“Violence and misogyny are not Canadian values,” Kellie Leitch, former minister of labour and minister of the status of women, tells Maclean’s. The above is an innocuous statement regarding Leitch’s vague and seemingly benign proposal to screen immigrants for “anti-Canadian values.” Obviously, most people don’t condone violence or misogyny. But,[Read More…]
Tag: racism
New policy against discrimination implemented in Mercury Course Evaluations
On Nov. 2, McGill Teaching and Learning Services (TLS) announced the introduction of a formal protocol which enabled professors and teaching assistants (TAs) to report hateful or discriminatory comments left on Mercury Course Evaluations. According to TLS Director Laura Winer, comments that are deemed inappropriate will result in the removal[Read More…]
Take a knee: Why Colin Kaepernick’s protest is not in vain
Want to start a fight? Just follow Colin Kaepernick’s lead and kneel in protest of police brutality during the American national anthem at an NFL “Military Appreciation Night.” Since the Aug. 26 incident, Kaepernick has been derided for disrespecting the troops, desecrating the flag, and hating America. The least-inflamed of[Read More…]
The violence of labels in the Baltimore Riots
Before implementing a citywide curfew aimed at alleviating the violence that erupted in Baltimore on April 27, the city’s Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said, “It is very clear there is a difference between what we saw over the past week with the peaceful protests […] and the thugs who only want[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…]
Ta-Nehisi Coates speaks to McGill about race relations in the United States
Ta-Nehisi Coates, senior editor at The Atlantic, spoke at McGill on March 6 about the state of race relations in the United States. The talk was organized by groups including the McGill Debating Union (MDU), McGill Black Students’ Network (BSN), Women of Colour Collective at McGill Law School, and Media @[Read More…]
Pop Rhetoric: In defence of the Oscars
The Academy Awards took place this Sunday, which means critics have begun complaining about who did and did not go home with the statue of a naked gold man. This criticism will likely build upon the backlash that occurred after the nominations were announced, with the argument being that The[Read More…]
Law professor discusses implications of Ferguson events for black Canadians
Joanne St. Lewis, Common Law professor at the University of Ottawa and former McGill student, spoke at the annual Annie Macdonald Langstaff workshop last Friday. The workshop featured a discussion on the recent events in Ferguson, a city in Missouri that gained international attention in 2014 after Mike Brown, an[Read More…]
Commentary: In conclusion
In reflecting upon my experience at McGill, it would be fair to say that much of it was true to form; the share of good and bad professors, the very real labyrinthine bureaucracy, and the infamous campus politics. In some sense, all of that is usual. In other ways, it[Read More…]
To talk about race, one must listen
Recently I happened to find myself in conversation with a friend over the then-white-hot situation in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson, Missouri, where the killing of unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown at the hands of local police erupted—thanks to a perfect storm of factors—to become an international flashpoint.