Another nickle thrown in the debate about racism. I can only speak of my experiences. And I know that some members of minority groups are racist themselves.
I grew up and returned/retired back to my small town in Western Québec. The town and the reserve next door are interconnected - parts of the town and reserve are together as in shared streets, church, medical treatment (I used to get physiotherapy on the reserve), etc. Growing up, kids being kids, we would fight - English vs. French, FNs fighting English or French, and so on. By our teens, well now, things were changing. You know ... girls. Intermarriage between the three groups were common.
BTW, someone mentioned if a non-FN persons marries a FN then he/she would get the benefits. Around here, that is would not happen. My best friend, yes, he is FN and his parents treated me like family, which meant that if I got of line, Mrs would smack me with whatever was handy :nod:
And the Mrs told us about her experiences in the residential schoolsystem. There wasn't physical/sexual violence but she was quiet about physchological or emotional violence. BTW, my wife is métisse and I do have FN in my ancestry.
I never met an African-Canadian until I went to TO. There my first girlfriend was African-Canadian. Her family treated me great. Others were not so friendly.
Fast fwd to joining the CF. Yes, there are racist/bigoted individuals in the CF. I recall a tpt clerk in Cornwallis throwing some work tickets on the floor of the office bitching about French being on the forms. I also recall a CSM and a few junior ranks who were openly racist.
The jokes about African-Canadians and FNs in the service were quite common. Then the Newfies decided they didn't want to be the butt of jokes either.
On my last live fire exercise, my fire team partner was black. We got along good. Now imagine my surprise when I went to see my ex and he comes walking out of my old house. "Be cool" he said. That he was with my ex didn't bother me. Believe me, I felt really sorry for him ;D
But when I was young, I used the N word. Not out of privilege but out of ignorance. I guess a lot of people did.
And the Jewish people. My good friend and firearms coach is Jewish. And there was a Captain who we overheard "that Jew boy will never get promoted while I'm here".