Thread by @Norlaine

I don't often agree with Don Braid, but he has written a very insightful column here. I have a few observations. 1/10
#NationalDayforTruthandReconciliation

https://twitter.com/DonBraid/status/1443636250162782209

First, the comments that follow his article prove his point. Most of them take one approach or another to defend either residential schools, or systemic racism, or both. It's actually pretty shocking. 2/10

Second, Mr. Braid has a personal reason to hope for an end to systemic racism and a dropping of the barriers for Indigenous people. He has a stake in it now, with his grandchildren. 3/10

People shouldn't have to have family affected to know that colonization, systemic racism, and the oppression endured by Indigenous People here for the past century or two is just wrong. 4/910

You don't have to be personally affected to see injustice, be horrified by it, and oppose it. All you have to be is a decent human being with a heart. 5/910

If you are sitting in your privileged, comfortable life, trying to think up justifications for what happened to these children - THESE CHILDREN - and their families, what continues to happen to all these people... Your moral compass is broken. 6/10

If you are thinking of a "Yes, but..." reply to residential schools, children in unmarked graves, disproportionate numbers of Indigenous people living in poverty, in our jails, with substance abuse issues, held back by systemic racism, just don't. 7/10

You aren't going to convince anyone with a clear head, a compassionate heart, and an ounce of morality. It's wrong. It's like arguing that slavery was a good thing, or the Jews had it coming. Just don't. You only out yourself as a racist. 8/10

"I didn't know" only goes so far as an excuse. Now you do know. What are YOU going to do? What are you going to do to educate yourself, to stop defending the indefensible, to help make change? 9/10

We, as privileged white people, have a moral duty to make things right. All of us have somewhere along the line benefitted from the grossly unequal situation here. Land and resource use is a prime example. We need to make it right. 9/10