If Santa Clause were an academic school of thought, kid would be father
If only we had the massive media coverage of the failure of so many of Canada’s native communities that we do of Haiti’s catastrophe.
First off, community is an ambiguous term that could be used to describe any populace. Therefore describing an arbitrary concept with a dichotomous modifier is manipulative bullshit. Second, Mrs. Jacobs suggests there is a direct correlation between media coverage and an effective public response, regardless of the event being covered. By this logic, if the condition of my socks received similar coverage to that of the suffering of the Haitian population, my mailbox would be overwhelmed with athletic, dress, wool, argyle, even tubes and my bedroom invaded by supportive NGO and Military personnel.
Battered Haiti is struggling to rise from the ashes of unimaginable suffering, and the world – touched by terrible images of death, destruction and dire need – has reached out to help.
Phoenix always be rising from the remnants of burnt anguish
A cataclysmic act of God has kept Haiti in the media spotlight for days. But the steady drip-drip of dysfunction eroding native culture in this country is almost always ignored, partly because we historically never cared about natives and partly because so many of the problems are far away and, therefore, unseen.
AH, the transition. Where Mrs. Jacobs establishes herself as The Champion of an issue, intentionally, achievement gaps in education, unintentionally, the failure of Mindelle Jacobs’ school district, that we’ve all forgotten since the emergence of the attention-grabber, Haiti. Issue fumble!! Jacobs Recovers!! She begins by criticizing our focus, scolding our inability to ignore a Cataclysmic Proof of a Higher Power that’s destroyed the lives of millions. If only we weren’t idiots. Good start to securing non-idiocy: not reading the work of Mindelle Jacobs.
Mrs. Jacobs criticizes our benign reaction to the metaphorical leaky faucet that apparently encapsulates reserve inequality. There are two reasons for this; 1) historical disregard and 2) the apparent worldview shared by every Canadian, don’t see/don’t exist. With regard to #1, although there are many examples of Canada’s mistreatment of Native peoples, it might be difficult to prove that a modern Nation’s disregard for their countrymen is due to an insidious virus found in our history books. No matter though, since Mrs. Jacobs doesn’t again address our apparent genetic deficiencies. Jacobs just tossing it out there, yo. Reason #2 for our indifference;
Few Canadians ever have been on a reserve or passed through any of the tiny, northern communities, largely populated by aboriginals. The complex difficulties faced by natives might as well be happening on the other side of the world as far as the rest of us are concerned.
As opposed to Haiti, which in Mrs. Jacobs defense, is located within our side of the world. “Our side of the world” being used in the manner of community, or arbitrarily quantitative. Mrs. Jacobs’ frequent use of vague language does little to prove her authority. When Mrs. Jacobs mentions “Northern Communities”, what exactly does that refer to? Every small town North of 100? The Trans-Canada highway? The border? Regardless of where Mrs. Jacobs finds her South ending, it is unlikely the townships of NorthWorld are “largely populated by aboriginals” considering people with Aboriginal ancestry represent 4.4% of Canada’s population. Although, Mrs. Jacobs is fond of using a single example to prove a generality, so look out Moose Factory, you’re about to be exploited by a lazy columnist! (I believe she borrowed her can’t see/don’t exist criticism from a discussion in Disney’s The Santa Clause)
The Northland School Division covers a huge geographical area, serving about 3000 students in 23 off-reserve schools. Almost all of the pupils are native. Only 20% of them finish high school and the achievement tests are dismal. In 2008-2009, less than 30% of the Grade 9 students reached an acceptable reading level, compared to the 82% provincial average. Norhland’s experience unfortunately reflects that of many aboriginal communities, both on and off reserve. (3 Sentences Down) It makes one wonder if natives would have been better off economically and culturally if the Indian Act, reserves and the entire Indian Affairs bureaucracy had been abolished 40 years ago, as proposed by the Liberal’ 1969 White Paper.
First off, Northland’s experience does not accurately reflect that of “many” Native communities. If Mrs. Jacobs took time out from exploiting fantastic examples of incompetence and borrowing rhetorical techniques from childrens’ films, she might find that 60% of on-reserve citizens aged 20-24 have not completed high school. While this is unquestionably unacceptable for any sample of any populace of any developed country, a nation-wide statistic would be a more compelling example than a singularly ineffective school board. It merely shows Mrs. Jacobs disregard for her own topic, ironically others’ disregard. Secondly, if Mrs. Jacobs had simply visited a few government websites or done a simple scholar search, she would have found that federally-operated reserve schools, when compared with their provincially-operated off-reserve counterparts, lack funding and oversight. Because of the difference in centralized authority, comparing provincially and federally run schools is a gross oversimplification that ignores quite a few relevant variables. But finally we come to Mrs. Jacobs actual intention: criticizing an entire ethnicity!
Canada continues to import thousands of temporary workers to fill various jobs – even in the midst of a recession. Instead, we should be doing whatever is necessary to keep aboriginals in school. As Alberta Education Minister Dave Hancock declared: “We can’t risk losing a generation of young people” Integration into mainstream society doesn’t have to mean losing your cultural identity. On the contrary, integration is the path to prosperity and self-fulfillment for those who pursue advanced education.
First off, I enjoy how Mrs. Jacobs appropriates Mr.Hancock’s quote in order to suggest assimilationist policy. We must do whatever it takes to teach kids Anglo-Saxan values and rid ourselves of our dependency on immigrant imports. In the name of Nationalism and basic human decency, we must save our confused young from the complexities and dysfunction of familial autonomy. Secondly, we do not import human beings. We are not Lima beans to be shipped. Canada attracts, screens, admits or denies. Finally, I love how she bifurcates the issue of integration. According to Mrs. Jacobs, integration is either 1) the loss of your cultural identity or 2) the path to prosperity and self-fulfillment. Two sides to a coin them two.
The future is increasingly in urban Canada, not in isolated native communities with few jobs. How carefully is native culture being nurtured if parents don’t care enough about their children’s fate to send them to school?
Well, I’m going to go out all a my limbs and say that the vast majority of Aboriginal students attend school. It’s called the law! The problem is seeing students through. Secondly, the schools found in isolated Native communities are underfunded, neglected, and employ an unstable teaching force. Blaming Native parenting for the consistent failings of the Canadian government seems unfair. But let’s allow a response from the attacked, huh? Who better to represent Aboriginals than this guy!?!? And let’s misrepresent his insights!!
Education is an ideogically charged issue because of the brutal history of residential schools, notes John Richards, a public policy professor at Simon Fraser University.
“Then there’s an undercurrent that those who do get high school are more likely to leave (reserves and aboriginal communities) and that’s a delicate issue” he says.
There’s a feeling among Native traditionalists that if you get educated and leave the reserve, you’re turning your back on your heritage, he explains. On the other hand, we’re slowly generating urban aboriginal professionals who are proudly aboriginal.
According to Mr. Richards, according to Mrs. Jacobs, the so-called Native traditionalists, whose old-school stance on modern education dates back to Champlain’s day, are irrational and incendiary obstacles to progress. Twins!!
Natives need to realize that a lack of education is the death of culture, not its preservation.
Wow, patriarchal and condescending instruction for an entire ethnic group. Who’s the traditionalist?
So, to summarize;
If Canadians weren’t so interested in God Acts, they realize Native parenting sucks. See, students in a “Northern” “community””largely” populated by Native peoples are failing at an alarming rate of alarm, which is exactly the rate at which other Native students fail, making it unalarming. Isolated incident make me wonder about Paper written about Indians and ignore relevant evidence of overwhelming mass. No mattah, this guy says something which I believe meant the failures are due to obstructive traditionalists spreading views on modern education, dated BC. Risks=Immigrants. But don’t they see integration = this, not that. Check out professionals here, and there. Must realize education = good. Proof = me
Native problems are national issues – Edmonton Sun
Erecting Scarecrows 