Growing up, I always knew I was different. As a Bangladeshi citizen who was born in Indonesia, I was atypical. As someone who attended the same international school for 11 years—where international schools are notorious for the amount of year to year turnover they see in their student bodies—I wasn’t[Read More…]
Tag: Race
Social activism not enough to break down structures of success
According to philosopher-writer Albert Camus, “the only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.” It is harder for a woman of colour to achieve the same metrics of success as a white man. The very[Read More…]
Race Project attendance should be encouraged, not coerced
The implementation of Race Project, an extension of Rez Project that seeks to encourage discussion of race and colonialism in university residence, had a rocky start this semester as attendance was not as high as facilitators had hoped. In a recent article for the McGill Daily, floor fellows and facilitators[Read More…]
Race education workshop added to Rez Project
In January 2016, a new workshop for students in McGill Residences was held for the first time, titled Rez Project: Race and Colonialism. Referred to as Race Project, the workshop was the second part of the Rez Project series, including a segment on gender, sexuality, and consent. Interim Resident Life[Read More…]
New name for the McGill bookstore, “Le James,” should stand
The decision to rename the McGill bookstore’s new iteration “Le James” raises the question of the value in using the names of past figures who were known to be racists, misogynists, or bigots on campus. While these questions began to be asked at universities in the United States, such conversations[Read More…]
Behind the Bench: Athletes as activists
Following weeks of protests over racial tensions at the University of Missouri, dozens of members of the school’s football team announced that they would not practice or play in any games until members of the university administration resigned. Within days, the president of the multi-campus university system stepped down, and[Read More…]
Why McGill needs to be proactive about race
Racial tension at universities in the United States has finally turned into discussion and action. Students of colour at institutions like Dartmouth College and Yale University are speaking out about injustices and racism they have experienced on campus. Exclusion from events, racial slurs and stereotypes, culturally appropriative halloween costumes, mascot[Read More…]
McGill researchers identify racial preterm birth disparity
Today, the inequalities faced by different racial groups are far-reaching. So much so, researchers have found, that individuals can be affected before they’re even born. In the U.S., data from the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics from 2004 to 2006 has shown that black women experience preterm births 4.7[Read More…]
Off the board: Drawing the line between inspiration and appropriation
Following the release of Taylor Swift’s new music video for “Wildest Dreams”—the 5th single from her 2014 album, 1989—the singer and the video’s director, Joseph Kahn, came under fire for accusations of racism and glorifying colonialism. It is very easy to call out something as being racist or culturally appropriative—especially[Read More…]
Inside the Echo Chamber
We are in the midst of a culture war where the personal and the political are becoming increasingly intertwined. A new discourse of social consciousness is emerging as the generation that was born in a world with ostensible equity across racial, sexual, and gender lines comes of age and realizes[Read More…]
