SOCI-1015EL Lecture 11: Race & Ethnicity
16 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
SOCI 1015
Jan 9, 2018
Race and Ethnicity
•Introduction to “Race”
•“Race” was first applied to humans during the European colonial expansions in the 16th
and 17th century
•reflects beliefs about biological superiority and inferiority
•does not exist as clear biological entities among humans
•difficult to define how many races there are
•differences within races are greater than between them
•Racialization- social process in which human groups are viewed and judged as “different”
in terms of:
•intellect
•morality
•Values
•Innate worth
because of the perceived differences in physical appearance or cultural heritage
•Indigenous Peoples in Canada
•Indigenous peoples have been living in what is now known as Canada for 14,000 years
•indigenous population- racialize in 16th century as a result of European colonization
•settlers and their descendants have lived in this land (canada) for only 3.3% of it’s history,
yet indigenous history is largely ignored/unknown
•Indigenous people tend to be studied mainly by outsiders and predominantly from the
perspective of social problems
•Cindy Blackstock VIDEO (2016)
• Gibson first nation
•Indigenous peoples getting less money due to racial discrimination via government
•incremental inequality- “isn’t this a good start”. created by people who are already
equal
•22-30% less money to first nations children welfare
•2007- human rights case against federal government
•Federal gov tried to get the case dismissed 8 times
• first nations kids are 12x more likely to be in foster care
•fed gov needs to end racial discrimination and boost all programs, not just education
and housing
•“first nations only get medical equipment every 5 years”
•GOV lost the case and was ordered to stop being mcfucking racist but they aint even
listen
•12-14x greater for indigenous kids to go into the system
•Indigenous peoples in Canada
•How did we get Indigenous People?
•“defined” by complex legal system
•different statuses separate them from non-indigenous peoples and each other
•each other?
•registered Indian, bill C-31 Indian, band member, reserve resident, treaty indian,
metis, eskimo
•Staus vs non-status indian, Metis rights bearing, Metis non-rights bearing citizen,
eskimo/inuit
•Where do legal statuses stem from?
•Indian Act- 1876
•federal act- department of indigenous and northern affairs
•Patriarchal undertones (sexism)
•up to 1985, Indian Act only recognized men as registered Indians
•First nations women’s status was through marriage w man
•First Nations children’s status from father
•Where do legal differences stem from?
•inuit defined as those who have been in Canadas of a shorter time and occupy
arctic territory
•Metis or metis
•Metis- descendants of French fur traders and Cree women (LIE)
•Metis- descendants of European fur traders and first nation women
•Blacks in Canada
•black communities have existed in nova scotia since the british proclamation of 1779
•offered freedom to slaves who left their American masters to fight for the british in
the American revolution
•population remained low until the 1970’s
