“I thought Pocahontas
was a movie”: exposing the
race and culture divide
through the Tisdale Sexual
Assault Case.
Dr. R. James McNinch
University of Regina
“And I’m not stupid”
says “a Cree version of
Jennifer Lopez”.
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Three “frames” for understanding white
privilege:
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History of Colonization & Immigration
The homo-sociality of male sexuality
Embodied and Vicarious Interpretations of
“reality”
The Social and cultural practice of the Law
itself.
Discourse Analysis
the quick version
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Language is Power
Power is vested
Language is invested with influence
Language “creates” and “controls” thought
Language is a tool and has agency.
Language reinforces social systems
We have an obligation to critique the language
we are obliged to use in our professions.
Discourse analysis is a form of ideological
interpretation.
Discourse for the Defence
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These are “ordinary” men –their appetite
for sex is framed as “healthy”.
The complainant is “damaged goods”.
She was the sexual aggressor.
Among the three men, they couldn’t
sustain one erection.
Group sexual assault: act of homoerotic
hysterics.
the Axis of Conflict and the Gaze”
(Crenshaw & Peller, 1993, Mulvey, 1988))
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“At stake at each axis of conflict is a
contest over which and whose narrative
structure will prevail in the interpretation
of events in the social world” (283).
How, in this axis of conflict, did embodied
and vicarious experience “see” and “make
sense” of the events on the evening of the
assault?
the Age of Reason &
the Great Chain of Being
Manifest destiny; terra nullius,
The Last Best West:
Of Melissa, Jeffrey Brown says,
“She couldn’t talk real good”.
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220 lbs, 5 ft 9
a welder with Dean
Edmondson
Lived in Tisdale all his
life.
Completed grade 11
25 on Sept. 30, 2001
Dean Edmondson
“He wasn’t being
ignorant or abrasive
or anything. He was
co-operative and
pleasant”. (arresting
officer)
Jeffrey Kindrat
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“Just recently we’ve
played slow-pitch
against each other.
Very polite” (RCMP
who took his
statement).
“He comes from a
community that cares
about their young”
(retired school
teacher of Kindrat’s).
Embodied & Vicarious Privilege
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Be homo-social
Pass as pleasant
Be part of an inclusive
community’
Stress family values
No shame = no guilt
Be ironic
Be embarrassed
Be horny
Shut your eyes
Be a bystander
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Group sex means,
“getting hard and getting
lucky” (defence lawyer,
Brayford)
Assume that sex isn’t
intimacy.
the “secluded, desolate” country road:
the joys of a rural “booze cruise”.
“That’s all I seen” (Edmondson).
“Well I can’t look around the corner”.
“Well I was kissing and…Well… her face
would be in my face so my vision was
fairly blocked so all I seen was him
[Brown] come up behind her”.
“Well… I’d been drinking but still movin’
around”.
“Honest to God, we thought we
were doing her a favour by giving
her a ride” (Brown)
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“Okay, so you were trying to get erect
Trying to.
What were you trying to do. Just tell us.
Trying to have – -- -- make love to her”
“I was up front watching them.”
(Kindrat)
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They [Edmondson and the girl] were
having sex out front on the truck…Brown
had his pants pulled down. He pulled
away…so I undid my pants and I, I tried,
but I don’t know, I couldn’t get it up.”
“One of them said, ‘I thought Pocahantas
was a movie’.” (Melissa)
“He (Brown) said he wanted me to
come to the bar naked”
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“He’d make sure
everyone would give
me money, but I kept
saying no, because
that’s gross.”
Whose fantasy is this?
“They were polite and didn’t give
me any grief”.
Embodied & Vicarious Privilege
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Be homo-social
Pass as pleasant
Be part of an inclusive
community’
Stress family values
No shame = no guilt
Be ironic
Be embarrassed
Be horny
Shut your eyes
Be a bystander
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Group sex means,
“getting hard and getting
lucky” (defence lawyer,
Brayford)
Assume that sex isn’t
intimacy.
The Logic of the Law
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Through the Looking
Glass
Melissa in
“Wonderland”
“curious and
curiouser”
White privilege and the Law
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Split Proof, Doubt,
and Certainty
Divide Morality and
Legality
See Truth and Reality as
two separate
constructs
White privilege and the Law
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Overlook
Contradictions
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Separate Honesty
from Reason
Be an Individual
“I may be married but I’m not dead” (Constable
Shepherd taking Edmondson’s statement
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Invoke Commonsense
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Bond by blaming the
victim
Be on the same side
but presume
impartiality
White privilege in action
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Make accommodations for us (whites).
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Feel imposed upon.
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Don’t waste our time.
Play by the Rules and don’t be intimidated
letters: good
protests: bad
Legal Tactics of the Privileged and
Powerful
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Talk “fancy”
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Use words as
weapons
“What’s that
supposed to mean?”
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Use a range of
discourses
Excuse the Booze
Acknowledge Racialized Fear
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70 percent of the
prison population in
Saskatchewan is of
Aboriginal Ancestry
Privilege the Protestant work ethic
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“the whole purpose..is
to encourage Mr.
Edmondson to
maintain his
employment” (Judge
Kovatch)
Privilege White space
The perspective of white privilege
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“She was picked up on the steps of a bar not at
a school” (defence lawyer for Edmondson).
“If this was a young girl going from volley ball
practice after school or something and hopped
into the car with three guys, it would be a
wickedly different situation…Like I think the
complainant’s background here is obviously a
significant factor…from my perspective” (Judge
Kovatch).
Intervention from the Native
Women’s Association of Canada
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…women who have…diminished social
status by reason of, for example, race or
poverty are more likely to be victims.
Thus sexual assault is often another
incident of oppression along a continuum
of disempowering and dehumanizing
experiences (Mary Eberts, NWAC, Oct
2004)
In her own defence
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“They were sexually touching me...but I
can’t say it. It makes me feel stupid”.
“Did anyone hear that last answer other
than the last words, ‘she thinks she’s
stupid’?
Summary
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The “complainant” laments her fate and in the
process becomes a symbol for colonized people
at the hands of white settlers.
“private” acts of these “white boys” embody the
process by which racism perpetuates itself in
this country.
The courts transcripts reveal that gender, race,
sex, and class are linguistically and textually
mediated process rather than pre-discursive
identities.
Post-script
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the Appeal Trial of Brown and Kindrat scheduled for June
06 was delayed due to a motorcycle accident of Jeffrey
Brown who, while evading the RCMP in a high speed
chase, shered the back of a truck while trying to pass it.
He spent many months in the hospital. Kindrat’s re-trial
occurred in the fall of 2006 and he was again found not
guilty. Brown’s re-trial was scheduled for October 07
and he too was found not guilty.
Mellissa is now 22. She has become an advocate for
herself and other Aboriginal Women.
Implications for Educators
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What should we be teaching about
racialized and sexual violence?
How can we teach this so all students
benefit? Directly? Indirectly?
Why is it important to prevent the
“extraordinary” become “ordinary”?
Thanks. Please contact me at
[email protected]