being treated unfairly by the federal government. This review is not to focus on a particular news article regarding Attawapiskat, but a review of the maltreatment of the situation in general. This is a major problem that has a long history in this country. Attawapiskat is a first nation reserve located in northern Ontario that has had a long history of dispute with Canadian federal governments as they have been treated unfairly, it has been in the news recently as they have declared a state of emergency based on the fact that they are having an economic and housing disaster.

These particular articles engage in the dispute with the conservative party and the lack of economic support on their behalf, although they state otherwise. This is not just a lack of effort of the conservative

Review of Talib Kweli- The Proud

"The Proud"

[Talib Kweli]
The proud
Stand tall or don't stand at all, c'mon
Uhh, yeah
Break it down
What we do?

[Chorus]
We survive, it's more than pride
We stay alive, ready to ride

[Chorus - repeat through intro]

[Intro: Talib Kweli]
One two, one two yo
Aight.. put it down yo
June 21, 2001
Timothy McVeigh is executed
And the country breathe a sigh of relief
Goodness prevails over evil, it seems
Somehow when he's gone, we feel safer
Little do we know

[Verse One]
Today the paper say Timothy McVeigh's in hell
So everything's okay and all must be well
I remember Oklahoma when they put out the blaze
And put Islamic terrorist bombing, on the front page
It's like saying only gays get AIDS, propaganda
Like saying the problem's over when they locked that man up
Wrong! It's just the beginning, the first inning
Battle for America's soul, the devil's winning
The President is Bush, the Vice President's a Dick
So a whole lot of fuckin is what we gon' get
They don't wanna raise the babies so the election is fixed
That's why we don't be fuckin with politics
They bet on that, parents fought and got wet for that
Hosed down, bit by dogs, and got blacks into house arrest for that
It's all good except for that - we still poor
Money, power and respect is what we kill for, for real

Review of The Boondocks Season 1 Episode 1

This is a short clip of the episode

The Boondocks cartoon television series is a satire that fearlessly criticizes and analyses many issues of race, class, homosexuality and much more. The very first episode is a great look at whiteness and white suburbia in the United States. Huey and Riley Freeman are two young boys who were forced to move into the suburb of Woodcrest by their grandfather, Robert Freeman. After growing up in the inner city of Chicago, Huey and Riley don’t take nicely to all the whiteness around them.

On the rooftop of their new home Huey and Riley look through the scope of a toy gun and begin to point out who white people are from their perspectives, things like white people arrest you and white people have a lot of leisure time. Audrey Kobayashi mentions a lot on systemic whiteness in the university and really society as a whole, and this is portrayed throughout the episode as Huey and Riley are pushed into acting like the whites that they now live around and not to act the way they did in the inner city. They now see all whites around them, the police are white, their teachers are white, the majority of the neighbors are white and so on and due to that they are marginalized.

Review of Incognegro

Mat Johnson’s graphic novel “Incognegro” may be a story of the past, but many of the themes are still relevant even today. It is a story that takes place in the early 20^th century and follows the character of Zane Pinchback an African American reporter that is able to “pass” as white and infiltrate the lynching mobs of the south in order for exposure in the north, he refers to this risky assignment as going “Incognegro”. This is a story of history, a story of when racism was much more visible than it is today, but it illustrates many aspects of race and themes that play a big part in racism in 21^st century society.

Zane just barely made off with his life from the last mission of going “Incognegro”. He was welcomed in to the event of a lynching and he begins gathering names and addresses pretending to gather information for the people to receive postcards. The leader of the mob and member of the klu klux klan head office, Huey, finally figures out that Zane is black and the group begins chase. Huey later points out his great ability to see ones blackness even if they have pale skin. This is a very strong example of racialization and white privilege, Zane is allowed in to the group as he has “passed” as white but once the southerners label him a negro he is immediately dismissed and deemed the enemy.

Critical Reflection 5

The most interesting and unfortunate way that racism persists is systemically and it is arguably the new form of racism in the 21^st century, replacing the overt racism, not to say that overt racism doesn’t still exist. I did a reflection in response to Mills’ “Racial Liberalism” which was my personal introduction to the phenomenon of systemic or new racism. After reading Audrey Kobayashi’s “Now you see them: Woman of colour in Canadian Academia” I feel that it has really struck me how systemic racism is not only present but is all around us and in regards to her article it even prevails within the universities. As a white male it is hard to understand the real effects and feelings of being so radically marginalized and it’s hard to imagine that it would be happening even in academia. In this reflection I will be focusing on where I can see racism in the university even though it is from an outsider point of view and the other focal point will be on Kobayashi’s reference to whiteness as guilt.

Saint Mary’s University has a relatively high population of international students, many of whom are not white, and many racialized people from within the country. Before this article I would not have realized the amount of systemic racism that goes on here, I would have assumed it was almost non-existent considering the wide variety of races in its attendance. However, I now feel that I have at least a bit of background knowledge on the subject and

Critical Reflection 4

I have never walked through a store to find something on a shelf that discriminates me and/or my race nor do I encounter any day-to-day events like taking a bill out of my wallet that has a man who took part in the destruction of my people. In Michael Yellow Bird’s “Cowboys and Indians,” Yellow Bird (2004) describes many of the discriminatory events that he encounters on a daily basis due to the fact that he is an indigenous person. He comes across a bag of cowboys and Indians in a store that “reminded me that Indigenous Peoples face the humiliation of American colonialism on a daily basis” (Yellow Bird, 2004, p.33). The other important focus of his essay is the Cowboys and Indians narrative that is used to support and reinforce oppression in the tribal community where he was raised. In this reflection I will be discussing Michael Yellow Bird’s encounters with oppression and compare it to my experience of being white. I will also be linking this with Peggy MacIntosh’s White Privilege article, as it is a great guide in illustrating white privilege.

Michael Yellow Bird’s story and analysis of encountering daily oppression is a clear description of continuing American colonialism. He mentions many things that usually go unnoticed such as the men posted on the currency in which he is forced to use. Looking for a twenty he accidentally pulls out a one-dollar bill “I looked at the picture of George Washington, remembering that cowboys call this guy one of the founding fathers of the United States while the Seneca called him ‘Caunotaucarius’ (the town destroyer)”(Yellow Bird, 2004, p.37). He then goes on to mention many of the other bills and the link between the men displayed and their contributions to the destruction of Indigenous peoples. This is interesting to me because throughout my life and other whites or “cowboys” George Washington is described as our hero, which is reinforced in history classes throughout our lives. So why is it never mentioned that he was responsible for so much chaos, slaughtering villages and leaving many to starve? Clearly the white colonial power resists teaching information that makes the white man look bad and by ignoring the true and unbiased account of history they remain a dominant force.

Critical Reflection 3

The article that has stuck out to me most recently and perhaps more than any other is Peggy McIntosh’s “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack.” I think it caught my eye because I can relate to what she is discussing and identify with the same privileges discussed in the article. McIntosh does a fantastic job in recognizing the unearned advantages of being white that would otherwise be unnoticed and taken for granted, some of which I would have never thought of before reading it. McIntosh also reveals the systematic aspect of whiteness and how it is continually taught to us throughout our lives without really knowing, as a sort of hidden curriculum. In this reflection I will both analyze the content of white privilege as well as discuss how I can relate to what it is saying, perhaps it will raise my consciousness of daily privileges because of the unearned advantage I have been given.

Peggy McIntosh brings up an interesting point at the beginning of her article where she draws a line between male advantage and the advantages of whiteness, where one looks upon the “others” as being disadvantaged rather than viewing themselves as the advantaged. Males may agree that women are systematically disadvantaged but will not