SS Gy eS ae et es SS Gs FE ei ae Se AE 1 FR et ES INE © Tt TN, a ET a ee ee KKKanada: Raci Few in North America know who Bobby Sands was or what he said as he starved to death for his iat and for his “desire for eedom”. Why? The answer is simple. The dominantimages ofracism presented tousin this society areones of theKlu ’ KluxKlan,NeoNazis,and the Aryan Nations. Organizationsseenas fringe and fanatical help comfort us and convince us thatracism is only onthe fringeand youare only a racistif you burn crosses and wear a swastika. Thesx ‘Snages are brought to us by WASP(White Anglo Saxon Protestant) owned media agencys. Organizations often guiltyofsystemic - and institutionalised racism which are more than happy to divert attention from themselves. Eventheir portrayal of the KKK is suspect. You willneverlearnfrom themainstream media that the KKK was formed by United Empire Loyalists. A group reveredinCanadaand whichhelped confederate this nation. To tell the complete truth about “extremists” is to show how close they are to the mainstream. Instead wecling to these images likeaninfantina hostile world clings to it’s blanket. We can pull our security balnket over our head and dissosociate from thereality ofa white supremacist society. We also accept the language of racism to define ourselves and each other. We see others as black, red, yellow and ourselvesas white. Wereduce people to colours, ignoring the different shades of every colour. Itis assumed that white means part of the power system, yet Jews who are white and Celts whoare whitearediscriminated against a a ee to attacks from the KKK and Neo Nazis.White hasa very narrow definition for those who advocate “white rule”. A self serving definition of racism allows for statements like” I’m not racist but...” and “Well, coloured people are racist too”. Neither of these statementsare valid. There are no “but’s” when dealing with an issue like racism. The word, “but” isa word for prefixing excuses. There are no excuses for racism. Oppressed people cannot be racist. They can be leery of attack after constant hurt from certain groups of people but they can not be racist. Racism by definition is systemic discrimination on the basis of race or ethnicity. People who are not part of the system because of racism can hardly beina position tosystemically oppress those at the top. Our commision of and our complicityin this oppressioncanonly end when we fully accept that this country was founded on racism and thatracism continues to flow through it like blood through a vein. Consider: The KKK was formed by United Empire Loyalists, a group that not only confederated Canada but went on to comprise most of it’s parliament. Not only was genocide perpertrated against the First Nations people of this country by the colonial forcestheirentirecultureand religion was also almost decimated. In many cases Natives wereused tokillbeavers for the Hudson’s Bay Company. The beaver was a sacred animal and pivotal figure in the spiritual lives of these ee Effectively the had been reduced tokilling their to survive and taking part in their own destruction. Reservations were not a consolation prize, extended in goodwill so that Natives would still have somewhere to live. They were quarantine stations where Natives were grouped to die so that their smallpox ridden bodies would not contaminate good land. For over a century( Canada is not much older) Canada used an island called Grosse Ile as death camp for Celtic people( mainly Irish, whom the United Empire Loyalists had sworn to exterminate) and the site for Anthrax testing on animals and Celtic people. Canada’s governmentcurrently plans to turn it into a theme park called “Canada: Land of Welcome and Hope”. Over 12,000 Irish are buried in mass graves there and many.more in unmarked mass graves. A couple thousand more, sick from disease, but still alive were dumped into -Cholera Bay and washed out with the tides. The French and the English fought for the “right” to colonize Canada and when the French lost they were ghettoised intothe province of Quebec where they quickly set about colonizing and oppressing in the name of France. Meanwhile England and the United Empire Loyalists set out to enslave the rest of Canada, making native traditions illegal and punishable by death or other severe penaltys. All techniques they had beenusingin their genocidal war with Ireland. From those horrific beginnings we have come to a country where Canadians are sending money to * the Other Press finance Grand Wizard's of the KKK in their bids for elected offices in the United States. Canada, the country that took in blacks fleeing slavery in the U.S. was busy at the same time exploiting Chinese people building the Trans Canada Railway. Our country has welcomed warcriminals in and turned away boatloads of refugees from thesamecountries that have produced the war criminals we welcome. In elementary schools there are teachers who have taught that the holocaust was a hoax and that Jews areevil.Inouruniversitysa professor by the name of Rushton published a paper and tought in his classes that whites were gretaly stiperior to blacks. In the wake of the Rodney King beating there were riots in Toronto. Just years before there had been race riots in Halifax. Preston Manning and the Reform Party have become media darlings with their racist diatribes. People who teach racial hatred hide behind freedom of speech in order that they will be free to rob people of their freedom. Canada’s reservation system was the basis for South Africa’s aparthied and up until the Seventies Canada wasindirectcommunication with South Africa giving ‘them pointers. There is one-count him-one black man that holds a federal goverment seat. Brian Mulroney-aman whocan trace family lineage to the United Empire Loyalists- says there is no racism in Canada. Even at Douglas College racism is prevalent. B.C.hasoneofthe highest Native populations in Canada but you wouldn’t know it walking through Douglas. If it is as easy as people claim for Natives to obtain a post secondary education, wherearethey? Douglas College has no anti rascism by Jennifer de Vries TheWimminsCentre, whichhas been operating since 1981 is a place ¢ for female students and wimmin of DouglasCollegetomeetand socialize. It offers a library, brochures, free workshops, and film series. The Centre also offers childcare subsidies to mothers whoareinneed. Speakers are brought in when wimminhavegeneratedconcernover certain issues, such as Wimmin and AIDS, and the Battered Wimmin ; Support Services. Special resources for minorities (wimmin of colour and lesbians) is Wilson, theco-ordinator of theCentre, is attempting tocorrect this problem. For example, the present research project whichlooksattheaccessissues for immigrant wimmin. This will in turn offer information to wimmin about wimmin. One concern expressed by Wilson is that the Centre stays wimmin friendly. It is not a place where a womyn goes only if she needs councilling, or where “man- haters” hang-out. lacking due to limited funding. Liz. : September 1, 1991 sm Too Close to Home policy. Hate literature was distrubuted on campus two years agoattacking certain members of the DCSS on the basis of their race, their sexuality, and their genders. No one was ever held accountable .The administration condemmed and in the same breathdismissed this as the result of political infighting. The administration is still predominantly WASP and the curriculum is still dominated by a WASP Eurocentric perspective. Douglas College, like most post secondary institutions, isstillabastion of “white” power. Those whoare not culturally “in line “ with the power structure whomanage toget through the doors are coerced to surpress their reality and get in line or get in their “place”. As students seeking enlightenment and education we should defy indoctrination.Keep the desire for - freedom in your heart and don’t let anyonebreak you. Racism is learned, it can be unlearned if you have the courage to try. Wimmin's Centre | The Centre is used collectively, such as the Active Wimmin’s Committee,andisused by individual students wanting information about theCollege, financialaid,and support for personal life struggles. The Wimmin’s Centre at Douglas College is the last onein BC to be exclusively funded by the College administration. Previously there were 13 centres across the province funded by college administrations in the early 80's. Even still, there is never enough funding. If there was more funding, Wilson would like to see more staff hired which would increase the services provided. In the future Wilson said she would like to see a centre open at the Maple Ridge Campus, more students getting involved and more ongoing mutual support groups. The issues that seem to be presently generated by wimmin are self-esteem, personal safety, and study/support groups. Allin all, the Wimmin’s Centre is a free safe environment for wimmin of all backgrounds to enjoy.