by R.K.
This camp served to me as an opportunity to practically apply the things I’ve learned in school about being open to hearing new perspectives . Previously in a school environment, I never got a chance to talk about what it means to be ourselves, both from a Canadian and an ethnic background. In my own life, I never get a chance to talk to people from this many backgrounds because I’ve lived a sheltered life – I went to a predominantly Arab and Muslim school, hung around the Sudanese community in my free time, and didn’t know anyone in my neighbourhood.
On one of the first few days, during lunch I found out one of my friends came from a family where religion wasn’t a huge part of her life, which was something I have never encountered before, growing up where comparing how much of the Qu’ran we’ve finished on the bus ride home was the norm for me. There were plenty of moments like these during the camp, when I was struck with a tidal wave of things I had only heard in books or on TV. The two that I think will forever be ingrained in my memory were when we went to visit Camp Mohkinstsis and heard the live radio interview with Garrett Smith and when we went to CJSW and had our two discussions about what it meant to be Canadian and what made us unique.
The radio interview stuck with me because I had always known discrimination to be straightforward and aggressive. I had never witnessed someone trying to devalue and belittle the struggle of an entire race on a public platform. That was the kind of thing I’ve seen on social media and the news, never happen right in front of me. It was someone projecting their, for lack of a better term, white guilt, onto someone who was just trying to give back to the community. After we walked back to Eau Claire, a group of us were having an insightful conversation about just how crazy it was that we witnessed something like that happen in front of our own eyes. That entire morning taught me that microaggressions like what was shown are a thing that’s happening, and that people with dated ideologies and perspectives are given platforms like a radio show or even being a part of government where they can spread these harmful and detrimental stereotypes. It also showed me that no matter what race you are or how good your intentions are, some people will never get past stereotypes and preconceived notions about your race, which is a universal struggle.
The second moment where I really was given a dose of reality was when we were doing both interviews at CJSW. The initial small panel discussions were more of a lighthearted conversation. Sereena and I were making jokes and having a fun time talking about what it meant to be Canadian to us. The large panel discussion was when things felt a lot more heavy, and even though we were all on the same page more or less, there was still a looming feeling of we’re not just talking about us anymore. I personally felt like I’ve been giving a platform to speak about issues concerning people my age and who are like me, and I had to be incredibly cautious of what I say. It really hit me during the large panel discussion that this was going to be a podcast that was going to be aired on the radio for other people across the city to hear. I realized I needed to be careful with my words, because, as Dwight mentioned, everyone listening hasn’t had the same discussions we’ve had and are missing that bit of context that could change something like an inside joke into something accidentally offensive.