By Fareed Khan
Four weeks ago, on March 21st, the world marked the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. It is the day in 1960 when police in Sharpeville, South Africa, opened fire and killed 69 people at a peaceful demonstration against Apartheid "pass laws". In 1979, the General Assembly adopted a programme of activities to be undertaken during the second half of the Decade for Action to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination. On that same occasion, the General Assembly decided that a week of solidarity with people struggling against racism and racial discrimination, beginning on March 21st, would be organized annually.
Canadian anti-racism and human rights organizations mark this day every year by holding events that highlight the struggle to overcome racial discrimination, and issue calls for action to fight hate and racism at a government and societal level. This year Canadian human rights and anti-racism voices came together at a media conference in Ottawa on March 21st to call out racism in Canada’s domestic and foreign policy, as well as admonish the Canadian and provincial governments for their very weak responses to fighting the spread of hate and white supremacy across the country.
The anti-racism activist group Canadians United Against Hate (CUAH) was joined by the Canadian Congress on Diversity, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East and Independent Jewish Voices Canada to highlight the weak response of the Canadian government in the fight against racism and white supremacy.
CUAH released a statement which pointed out that racialized and minority communities were "sick and tired" of seeing racism and prejudice in government policies despite numerous statements by political leaders over the last several years that "racism has no place in Canada" (usually made in the aftermath of violent or deadly racist attacks). The groups pointed out that such political platitudes are meaningless without decisive actions to fight racism, without leadership at the national level to implement a Canada-wide anti-hate strategy, and without actions to eliminate any hint of racism from within public and government institutions.
One example that was highlighted of the lack of government action in response to racism was when protesters occupied Ottawa for three weeks in February by the so-called “Freedom Protest”. The lack of government and police response to the protest which led to the occupation was a demonstration of the seeming apathy of governments to deal in a decisive manner with racists and white supremacists. The promoters and organizers of the protest had a history of publicly promoting racism, Islamophobia, anti-Semitism and incitements to racial violence. They called for insurrection in their online manifesto, and white protesters paraded around with Nazi symbols, Confederate flags and hateful messaging without any opposition from protesters.
There was much public reaction from representatives of racialized communities that had the protest been organized by Indigenous or Black people it is safe to say that the full force of the law would have come down on them very quickly, as has been the case in the past when people from these communities have organized protests.
Voices in the Jewish community also commented on the overt hate that was visible during the protest and commented on the lack of political leadership in response to the protest. Rabbi David Mivasair, a member Independent Jewish Voices Canada, who was part of the media conference noted that to stand idly by when people espousing racial hatred take over our streets is a massive failure of political leadership. In addition, it was noted that what was on display in Ottawa was the glaring disparity in police treatment of protests involving racialized communities and Indigenous people in Canada compared to how the primarily white Ottawa protesters were treated.
CUAH also pointed out the racism that was apparent when you compare Canada’s open arms and open door response to Ukrainian refugees fleeing Russian aggression to the government’s response last year to Canada’s Afghan allies who were fleeing the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. Add into the mix Canada’s very limited response to Russian destruction of entire towns in the Syrian War, resulting in 13.5 million Syrians being made refugees, Canada’s relative silence around the refugee and humanitarian crisis created by the Saudi war on Yemen, or this country’s lack of action to take in any of the 1.2 million survivors of the Rohingya genocide living in refugee camps in Bangladesh, and you get the sense that the Canadian government’s foreign policy approach is that white Christians matter more than people who are Brown and Muslim.
Speakers acknowledged that the war instigated by Russia against Ukraine was despicable and the treatment of Ukrainian refugees who aren’t white reveals the depth of racism and discrimination that racialized people continue to face. Also noted was the fact that while nations around the world need to welcome Ukrainian refugees, these same nations must similarly open their arms to refugees from Africa, the Middle East and other parts of the world outside Europe with the same grace and support.
Nur Watad, speaking on behalf of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East, stated that they wholeheartedly support Canada’s accepting attitude towards Ukrainian refugees. But she also questioned why Canada has not taken a similar approach towards other refugee populations in the past, whether from Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq or Palestine. "Ukrainian refugees certainly deserve our heart-felt sympathy and support. But surely our hearts are big enough to welcome any despairing asylum-seeker fleeing similar strife,” she said.
Speakers observed that as a nation founded on Indigenous genocide, slavery, and white supremacy, this history is part of the DNA of Canadian society and its major institutions. They further commented that refusal by political leaders to acknowledge the fact that racism, white supremacy and white privilege are baked into Canadian society and institutions because of our history, reinforces those attitudes and tells racialized Canadians that they are lesser human beings.
The overall message delivered by all the speakers was that whether it is Canada’s foreign policy or domestic policy racialized Canadians are fed up and are demanding changes in the way things are done, and the inherent racist culture that creates them. It is why the Canadian government needs to take a more aggressive approach to fighting racism within its corridors where policies are formulated, and why there needs to be aggressive action to fight the spread of white supremacy and hate in Canada.
Because if not now, then when? And if not, then why not? Canadians will be watching, and will hold political leaders to account if they fail to address these critical issues that are affecting millions of lives in Canada and overseas.
© 2022 The View From Here. © 2022 Fareed Khan. All rights reserved.
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