Bannerji’s “Geography Lesson: On Being an Insider/Outsider to the Canadian Nation” and the Memorial March of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside
The discrimination of which the women of the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver face from day to day is different from regular racism. It does not base itself on the people, but their location. It is assumed that because these women live in this area, they are in fact less important than the other, more middle class women of Vancouver. The video “Survival, Strength and Sisterhood: Power of Women in the Downtown Eastside” talks extensively about women who have been murdered and disappeared without any recognition from law enforcement or support. The women rely on each other to cope with their grief and consider their neighbours as their family. These women experience the same sort of “outsider” feeling that Himani Bannerji talks about in her article “Geography Lessons: On Being an Insider/Outsider to the Canadian Nation”. Despite being Native to Canada, they are treated as though they are no more insiders than immigrants from other countries. The women talked about their early experiences of marching for their lost ones and people throwing things at them from passing cars and being disrespected for living where they do.
The women who lived in this particular neighbourhood were subject to assumptions and stereotypes that not only followed them on the streets but also affected the outcomes of trials in the cases of murdered women. At the 15:40 mark, there is a quote about a woman named Helen Betty Osborne, who was murdered and the perspective of the men who attacked her. “Her attackers seemed to be operating on the assumption that Aboriginal women were promiscuous and open to enticement through alcohol and violence”. This not only shows the type of stereotyping that is detrimental to people as a whole but also the patriarchal society that Bannerji talks about. Despite the fact that she is primarily discussing immigrating to Canada, much of her discussion is based on women as a lesser sex and women who are not “white”, who suffer from similar circumstances. “The odour of dishonesty that haunts the world of “the poor” in general is most intense around those who are non-white” (Bannerji, P.99). While this applies readily to immigrant women, it also adheres to racism and sexism found in instances of “the poor” indigenous women, on the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver.
These instances of violence done upon women with no repercussions goes to show that no matter how “Canadian” one might be, that does not mean that they will be treated any differently from someone who is perceived as an outsider. From skin colour and culture to socioeconomic status, there are many things that set someone apart from the perceived norm, and leaving someone open to be discriminated against. Bannerji touches on a few issues that the women of the downtown eastside of Vancouver face on a day-to-day basis despite the fact she is writing as an immigrant woman. It is the sense of separation and ignorance that many feel toward people who are different from them that is the basis of the racist acts the women speaks out against. Their attempts to raise awareness brings new members to their cause everyday and yet still there are constantly disappearances and killings of young, innocent women with no repercussions. It is the sense of being perceived as an outsider that must change, not the women.
Works Cited
Bannerji, Himani. "Geography Lessons: On Being an Insider/Outsider to the Canadian Nation." Unhomely States: Theorizing English-Canadian Postcolonialism. Peterborough, Ont.: Broadview, 2004. 289. Print.
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