Quote:
Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction
Heh, poor Azure.
He isn't total wrong and there are examples of this happening in the past. One of the local bands near the town I grew up in, won a pretty big settlement back in the early 1990s. Every person from that reserve received a fairly large sum of money (I'm not sure how much, but it was in the thousands). I am not saying this to be racist, but the streets became crowded with intoxicated natives day and night for a couple of weeks. There were literally encampments set up in wooded areas all around town.
It's not racist to acknowledge that many aboriginal communities have high rates of substance abuse and addiction (likely higher than the average), nor is it racist to acknowledge that addicts are not necessarily the best people to give large sums of money to (regardless of race).
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The reason I said it was because I have firsthand experience as well. There was a native kid in my class whose parents received a large windfall from a source that nobody ever knew about. Needless to say he spent a very large amount of money on booze and drugs and ended up killing himself a few short years later.
The rates of substance abuse are much, much higher than the norm, and simply giving them money and telling them to integrate into society will be a complete disaster.
I want them to have the same opportunity the rest of us have. I grew up with Natives, went to school with Natives, and one of my better friends was a Native. I am far from racist.
There is no easy solution. I just know the Indian Act doesn't work. I think you need some sort of results oriented program that slowly breaks down the reserve system, and rewards Natives based on their results. I would have absolutely no problem giving them extremely favorable tuition rates if they can keep good grades and graduate from post-secondary. In fact I would absolutely consider writing off their student loans completely if they graduated with good marks and got a good job.