Last week my partner and our daughter were at a Royal Ontario Museum program exploring the Mesopotamia exhibit. The guide was explaining the ins and outs of Mesopotamian civilization, which included the "Free Pass" for slaves that had been freed by their owner. This is when one of the moms in the …
racism
How’s the dream coming?
On August 28, 1963 Martin Luther King Jr. made his now famous "I have a dream" speech.I was driving when I heard the newscaster mention it was the 50th anniversary. It made me pause and contemplate how different the world is that my toddler is growing up in. How different is it?Obviously things have …
Visual Inclusion
I've just had a baby, and so we have sent and received many cards over the past weeks. We sent "thank you for the shower gift" cards, and have received "congratulations on the birth of your child" cards. Interestingly, none of the cards that include photos or pictures have brown or black babies on …
The Politics of Labels
Earlier this week I had a conversation with a friend - about a conversation he had with someone who is new to Canada. It went something like this: "What is this "people of colour" business?" "Well, that's what we call people who are not white" (note: my friend is white, his friend, who is new to …
“Did you really just that?”
I think we've all been there...you're part of a group, participating in a conversation, when someone says something that makes you cringe. It could be a joke, a word or even an expression. Expressions are particularly tricky because often we have heard them for so long that we don't stop to think …
Thoughts about racism…
I have to weigh in on last week's goal by Joel Ward in Stanley Cup Playoff overtime, and the racism on Twitter that ensued. What I want to talk about was the last line of an article I read in the Metro News - a quote by one of the individuals who tweeted racist comments: "I'm not a racist. Just the …
The Devastating Impact of Discrimination
In today's Toronto Star, Ashante Infantry writes about the longest running human rights case in Canadian history (23 years). It has finally been settled, but the plaintiff has not won. Despite the fact that the Ontario Human Rights Commission ruled in his favour 3 times over the past 23 years, the …