A Scorecard for Native Leaders

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Native Canadians can learn valuable lessons from the ongoing American dialogue on race issues. One writer specifically worth paying attention to is black American scholar John McWhorter, who takes an inspiring road to addressing what he calls "the crisis in black America" in his book Winning the Race. One of McWhorters lessons is that "therapeutic alienation" has discouraged millions of blacks from doing their best. He defines therapeutic alienation as: "alienation unconnected to, or vastly disproportionate to, real life stimulus, but maintained because it reinforces one's sense of psychological legitimacy, via defining oneself against an oppressor characterized as eternally depraved."

For anyone that lives or works on a reserve, or has set foot in a modern Native Studies department, or had any involvement with Native politics the comparison is undeniable. McWhorter lists a scorecard for black leaders that is worth replicating for native leaders in Canada.

Have at it.

NATIVE LEADER A AND NATIVE LEADER B: A SCORECARD

1.
Native Leader A unabashedly celebrates our victories.

Native leader B celebrates our victories only in parenthesis, under the impression that trumpeting our failures is more important because it lets whites know they are "on the hook."

2.
Native Leader A is committed to eventually getting past race.

Native Leader B is committed to delineating us as a race apart, seemingly hoping that whites and other races will blend together, but Natives will remain a separate group, since colonization has forced us into mainstream society against our will.

3.
Native Leader A is interested in cultural hybridity as evidence of progress.

Native Leader B is interested in cultural hybridity as evidence that whites "appropriate" nativeness "and sell it back to us."

4.
Native Leader A identifies racism and discrimination after careful consideration.

Native Leader B identifies racism and discrimination as the cause of all statistical discrepancies between natives and whites.

5.
Native Leader A is interested in natives succeeding in the system as it is and considers us capable of doing so.

Native Leader B is interested in natives succeeding in a system transformed by a revolution and considers us incapable of doing so otherwise.

6.
Native Leader A considers the equation between alienation and native identity a problem.

Native Leader B considers the equation between alienation and native identity a "wake-up call" to a benighted white establishment by a people "denied love."


Native leaders should be ranked based on this scorecard. Some people will prefer leader B, however leaders of this type will have no influence on the future of Canada. The long term prosperity and future of native people in Canada will depend on us moving towards and supporting leader A.