Okay. So let's start off with a bit of honesty.
I'm white. I have blue eyes, brown hair, and a darker complexion. I'm one of those "black irish" don't-you-know.
I speak french. I speak english. And I moved to the north in the past year.
I have made many friends... casual and close... since I've moved here. And just about every one of them is white.
I work in an almost all-inuk office. I'm surrounded by Inuktitut. I have adopted some verbal mannerisms (eee, and ela, and taima). I treat my co-workers with the same respect I would "down south" (and vice versa)... but when the clock strikes five, we go our separate ways... rarely, if ever, to see one another until the next morning (save the odd trip to the grocery store).
I have been to "white" gatherings where other inuk men and women have been. I have been to "inuk" parties where I was one of the only southerners there.
But again. I can say with confidence, I don't actually have any Inuit friends.
So I have to wonder. At what point does a search for shared experiences become cultural segregation and racism? How much of this is intentional, how much is me not having met "the right people"? How much is a language barrier? How much is the education factor?
I don't think of myself as racist. But I'm sure most racists don't. But I sometimes do avoid talking to Inuks in favour of white folks like myself. Now I tell myself that's because I'm scared of offending them because I don't speak their language.
So I ask you, dear readers. Is this a subverted form of racism?
Or, in the words of an Avenue Q song .... is it that "we're all a little bit racist, sometimes"?
- J
9 comments:
No, you are not a racist.
You just like hanging out with people with whom you have things in common.
Once you find an Inuk that you can share something in common with - you will have a friend.
This is an issue I've been increasingly more self-conscious about in the past year, especially with the big staff turnover at my school last fall. I agree with anonymous that people tend to hang with others with whom they share common things. My interests and hobbies are such that even "back South" I would find myself with little in common with most people my own age. (Maybe I should change hobbies :) ) It's taken time to meet and get to know Inuit in my community but one of the benefits is that I don't have to spend my weekends listening to other Southerners whine about work, money, housing etc. It gets to be a bit much. I like to leave work issues at work.
Honestly, so many people have come and gone in small communities I understand why Inuit might be hesitant to form close relationships. I can't really blame them for this.
The one thing I love about spending time with people in town is that I don't feel that sense of competition where people brag about how long they've been in the North, what places they've been to or how many years of university they went away for. I love just enjoying the long moments of silence out on the land.
Just some thoughts. A very interesting and thought-provoking post.
My advice: lose the paranoid guilt!
It is definitely not racist to want to hang out with people with whom you share common interests and experiences. I don't see too many Inuit seeking out close associations with whites either. It's not racism, it's just a normal human trait.
It might sound funny, but the longer you live in the north the less you'll feel you have anything in common with anybody! I guess that's what makes some of us a little eccentric (to put it nicely!)
L
Lovely post "J". It's quite funny for me, an Inuk, who grew up with friends who were totally non-Inuk to see someone who could be one of my friends speak with a tint of fear; to me this shows your sensitity and ability to 'judge' yourself and your motives, I think you can only enlargen your circle of friends and acquaintences with your attitude. :-)
I am just now starting to have friendships with more Inuit, I am an Inuk who doesn't speak the language and whose children have heritage from Sourthern Canada, it's all good, so beautiful all of our growing pains as Nunavumiut, so long as we keep communitcating.
:-)
Uqituq
Never judge a book by it's cover...
Very interesting post.
I find myself in a bit of a pickle here.
I am (half) Inuk - born in the north but predominantly raised in the south. I am not fluent in Inuktitut, but I know enough to not embarrass myself.
I have distinct groups of friends - divided by race mostly - and by education to a lesser degree.
I have met and befriended many a kabloonak like yourself - isolated and awkward (no offense) - just looking for someone to hang out with. I have often hung out with Group A on a Tuesday, Group B on a Thursday, A on Friday, and B on Saturday.
It's kinda weird, considering what each group thinks of the other. I enjoy talking about certain things with Group B that I can't talk about with Group A, and vice versa.
It's weird for me, running down the middle. I know it's hard for you, because like I said I've befriended several of you over the years.
Don't force it and eventually you will meet that unique individual like me.
Until then, enjoy yourself.
Great story as for me. It would be great to read something more about this matter. The only thing I would like to see on that blog is some pics of any gadgets.
Alex Trider
Block phone
It has something to do with over 200 years of discrimination, systematic racism, economic repression and an ongoing genocide!
Good people like you and i (a german happily maried to a lady of the Yupik) still have to proof that we are good by choice and not chance. Next time you run into leftovers from the above mentioned make your voice heard and fight it nail and tooth! Than see what happens! Lol
You might just run out of time to follow up on invites....Lol
I'd say racism is at the far end of a long continuum, and the characteristics of this overall continuum probably do not resemble its limiting cases (e.g. racism), and everyone falls somewhere on it. I don't know, to just use the extreme case of racism and then reapply to oneself in such an abstract way is probably just social paranoia, like considering oneself not a "true" musician because one is not in the same league as a virtuoso. Just don't be a dick is all I can say, and all anyone can really ask of you.
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