Truth and Reconciliation—And the Kids Still Fighting to Belong

Source: https://www.youtube.com/@aljazeeraenglish

Today is Truth and Reconciliation Day.

I’ve been learning more about what actually happened to Indigenous children in Canada—the residential schools, the forced separation from their families, the abuse, the erasure of language and culture. It’s horrifying. I had no idea how deep and violent it really was. These were children. What was done to them wasn’t just wrong—it was inhumane. These weren’t just historical mistakes. These were deliberate, systemic acts that destroyed lives and continue to impact generations.

And it made me think about another story—about a Filipino kid in Montreal who was punished at school just for eating with a spoon and fork. Something completely normal in Filipino culture. He was told it was “disgusting,” and made to sit alone. All because his way of doing something didn’t fit the so-called “Canadian” way.

At first, I felt like—how can I even compare that to what Indigenous kids went through? But the more I thought about it, the more I realized… this too is part of the same bigger issue. Now it dawned on me—if the system was capable of such horrific, deliberate harm, then how much easier was it to dismiss something like the quiet bullying of a Filipino child?

It’s all rooted in the idea that there’s only one “right” way to be Canadian. And if you’re different—if your food, language, or culture doesn’t fit that narrow box—you get pushed out. Silenced. Shamed. Even if it’s not violent, it’s still painful.

What happened to Indigenous kids was on a whole other level—there’s no denying that. But Luc’s story, and others like his, show how this same mindset of cultural erasure is still alive today. It just shows up differently.

Honoring the past means confronting how we still erase difference today—quietly, systemically, and often in childhood.

Truth and Reconciliation isn’t just about the past. It’s about asking: What are we still doing today that erases people’s identities? How are we still making kids feel like they have to hide who they are, and they don’t belong?

Today, I want to remember the children who never came home. And I also want to honor the ones still here, still trying to hold onto who they are in a world that doesn’t always welcome difference.

Reconciliation means listening. Changing. And making space—for everyone.

On Truth and Reconciliation Day, I’m remembering the children lost to residential schools—and also thinking of kids like Luc, a Filipino boy shamed at school for how he eats.

Both faced the same message: You don’t belong.

That message has to go.

#TruthAndReconciliationDay #EveryChildMatters #FilipinoCanadian #IndigenousJustice #CulturalInclusion #NeverForget