Colonial Privilege and Fighting Colonial Oppression

I am struggling to think of what I can say in this post this week so I guess I will talk about why that is. The persisting effects of colonization on Aboriginal populations in Canada is such an important topic but also one I have a hard time talking about -- but in a good way. I struggle with it because it forces me to acknowledge my own position of privilege and bursts any bubble of ignorance I might be in. So as uncomfortable as it might make me, I think there is potential for it to be a productive discomfort. It can be productive because my discomfort acknowledges that there is a problem and that changes need to be made. However, as a white middle class person of colonial heritage, I wonder if my desire to facilitate change around the issue of the colonial violence perpetrated against Aboriginal peoples maintains colonial hierarchies in a certain way. 

For example, say hypothetically in my CSL work at the Sexual Assault Centre someone came in who was Aboriginal and whose experience was particularly marked as being the product of a white settler colonialism. By being in a position where I might help that individual am I in a position of power over them? No, I don’t think so because we are there to empower the survivors who come to our centre to make the choices that are best for them in that moment. Even still, if they themselves identified their experience as a product of racialized violence I wonder if they would feel like they would be able to speak with me about it or if they might just perceive me as another white person that might hold the same colonialist and racist ideas that whomever assaulted them did. 

On a broader scale this continued construction of a colonial hierarchy might occur in non-profit organizations whose missions are to help Aboriginal populations but are run by people of colonial heritage. While well-intentioned, I think there is a possibility of projecting a patronizing mentality of “I know better than you.” But, by the same token taking a more “laissez-faire” attitude to this issue of oppression could also be critiqued for promoting a neoliberal and individualizing approach which, as we have talked about in this class can be detrimental. I am not trying to argue that people who have colonial privilege should not/cannot play a role in ending racist and colonial oppression; rather that such involvement could be very productive in breaking down disparity in a settler/Aboriginal binary so long as this position privilege is acknowledged and is not employed patronizingly.