I was just a little bit surprised with myself for getting this book. Lately I’ve been reading books like these, ones that provide evidence of the racism towards Indigenous Peoples in Canada. So this one is not different, except it focuses just a little bit more on the actions of white people. This is a book that really made me think and think about my views a lot. It certainly challenged me, and I feel like I have a new perspective on the world.
Some of the topics discussed in this book were
Whiteness in a field like education
How Indigenous Specific Racism is coached into health care systems
White Settler Womanhood
Settlers of colour
And that’s only naming a few. These are the ones that I felt most interesting. Before I dive into these topics, let’s first read the definition of White Benevolence, the title of this book.
White Benevolence: A form of paternalistic racism that reinforces instead of challenges racial hierarchies and it’s presence found across Canadian institutions.
Just incase you aren’t familiar with the definition of “benevolence”, benevolence is being kind. Benevolence is a good thing, people being charitable and generous, so that must be what this book is about, right? Well, technically yes. But also no.
In this case, the generosity of white people in this context is harmful. This book offers evidence of the ways that white settlers have been racist, mistreated, and discriminated against Indigenous Peoples under the impression of providing “help” to them. It’s not only about how whites have tried to “help” Indigenous, it also deals with blatant mistreatment.
Whiteness in a field like education is a topic that I found really fascinating, it was actually titled “Toxic Encounters: What’s Whiteness Doing in A Field like Education?”. One of the topics in this chapter was the racism and bullying at schools, to the point that Indigenous kids alienate themselves from the rest. It talked about how the bullying could get so bad that the Indigenous kids would adapt the mindset that they’re the problem. Parents and teachers may think that a school is a “safe space”, and of course bullying is discouraged, but when it happens, teachers silence themselves instead of speaking out against hate and bullying. This could also be because they support the bullying, or they simply don’t think it’s worth the time. This topic really shed some light on the school systems, and how Indigenous kids are treated within them.
Indigenous specific racism is something that is coached into the health care system. Essentially, doctors refuse to treat Indigenous patients, and they are not truly safe in the healthcare system. Some doctors commit “socially accepted murder”. Meaningless deaths have happened due to racism, and it’s so sad to face this cruel reality and this cruel world. This is something that professors have tried to teach to others, and it’s even it’s own term. It’s called “Indigenous Specific Racism Coaching” or ISRC.
White Settler Womanhood was probably the chapter that I found most interesting. It explored many topics, and I appreciated that this chapter was the first-hand experience of a woman. It also explored the traditional values for women, how women are taught to keep others “civil”, be respectable, and follow the example of men/be there to help men.
“In this piece I invite readers to consider how white women have been integral to the survival of an ongoing settler colonial project through the performance of benevolent white femininity that preserves white woman’s status and white settler dominance under the guise of protection, help, and saving.” (Willow Samara Allen, Page 87 of White Benevolence)
The last topic that I will discuss today is “settlers of color”. For the record, I’m not a huge fan of saying “people of color”. We’re all coloured people. This term only exists to separate people more. I don’t like it. White is a color too. Either way, this section talks about Canadians who descend from non-European countries. The author of this story is from South Asian, I believe it was Pakistan. This topic is so incredibly interesting to me, and I thought the section in the book was good to read about.
Some additional takeaways and notes from this book were the “Sixties Scoop”, the mistreatment and abuse of Indigenous prisoners, how the stories and experiences of Indigenous women are censored, and undeserved violence towards Indigenous Peoples. It’s a book that presents a lot of evidence of Indigenous lives with the interference of colonialism. It’s a look back into the past of how whites have come into Canada, and how they have treated Indigenous under the guise of “helping” and “kindness”. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about this, and educate themselves. It certainly is an important topic.
Thank you so much for reading this book review!
