This
Canada Day, we need to make a commitment to eliminate the cancer of racism from
this country, so that we can eventually live up to our own hype about how great
Canada is on July 1 in years to come.
GATINEAU,
QUE.—Canada Day 2020 will be a national holiday that will be burned into the
memory of Canadians young and old for many years to come for a couple of
reasons.
To begin
with, it will be the first Canada Day in living memory with no official
celebrations taking place anywhere in the country due to the COVID-19 pandemic,
all of which have been cancelled due to fears of transmitting the coronavirus
at large public events.
However,
the more important reason this Canada Day will be remembered is because of the
great Canadian awakening that has occurred since the killing of George Floyd by a Minnesota police officer.
Canadians from all walks of life have taken to the streets in anti-racism demonstrations
from coast to coast to protest anti-Black racism, anti-Indigenous racism, and
systemic racism. It’s as if Canadians of all backgrounds have awakened to the
endemic racism in our society, and they have joined with Blacks, Indigenous
people, and people of colour to call for action to address racial injustices.
The
reality that Canada is built on a foundation of racism and Indigenous genocide
is not a new revelation since there is extensive research documenting this.
What does seem to be new is Canadians’ heightened awareness and desire to do
something about it.
It is
difficult to recall this level of attention being paid to racism in Canada,
albeit there have been instances of media and public focus from time to time.
Racism was one of the topics addressed in the report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission
in 2015. Hate and bigotry was on the public’s minds and the political agenda
again when six Muslim men were
murdered in a Québec City mosque by a white supremacist in January 2017.
Attention was focused on racism again when old photos of Justin Trudeau in blackface and brownface came to light during the
federal election last fall, and once more when Don Cherry ranted about
immigrants not properly honouring veterans on Remembrance Day on his Hockey
Night In Canada segment.
In each
instance, there was a brief public, media, and political focus on issues of
racism in Canada which subsequently faded. This time, however, it seems to be
different, as the public engages in wider discussions about the racist
foundations of Canadian society in the lead-up to Canada’s national holiday.
Racism
was a factor in the policies of Canada’s first prime minister, Sir John A. Macdonald. The
architect of the residential schools system said of Indigenous people, “Though
he may learn to read and write, his habits, training and mode of thought are
Indian. He is simply a savage who can read and write.” His racism also
was directed towards the Chinese, who he felt would
create a “mongrel race” and threaten Canada’s “Aryan” character if allowed to
immigrate.
Sir Wilfrid Laurier is also
notable for his racist order in council in 1911 that prevented Blacks from
immigrating to Canada. In addition, Laurier’s government is well-known for
policies that blocked immigrants of Chinese,
Japanese, and South Asian origin.
Sir Robert Borden was also
on the list of overtly racist Canadian leaders. He won the 1911 election
on the strength of his xenophobic slogan, “A White Canada.” It was also
under Borden that the Komagata Maru incident occurred, when a ship
filled with Sikhs, Muslims, and Hindus was forced back out to sea by the Royal
Canadian Navy from the port of Vancouver.
Canada’s
racist policies continue today in various forms, including police treatment of
Indigenous and racialized Canadians. They were instituted by leaders who have
been celebrated for years as “great” Canadians. The recent protests have
focused attention on Canadian racism, resulting in public calls for change.
On this Canada Day, occurring in
the shadow of anti-racism protests, Canadians have to accept that, while better than most countries, Canada is not as great
as it is made out to be given its racist history and institutions. This
Canada Day, we need to make a commitment to eliminate the cancer of racism from
this country, so that we can eventually live up to our own hype about how great
Canada is on July 1 in years to come.
Fareed Khan is founder and chair
of the anti-racism activist group Canadians United Against Hate.
The Hill
Times
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