https://padlet.com/ezra_kirsh/xhlgwdb7xflp en-us 2017-04-03 18:34:00 UTC 2025-12-01 04:09:01 UTC hello@padlet.com ezra_kirsh https://padlet.com/ezra_kirsh/xhlgwdb7xflp/wish/165120070 This article talks about the social media website, Facebook, and how it's real name policy supposedly discriminates against those with Native American names. The article shows numerous examples of Native American's, who have had to send in their identification to Facebook in order to reclaim their account.

Shane Creepingbear and Dana Lone Hill are two Native Americas who were temporarily locked out of the service when it identified there names as "fake". This has happened to many others as well. 

This has happened before with Facebook. In 2014, this fake name system began to kick transgender users off the service for switching there name on Facebook before it was legally changed. Since then, Facebook has fixed the service, and issued an apology to the LGTBQ community. No apology has been delivered to Native American's.

I don't think there's many opinions you can have about this article, other than the fact that Native American's should be able to use there real name when they identify themselves to the internet world. The method Facebook uses to identify fake names definitely needs some improving, as situations similar to this have already happened multiple times.

However, I definitely wouldn't accuse Facebook of discrimination or racism, as some have done in the article. All Facebook did was create a faulty computer program, that has now made a few people upset. As shown through there various policies and charity efforts, Facebook's goal is to harbour a friendly and inclusive community. There would be no reason for them to deliberately try to remove Native American's off it's service. This was most likely just a simple misunderstanding.

However, this article makes you wonder about how Facebook designed this "real name" program. Exactly how are they differentiating real names from those that may be fake. What piece of code somehow sets off an alarm on Native American names, and how exactly does it do this. To completely understand that question, we have to meet the product managers and engineers to created this platform. They were the ones designing the system to identify which names were "real", and somewhere along to process forgot to accommodate for certain groups of people. They also could have been designing the system, and thought a name like Shane Creepingbear couldn't actually belong to anyone.

This makes you wonder about the inclusiveness of our society as a whole, specifically those in minorities. While this issue may seem small, it could represent a much larger problem with our society. If we want to become a more progressive and inclusive society, doing the small things that nobody even thinks about will be a necessity.]]> 2017-04-06 12:51:59 UTC https://padlet.com/ezra_kirsh/xhlgwdb7xflp/wish/165120070 ezra_kirsh https://padlet.com/ezra_kirsh/xhlgwdb7xflp/wish/165132485 2017-04-06 13:30:41 UTC https://padlet.com/ezra_kirsh/xhlgwdb7xflp/wish/165132485 ezra_kirsh https://padlet.com/ezra_kirsh/xhlgwdb7xflp/wish/165133386 2017-04-06 13:33:36 UTC https://padlet.com/ezra_kirsh/xhlgwdb7xflp/wish/165133386 ezra_kirsh https://padlet.com/ezra_kirsh/xhlgwdb7xflp/wish/166242051 “I could never understand how the god they proclaimed was watching over us could turn his head away and ignore such cruelty and suffering” - (Wagamese, 53)]]> 2017-04-13 13:23:21 UTC https://padlet.com/ezra_kirsh/xhlgwdb7xflp/wish/166242051 ezra_kirsh https://padlet.com/ezra_kirsh/xhlgwdb7xflp/wish/167243273 Despite the poor living conditions in first nations communities, many first nations feel inclined to stay there. They feel a connection to the land that would make it hard for them to leave. Many first nations actually feel safer at these reserves, as they think they wouldn't be welcome in certain cities.

The Neskantaga reserve has a suicide problem, considering 27 youth attempted suicide within the span of twelve months. The poor living conditions contribute to a sense of hopelessness that many of them feel. However, some say living in the city wouldn't work out much better for them. The bodies of five teenagers have turned up in rivers in the Thunder Bay area over recent years. They stay at the reserves because they are safer.

Firstly, I think that it is absolutely unacceptable that we've put the first nations people in a position where they have nowhere to go. The fact that many of them don't feel safe living in big cities suggests a larger problem with Canada as a whole. We have to work on making them more of a part of our society. Secondly, the conditions of these reserves also need to improve. Reserves could be a successful and functional program, if the amount of money and effort put into it is increased. This lack of effort from our government and our society as a whole is causing first nations people to feel trapped somewhere they don't want to be.]]> 2017-04-20 12:57:29 UTC https://padlet.com/ezra_kirsh/xhlgwdb7xflp/wish/167243273 ezra_kirsh https://padlet.com/ezra_kirsh/xhlgwdb7xflp/wish/167248846 2017-04-20 13:16:03 UTC https://padlet.com/ezra_kirsh/xhlgwdb7xflp/wish/167248846 ezra_kirsh https://padlet.com/ezra_kirsh/xhlgwdb7xflp/wish/169918634 This article talks of a reconciliations effort to bring a First Nations business district to Toronto. The city already has Little Portugal, Chinatown, and Little India but has yet to do anything of the sort for its first nations community. The district would combine street businesses, start-up incubators and gathering places. The government believes that Toronto doing could be a first step in this initiative eventually being spread around the whole world.

This is an interesting proposition, and one that has quite a bit of irony. We were the ones who originally came here and took away there land, and now we're giving it back to them like it's ours. I feel as though some members of the first nations population might be a bit offended, while others might be excited for it. This is a great opportunity to address some of the racism and stereotypes that exist in our country right now. ]]> 2017-05-04 13:04:03 UTC https://padlet.com/ezra_kirsh/xhlgwdb7xflp/wish/169918634 ezra_kirsh https://padlet.com/ezra_kirsh/xhlgwdb7xflp/wish/169923073 2017-05-04 13:19:10 UTC https://padlet.com/ezra_kirsh/xhlgwdb7xflp/wish/169923073