No, Ms Arora, I am Not a Settler nor am I a Coloniser

in which I reject the dehumanising race-based language of progressivism

Video Transcript

Speaker: Member for Burnaby East.

Rohini Arora: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A few weeks ago, in Estimates, I heard the member for Columbia River-Revelstoke, express discomfort with the terms settler, uninvited guest, and colonizer. That prompted me to deeply reflect on where these terms come from and why they matter.

Even if we didn't personally cause colonization we live in a country shaped by it. That's why many non-Indigenous people, including myself, use the term settler, uninvited guest, or for white folks who self-describe as colonizer. It reminds us that we are here because of a colonial system that still impacts Indigenous communities today. Through historically underfunded services, title rights, over-policing, boil water advisories, the legacy of residential schools, and missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and two-spirit people. Some may feel uncomfortable with these terms, but they are not meant to divide us. When we understand the history, we see why they matter. These words remind us that we live, work, and benefit from being on Indigenous land, land that was often taken without consent, especially here in British Columbia. Unceded means unsurrendered.

I am a settler. I was born here, but my family came from India through Canada's colonial immigration system, a country and system built on the displacement of Indigenous peoples. That truth doesn't exclude anyone. It includes all of us in a shared responsibility. True reconciliation means recognizing that Canada was built on the lands and suffering of Indigenous peoples. It's not about blame. It's about a shared responsibility. It's not about division. It's about building honest, respectful relationships so that we can chart a new path forward together, and one that centres First Nations, Metis and Indigenous people. When we self-refer as settlers, it's a signal to Indigenous people that we understand the history of colonization. and I urge all members here to do the same. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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Hello, Ms Arora,

I first came across your ridiculous performance in the BC Legislature on Xwitter. Since then, I’ve seen it shared many times, all with the same reaction — chagrin and hurt feelings. Can I ask why you felt the need to impose your distorted sense of racial Franz Fanon morality onto Canadians at large? Be clear, Ms Arora, it’s a quasi-religious morality of a secular nature that you’ve deployed in your speech to impose onto the rest of us. It’s akin to a preacher calling his congregation sinners. Yes, indeed, Ms Arora, it’s the same entitled and arrogant behaviour that seeks to demean and belittle. Do you get buzz from deploying that dehumanising and blame-based rhetoric? Do you think it serves your constituents well, to engage in scapegoating of present-day humans in a futile effort to cure the past?

Ms. Arora, you seem intelligent enough to realise that we didn't personally cause colonization, yet you could not resist the urge to cut the member for Columbia River-Revelstoke down to size in your bid to elevate indigenous peoples. Do you understand the concept of projected guilt, Ms Arora? Regarding nomenclature, do note that the broad term indigenous includes First Nations, Métis, and Inuit peoples. Incidentally, you failed to mention Inuit peoples in your sermon. Ms. Arora, here’s a humble thought for you: perhaps gain some clarity on the issue at hand and the relevant nomenclature, prior to preaching your position to Mr. McGinnis, the rest of the legislative assembly, to the province, and to the country.

Ms Arora, are you familiar with the Métis Scrip system? In case you haven’t heard the word scrip before, here’s a brief description below.

In 1870, the Canadian government devised a system of scrip — referred to as Métis scrip — that issued documents redeemable for land or money. Scrip was given to Métis people living in the West in exchange for their land rights. — the Canadian Encyclopedia

The graphic above shows the scrip my grandmother’s great grandmother received in 1875. Madeleine Gaudry, née David, received a chit for $160 dollars or 160 acres. Ms. Arora, I reject your imposition of the label settler-coloniser onto me. Based on that genealogical information alone, I could end this missive now. But wait, there’s more! Below please find the birth record of my great great grandmother, Sumonderia, dated 14 February 1880 on the Foyle Ship. Sumonderia’s parents migrated from their homeland of India to Guyana, to work the sugar cane plantations, as part of the Gladstone experiment.

The emancipation of African slaves created a labour shortage for plantation owners. The Gladstone experiment remedied that shortage through the fraudulent process of luring Indians to agree to their trafficking to the Caribbean, where they would labour like slaves to fulfil the demand for sugar.

As far as Guyana is concerned, the ‘Gladstone Experiment’ proved to be the basis of East Indian immigration. John Gladstone, the father of the liberal British statesman, William Ewart Gladstone, was the proprietor of West Demerara plantations, Vreed-en-Hoop and Vreed-en-Stein at precisely the time when the British Guianese planters were beginning to experience labour shortage as a consequence of the withdrawal of ex-slaves or apprentices from plantation labour.

It was in this initial period of ‘crisis change and experimentation’ in the late 1830s that John Gladstone envisaged social and economic advantages in a scheme of East Indian indentured labourers. On this matter, the initiator of East Indian immigration wrote, “a moderate number of Bengalese might be suitable for our purpose.” To this end, he made contact with the Calcutta recruiting firm, Gillanders, Arbuthnot and Company, inquiring about the possibility of obtaining Indian immigrants for his two estates. The firm’s prompt reply was that it envisaged no recruiting problems as Indian labour was already in usage overseas, as for example, in another British colony, Mauritius and moreso “the natives being perfectly ignorant of the place they agree to go, or the length of voyage they are undertaking.” This reply obviously set the stage for the fraud, deceit and coercion which were to permeate the entire recruiting system in India throughout the period of indentureship. — Guyana Chronicle, 22.5.2022

Ms. Arora, my great great grandmother was born on the Foyle, under terrible conditions and circumstances rife with hardship and suffering. Many babies, and adults too, died on the passage from India to Guyana. Sumonderia survived and I am the legacy from that passage, crossing the Kala Pani, they called it. Originating from India, Ms Arora, you don’t require any explanation about Kala Pani.

So, to return to your recent sermon in the B.C. Legislature, Ms. Arora.

No, I will not accept the label settler-colonialiser so you and other bourgeoisie progressives can feel good about yourselves and your social status as Canadians. Furthermore, I will add that any peoples who historically participated in the fur trade — that means indigenous people — contributed to the demand for sugar. Yes, Ms. Arora, sugar —required for the production of Rum, a currency of the fur trade. Perhaps if you spent less time pontificating about Mr. McGinnis’s statement and, perhaps if you spent less time projecting your bourgeoisie guilt about historical wrongs onto British Columbians and the rest of Canadians, you would have more time to spend reading about the complexity of colonial history and reflect on the reality that the oppressor-oppressed paradigm doesn’t fit Canada.

Art by Selina Jane

In fact, the Franz Fanon lens distorts our vision of Canadian society and leaves us with a blurry and out-of-focus image of ourselves as a people. Ms. Arora, I would encourage you to pause and reflect on your vision of Canada and Canadians, and think carefully what you envisage for our future. Does hatred blind you and cause you to unfairly judge the member from Columbia-Revelstoke, Ms Arora? Do you need to diminish Eurocentric Canadians as a way of allaying your own uncomfortable feelings about the messy and sometimes unfortunate history of Canada? I would suggest that it does.

Allow me to explain.

Ms. Arora, you said “… we are here because of a colonial system that still impacts Indigenous communities today. Through historically underfunded services, title rights, over-policing, boil water advisories, the legacy of residential schools, and missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls… ”. That myopic assessment removes agency from indigenous people, Ms. Arora. I would suggest that we are here because of a whole lot more than historically unfair treatment of indigenous people, that boil water advisories and underfunded services have a lot to do with corrupt and incompetent and poor leadership within the indigenous community itself.

It’s widely known that many indigenous communities suffer from nepotistic and greedy leadership — we all know about the trope of fat cat chiefs with Cadillacs and mansions, who give favour to their relatives, whilst letting their communities suffer in the shadows. It’s not an unfair stereotype, Ms. Arora, sadly it’s not. The fact of misguided leadership and corruption does indeed plague indigenous communities, like it plagues the non-indigenous world. Humans human, and power corrupts — under the skin we are the same, Ms. Arora. Traumatised people can only conquer their trauma demons by taking responsibility for their healing, that means resisting the urge to shift the responsibility onto anyone else. Blame becomes a drain, it removes our power to heal and let go of what hurts us, so we can move on and live our best lives. That’s a fact you must face if you want to help indigenous people move forward and thrive.

I’ll close with a fun fact. The etymology of word slave comes from the word Slav, because these “white people”, (to use your words), suffered under enslavement by the Islamic empire. You might not know that Irish people suffered indentureship and colonial oppression, Ms. Arora. Point being, not all “white people” colonised, some melanin people did colonise. To racialise oppression in such an obtuse and blunt manner does a disservice to humanity. It waters down the real problem facing human society: classism.