Canada, ucl-saguenay: Collective Emma Goldman - confront racism: A non-negotiable necessity (fr)

[machine translation]

We share this text has come to us via email. Feel free to do the same and send us your 
news and opinion letters. ---- No offense to the local chambers of commerce, small 
intellectual elite and technocratic regionalist, the rulers and the "saints" of the 
Catholic Hierarchy, property rights in the traditional territory of the Innu, Nitassinan, 
were not obtained legally. Moreover, remember that property rights have always been behind 
the effect of the expropriation process. The Nitassinan this expropriation is to be linked 
to colonialism. Life in tiny reserves, which have much in common with apartheid regimes 
elsewhere in the world, has never been a choice for the Innu. This is not an act of 
charity of Canada and Quebec States! It's quite the opposite, something imposed by the 
constraints, by law and by state coercion. On the "North Shore" as in "Saguenay-Lac 
St-Jean," and we are living on stolen land. Not only does he remain so even today, but 
perpetuates systemic relationship of domination: we see the "Quebec" a white majority and 
French "dominant" versus "minorities" ethnocultural (especially those associated with 
countries Third World) and indigenous communities "dominated". It is racism, oppression a 
specific system whose mechanisms are designed to assign a place to a social group, based 
on criteria essentializing, so are built subgroups in the population (groups of "race "), 
positioned in a hierarchical relationship. [1] Racism does not just amount to just 
prejudice - it's more a matter of power. As non-natives of the dominant white majority, 
our first step is to recognize the existence of this system to recognize the privileges 
assigned to us-es as a social group, to move from thought to action by confronting racist 
behavior and everyday words and to question our privileges, even in the course struggles. 
The claims of a privileged social group does not worth more than the rhetoric of a 
politician or a union leader; centuries of domination are not cleared by repeating 
conscience or adopting a correct political line.

There are nearly a week, we learned that the Muslim cultural center under construction in 
Sept-?les was the target repeatedly, vandalism and hateful Islamophobic ( 
http://tvanouvelles.ca/ lcn / info / regional / estduquebec / archive / 2014/09 / 
20140916-123444.html ). A few months ago, Micka?l Bergeron, a blogger Voir.ca had already 
identified many examples of hate speech on social media inciting to commit acts of nature 
in the place of the cultural center under construction. Micka?l particularly denounced 
publications facebook page "Spotted" of Port-Cartier where many people poured their venom 
and an immeasurable lot of nonsense and ignorance towards Muslims and Muslim ( 
https://www.facebook.com/permalink. php? story_fbid = 409133779225857 & id = 
245853862220517 & fref = nf ). The following are some particularly explicit hate speech 
excerpts on this page:

Note that another racist page was formed during the summer: "Movement against the 
Islamization of the North Shore" I invite subscriber-es facebook to report and denounce 
this page which relays including speech and xenophobic acts of European neo-fascist factions.

On one hand, we can not trivialize the influence or impact of these comments and racist 
incitement on social networks. On the other hand, one can observe the role that try to 
play by the fanaticism of racist insults on the internet or off the internet, racist 
groups such as the Federation of Quebec-born, who are banking on the ignorance of many 
parts of the population to stir up hatred of the Other. Of course, the events that occur 
are reminiscent touchdown against the mosque in Saguenay (with pamphlets of "Nationalists 
Saguenay" as a business card) racist gesture. Le Collectif Emma Goldman, supported by more 
than a hundred people and organizations had also then issued a "Joint Declaration for an 
inclusive and anti-racist community in Saguenay ( http://ucl-saguenay.blogspot.ca/2013/ 09 
/ declaration-town-for-a-communaute.html ) "that remains clearly visible ... highly topical.

However, it should be remembered that the action of racist and fascist factions only a 
peak intensity in the racist continuum that is the Canada-Quebec's social fabric. Also 
questionable are the citizens who are offended by the bad publicity for their environment 
while trivializing the pervasiveness of racism and the impact of their privileges; their 
own actions are also the result of the racist and colonialist system in which we live.

Also during the week that just passed, the display by a resident of Rouyn-Noranda Nazi and 
Confederate flags in their windows attracted media attention in the province. If, without 
further information, such a move can indeed be associated with small groups identifying 
with the extreme right, it remains that this is a rather extreme commoditization of ideas 
and plans racist that these flags are associated. Its impact is particularly violent and 
is an additional source of insecurity, and potentially social exclusion for indigenous, 
people from immigrant and other racialized person. Again, this incident in Rouyn-Noranda 
is reminiscent of similar flags have been exposed at homes in, closer to home, for 
example, Saguenay and Dolbeau.

Its systemic nature, racism is embedded in the very foundation of Canadian and Quebec 
institutions. Colonialism remains well today. Discrimination takes place for example in 
the police, in government, private companies, to the Church and in court. These 
institutions have played a historic role in the reproduction of racism by promoting 
structurally privileged white majority. They are also the result of management of 
non-white populations whose function is to ensure that land grabbing and resources. The 
supposed "benefits" (in the eyes of whites) of the Indian cards are nothing more than a 
symbol of a long history of extermination and assimilation, theft and destruction of 
ancestral lands. The Indian Act has legally established inequality giving a lower status 
to natives. The police are a highlight of the racism of their historical baggage to daily 
discrimination. The history of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police also goes precisely to 
the Mounted Police Northwest, a colonial paramilitary force that was responsible for 
suppressing rebellions Aboriginal and M?tis. [2] In recent decades, about 3,000 Aboriginal 
women have gone missing or been murdered across the country; violence that has been 
facilitated by a quasi-laissez-faire police and various institutions dealing with these 
homicides. The racist and colonialist bias are also reflected in the work of police 
officers across racial profiling. Random identity checks, zeal and intimidating 
harassment, criminalization, abuse ... outright killing of innocent people, judged by 
their looks suspicious. Two examples closer to home: the murder of Terry Lalo in Sept-?les 
in 2002 ( http://ucl-saguenay.blogspot.ca/2011/08/un-other-face-of-racism-terry-lalo. html 
) and the brutal assault on a young father in La Romaine in 2013 ( 
http://ucl-saguenay.blogspot.ca/2013/07/agressions-POLICE-racist-de-la.html ) . There is 
nothing in this system to deter police abuse. The incarceration of Aboriginal rate is 5 to 
6 times higher than the national average. On another note, indigenous resistance against 
the colonial system continues and embers barricades at Oka still burning.

To conclude, I want to relay an announcement. Of v igiles and events will be held soon on 
October 4 in many cities and many villages across Canada. These are organized to honor the 
memory of missing aboriginal women and to pressure the government to acquiesce to the 
claim of families and affected communities is to hold a public inquiry into the systemic 
violence. In Chicoutimi, a march followed by a vigil and a talking circle will take place. 
The program will start at 19:00 at the Native Friendship Centre in Saguenay (491 
Jacques-Cartier East, the former Auberge Villa at Green Gable) and is organized by people 
from the community in collaboration with the Native Friendship Centre of Saguenay . A news 
is coming in about a week to announce the various vigils in several parts of the region.

Alan Gilbert

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[1] Christine Delphy, 2008, "Order, which dominate the" other "? "P. 197 - Change in the 
newspaper Pic-Bois # 2, which focused on racism in the Saguenay-Lac St-Jean
[2] "History of Colonialism RCMP & State Violence" 
http://copwatchvancouver.wordpress.com/2011/12/03/rcmp-history-of-colonialism-state-violence/