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                                                       Human wickedness

                                    


By LYN COCKBURN
edmontonsun.com
Monday May 14th, 2007


So, what is racism exactly? Is it former comedian Michael Richards losing it on stage, using the 'n' word and ranting about lynching black people?

Or is it Mel Gibson, alcohol level high, IQ low, spewing anti-Semitic garbage when stopped for drunk driving?

Could it be shock jock Don Imus referring to young women on the Rutgers University basketball team as "nappy-headed hos?" Those are the easy questions. They're only worth two marks each. Now, for something a trifle more difficult, worth 10 marks.

Do you get a Mulligan when you yourself are a member of a minority group? And you wax unpoetic about another ethnic group? Remember David Ahenakew - former aboriginal leader and only the second person to ever have his Order of Canada rescinded - who said disgusting things about Jews in 2002?

Here's the most confusing question. Extra marks.

Is it racism if you are dissed on suspicion of being something you're not? Let me give you a couple of examples. In Liege, Belgium, I was once refused permission to view an apartment for rent after I'd introduced myself in my very best French. The landlady rudely dismissed me over the intercom. A Belgian friend grinned and explained: "She heard your accent and thought you were a black from the former Belgian Congo!"

On another occasion, I took my Star of David necklace, which I wore to show my support for Israel, into a little jewelry shop in Victoria to have the clasp repaired. The proprietor fingered the necklace with a peculiar look of disdain and announced nastily that his shop did not fix "that sort of thing."

Two blocks away, looking for another jeweller, my naivety lifted and it dawned on me I'd just been a victim of anti-Semitism. My Jewish friends are still laughing over that one.

Travelling in Jamaica, I almost got used to being called "whitey" on the streets, sometimes with a smile. Was that racism or was it some sort of learning curve? A friend who taught in the Caribbean for several years says that every white person should have the experience of going into a theatre to find he or she is the only Caucasian in the audience.

UNDER THE CARPET

All of the above are arguably examples of overt racism. But what of the under-the-carpet stuff? Earn bonus points for this one. Was it racism when years after the fact I learned that a teacher, a former colleague, always gave two exams to his social studies class - one for the aboriginal students, and one for everyone else. When someone remonstrated with him, he evidently said indignantly that he was "helping" the aboriginal students.

And what negates racism? An abject apology, preferably accompanied by tears and a stint in rehab? Or does outright denial work better? Finally, does racism occur when the dominant race - usually white - insists on defining it? For example, Ujjal Dosanjh, former AG in B.C. and presently MP for Vancouver South, recently remarked that the initial Air India inquiry may have been bungled because the passengers were not Caucasian.

I happened to hear Dosanjh speak on the radio and when he finished, there was this little silence. Then the interviewer said, her words slippery with incredulity: "Surely you can't be saying there was racism involved."

Dosanjh tried to explain, but the interviewer was too shocked, and indignant, to hear him. And that brings us to the last question on this quiz. Have we entered a time in which the accusation or even the suggestion of racism is taken more seriously than the act of racism itself?

As for the correct answers, there aren't any. At least not 100% definitive ones. Not ones that will satisfy everybody. Not ones that will rid us of racism.

The only possible answer is to keep asking the questions.

http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Columnists/Cockburn_Lyn/2007/05/14/4178578-sun.html

Not in this lifetime.