Posted on 11/10/2002 8:14:11 AM PST by freeforall
War-like times breeding ground for racism
By HELEN CONNELL -- For the London Free Press
The great part about looking back on history from the comfort of the present is that we get to plump up our own sense of superiority.
We can ease past shameful acts committed against minorities by assuring ourselves the fault lay in the times and not with the people.
I felt like that more than a decade ago when I read the book, Obasan, Joy Kogawa's account of how her family had been rounded up in Vancouver during the Second World War and shipped far into the interior of Canada. Their crime was they were of Japanese heritage at a time when Japan was at war with us.
These families hadn't actually done anything wrong, but it was felt for national security reasons, they needed to be where "loyal" Canadians could keep an eye on them. After all, Japan had bombed Pearl Harbor -- an assault on our neighbour. Canadians felt not only justified, but obligated to take every precaution to ensure that didn't happen again.
And because it is history, so we know how the war ends, I could read about what happened to Japanese Canadians and assure myself the folly of trying to identify our enemies on the basis of a person's ethnicity wouldn't be tolerated today.
Well, it is happening today.
The target this time is individuals who were born in Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan or Syria or who may be citizens of those countries.
As part of its "war against terrorism," the U.S. government has decided people born in these Middle Eastern nations who want to enter the U.S. should expect to be photographed and finger-printed. Their entry into and exit from the U.S. will be carefully monitored.
People born in or who retain citizenship in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia or Yemen have also been put on notice that they, too, might "attract special attention" from American immigration authorities.
Still suffering from the atrocious attacks on Sept. 11, Americans feel justified in taking whatever steps necessary to protect their country. And for a little while, it appeared as if our federal government agreed.
The first response from Foreign Affairs was to simply issue a travel advisory suggesting that people born in the targeted nations, "consider carefully whether they should attempt to enter the United States for any reasons, including transit to or from third countries."
There was no mention about what these Canadians were supposed to do if their job required they travel to the U.S. or if they had to visit family and friends.
Finger-printing and photographing are activities normally associated with criminals. I can only imagine how humiliating it would be to be centered out like this at an airport while your business colleagues look on or, worse still, your children.
That battle against terrorism is never going to be won if we continue to try and identify our enemies by where they were born rather than by their words and actions.
As a backlash began to grow in Canada, Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham complained to U.S. authorities that the policy made second-class citizens out of some Canadians. U.S. Ambassador to Canada Paul Cellucci asserted anone carrying a Canadian passport would be treated equally at the border. Then, on Thursday, U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft travelled to Niagara Falls, N.Y., to say Canadians would not be exempt from tough new laws, but would also not automatically photographed and finger-printed based on their county of birth.
That's nice, but this isn't just an over-reaction on the part of the U.S.
It's another example of the increasing racism people with Middle Eastern ancestry have faced since Sept. 11. They are being targeted purely because of their ethnicity and not because of anything they have done.
The Muslim community numbers upwards of 35,000 in London alone and many are of Middle Eastern heritage. This alone has made them easy targets for bone-headed racists.
Nor can it be said this is paranoia on their part, since only recently The Free Press reported that no fewer than three white-supremacist groups are operating locally.
Racism breeds where there is war -- and this latest war against terrorism is no exception. But that battle against terrorism is never going to be won if we continue to try and identify our enemies by where they were born rather than by their words and actions.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Helen Connell is executive director of the United Way of London and Middlesex. Her column appears every other Saturday. Letters to the editor should be sent to letters@lfpress.com.
Now this woman should watch her television. A series was produced and shown in Canada called TENCO . It is about British and Australian women who were rounded up by the Japanese in the Far East. The story isnt pretty. It was a concentration camp in many of the ways that the European Jews faced- except for the deaths and torture. The victorious Japanese raped nurses in allied hospitals to mention that, also.
On and on these despicable liberals ( small l) rant. Canadians know it is wearing thin (at last)- few dare say so though.
Better ten thousand humiliations than one terrorist getting in and blowing up a national monument or an airliner. If you are an innocent Muslim who is fingerprinted or photographed at an airport, smile at your colleagues, shrug your shoulders at your children and say, "It is unfortunate that the climate in this world, which has been caused by my fellow Muslims, has forced this inconvenience upon me. But, I understand the situation and I am happy to comply."
Sad to see such PC.
I need to waste no more time on articles that have the word "racism" and/or "peace" in the title.
Life is too short.
Thanks for providing the clarity by posting this "last straw" article for me.
Yeah...
Those stupid 98% of bad muslims ruins it for the rest of them.
The unfortunate part for me is I live in Canada. The noise here is non stop and some of us scoff at the bleating.
I know how you feel. The same here in Europe. Too many socialist/liberals here too.
Everyone is so sensitive about Racism here it borders on the irrational. Is it not racist by definition?" It depends on how much logic you want to inject into the discussion. Unfortunately, today's PC anti-racism racists—and racists is what they are, whether they recognize it or not—have so grossly distorted the terms of the debate that they've become unrecognizable from their origins. So let's back up and review the obvious: people of varying races vary in color and other traits. This is news? You'd think not. Because it's so obvious, you'd think that it would lead the pundits and activists to stop and consider the fact that race usually has perceivable physical characteristics. If so, when it comes to tracking down criminals, should race not be a logical and legitimate tool of identification?
Yeah, they are easy prey, they don't know any real fact.
Maybe if their countrymen didn't kill 3,000 people with an act of war, they wouldn't have to deal with our 'racism'. Tough nuts, towlies. Your right thumb, please...
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