The charges of "racism" against Toronto Police in the matter of the alleged sexual assault of a female student at James Cardinal McGuigan Catholic Secondary School by 16 other students, would be laughable, were it not so seriously tragic. Parents of the 16 accused youths, all of whom happen to be black, objected to the manner in which their offspring were arrested, claiming that had the youths not been black, the arrests would have been handled differently.
I, for one, cannot imagine how the police could have handled the arrests any differently, given the seriousness of the crimes and the nature of the evidence available. But then, I do not subscribe to the philosophy that crimes committed by black perpetrators should be viewed through a special lens that takes into account the black experience.
The remonstrations and complaints coming from the black community about how the problems of rampant violence in their community is essentially due to the racist society in which they are forced to live is not helpful in bringing about a solution. The recently formed Coalition of african Canadian Organizations (CaCO) is calling for the establishment of separate rules and institutions for blacks, which they believe will alleviate the problems of crime in the black community.
Their proposals include a court diversion program for blacks accused of "minor offenses" and the repeal of "zero-tolerance" policies in Ontario schools because they believe such programs are racist and discriminate against blacks
as a civil rights activist in Mississippi during the 1960s, I had an opportunity to witness systemic racism first hand. Upon my arrival in Meridian, Mississippi, I noticed that blacks had separate schools, separate restaurants, separate shops, separate washrooms and separate drinking fountains, to name just a few things that were institutionally separate.
The separation was forced upon that society by whites that felt themselves superior to their black neighbors. I can assure you that as of this day, none of these conventions have found their way into Canadian society.
If the Coalition of african Canadian Organizations gets their way, some very similar institutions will reappear. Coalition members cite the fact that Catholics, aboriginals and francophones have their own schools and social services and feel there would be similar benefits to blacks if they had these programs in place.
My guess is that it would only make the problems that blacks face worse because they do not deal with the root causes of the problem. Now I know that many who come across the words "root causes" see them as shorthand for a plethora of societal ills unique to the disadvantaged, all of which contribute to the squalor. I beg to differ. In my opinion, the root causes of the gun violence and crime in the black community in general, lie within the black community and not society at large.
For openers, the black community needs to embrace the concept of personal responsibility and not blame society for all its failings. a good place to start might be in encouraging black men to be fathers to their children, to provide a model for young men to grow into.
another might be countering to idea that being dumb is cool, as so many young black men seem to revel in dropping out of school and remaining uneducated. To say that the schools’ zero-tolerance policies discriminate against black youth is a major cop-out, as the policies are there as a result of a problem that systemically plagued schools before the policy was enacted. To say that the policies discriminate against blacks is to say that blacks can’t control themselves and are by nature violent.
Then there’s the whole gangsta rap scene with its attendant "bitches and hos". To refer to women in this manner betrays a total lack of respect for the opposite sex and is something that should not be tolerated by the black community at large. acceptance of this amounts to a silent acquiescence of all that is endemic to the black community’s malaise. It betrays a lack of self-respect.
One of the suggestions made last week at a town meeting by Prof. George Dei from the Ontario Institute of Studies in Education was to have alternative schools for black students, a suggestion that found favor among many members of CaCO. Citing Catholic schools as an example of how this may work, Carl James, a York University Education Professor of Caribbean birth, suggests that separate schools for blacks might be the only way to keep them from being excluded from the system. The argument that a separate black school would be on par with Catholic schools is specious in the extreme, as being Catholic entails embracing a set of beliefs, whereas being black has nothing to do with beliefs, unless believing one’s self as terminally disadvantaged and discriminated against has now attained the level of a religious tenet.
It’s interesting how race-card players are so adept at stifling debate of their ideas. Hugh Graham, a banker and president of the Black Business and Professional association, easily silences critics of the "separate but equal" plans. When charges were made that the proposals were segregationist in nature he said, "I think that response comes from two types of people: an individual who doesn’t understand the challenges the community faces, which are much more significant than those faced by other communities; and the individual who would not wish to see the community uplifted." In other words, you either do not understand or you’re racist.
If anything is to change within the black community, then that change must originate within the black community. So long as african Canadians want to blame the state of their community on society, nothing will change. If they really want things to change a good place to start would be to stand up to the thugs that are now terrorizing their community by turning them in to the police. So long as the residents of black neighborhoods can see no evil, the evil will remain.