It’s time for critical self-reflection on racism

Recently, Canada has seen an upsurge in reported racist attacks and it’s troubling.

This week in Thunder Bay, Ont., Barb Kentner died after being hit by a trailer hitch in late January. She was 34 years old and left behind a 16-year-old daughter.

According to witnesses she and a friend were walking in Thunder Bay’s east end when someone in a passing car threw a trailer hitch at her, hitting her in the stomach. Her liver was badly damaged and it eventually ceased functioning. An 18-year-old man is in jail charged with aggravated assault. Now that the victim has died, the charge may be changed.

This week, chiefs from Northern Ontario met in Thunder Bay to discuss the future of their high school students’ attendance at local schools. Over the years, numerous students have gone missing and this year alone two students died under mysterious circumstances.

Meanwhile on the other side of the country, a Mi’kmaq ceremony was interrupted by a group of thugs known as the “Proud Boys.”

The Mi’kmaq people were holding a ceremony protesting the respect the city pays to General Cornwallis, the British military officer who founded Halifax in 1749 and placed a bounty on First Nations’ scalps. Halifax has a statue, a park and a street dedicated to Cornwallis and it’s a sore point with the Mi’kmaq people. The ceremony took place at the foot of a statue of the general.

A discussion ensued and it became apparent that the Proud Boys were uneducated and racist in their attitudes toward the issue the Mi’kmaq protesters were raising. They accused the protesters of disrespecting Gen. Cornwallis.

These two incidents raise some troubling questions for Canadians. Is the racism on open display south of the border seeping into Canada to embolden people who harbour racist attitudes? Has racism existed all the time but is just now being exposed by social media? Are Canadians questioning their behaviour or treating these incidents as business as usual?

In Saskatoon, a series of billboards are raising the issue of the racism and it’s making some people uncomfortable. The billboard making the largest waves shows the face of a white man with the caption, “I have to acknowledge my own privilege and racist attitudes.”

To me, it makes a lot of sense and people should stop and think about it. The two incidents I previously pointed out are the result of the white male sense of superiority.

White male privilege is as Canadian as rhubarb pie. For the past 150 years of Canadian history the governments, civil service and military have been led by white men. This has given one group in society a free pass and now things are changing.

Today, a young white male might sit in a classroom with a First Nations woman or a Muslim woman in her niqab. In life, he will compete for university entrance, jobs and advancement not with his peers, but these women who are driven to succeed.

This is causing fear and insecurity among young white men and it’s coming out in racist taunts and, in more extreme cases, violence. Their comfortable perch is disintegrating and they fear what the future will bring.

So is the Trump White House having an effect north of the border? It might embolden some, but we have to realize that we have our own homegrown racists in this country.

Is social media the culprit? Today, communication is exposing racism and racist attitudes. The video camera and the internet have thrown back the shroud of secrecy that once existed to hide the ugly side of society. Social media is improving race relations and a tool for a more egalitarian society.

But are we witnessing change? I fear that Canadian society might be polarizing into two camps, one that supports racial harmony and another that is based on fear of the unknown.

The group that wants racial harmony appears to be the majority but for how long?

The Canadian elites in the government and media like to brag about our racial harmony and what a wonderful country we have. But we can’t rest on our laurels. Canadians need some critical self reflection combined with a plan for the way forward.