George Orwell wrote in Animal Farm that “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” He could’ve written as readily that we’re all victims, but some of us are more victims than others. Your ancestors were placed in residential schools. Mine were gassed there. A thousand of your mothers and sisters … Continue reading INDIGENIZATION
colonialism
TRUTH versus RECONCILIATION
The truth-value of an utterance – for example that I’m going to die on such and such a date – is very often at odds with (what J.L. Austin called) its perlocutionary value – what it does for the speaker and/or listener. As it happens my affairs are in order, so if you happen to … Continue reading TRUTH versus RECONCILIATION
AT THE RISK OF SOUNDING RACIST …
Let’s not quibble about whether they came across the Bering Strait or miraculously burst into being sui generis. Let’s just say that those who descended from those who could be found in the Western Hemisphere prior to 1492 shall be its ‘indigenous’ peoples, and those who descended from those who came thereafter, mostly from Europe, … Continue reading AT THE RISK OF SOUNDING RACIST …
CULTURAL APPROPRIATION
Without social justice warriors we wouldn’t have any social justice. But every once in a while these moral crusaders get a little carried away. A case in point – well, at least on the surface - is the current crusade against cultural appropriation. Apparently, as a white woman, my wife shouldn’t be putting her hair … Continue reading CULTURAL APPROPRIATION
