(Name-mce) ListServ Canada's multiculturalism policies are only skin deep

Sat Sep 30 21:56:58 EDT 2006

East Indian tackles native Indian stereotypes

Vancouver filmmaker Nilesh Patel finds that Canada's multiculturalism
policies are only skin deep

Mari Sasano 

Special to The Journal 

Saturday, September 30, 2006

EDMONTON - We Canadians like to think we're nice people. So it takes a
verrry careful touch to bring up the topic of racism, even though it has
been part of our society since the first Europeans settled here.

We're still dealing with the effects of our shameful history of land
appropriation, cultural genocide and exclusionary laws, but it's easier to
sweep things under the rug. Not so for Nilesh Patel, the Vancouver-based
filmmaker of Brocket 99: Rockin' the Country, a look at a controversial
underground tape circulated in the late '80s that stereotypes Aboriginals.
Patel talks about the reaction to the tape, making the film, and growing up
East Indian in small-town B.C.:

MS: When was the first time you heard the tape?

NP: I first heard of it in high school, so 1990-something, in Prince George,
B.C. where I grew up. I think everyone got it as a bootleg. ...

MS: Do you think it's racist?

NP: It's a representation of racism, for sure. We're not looking for a
villain who created this. It's broader than that. It's documenting an
attitude. The tape didn't create the attitude. The attitude came first.
Obviously Canada's relationship to the First Nations people hasn't really
been the fairest game. I think racism has played a huge factor in
colonization, and we're trying toward eliminating it but if we have been
trying to help all this time and it's gone poorly, what right to go on like
this? Clearly we have demonstrated we should listen a lot more.

MS: Were you aware of racism growing up?

NP: For sure! Prince George is a mill town, it's pretty frickin' evident.
Back then, people hadn't seen very many East Indians. But people look at a
northern small town and think it's a redneck sort of place, but it's not any
less so in the cities. It's just more diverse, and maybe not as blunt and
forward.

MS: Did it kind of freak you out, some of the things that people said in the
film?

NP: Well, I was just very committed to the conversation I was having.
Basically, I heard a lot of racist shit about native people in Canada. But
the film's about different viewpoints. We need more understanding and to
accept that we need a dialogue about it. ... Policies on diversity are
useless if the vast majority of people don't know the purpose of them.

MS: It's really obvious that, on a superficial level, that multicultural
education is working. Most of the people said, "Well, I know this is really
terrible and racist ... but I think it's really funny." It's like people
know what they're supposed to say, but deep down they're not willing to
question certain attitudes, like why they think that these stereotypes
exist.

NP: Yeah. The land of tolerance. We've all grown up with the language, but
it's not about accepting, it's about tolerating, which doesn't really affect
how you relate to someone if you don't get to know them. Tolerating is not
proper, in some way.

MS: Have you had negative reaction to the movie?

NP: The racists -- and there have been some at my screenings -- they say
we're trying to ruin the tape and they try to get mad at me, but they can't
say what they want to say. Some people don't want to listen unless it says
what they want to hear. People are really covert about it. It's this taboo
and we don't want to discuss it.

MS: What about the "... but it's funny" part? Can racial humour not be
racist?

NP: Does David Chappelle intend to continue stereotypes of African-American
people? Hell no. It's in the intention.

MS: You really end on a high note, though. The scenes at Brocket are really
great, and the people are so great.

NP: That was the definite thing you were waiting for! Who are they? What are
you gonna see? I did a research trip in 2003. For the nation, I just phoned
the executive co-ordinator, who didn't agree to anything. He couldn't. But
if someone invites me, there's nothing they can do about it. ... But they
didn't think I'd actually do it. So later, I said I was coming and they said
there's a powwow coming up and it was like, all right!

MS: Did it help you that you're not some white dude?

NP: When I first started working at the reserve, I'm not sure if an East
Indian had ever been there before. I'm pretty sure there hadn't. So we're
driving through and they're all waving, because it's the funnest place in
the world, but then they all stop halfway and we can see behind us that
they're all thinking, "He's Indian, but he's not OUR kind of Indian. Damn!"

(c) The Edmonton Journal 2006

Bill Howe 
 <http://www.billhowe.org/> http://www.billhowe.org

Past-President 

National Association for Multicultural Education (NAME)
 <http://www.nameorg.org/> http://www.nameorg.org

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