Histories, experiences of racism

Analyzing the historical roots of racism and sharing their experiences, our writers put forward both global and personal perspectives on racism this year. Inori Roy-khan made the topic the focus of her column “Minority Report,” in which she spoke of cultural appropriation, whitewashed allyship, and the persistent nature of racism. In his column “Shadows of Slavery,” Nadir Khan narrated histories of domination and resistance in the transatlantic slave trade. Roy-khan called for an end to police violence against Black youth in the U.S. (“Kids deserve to be kids,” November 9, page 9), and Khan traced the roots of this racist brutality to the era of slave patrols (“Policing the racial hierarchy,” February 1, page 10). Meanwhile, Laura Xu examined the racist origins of drug prohibition in Canada and the U.S. (“The colour of pot,” February 22, page 11).

Closer to Mcgill, Francesca Humi described how, as a French speaker, she is “caught in between spaces and places” when attempting to articulate her racial identity in France (“Between places and spaces,” March 21, page 10). Ralph Haddad and Nadine Tahan uncovered the orientalist assumptions behind Principal Suzanne Fortier’s selective condolences in response to terrorist attacks around ther world (“On selective grief,” November 23, page 8), while an anonymous student described the racism they experienced during a teaching placement and the subsequent lack of support from the Education faculty as a “personal hell” (“Speak louder than racism,” February 8, page 9).