The Oppression of the White Poor ...

Hello, you absolutely amazing person, you. Today I have a different kind of video for you. If you've been on my channel for any length of time or if you've watched any of my videos, you know that often I will reference oppression, specifically the oppression of Indigenous people that live within Canadian borders, because that's the work I do trying to help support and facilitate Indigenous Canadian reconciliation. But today I'm switching that a little bit because I think there's a really important conversation that has to be had. Now, the truth is, this is the third time I'm trying to shoot this video. Definitely got some tech gremlins going on. And I have to admit that my own internalized oppression had me asking, is this a sign? Is this someone telling me I shouldn't shoot this video? But for all the people that will be tempted to say thank you for this video, I'm going to push through and do it. Today we're going to talk about the oppression of the white poor. Let's talk about it. Sam. Foreign. Hi, everyone. My name is Sandy Boucher. I'm Red Thunderbolt, woman of the Loon clan, a proud member of Seine River First Nation in Treaty 3 Territory in Northern Ontario. And as I mentioned in the opening today, I want to talk about the oppression of the white poor. Truth is, I speak about oppression on a daily basis, most definitely weakly, but I'm often focused on the oppression of Indigenous people because to a large extent, Canadians don't understand that there is no past tense on the oppression of Indigenous people, that the oppression continues in modern day, in 2024, to date, this video. But often when I'm speaking, whether it's in video or live on stage, if I'm going to get any pushback from anyone, it would be either members of or people who have loved ones who could be generally classed as, as the white poor. And I've heard their voices for many years. I've even heard them say, where's our spokesperson? Where's our allies? Like you have as an Indigenous woman, You have your activist. Newcomers have their activists. Black Lives Matter. They have their activists. Who speaks up for us? And I can honestly say, as an Indigenous woman who fought for many years to have her voice, it was really easy, especially if the angry person was a white male. It was pretty easily easy to dismiss them as having privilege. We all grow hopefully and learn as we get older, but that voice has not quieted the voice of the white poor. The frustration, the anger. And in fact, lately, in my opinion, I'm starting to see even more pushback online, on social media, on comments on articles on the Internet. And I think to a large extent that explains the appeal of the conservative party. And I don't want to make this video about the conservative party because again, I want to focus on the white poor today because I think not enough people say those words. So before I jump into my point, I want to do a little background, a little context here to show how I got to what my message is for today. So quick review here. Prejudice, discrimination, oppression and the differences. Prejudice is preconceived notions. What we think in our heads before we say or do anything about a particular group. So many, many people have stereotypes in their heads about indigenous people probably inherited those teachings. You know, they heard it from their parents or grandparents, aunts, uncles. And this is not about judging the people that delivered the message because they were given that message by someone. Remember, racism is taught that little toddlers just play with little toddlers, they don't care the color of skin. There are stereotypes about white poor as well. I have used the term redneck. There are certain stereotypes about how these people, their physical appearance and even the music they listen to. I'm not going to list off any of those. I think you know what I'm talking about. So that's prejudice. And if you don't identify your prejudice, it quickly becomes the next stage, which is discrimination, which is actions or inactions taken based on the those preconceived notions, those prejudices. So this is who you choose to hang out with, this is who you choose to gossip about, who you choose to hire or not hire. Discrimination can take so many forms. The next level and even worse and even more debilitating is oppression. Because oppression is, is when discrimination is accepted by society as a whole, sanctioned by the government, or both. So as I mentioned in the case of indigenous peoples, the fact that we still do not have health care services, policing services, mental health, supports, education to the level that mainstream does, is modern day oppression. Because that's the only group this applies to. But then I started thinking, okay, wait a minute. Oppression, stereotypes accepted by society as a whole. Prejudices and discrimination accepted by society as a whole. Are the white poor treated differently by society as a whole? I think as an intelligent person, I have to say yes. And that's not minimizing what happens to indigenous people because indigenous people are not the only oppressed or marginalized group. That is just acknowledging fact in my humble opinion. Now is that would be enough to class it as oppression. The fact that it's accepted by society as a whole. But is it sanctioned by the government? As someone who was raised in and still lives in a northern part of a province and not in the large urban areas that tend to fall right along the border with the US it wouldn't be a far stretch to say that often the government forgets about us, forgets about the services we need. When you hear the stories of people who have literally lost their lives because they couldn't get to medical services in time because they're not in their community, I would be hard pressed to say that the treatment of the white poor isn't government sanctioned. So at this point, I would be comfortable in saying that the white poor are also an oppressed group. That's point number one. Now let's look at the second part and then I'll get to my point, I promise. In my seminars, I often share with my audiences what the three natural human reactions to oppression are. Which means if you're human, you're going to react in these ways that it would be a natural human reaction. This is not you attempting to do this, this how you're going to react. The first one is violence. You see that in indigenous communities, but you see it in poor neighborhoods of our municipalities as well. When the frustration is boiling over, people tend to lash out. And as I mentioned in my seminars, the problem is that frustration should be aimed at the oppressor. In this case, either the federal or the provincial government. But it's really hard to punch the federal government in the nose. So unfortunately, these people that are frustrated and angry lash out against the people that are closest to them, whether that's their children, their partner, other community members, people in a nearby municipality, or people online. Do you see where I'm going with this? The second one. Now, obviously, I don't care what your background is. Violence is not ideal. If you want to have a functioning, healthy society or community, I get that. But as an Anishinaabe kwe, as an Ojibwe female, it's the next one that scares the daylights out of me. And that's acquiescence, a really fancy way of saying giving up. And you recognize these people because they say things that involve the phrase why bother? Why bother going to school? It's not going to change anything for me. Why bother applying for that job? They don't hire people that look like me. Why bother speaking up? Why bother voting? It's not going to make a difference. The reality is I could have so easily just been describing an indigenous person or a person classed as white poor. Why? Because that's a natural human reaction to oppression. And what I spend every single day encouraging people towards is the third natural human reaction, which is nonviolent resistance. Daring not to be the stereotype instead of saying why bother saying what if it does make a difference? What if my voice does matter? What if my voice is the one added to other voices that does make a difference? In what if my vote makes a difference? It is clinging to hope because hope is the fuel we need to get past the oppression and I am living proof it can be done. I've left behind the violence and poverty and been living my dream for the last 15 years. And yes, I work incredibly hard because my dream is not to lay on a beach doing nothing. My dream is to make a difference. But my dream is also to unpack the stereotypes and misinformation I was handed. Using my brain to only hang on to what helps. And the judgment of the white poor doesn't help. And at this point we're going to get to the point of this video the big lie. And no, I'm not talking about the previous election in the us. Unfortunately, due to some really good marketing and intentional actions by the government and sometimes just natural human reactions, the white poor have been led to believe that the indigenous are the enemy. These are the white poor that rally against race based politics as if it was our choice to to be segregated out and treated differently and ostracized and secluded when the settlers got here. We would love to be treated like everyone else, but most Canadians don't realize how subpar our existence is. They see that we get our post secondary paid for and think that we have some special treatment. They don't realize our elementary and secondary levels are completely totally underfunded. So it's really easy to pay for post secondary when the odds are slim of you getting there. So to anyone who has a loved one in the classification of the white poor, please know we are not your enemy. Maybe we have been blinded by our own stereotypes and maybe we have listened to the government and turned on each other because they know they'd be in really big trouble if we ever team up. You shouldn't be forgotten either, but neither should we. We are not the enemy. The oppression is now. I don't even know if this is going to apply. If anyone who has loved ones in the white poor group or you yourself are in that group. No, you don't need to identify yourself. I'm not about centering anyone out. If you want to, great. If you don't, that's fine. But there are six proven remedies, six proven ways to overcome oppression. You can tell me if you think this would apply to the white poor. The first one is to heal, which means you have to have the conversation. You have to come together and talk about the challenges of being the white poor. And I'm not talking a mob ready to attack someone. I'm thinking more. Now, this is indigenous lens here, but I'm thinking more sitting around and sharing that, yes, this sucks, but instead of just complaining, let's do some things that are good for us. Let's take care of us. Let's treat ourselves like we have value even if other people don't see it. Their vision problem shouldn't. In is not your value problem. The second one is you have to act out. Not against each other, but against the oppression. Join us when we are marching and we will join you because neither of us are the enemy. Teach your family members. Teach your kids how to act out against oppressive legislation, not against a next door neighbor or another person in a nearby municipality or first nation community. Third, take pride in your culture. Whatever your culture is, take pride in it. You have value. I bet you have some really cool traditions and customs and I hope you're passing them on. And if you want to share them, that would be amazing. Four is protect the children. Because children's brains are not developed yet to be able to distinguish. That's valuable fact. And that's the state stereotypes. So when they hear you calling down other groups, you're teaching your kids to be oppressive. Whereas if you're open to learning and open to expanding your friend base, and yes, I'm talking to me too. Then we can overcome these stereotypes and actually turn our attention to what needs to change. H A. Oh, I forgot an A. No, that was act out against oppression. Oh, become an ally to each other. It's haa. Become an ally to each other. Support each other. Encourage each other. When you hear a friend or family member saying, why bother? Tell them why they should bother. Tell them you believe in them even if no one else does. Be that person. So heal. Act out against oppression. Be an ally to each other. Protect the children. Take pride in your culture. And last but not least, please speak up. Not in attack. Because if there's one thing I can tell you I've learned in my speaking career, when you attack, the walls go up and no one can hear you. Share your truth. And if the audience you're speaking to can't hear you, share it somewhere else and keep sharing it. Because you don't deserve to be oppressed any more than we do. And no, it's not just one group gets it. The government would love us to believe that no one should be excluded or forgotten. If we can come to that place, then all boats rise with the incoming tide. I hope that made sense. I really. I just thought it was so important to share this, because I've met that angry person, and I no longer react to the anger. Because my mom taught me that when someone's doing something you can never imagine yourself doing, ask yourself, how scared would you have to be, how overwhelmed, how alone would you have to feel for you to think that was a good action? I see the anger, but I hear the frustration. I hear the fear. I hear the pain. Because I recognize that when indigenous people speak, too, I hope this reaches the right people. I hope. I can imagine I'm going to get some backlash, but I think there's a whole bunch of people that needed someone to say that the white poor isn't the enemy either, and neither are the indigenous. Until tomorrow, I pray this video worked. I love you. Take care. Bye. Bye.