Monday, December 11, 2006
Tidy Whities
Last weekend, my family and I travelled to take in one of our favourite new Christmas traditions. For the past five years, the teeny town where I was born plays host to an annual Dickens festival. Although my feeings about my home town have always been mixed, I have to admit that my paisans are experts in the tourist trade and know how to stage a good event.
The fesitval features strolling singers dressed in period costumes, local children dressed as beggars (proceeds to charity, allegedly), street vendors (serving such things as authentic, old English-style chilli-in-a-bread-bowl) and some cheesy yet charming excuses for street decoration (e.g. the local drugstore transformed into "Ye Olde Apothecary").
The pinnacle of the fesitival is the nightly performance of the Dickens play. Local amateur actors, singers and musicians rehearse for months to put on musical versions of the Christmas Carol which, some years, are not half bad.
This year the performance was, well, quite odd. The festival organizers like to vary the scripts for the play and this year they chose Christmas Is Comin' Uptown. The twist to this version of the Christmas Carol is that Scrooge is depicted as a Harlem slumlord. The play, originally performed on Broadway by the late Gregory Hines, is intended to be performed by an all-black cast.
Now, at this point, you may be asking yourself: How many black people are there in small-town Western Canada? The answer of course is none. In fact, the people in my home town are probably, physically and culturally, among the whitest people you will ever see, owing to the fact that their skin only sees the sun for maybe four months of the year.
The local drama hippies who put on the play were very careful to make sure that the production wasn't offensive in any way. The play of course wasn't done in black face and the actors were careful to avoid any "Ebonic" accents. But this only made the production that much more peculiar, because the script was clearly meant to delivered in a colourful, yellin'-and-screamin', "Lord help me!"-style. Watching these whitest of white people trying to bring life to this script was rather like watching zombies trying to disco dance. Hilarious!
Meanwhile, downstairs an hour before the play started, a much more subtle yet more compelling drama had played itself out as some special guests from the neighbouring reserve failed to appear. My home town, you see, is basically a conjoined twin of a town. A few miles down the road is an Indian reserve - or "First Nations community", as the current euphemism goes. Ghetto is what it should be called, if we were all speaking the truth.
The two communities have existed side-by-side for over a century. They are intimately connected to one another and yet they are not. Whenever they can help it, the two communities, by mutual consent, have little to do with one another.
Growing up, I was witness to some of the worst forms of racism imaginable, things many people wouldn't believe would still be going on in the latter 20th century. At that time, back in the 70s and 80s, there was informal yet strict segregation. White bar, Indian bar, white coffee shop, Indian coffee shop. Woe to he who forgot the dividing lines...woe which sometimes took the form of brutal beatings by gangs of rednecks.
For this among other reasons, I was quite happy to leave that town.
That was then and this is now. There has been quite a lot of rapprochement between the town and the reserve these days, thanks to that great salve called money. The people in my home town love, above all things, tourism money. In our province, only First Nations are allowed to operate casinos and the reserve back home now has a nice fancy gambling den. They also have piles of new oil money filling their coffers. Now the townsfolk are only too eager to court the reserve folk.
But, after generations of truly brutal oppression, the reserve folk are not about to be turned so quickly. A local native dance troupe had been invited to perform at the Dickens festival, but at the last minute they decided they had no taste for such a "European" event. The townspeople were miffed, but they had it coming.
Over the entire weekend, I don't think I saw even six native faces in the crowd. I remembered that, as a child, I never ever went to the traditional pow-wows or other festivals on the reserve, even though they were just a few miles down the road and said to be very spectacular. The whole situation, the "two solitudes" of the communities is very sad.
Part of the cause of the natives' lingering anger against the townies is the poverty that continues to consume life on the reserve. This, it must be said, is very strange. The place is awash in gambling and oil money, yet many residents live in Third World conditions.
The reasons for this are many and complicated, but to my mind one of the major reasons for native poverty is the blatant corruption of First Nations' political and economic elites. A few natives (and the non-native lawyers who back them) are growing very rich while the majority of the native population lives wretchedly.
Now, it seems to me that I once heard an adjective to describe such a situation...where some people are very rich and others very poor...now what was that word...oh yeah: Dickensian!
So, while the townsfolk were busy pathetically trying to capture the culture of Harlem - a place so far removed from their experience that it might as well be another planet - right outside their doors stories were going on exactly like the ones Dickens had tried to tell.
Wouldn't it be fantastic, absolutely mind-boggling, if one year the townsfolk screwed up their courage, joined with the reserve and wrote themselves their very own all-singing, all-dancing, all-native version of the Christmas Carol? Just imagine the message that would send across the country. Just imagine the tourist traffic the controversy would generate!
Heavy thoughts about a little town festival, I know. Maybe too heavy. But on the other hand what is Christmas - and Dickens - for if not to make us think about how we can be better to one another through the year?
posted by Mentok @ 5:06 p.m.,
15 Comments:
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At 4:46 p.m.,
Bathroom Hippo said...
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They had it coming? I don't think so. Doesn't matter if there is some unforgiven bullshit racism from years ago...
I assume there was some sort of agreement that the Indian folk would be coming? Otherwise why depend on them?
If there was an agreement of some sort...then the townsfolk didn't deserve it.
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If the townsfolk wrote and performed a native version of the Christmas carol it would be no different than a high-school play. So I would have to disagree with controversy theory.
Now if you want to create controversy...have a Royal Rumble.....white folk vs indian folk. No scalping! -
At 10:18 p.m.,
said...
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I live in a city that is supposedly 25% native. I think it's likely more like 50%.
There is a huge rift between the two cultures. I don't know if it will ever be corrected.
All white people are considered racist here. And any attempts to be friendly are rejected..
And the reserves here are just like yours. Massive poverty with a few rich band leaders.. -
At 10:22 a.m.,
FiL said...
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Dearest Mentok, full points for grabbing another throrny issue and holing it up for all to see! Live those questions...
Dearest Hippo,I really don't think you can dismiss the impact of the European arrival in North America on already-present peoples (i.e. First Nations) as "unforgiven bullshit racism from years ago." In Canada the First Nations were subjected to a deliberate, systematic, and often brutal campaign to eradicate and assimilate their culture. This occurred within living memory - the last of the Indian Residential Schools, which were a major tool of the campaign, was closed in 1979.
And as for a Royal Rumble without scalping, sdounds fair - as long as the white folk leave their Winchesters and smallpox-infected blankets at the door... ;-)
One more observation: I tend to agree that there seems to be a fair amount of corruption among the First Nation ruling elite. But is that really so different from other cultural groups, including the hegemonic European one? That's not an excuse, nor an apology, nor an acceptance. But I don't think it's really fair or correct to implicitly hold the First Nations to a higher standard.
Just as a backgrounder, my daughter goes to a school that has a significant proportion of First Nations students and a well-developed set of programmes aimed at integrating them while respecting and celebrating their culture. And yes, despite all this, there still exists a de facto divide. But again, we can only live the questions and try to move forward with respect and compassion. -
At 11:01 a.m.,
Mentok said...
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Hippo - Fil, darn him, has already stolen my comment here...the racism in my home town is not some forgotten relic of the past, it's a stinking, festering disease that's very much alive in the here and now, so it isn't something we can just blow off.
happy and blue - my city is much the same. There is a huge, largely native zone of crime and poverty at the centre of the city. Development has become donut-like. City planners seem content to let the core rot and just build around it.
FiL - my personal take on the human race is that we are a species of monkeys. By nature we are vain, stupid, mean and greedy as all apes are, so we can never judge or condemn humans collectively for such behaviour. Instead, we should laugh and delight in the sheer absurdity of our species' behaviour.
We can, however, judge and condemn such behaviour in individuals. A man who withholds social assistance cheques from a poor family in order to silence political dissent or who diverts money meant for public housing to build himself a beach house in California is an evil man no matter the colour of his skin.
The ridiculous situation in Canada today is that we are supposed to turn a blind eye to such evils because otherwise we are "racist" and "not respecting native culture". Such statements are just manipulations used to cover the sins of wicked people.
Corruption is native to the human race, not the aboriginal one, but that does not mean we have to tolerate it.
(So far, you're hearing my bleeding heart opinions on this very complex subject. I also have a whole 'nother set of more inflammatory opinions that I'll save for another time. Plenty of blame to go around in this mess, I think.) -
At 11:32 a.m.,
FiL said...
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Dearest Mentok: We are in violent agreement, and our hearts bleed together. Indeed, we should not turn a blind eye to corruption simply out of fear of being labelled racist. We should challenge it wherever it festers.
My point is that too often the hegemonic culture uses the charge of "corrupt natives/minorities" as an excuse not to face up to issues of racism and inequality. "Oh, we can't do anything, their leaders are rotten." Doesn't cut it or grant absolution in my books. To take it one step further, history is full of examples where hegemons actually rely on corrupt rulers of minority or dominated cultures precisely to maintain their hegemony. -
At 11:47 a.m.,
Mentok said...
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Fil - your point about "hegemons" exploiting corrupt leaders is well taken. I alluded it to it in my comment about lawyers. There is a whole class of non-native lawyers who are growing very rich propping up these corrupt leaders. It's not in the interest of these lawyers to resolve problems; the longer a problem lasts, the more billable hours, eh?
I also agree that natives' internal problems is no excuse to throw up one's hands and say 'we can't do anything'. I hear way too much of that in political circles.
One thing for sure is that the current approaches to native issues in this country are not working. They are so not-working that it's almost comically absurd.
According to one stat I've read, combined fed-prov spending on natives in Canada comes to $50,000 per native person per year...but most of that ends up in the pockets of lawyers and corrupt chiefs.
Just like dealing with Third World problems, if we could just find a way to get money directly to the people who need it, we'd all be further ahead. But there doesn't seem to be the political will to attack the many absurdities of the current policies. -
At 11:50 a.m.,
FiL said...
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Amen!
Now about that lamp... -
At 11:53 a.m.,
Bathroom Hippo said...
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Perhaps I am unfimiliar with the historical dilemnas of your region...
My dad was a racist...but I never learned racism. I've got two black cousins, and deal with black folks every week in school or around campus.
I don't believe in reparations of any sort, and nor do I want to apologize for something my ancestors have done. I think there is a culture of reversed-racism now...and I don't agree with you or FiL that WE DESERVE ANYTHING for bullshit racism of the past. It's called reversed-racism..and two wrongs don't make a right. -
At 12:15 p.m.,
Mentok said...
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Hippo - you are not wrong about reverse racism. That is definitely a factor. On the other side of the coin of this whole issue, I get annoyed when people (native leaders and their lefty admirers) try to re-invent the "noble savage" notion, suggesting that aboriginal North Americans are somehow naturally more spiritual and more in tune with nature than other humans.
As for people feeling they "deserve something", you may have mistook what I meant, since it really cuts the other way. If you act shitty to someone and then suddenly decide you are going to be nice to them, you should not assume that you deserve to be forgiven by your victim right away. It would be nice if that happened, but you shouldn't expect it. Actions have consequences. Am I making any sense?
The country of Germany to this day willingly pays reparations to the state of Israel. Can it be said fairly that the German nation owes the Jewish nation a tangible debt? Yeah obviously. And from a moral standpoint what we did, as late as the 1970s, to native people is just as bad as what the Nazis did.
As for reparations, the complicating factor in this country is that we signed various treaties with native nations. These documents are as legally binding and court-enforceable as a property deed inherited from your grandparents. Unfortunately, the treaties are also ridiculously complex and often contradictory, because the white government at the time did not sign them in good faith and clearly didn't think they'd ever have to fulfill these contracts.
So it's a sticky wicket all around, no easy solutions. Patience and compassion are the only things that will help. -
At 12:18 p.m.,
Mentok said...
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Fil - Oh, there you go about that damn lamp again. Really, it's partly your fault for putting it so close to the phone. Did you ever think of that? I'm tired of dealing with this unforgiven bullshit from the past ;-)
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At 12:20 p.m.,
FiL said...
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Racist... ;-)
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At 12:31 p.m.,
FiL said...
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Dear Hippo: Indeed, the only things I see as deserved and required by all sides are respect, compassion, understanding, and responsibility.
And I must disagree with you regarding responsibility for one's ancestors. By virtue of the simple fact that we live in a social group, we assume rights and responsibilites that are to varying degrees a function of what our forebearers did or did not do. I'm not saying reparations or reverse-racism, as you call it, should necessarily follow, but I do strongly believe we do have a responsibility to address the continued effect of past events/actions.
And in case I forget later, Happy Holidays or Merry Christmas (delete as appropriate) to you & yours. Yes, that may be a wooly liberal greeting, but please take it in the sincere spirit in which it was given!! :) -
At 12:41 p.m.,
Mentok said...
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God bless us everyone!
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At 3:49 p.m.,
Library Mama said...
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Okay - I'm coming to the party late - yet again.
After all of this deep philosophy, though, I have a touch of the ridiculous to inject.
I've always thought it was "tighty whities", not "tidy whities".
Then again, given the context of your title, Mentok, I suppose my interpretation would work just as well. -
At 5:40 p.m.,
Bathroom Hippo said...
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I need more specifics to agree or disagree with you FiL about the responsibility for ones ancestors.
Do you mean for example if my ancestor cuts down a tree that it is my responsibility to plant a new tree? I would disagree. And I certainly wouldn't want to be blamed for the cutting of the tree in the first place!
Now I know Mentok has strong feelings on trees...being buddhist and all...but that's a whole 'nother set of problems.
