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I think it's pretty disingenuous to compare the residential school system to the compulsory public school system. Yes, the standard school system is skewed towa

I think it's pretty disingenuous to compare the residential school system to the compulsory public school system. Yes, the standard school system is skewed towards a positive view of the state in North America (note Germany as a counter-example), but they're summer camps compared to the residential schools. You won't be beaten by a teacher for speaking Arabic if you're Afghan for example.

beerandt 5y ago
Cajun-French almost went extinct, and it was illegal for a long time to speak it. Immigrants from all over were forced in school to use English and punished for speaking their ancestors' languages. And physical punishment was pretty standard until recently, and a surprising number of schools still give spankings. There might be things that need to be addressed with residential schools, but Americanizing (Canadianizing?) children and forcing English while banning ancestral language and culture were the norm across the continent.