November 3, 2022
Newly elected school trustee, Erica McLean, came to talk to us today about her point of view on Indigenous learners, systemic racism, trauma, and poverty in the Prince George area.
Erica grew up on the Gitxsan reserve, worked in over 30 schools and is now a school trustee for SD57. In her presentation she discussed SD57 special advisors report from 2021 that addressed racism in the school district. The report states that “there is a clear and palpable lack of trust and hard feelings between many of the Indigenous stakeholders in Prince George, the First Nations and the District.” Erica had an issue with this report and said “I don’t think we have a systemic racism problem. I think we have a trauma and poverty problem.”
Erica implies that the generational trauma from residential school, racism and inflicted poverty is more to blame than systemic racism. I think it’s important to note that she never said systemic racism wasn’t bad or present in our city, just that it’s not the problem.
Even if the district does belive that systemic racism is the biggest problem, we should be getting to the cause of the issue and address it. I think this is the point Erica is trying to make and I agree with it.
As future educators our view on this problem is vital. Trying to tackle systemic racism will take decades and can seem daunting. However, fixing poverty and addressing trauma is something we can do today and will have lasting effects into the future.