Post-Race?

Despite the claims that we are entering a post-race period of history with the election of Barack Obama to the White House, racism in Canada, at least, is alive and well. Sometimes racism is subtle like when you get asked where you're really from. Sometimes it's not so subtle like when you have your teeth smashed in because of the colour of your skin. In both cases you have to expose it.

The recent conviction of JSR, the African-Canadian youth charged with the murder of Jane Creba on Boxing Day 2005, was so clearly motivated by racism that it defies belief. There was no physical evidence linking JSR to Creba's murder. The bullet that killed her did not come from his gun nor did his hands show evidence of having fired a shot that day. How then could he be charged with second degree murder?

Surely JSR was a party to a gunfight and therefore guilty of a dangerous crime. But second degree murder is too harsh given the facts. He is clearly guilty of participating in a shootout and therefore is guilty of a serious crime but the colour of his skin played a major role in his conviction and public demonization. Would there have been the same level of outrage and judicial pursuit had the victim been a young black man or the shooter been a white male?

For many days in December, I have endured gruesome report after gruesome report about the torture and murder of Phoenix Sinclair on CBC Radio One. Beaten, imprisoned, frozen, and forced to eat her own vomit: these words are seared into my memory and the memories of tens of thousands of other listeners. Clearly this is a hideous crime carried out by the girl's own parents and no excuse can be made for their crimes but a greater worry may be the vision of First Nations peoples promoted by these endless reports.

Each day the association of “aboriginal” and “reserve” with these hideous crimes conditioned listeners. From what I heard, I felt that this reporting reinforced the paternalistic attitudes toward First Nations common amongst the Canadian middle classes.

There is terrible lack of complexity in this reporting and the result is clearly dangerous. The legacy of residential schools is still with us. It would be dangerous to paint all First Nations people with the same brush due to a single miserable case of child abuse. Obviously the reporters at CBC Radio One missed this one.

And last and certainly least according to Stephen Harper, there's Omar Khadr, the Canadian apprehended for fighting with the Taliban and allegedly killing a US soldier in Afghanistan in 2001. Setting aside that he was captured as a 15 year old and was clearly forced to aid the Taliban and Al Qaeda by his father his treatment is telling when compared with two other high profile captives of the “war on terror”.

Does anyone remember John Walker Lindh, the American Taliban? Though he, like Khadr, fought with the Taliban against the American invasion of Afghanistan, he was able have his day in court. He is now serving a 20 year sentence. Though this is a harsh sentence to be sure, he avoided the death penalty and a military tribunal something that could not be said about the child soldier, Omar Khadr.

Or how about David Hicks, the Australian who fought for the Taliban and was captured in Afghanistan. He is now back living in Australia having been released by his American captors. Again, no different from Khadr, except in one key way, Hicks was an adult making adult decisions and aware of the consequences of his actions. If anything, like Khadr, he should be in Guantanamo Bay, waterboarded, subjected to the frequent flyer program and prevented from seeing the evidence against him.

It seems there is justice and then there is justice. You can find out where you stand on a colour chart. Khadr has darker skin than these other two men. Case closed. So where these men go home or at least get their days in court, Khadr waits for his day before a military tribunal that has already drawn its own conclusions. Much like the conviction of JSR and the reporters covering Phoenix Sinclair, everyone already knows that blacks are violent and “Indians” are bad parents. Simple enough for you?

It seems we've still got a long way to go before we get to that proposed post-race world.