White Cringe

Okay, so this is where I admit that I have an absolute obsession with United States politics right now. Just. Just that dumpster fire that is going on with one party determined to destroy processes just so they can say they won. It's insane. And of course, I'm talking about Donald Trump and his upcoming pending charges. Like, there's so many he's dealing with. But I was watching a news report and they mentioned a concern they have, and it got me thinking about what's going on in Canada. Let's talk about it. Hi, everybody. 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, I spend a fair bit of time watching videos on everything that's going on south of our border in the US Everything to do with Donald Trump. And how is he still front and center then? I could go off on a tangent here, but I wanted to speak to one specific thing. So he's still doing this thing, releasing his messages, spreading lies, the whole nine yards. And one of the news reports I was watching was they're getting very concerned about the jury pool because they're listening to all of this stuff. And one of the commentators mentioned that the jury might be more white than usual. Now, interesting phrase. But in that second, because of the work I do, I kind of stopped and kind of grinned because I could hear the blowback. I know that so many non indigenous people in Canada would have a serious concern. They would have a problem with someone describing a jury as more white. And I can hear them because we hear them every single day. What does my color have to do with it? Why? Why? You know, why can't you just talk about the jury? Why are you going to talk about whiteness? Why does this keep coming up? Never used to happen and now it happens all the time. Why is this happening? That's not the funny part. That's problematic at its core. What I thought was funny is so often these are the people, when they're sitting in their coffee shops or sitting on a couch at home, will describe the beautiful black singer instead of just a beautiful singer, or they'll talk about the Mexican comedian rather than just a comedian. They have absolutely no problem throwing someone else's color or race into the discussion like it's necessary, because to them it is. But they push back when it's their color that's highlighted. Now, that's why I called this blog post the White Cringe. Because honestly, we don't need whitewashing. We don't need the people that say, I don't see color. Because that's just minimizing someone's experience. Experience. What we need to do is get to the point where no matter what shade or color you are, that you're treated equally, that you have the same opportunities and maybe even the same disadvantages as everyone else. Because at that time, the conversation will change and we will focus on skills and experience rather than color. But that can't happen. And you can't just take the black experience or take the indigenous experience out of the conversation. Not as long as those experiences are so incredibly different than the white experience. So do yourself. Check. Do you throw color in there as a habit? I have no problem mentioning it if it's relevant to the conversation or the context or whatever you're discussing. If it's not, why are you doing that? Isn't it time you stop? Something for you to think about over the weekend. I will be back next weekend with yet or next weekend Next week with another round of videos for your consideration. Everything reconciliation is on the table, offered to you through indigenous eyes. Until next week. I love you. Take care. Bye. Bye.