The piece of racist graffiti written on the Broadway Bridge, on July 4. Photo courtesy Kara Daniels, Facebook
A First Nations woman is calling out the person who wrote a piece of racist graffiti on Saskatoon’s Broadway Bridge.
While on a walk with a friend last week, Kara Daniels was admiring how beautiful Saskatoon is when she came across the following graffiti: “Q: Why are there no Indians on Star Trek? A: They won’t work now and they won’t work in the future.”
Daniels, who says she wants Saskatoon to be a cohesive community, was immediately reminded of the issues the city faces when it comes to racism.
“I have had recent conversations with people that really believe that racism doesn’t exist or that racism doesn’t happen anymore in the city, or in Saskatchewan, or in Canada,” she said.
She posted the photo to Facebook while feeling a mixture of anger and sadness, but was also motivated to show people why racism needs to be addressed.
“When people deny that these terrible things happen, then we’re not eliminating the problem,” she said.
Daniels, who works as a massage therapist, was also frustrated by the common stereotype contained in the graffit. She said it completely misrepresents the work ethic of Aboriginal people.
“Everybody that I know, we’re all very hard workers, we’re all very educated people,” she said.
“It’s almost like the number one thing that people go to, that they see a First Nations person or Aboriginal person and they think, oh they don’t work, they live of welfare, they live off the system, the taxpayers are the ones who are taking care of them and that is so not the truth.”
Not only was the graffiti racist, but any Trekkie would point out that it’s also inaccurate. Star Trek Voyager’s First Officer Chakotay was Native American, and his character dates back to the early 1990s. Daniels sees as the best way to stop racist acts like this. She advocates the implementation of anti-racism and anti-oppression lessons in schools.
“It’s so important that we start deconstructing this mindset. We learned this so we can unlearn it, there is that possibility. We just have to be open,” she said.
Daniels has since phoned the city about the vandalism, but isn’t sure if it’s been removed yet.