By Fareed Khan (Founder, Canadians UnitedAgainst Hate)
The following is based on remarks delivered to the 2nd Annual George Floyd Memorial Lecture organized by the Canadian Congress on Diversity on May 25, 2022.
Two years ago the world witnessed the murder of a Black man (George Floyd) at the hands of a white police officer in the US when his death was recorded by an eyewitness on their cell phone. The perpetrator was ultimately convicted for the crime he committed. But this did little to wipe away the pain, anger and sense of injustice that was unleashed in 2020 as anti-racism and anti-police brutality protests erupted in cities in the US, Canada, Europe and other countries around the world. It is deeply troubling that it was only after George Floyd’s murder was captured on video that some politicians finally acknowledged that systemic and institutional racism within police forces was a serious problem that must be addressed, even though this was not the first time that an unarmed Black man had been killed by police under suspicious circumstances
Today’s memorial lecture takes place in the shadow of another violent and deadly act of hate targeting Black people. A little less than two weeks ago on May 14th an 18-year-old white supremacist opened fire at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York in a Black neighbourhood, killing 10 people and wounding three others in a racially motivated act of hate.
This was not a sporadic act of violence. It was a hate crime that was meticulously planned and carried out after the perpetrator posted a 180-page racist manifesto in which he embraced the myth of “the great replacement theory” – a white supremacist conspiracy theory which claims that white people are in danger of being wiped out as society becomes more racially diverse, and as increasing numbers of non-white immigrants are accepted by western countries.
This conspiracy theory is part of the white supremacist narrative that is supported and propagated by some Republican politicians in the US, by racist sympathizers in the media like Fox News personality Tucker Carlson, and by racist far right voices in Canada, like the people who organized the occupation of downtown Ottawa for three weeks in February.
There are many Canadians, including many among the nation’s political elites, who say that things are much better in Canada, that the type of racism that exists in the US doesn’t happen here. But this is an absolutely false assertion in a nation which was founded on Indigenous genocide, slavery and white supremacy.
Here is an example of the white blindness that exists among certain Canadian elites. This was the Tweet former federal cabinet minister Catherine McKenna posted following the Buffalo shooting: “Reading the news today, I’m feeling very fortunate to live in Canada — a diverse and tolerant country that values freedom while respecting human rights. We aren’t perfect, and building our country is an ongoing project, but I wouldn’t choose anywhere else.”
This is a statement that reeks of privilege by someone who was a Liberal cabinet minister when six Muslims were murdered by a white supremacist in a Quebec City mosque, when a Muslim man was murdered outside a Toronto mosque by a neo-Nazi, when a Muslim family was murdered by a white supremacist in London, Ontario, when Indigenous people were shot by the RCMP in New Brunswick during wellness checks, when a Black man with mental health issues was shot by Ottawa police, and when racism and white supremacy were on the rise across the country.
This is a prime example of the problem that racialized Canadians face. We are led by politicians who have lived white privileged lives who don’t seem to truly understand the problem. We are led by political leaders who are quick to get in front of a camera or microphone, or post on social media, to express “thoughts and prayers” every time there is violent racist incident but are not as quick to take action to fight hate when called to do so. And we have some Conservative and right wing politicians like Ottawa MP Pierre Poilievre, a man who is running to be leader of the Conservative Party, and People’s Party of Canada leader Maxime Bernier, who are both happy to rub shoulders with and quietly seek the support of people who promote racist and white supremacist narratives, like the “great replacement” conspiracy theory, even while publicly saying they don’t want their support.
According to a Statistics Canada report released in March police reported hate crimes rose by 80 per cent in 2020 reaching their highest level ever. Hate crimes targeting East or Southeast Asian people rose 301 per cent, those targeting Black people increased by 92 per cent, those against Indigenous people went up by 152 per cent, and South Asians saw hate crimes targeting people from their community rise by 47 per cent. As for faith-based hate crimes, Canada’s Muslim and Jewish communities continue to be the prime targets.
These disturbing numbers are the latest example of the very real and growing problem with racism and white supremacy in Canada. And yet despite calls for action by anti-racism groups for the federal government to take leadership nationally to tackle the growing pandemic of hate and white supremacy their response has either been to move at a snail’s pace or not at all.
Even Black Liberal MPs are critical of their own government. London West MP Arielle Kayabaga is quoted in a story in The Hill Times parliamentary newspaper this past week as saying “When do we draw the line? When is enough, enough? When do we actually go from talking about dealing with it (racism) to actually taking action?” In the same story Hull-Aylmer MP Greg Fergus, who is former chair of the Parliamentary Black Caucus, said he wants to see concrete action from his own government to address racism and hate in Canada.
Canadians United Against Hate heartily agrees with this sentiment. For the past five years we have repeatedly called on the federal government to implement the recommendations contained in our call to action to combat hate in Canada. Here are some of those recommendations:
· That the federal government initiate and lead efforts to implement an aggressive national, government-led anti-hate strategy targeting all forms of hate, bigotry and racism in society, as well as systemic and institutional racism, and hate on all media platforms, with a strong focus on social media, and that this effort be coordinated with provincial and municipal governments.
· That the government take action to eliminate the systemic and institutional racism in the RCMP, CSIS and the Canadian Border Services Agency, that it work with provincial governments to do the same with municipal police forces, that it begin the process of eliminating racism within Canada’s justice system, and implement policies to sanction public sector and federal agency managers and executives that tolerate or condone racist behaviour within their workplace.
· That social media platforms and web hosting services (whether located within or outside Canada) that have audiences and users in Canada be legally compelled to monitor their platforms and services for hate speech; to remove it promptly when made aware of it; to develop strategies to combat hate speech on their platforms and services; and if unwilling to comply with Canadian laws be financially penalized in proportion to their annual revenues, and their their executives be made criminally liable for failing to comply with Canadian anti-hate laws, and be prosecuted for violations of those laws.
· That the federal government lead by example by implementing a policy to diversify the top tiers of the federal civil service at the deputy minister, assistant deputy minister and director general levels, and that the boards of directors of federal agencies, commissions and crown corporations reflect the ethno-racial diversity of Canada, and that this be mandated through federal legislation or regulations.
· That the federal government declare illegal under criminal law the use or display of white supremacist, neo-Nazi, and racist symbols and racist imagery, like swastikas and Confederate flags, that are used to advance hateful, bigoted or racist messaging and activities, and that language and speech that incites hatred against a racial or religious group, that assaults the human dignity of others by maliciously maligning a group or individual because of their belonging to a vulnerable minority group, be criminalized beyond the limits in current Canadian criminal law.
These are just some of the recommendations we have made to the federal government which they have largely ignored. And to those Liberal MPs who would say that funds to fight hate were in the recent federal budget, I say that $85 million over four years is woefully insufficient when compared to resources needed to fight the growing cancer of racism and white supremacy across the country.
What will it take for our political leaders to take decisive action to urgently address the growing pandemic of hate? Do we have to have more racially motivated mass murders before politicians get with the program?
The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “The greatest sin of our time is not the destruction of the good around us by the few but the apathy of the vast majority who sit idly by as it happens.”
And that is our problem. We have governments, politicians and large segments of the population that are seemingly apathetic when it comes to fighting hate and white supremacy in an urgent and decisive way.
18th Century Irish statesman Edmund Burke said, “All that is needed for evil to triumph is for enough good men to do nothing.”
Well my friends, evil is stalking this land in the form of racism and white supremacy. And it’s time for good men and women to rise up and storm the political barricades to make our leaders heed our calls for action if we don’t want to see the diverse, inclusive and accepting society that we are trying to build come apart at the seams.
History has shown that racism and white supremacy are a poison that will destroy the fabric of society if action isn’t taken. So it’s up to ordinary Canadians to make things happen. Because if we don’t we will be waiting for a long time for governments and politicians to do what is urgently needed to push back the racism, hate and white supremacy that we are seeing across this country.
© 2022 Fareed Khan. All rights reserved.
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