As far as oppressed minorities go, the current generation of Native Americans are in an excellent position, the amount of government subsidies they receive is unimaginable. In Alberta they all get a $1000 buck check as soon as they hit 18, yet the vast majority spend it on alcohol.
this is akin to that collective indictment i hear often where all somalis are regarded "welfare collecting good for nothing social burden"
in any given majority on minority abuse ratio....the struggles of any marginalized community will largely be viewed as "self infliction" specially by the ever imposing eye that keeps them in such detrimental cycle...but what's unfortunate is when you hear people from such disadvantaged communities get tongue tricked to subject the same rhetoric on people in similar situation.....(like this nomad who thinks all natives have it made...yet somehow they magically designed their predicament to its current unfavorable condition)
I am not exactly of the mindset hellbent on blaming the "bogeyman sate", out to get the minorities..but it's mind numbing ignorant to think that the current conditions of aboriginal people in Canada, specially in native reserves is one of "self infliction"....it is far from that, matter fact, it is the long and disparaging effort of the Canadian Government's attempt to "weedout" native/aboriginal culture through gov. run initiatives like the "aggressive assimilation" policies drafted in the 19th century. with these policies...
residential schools were established with the assumption that aboriginal culture was unable to adapt to a rapidly modernizing society. It was believed that native children could be successful if they assimilated....the government felt children were easier to mould than adults, and the concept of a boarding school was the best way to prepare them for life in mainstream society.
these schools were definitely not set up with "good intentions", rather they served as portal for decades of continued abuse in many folds and psychological damage for generations after generations of native children...
the Canadian Gov. later acknowledged its mistreatment of natives and recently issued an apology and set up compensation for the victims, but it maybe too little too late to correct the social ailments this has created within native communities...how can you expect a community to recover from that any time soon?
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/05/ ... hools.html