ENGlISH ACTIVITY 5 Reading comprehension

Sede Jornada Grado

Principal Mañana Once
Teacher Nidia Omaira Valbuena Valbuena
Student´s name Sanchez Acuña Joan Sebastian
Course 1101

Deadline July 4th- 2020

The aim to this activity is: You can improve your reading comprehension.

The first time try to understand without dictionary or translator.

Read again and highlight with green color the main idea to each paragraph.
Read the text again and solve the questions

I Admit It: I Hold Racist Views About Native People In Canada By: Lou James*:
Huffington Post Canada

I admit it. I have deep-rooted and ugly prejudices

about native people in Canada. When I think of
native people, I immediately think of alcoholic,
jobless and homeless people who abuse themselves
and others in every imaginable way. For all of my
life I have seen these images and I continue to see
native people this way.

Here's the catch: I'm native.

I grew up in a small native community. My home

was stereotypically native: abusive relationships dominated my younger years and permeate every
aspect of my life today. My family, friends, and community have seen, and continue to see,
disproportionate levels of murder, suicide, violence, sexual abuse, prostitution, alcoholism, drug
addiction, emotional abuse, homelessness, and poverty and the criminality that follows from all of
this.

We feel the intergenerational effects of residential schools, dislocation, and many other policies
designed to civilize and assimilate us at best, and to exterminate us at worst. Every native person I
know has, to varying degrees, lost his or her language, traditional knowledge, and sense of identity
and belonging as native people.

When I moved to an urban center to attend university, I noticed that the native people I saw in the
city fit the stereotype: they were homeless, jobless, and hopeless.
Not me. I was healthy, studious, goal-oriented, ambitious, and eventually I achieved my goals.
Successful, I guess you could say.

As a result, I denied to others and to myself that I was native. It was the only way that I could
process the cognitive dissonance that arose when I contemplated my success as a native person and
the thought that in order to be a real native, I had to be all of those ugly things.

People around me reinforced that "success" and "native" were mutually exclusive concepts. Some
said that despite my native heritage, I was a darn good student. A credit to my race! They were the
well-meaning ones. The less sensitive people belittled me by making mean jokes about native
people. In either case, they reinforced the idea that to be native, I could not be healthy, successful,
and well-adjusted.

I am not asking for your reassurance or pity. I am simply admitting that, despite my efforts to
discard my damaging thought processes, I hold deeply-rooted prejudiced views about my own
people, and indeed about myself. If I can admit this while being a person who embodies what it
means to be a healthy and successful native person, then I wonder what the reality is in the minds of
others, both native and non-native.

Canadian-Indigenous relations are complex and difficult, to say the least. Both sides foster distrust,
racism, and hatred. I doubt, though, that non-native Canadians end up distrusting, hating, and
holding racist views of themselves as a result of this poisonous dynamic in our relationship. In my
experience, some native people end up with this self-hatred. Some of us believe that we're not as
worthy or capable of excellence, we're not as deserving of love, security, health, prosperity,
equality. The result is predictable: suicide, abuse of one's self and others, and powerlessness. Just
look at any statistics about the socio-economic conditions of native people in Canada.

In admitting this, I believe it will help me change my thinking. I believe writing helps me heal from
these thoughts. I am targeting thoughts that you may not want to admit you might have -- and
perhaps you don't, I do not and cannot know your mind. I do not cast moral blameworthiness upon
you, for I know how difficult it is to recognize and admit this. I write this in the hope that shining
light on this ugly part of our reality will help us to grow together and to build a more loving,
inclusive, and equal society.

James is a pseudonym.

Read the title of the article:

1) What do you expect the article to be about?

When I see this title of the article I think than this article is the opinion of a person, a
person that will be fell a little bad because his way of thinking is a little bad and he is
ashamed for this, because he write this article for show the thoughts negative in his
minds.

2) Who do you think is the writer? A native Canadian? Or a non-Native?

 I believe that the writer of this article is a native Canadian because only a native
Canadian maybe has an idea some peculiar, he has a mind whit idea positive and negative
about native Canadian and this is the form because he is a curiosity man.

What do the underlined words written in bold in the text refer to?

1) I = This world refer to the author or writer of article wants show his way of thinking
about natives Canadians people.

2) Us = Is a form of union between the things negative that will can be for the natives o no
natives and those are things negatives, as alcohol.

3) Some =This is refer to people that think in the characteristic of author for the article and
his native heritage.

4) The well-meaning ones = This word is referred to people that said things negatives to the
writer for his native heritage

5) Your = The author doesn’t want pity of anything for his aspect of his native heritage,
this is not so bad.

Read the article and answer the following questions:

1) Who is the writer of the article? What are the information given in the article about his
identity, his family, and his situation?
He wrote this article because he discriminates the native people, but after pass the time he
learns that his native heritage indigenous, so, he changes his thoughts to positive and help
the culture to indigenous or native Canadians.

2) What does he think about native people in Canada?

He thinks that these people suffer in this country, because they don’t opportunities for build
their future

3) Why does the author hold such views about his own people?

Because he thinks that is very important the thoughts that have some people about the country
he live.

4) Why did he use the word “racist”?

Because the racist is ward off the people only for his aspect, and this is so bad for the sociality

5) Is he ashamed of his heritage?

To the firs moment the author feels ashamed of heritage, but, after he feel a little happy for his
heritage, that is good

6) What’s the author’s purpose in writing this article?

 For the author the people must don’t use the stereotypes because is so bad for all, and don’t
allow build greats people

Go further:

1) Do you believe labeling people is wrong? Why?

Yes, I think labeling people is so bad, because, we don’t allow meet his capacities or his
form to see the world and this so bad for all people and build conflicts.
2) What are your thoughts about stereotyping?
The stereotyping doesn’t be good because is bad when I don’t allow meet other person for
the stupid stereotyping, because his person can be a good person and so big with his or her
thoughts.
3) In your opinion what led many native Canadians to live in such terrible situations
(homelessness, poverty, hopelessness….)?
The reason for these terrible situations almost always is for absence of education, people
without education can’t be better, and are rejected for the sociality.
4) Do you think that the loss of their identity has an impact on their lives today? Explain.
A little because no know of where are all is bad, because we must recognize how was our
infancy and what did help us? these questions are very important.
5) What does this article reveal about young native people in today’s Canada?
The people young in Canada discriminate many to his native Canadians as their
indigenous, and this is bad because they are part of that country too.
6) According to you what is the way forward for native Canadians?
For me the best way is support to native indigenous and show this people can be big things
and great ideas for the build a big country

Explain these expressions:

1) “People around me reinforced that "success" and "native" were mutually exclusive
concepts.”
This phrase is cruel because excludes to all people indigenous or native in a country, this
phrase shows discriminate, and show that one indigenous can`t achieve big things.

2) “I believe writing helps me heal from these thoughts.”

This idea is a big idea, because write help to sane the mind and all thoughts negative that to
receive to large of his life, and show his ideas to other show strange.

True or False?

1) The author thinks indigenous people are racist False

 2) He thinks non-Native people are racist towards indigenous people True

3) He used to have racist opinions but now he regrets them True

4) Canadian society has separated Indigenous people from their culture True

5) The people around the author were very supportive False

6) Indigenous people reject their culture False

 Write a text about one of the following topics:

1) Indigenous people and the importance of fighting for their identity

2) The dangers of stereotyping
3) Fighting racism

DESTRUCTIVE THOUGHTS TO INDIGENOUS FOR THEIR CULTURE

In Colombia there are many people that discriminate to indigenous, because there
are different is some aspects to us, many people fell horror for their form or their aspect,
because they pierce the skin and put some objects, so people discriminate to indigenous
for their beliefs, and the true is that in this country all can choose his beliefs almost
always.

People in this country is many severs with all people that presents things different
to us and discriminate this, many cases of this is to a conflict so big