VOL 46 ISSUE 5: The Race Issue by The Plant Newspaper

VOL 46 ISSUE 5 Feb. 7, 2017

The Race Issue

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2 Contact

Staff

Athina Khalid

Editor in Chief

Julia Crowly

Managing Editor

Chloe Wong-Mersereau

Copy Editor

Samantha Dagres & Camron Heshmati Calderón

News Editors

Hannah Gold-Apel

Arts & Culture Editor

Maud Belair & Zachary Brookman

Voices Editors

Sabina Elkins

Science Editor

Gaby Drummond-Dupuis

Curiosities Editor

Alexandra Khalimonova

VOLUME 46 ISSUE 5 - TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2017

letter from the editor

Race is a social construct, but that doesn't mean that it isn't real. Race does not have to define us or divide us, but right now, it does. "Overlooking" race is often seen as a good thing; neutrality is better than racism, right? Even if well-intentioned, "overlooking" race—saying that you don't see colour, that we're all the human race, or that all lives matter (in response to #BlackLivesMatter)—ignores the discrimination that people of colour continue to face, and therefore allows racism to go unchecked. We Canadians like to think of ourselves as more diverse, tolerant, and inclusive than our American counterparts. Perhaps we are. Being better than our southern neighbours, however, doesn't absolve us from generations of colonialism and white supremacy. Our nation is founded on the cultural genocide of indigenous peoples, the effects of which continue to be felt to this day. Incarceration rates are higher for Canadian people of colour (PoC), even if crime rates among white Canadians are the same. Ninety First Nations communities do not have clean drinking water; if the same were to happen in rural white communities, the political will to fix it would be strong enough for it to be resolved immediately (not to mention the lack of a robust governmental response to ongoing housing and suicide crises in reserves such as Attawapiskat, Wapekeka, and Deschambault Lake). Just last week, a white-supremacist committed an act of terrorism in a Quebec City mosque. With this in mind, it's hard to buy the argument that Canada (or anywhere else) is post-racial. It's important to listen to the voices of people of colour. That isn't to say that people with forms of privilige can't have opinions; they can and should. But when forming those opinions (or any opinion, really), it's important to take into account the opinions and voices of people who have the most experience with a particular issue. Although racism does exist at Dawson, we're fortunate enough to be in an institution, society, and time that can celebrate its diversity. Many professors will be talking (or mentioning, at the very least) Black history for Black History Month this February. The Legacy, an iconic Dawson club that has been promoting African and Carribean culture since the CEGEP was founded (since 1969!), is thriving, many of its former executives now running the Dawson Student Union. Although the DSU has been predominately white for much of its history, it is now filled with executives representative of Dawson's diversity and is one of countless examples of Black and PoC excellence. I'm fairly optimistic that inclusion will win out over division, depite the latter's pervasiveness. But that won't happen without a concerted effort, nor will it happen without each and every one of us evalutating our internalized preconceptions. Hopefully, this issue will play a part in making us think about race and question its implications in our everyday lives. Happy reading, Athina Khalid Editor in Chief, 2015-2016

index

Arts Editor

Vienna Pouliot

Cover Artist

Jeremy Allen

Photographer

news

arts & culture

visual arts

voices

science

curiosities

Tali Freedman

Web Manager

Contributors

Alifa Islam Vincent Mousseau Sol Felsztyna Sean Hennegan Olivia D'Elia Sid Djahlat

The Plant is an editorially autonomous student paper. All opinions expressed in The Plant do not necessarily belong to The Plant, but are those of individuals. All content submitted to The Plant or its staff belongs to the paper. We reserve the right to reject or edit all submissions for brevity, taste and legality. The Plant welcomes typed and signed letters to the editor under 400 words.

news

Section Editors: Samantha Dagres & Camron Heshmati Calderón news@theplantnewspaper.com

VOL. 46 ISSUE 5 - FEB 7, 2017

A Response to Harassment from Alt-Right Group Sam Dagres News Editor The CBC covered a story this past December of an alt-right group harassing members of Dawson’s Muslim Student Association following their Islam Awareness event that took place in Conrods in October of last semester. One activity that

received noticeable attention from those disconcerted by the event was the “try a hijab” activity, where students were encouraged to try on headscarves. The event yielded negative backlash from a particular group called La Meute, and according to a CBC article they are “an online organization [...] boasting 43 000 members.” Members of the group were outraged by the event, and were told to express their

Muslim Student Association’s Open Letter Our objective [for the event] was to introduce ourselves to the rest of the Dawson student body. This year, a journalist from Le Journal 24h attended the event and covered specifically the “try a hijab” activity. The article was published online the following day, and unsurprisingly we found ourselves reading islamophobic, hateful, disgusting comments. It has become almost customary to find these types of comments in articles with the words “islam,” “muslim,” “headscarf ” or even “halal” in them. But what upset us most was that one of our members (who was cited by name in the article) was contacted personally by someone who thought it necessary to inform her how stupid wearing a hijab and being muslim is. Our club is open to all, we force ourselves to ensure an amiable, welcoming, hospitable atmosphere for everyone; and with pleasure, we find ourselves mingling with more non-muslims than muslims in the club space. It makes us glad to see how easy it is to get along with people with different perspectives on the world, whether it be an artistic, political or religious point of view - our message of coexistence is strong. We believe that it ought to be easy to love individuals of different backgrounds and to live in harmony. One of the MSA’s driving forces is its positive relationship with the Christian Fellowship. We partake in many exchanges on the different social realities of our members, and we always finish our discussions by acknowledging that we are the example of love and respect for others. We are happy to live in peace, so we ask ourselves: why are certain people wedded to such notions of hate, rejection and public humiliation? Why desire to live in a hateful environment when it is possible to live with respect and tolerance? You disguise your archaic beliefs on religion and race as advocating for the integration of immigrants. Do not be mistaken: we are integrated. We speak French and English alike. We were born in Canada. Our parents are hard workers who value Quebec’s prosperity. It is by marginalising us you force us to disassociate. Why engage in something you seem to categorically reject? We made efforts to live in harmony with everyone so why do we continue to harvest hate when we sow love? By reading some of your comments you are pushing us to work harder at school, to achieve the best grades, the best degrees, to become the people who will shape our society. We know we are not alone, we thank those who have supported us, stood by us, defended us. Those of you who have made efforts to engage with us, who pose questions, who spend time with us. Thank you all for your support, Muslim Student Association

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grievances by contacting Dawson College. Group members phoned, emailed, and sent Facebook messages in response; some members even left comments on an article published by a reporter from Le Journal 24h who was invited to the event. La Meute’s founder, a Canadian forces veteran, launched the group as a political force of opposition towards “islamic invaders”. But, they abhor being branded

as racists, since they claim that countering radical Islam is their sole cause. Below is an open letter written by the Dawson Muslim Student Association, originally submitted to the Dawson Student Union in response to the events that transpired. (Editor’s note: this is an abbreviated version and the original has been translated from French to English).

White-Nationalist Terrorism Two Concurrent Terror Attacks Claim Muslim Lives Camron Heshmati Calderón News Editor On 29 January 2016, the world was witness to the slaughter of Muslim civilians by American forces in Yemen and closer to home, the targeting of a mosque in Ste-Foy, Quebec by a Canadian-born white nationalist amidst a global wave of anti-Muslim hysteria. Trump’s First Military Action President Donald Trump’s first personally-authorized military action was a raid in Yemen that slaughtered “at least eight women and seven children, ages 3 to 13 [and] severely damaged a school, a health facility and a mosque,” according to The New York Times. U.S. military officials initially denied any civilian deaths. The raid conducted by Navy SEAL Team Six, an elite commando unit, had been in its planning stages for “months,” but the decision to approve the mission had been deferred by Obama administration officials to the incoming Trump administration, according to The New York Times. Among the dead is Nora al-Awlaki, the 8-year-old daughter of Anwar al-Awlaki, an American citizen extrajudicially assassinated (i.e. no trial, no jury: execution) in a 2011 U.S. drone strike in Yemen ordered by President Obama. Nora al-Awlaki’s 16-year-old brother, Abdulrahman al-Awlaki, a U.S. citizen, was assassinated in a separate drone strike two weeks after their father’s assassination; their 17-year-old cousin and several other innocent civilians were also killed in the 2011 attack. In Sunday’s massacre, Nora al-Awlaki was “shot in the neck” by members of the elite U.S. death squad and bled to death over the course of two hours, according to The Intercept. The raid, which President Trump said was “successful,” targeted “computer materials inside the house.” Trump also lamented the death of an American soldier who died in what he called “our fight against the evil of radical Islamic

terrorism,” while failing to even mention innocent civilian casualties. The killings come as Trump, who vowed during the presidential campaign to murder terrorists’ families and to enact “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States,” signed an unlawful executive order banning the entry of all refugees and citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries, including legal permanent residents of the United States. “We’re violating international law,” a US immigration official told The Intercept in relation to the blanket denial of asylum from citizens of banned countries: “[we] are violating our obligations under the refugee convention.” The flagrantly islamophobic policy, which was later halted by several federal judges, was justified by White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer as not being “a [Muslim] travel ban,” but instead “a vetting system to keep America safe. That’s it, plain and simple.” “And all of the facts and the reading of it clearly show that that’s what it is,” he said. The White House has vowed to defend the ban in court. The ban’s supposed rationale comes despite the fact that no immigrant from any of the banned countries has committed a fatal terrorist attack in the United States, according to an analysis by the Cato Institute. While the ban has led to an American-born preschooler of Iranian parentage being handcuffed and detained as a “security risk,” the United States continues to murder with impunity the very citizens of countries it has now barred from entry into the United States, including Yemen, where the latest U.S. terror attack took place. Reuters reported on February 2nd that the program, ‘Countering Violent Extremism,’ or CVE, would be changed to ‘Countering Islamic Extremism’ or ‘Countering Radical Islamic Extremism,’ according to their sources. The program would cease to target groups “such as white supremacists who have also carried out bombings and shootings in the United States,”

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news

Section Editors: Samantha Dagres & Camron Heshmati Calderón news@theplantnewspaper.com (Cont.) essentially shielding many of his supporters from investigation. White Supremacy in The White House Although the expendability of Muslim lives has been reflected in the foreign policy of previous U.S. administrations, the new Trump administration’s outwardly misanthropic ideology has brought to a head an anti-Muslim hysteria that had been festering for decades. President Trump’s own racial prejudices, along with those of his entourage, have poisoned the country’s political discourse and have given new life to fellow far-right demagogues across the globe, including Greece’s neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party. The fascist Athens MP, Elias Panagiotaros, told The Independent that “Trump’s policies have given us a new wind of support.” “It’s validating and reinforcing our nationalistic and patriotic policies – policies that we have been advocating for years,” he said of Trump’s Muslim and refugee immigration ban. Steve Bannon, Trump’s racist Chief Advisor, former editor-in-chief of the far-right news outlet, Breitbart News and former Goldman Sachs banker, has been cited as the main author of Trump’s executive order. In a 2015 radio interview, Bannon criticized a Republican politician for advocating in favour of even more stringent refugee vetting, and called instead for a complete ban on refugees: “Why even let them in?” he asked. In another radio interview, Jeff Sessions, the racist Alabama Senator and Trump’s pick for Attorney General of the United States said that, “In seven years, we’ll have the highest percentage of Americans non-native born since the founding of the republic. [...] This is very unusual. It’s a radical change.” Sessions then told Bannon that he favoured a 1924 immigration law which imposed a racist quota system. Sessions was also famously quoted as saying that the Ku Klux Klan ‘was OK until I found out they smoked pot.’ In a 2014 conference at the Vatican, Bannon posited his vision of the world in which “the Judeo-Christian West” was engaged in “an outright war against jihadists, Islam, Islamic fascism.” Bannon and his white nationalist-jihadist views have now been elevated to the highest levels of government with his unprecedented appointment as principal of the National Security Council, the United States’ most important strategic planning body for foreign policy and “national security.” Quebec City Mosque Shooting “We love everyone. We have no problem with anyone and we respect people. We hope it’s mutual,” was the response of president of the Islamic Cultural Centre of Quebec City, Mohamed Yangui, to anti-Muslim vandalism targeting his mosque during Ramadan last year. The mosque in question had received

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VOL. 46 ISSUE 5 - FEB. 7, 2017

a pig’s head on its doorstep with a ‘bon appétit’ note affixed to it. The CBC also reported that in November 2014, three mosques in the Quebec city area “became the targets of xenophobic messages when a group plastered posters on their front doors that read ‘Islam hors de chez moi,’ or in English, ‘Islam out of my country.’ In parallel to the killing of innocent Yemeni civilians by a foreign government overrun by white nationalist extremists, the apparently white-nationalist Trump supporter Alexandre Bissonette entered the same Quebec City mosque and murdered six Muslims, wounding eight others, during evening prayers. “Children witnessed this vile cruelty,” the Islamic Cultural Centre wrote on their Facebook page. The names of the deceased are: Mamadou Tanou Barry, 42, Abdelkrim Hassane, 41, Khaled Belkacemi, 60, Aboubaker Thabti, 44, Azzeddine Soufiane, 57, and Ibrahima Barry, 39.

deliberate strategy to malign Muslims,” including the Conservative members’ conduct during Senate committee hearings on national security held in 2014 and 2015, resembling a McCarthyite ‘witch hunt’ according to participants. More recently, CPC leadership candidate, Kellie Leitch, has embraced Trump’s brand of vulgar nationalism. Leitch, the pro-life paediatrician and former cabinet minister under the Harper government, is the minister responsible for the barbaric cultural practices snitch line proposal, which she still supports. She has publicly avowed her support for the newly-annointed American president: “[the election of Donald Trump delivers] an exciting message and one we need delivered in Canada as well.” Her policy proposals include subjecting newcomers to a face-to-face so-called “Canadian values” test administered to every immigrant in order to weed out any undesirables, or more ominously in

In a logic-defying move only fathomable in an alternative-fact/post-truth paradigm, the White House pervertedly tried to defend their anti-Muslim ban by citing the Quebec City shooting, essentially scapegoating Muslims for the killing of Muslims in a Muslim place of worship by a Canadian-born, anti-Muslim white nationalist ideologically simpatico with the white nationalists currently occupying the White House. Islamophobic Domestic Political Climate The Conservative Party of Canada, along with other political actors in federal and provincial politics, have been gently stoking the coals of islamophobia for years. In a 2016 column in the Toronto Star, entitled “How Harper Systematically Mined Anti-Muslim Prejudices,” Haroon Siddiqui explicates Harper’s “extensive,

French:“Filtrer tous les immigrants pour les valeurs canadiennes.” Aside from the proposal’s logistical infeasibility, its xenophobic rationale evokes the American president’s more ostentatiously bigoted Muslim ban. Just hours after the Quebec City terrorist attack, her campaign manager, Nick Kouvalis, lashed out at a constitutional scholar in a tweet calling the University of Waterloo professor, Emmett Macfarlane, a “cuck” guilty of “treason,” borrowing so-called “alt-right” vocabulary regularly used by Richard Spencer, the prominent American neo-fascist, white supremacist, and online troll with ties to Steve Bannon. As reported by Press Progress, Leitch, who maintains she “is not a racist,” has earned the support of the “Cultural Action Party,” a far-right “anti-immigration” group that claims to “advocate” for “Canada’s European heritage.”

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She had previously received support from the Council of European Canadians, another far-right white nationalist group. As reported by Vice News, Frank Hilliard, a member of the Council of European Canadians, wrote an article detailing how “all the hounds are pointing at Kellie Leitch … [T]hey hate her because she has called for screening all visitors, refugees and immigrants for Canadian Values [because] it would effectively eliminate believers in Islam who, according to the Koran, do not believe in Canadian civic, legal, or moral values.” Hilliard also stated that “as long as the Left is attacking her, as long as she’s being vilified by Progressives, we know she’s on the right track.” The Leitch campaign has rejected the endorsement, telling Vice News that ‘to think my campaign is in any way based on ethnic nationalism is to be willfully ignorant of what my campaign is about,’ mirroring Trump’s own disavowal of the former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard, David Duke’s support during the presidential campaign. During a Montreal vigil held in memory of those slain in the Quebec City terror attack, prominent members of the Canadian Muslim community spoke out against politicians and the media’s perpetuation of islamophobia. Speakers also denounced the Parti Quebecois’ 2013 Charter of Quebec Values proposal that would have banned public employees from wearing any religious garb under the guise of laïcité. The new leader of the Parti Quebecois, Jean-François Lisée has recently re-politicized the “reasonable religious accommodation” debate through his support for a burqa ban while CAQ leader, François Legault has vociferously supported a burkini ban. Fariha Naqvi, a Montreal-based marketing executive told Rabble that ‘there’s a lot of Islamophobia that culminated because of [the Charter of Quebec Values],’ adding that it came during “a time when she was called a terrorist while on a visit to the theatre with her daughter.” The recent terror attacks in Yemen and Quebec City highlight an insidious islamophobic zeitgeist that emboldens all forms of violent extremism, from Trump to the Islamic State. The regrettable rise of extremism poses grave threats to Muslims and non-muslims alike. “Islamophobia has killed innocent Canadians,” the Canadian Council of Imams said in a statement following the attack. “As we pray for those who have lost their lives, the injured and their loved ones, we ask all decent people to stand against hatred of Islam and Muslims in all forms.”

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arts & culture Section Editor: Hannah Gold-Apel artsandculture@theplantnewspaper.com

A Platform for Artists of Colour

VOL. 46 ISSUE 5 - FEB. 7, 2017

Vigils in Response to the Ste-Foy Atttack

A Sit-Down with Co-Founder of Multi Magazine Hannah Gold-Apel Arts and Culture Editor Multi (pronounced mull-tye) is an online magazine recently founded by Dawson students Alifa Islam, Sabah Gultekin, and Navid Nuruzzaman. I recently sat down with Alifa Islam to get to know all about the magazine. Islam describes Multi as a place for people of colour to share their stories: “PoC don’t always have a platform, and we want to promote artists of colour and give them a place to share their work.” “It all really started when I wrote an article for a class and the Plant’s News Editor, Sam Dagres, convinced me to submit it to the Plant, and I got inspired about putting my voice out there,” says Islam. Despite the relative youth of the magazine, which only launched December 18th of this year, Multi has been getting attention from artists and curators in the Montreal art community. “We’ve had people come to us which is really cool. One curator was organizing an art show with only artists of colour, because usually in galleries, you’ll see like three artists of colour and everyone else is white.” Islam, Gultekin, and Nuruzzaman are similarly curating and showcasing the art of PoC using their new platform.

Originally, Multi was called PoC Collective, “but that was way too long,” says Islam. “We wanted something people would remember, and something that applied to people of colour. Multi just worked so well.” Alifa’s identity has a lot to do with her pride in being a person of colour. “If anyone ever asks me where I’m from, even though I was born here, I always say Bangladesh. I identify more as a Bengali person than as a Canadian. But that doesn’t mean I’m not proud to be a Canadian. I just love my culture, it’s such a big part of me.” Multi urges artists of colour within the Dawson community to reach out with any work they have, whether it be interviews, art, photography, or literature. “Dawson is so diverse, it would be a great community thing,” says Islam. To submit, visit multi-magazine.com or email multi@multimgzn.com. You can also message them on Instagram @multi. magazine, or follow them to stay up to date on their upcoming projects. See pages 6 & 7 to check out some of the art featured in the magazine.

Dawson’s Cultural Communities First Peoples Initiative

Muslim Student’s Association

The Dawson First Peoples Initiative is a group of faculty, staff, and students working to explore ways of indigenizing our college. The main goals of the initiative are to: - Ensure that Dawson is responding to the interests, experiences, goals, and concerns of Indigenous students - Bring Indigenous history, culture, knowledge, and issues to the forefront in all aspects of college life - Maintain a First Peoples Centre - Promote Indigenous Studies at Dawson

About

Contact

DSU Club

The Muslim Students Association (MSA) was formed to bring a better understanding of the Muslim faith, to convey the message of Islam, present Muslim culture, and meet the needs of Muslim students. MSA organizes many activities and has established a library that provides Dawson students with Islamic books and literature.

Contact

President: Nevin Hoque Room 2C.3

First Peoples Initiative Coordinator: Orenda Boucher Email: oboucher@dawsoncollege.qc.ca Room 2D.0

The Legacy DSU Club About

The Legacy’s mandate is to educate all while providing a positive and safe outlet for people of color. As a club, the goal is to expose the student body to the various facets of the prismatic African, and Caribbean culture, history, and entertainment while encouraging cultural diversity and kinship. Having members meet together through a welcoming environment facilitates this movement. The Legacy aims at promoting Dawson’s greatest assets- the people, the positivity, the social-networking opportunities, and the greater community that is being fostered.

Contact

For other cultural communities, visit the Dawson Student Union's website.

President: Noah Mohamed Room 2C.14

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Photos (pg. 4-5): Athina Khalid Montreal (Metro du Parc) Vigil and Dawson Vigil January 30th & 31st, 2017

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Artwork created by Niti Marcelle Mueth, featured on MULTI: an online magazine where PoC share their stories, art, photography and writing. MULTI is founded and co-owned by Dawson student Alifa Islam.

L’homme de couleur By Nathanaël Fleuriné

Photography by Dawson student Katharine Norva Edith learn more about the featured artistsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; work on https://multi-magazine.com/

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Section Editors: Maud Belair & Zachary Brookman voices@theplantnewspaper.com

VOL. 46 ISSUE 5 - FEB. 7, 2017

The Black Histories of Black History Month Vincent Mousseau Contributor Black History Month is upon us, and with it comes the barrage of people, educational institutions, organizations, and corporations presenting massively oversimplified understandings of Black history to the masses. While it is comforting that people are talking about Black people (for once), the history of Black communities and the sheer diversity of Black experiences cannot be summed up by a simple quote from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. shared on a Facebook page. But Black History does not start with slavery and end with the Civil Rights Movement. Black history is as diverse as the communities that it represents. It is more than the whitewashed (and factually incorrect) animosity between MLK Jr. and Malcolm X. Black history is Black Nova Scotian Viola Desmond refusing to give up her seat at a segregated cinema in New Glasgow on a frigid evening in the November of 1946, and it is Black queer and trans activist Marsha P. Johnson’s integral role at the Stonewall riots on a scorching June night in 1969. It is the history of struggle and revolutions that made Haiti the first contemporary Black-run nation-state in the world, and it is the boats of slaves which carried my ancestors to the Caribbean many years ago. It is the story of Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable, the Black francophone that founded the city of Chicago, and it is Black Lives Matter interrupting the 2016 Toronto Pride parade. It is all of these things and innumerable many more, because Black history is as diverse, multi-

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faceted, and resilient as Black communities. Unfortunately, however, the massive oversimplification of Black history, and of the Black experience more generally, is extremely dangerous for Black communities. It implies that Black communities are monolithic, monocultural, and unchanging. But Black people can also be members of other communities, and while our experiences in those communities might be influenced by our culture, our culture shapes the communities of which we are a part. The influences of Black culture and history are intrinsically linked with the struggle for LGBTQ+ rights, for example, to the point where many cultural references present in LGBTQ+ communities stem from the Black ballroom scene in New York City in the 1980s and ‘90s. These influences are so omnipresent because of the adaptability of Black queer and trans people, a community of which I am issue and which has profoundly shaped my life. Black history is marked with hardship, and it is marked by brutal dehumanization, slavery, and significant denials of the humanity of Black people. But it is not only that. More importantly, Black history is innumerable stories of inspiring resilience. It is a history that never forgets its legacy of struggle from which it is issue. Most importantly, though, it is a living history. It is a history with so many permutations that is in constant development based on the actions of those at the front lines of our movements. Let us as Black people continue the legacy of those that came before us, and create a Black history that is based on the resilience and the diversity of our communities, together.

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Labels Sol Felsztyna Contributor For better or for worse, society likes to label things. We do so because it helps us distinguish and describe people and events in an easy and categorical manner. These labels are often seen in a negative light, especially by people who do not want to be defined by outside forces. Additionally, society often creates norms that implicitly mandate the way we all behave, cues that indicate how to feel and how to act. These integrated norms, whether we are aware of them or not, control our decisions and can prevent new and exciting things from happening to us. Society suggests, for example, that on an empty bus, a stranger would choose not to sit next to me even though – who knows! – they could end up being my soulmate. In this sense, we collectively create these norms that eventually trip us up. Perhaps the most obvious labelling system in our society is race. We often use race to stigmatize, generalize, and stereotype different people and groups, associating them with something they obviously do not represent. Arbitrary traits and attitudes are brazenly attributed to different races or ethnic groups for little to no concrete reason. These stereotypes are later internalized, leading us to see ourselves mostly by the way others see us, a concept American sociologist Charles Cooley called the looking-glass self. Despite what society would have us believe, however, it is completely up to us, especially at this critical time in our lives, to decide who we are and how we are defined. Labelling creates barriers – barriers that should be taken down. We are all complex, unique individuals with a wide variety of characteristics that construct our individual existences. While we often see race, ethnicity and culture as concrete, defining elements of our identities, to truly experience a free life one must be able to break out of the constructs that these notions create and

explore areas outside of our comfort zones. Labels are not necessarily bad things, however, and I know this first hand; being someone with a multitude of obvious ethnic backgrounds, I integrate the many labels casted upon me into my identity with pride and feel blessed to have so much history behind me and my family. My grandparents fled the Holocaust and settled in Argentina where my sister and I lived the first years of our lives before our parents opted to move to what had to be the coldest country in the world, Canada. Although I was only three when my tiny little feet felt the snow for the first time, I will always feel my Argentinian identity echo within me. It did not take long for my parents to join our new community perfectly and before I knew it, I was a Canadian citizen; just like that, my cultural baggage was becoming heavier. My parents have always deemed it crucial that the language spoken at home remained Spanish. Coming home from school and having to tell my day all over again in Spanish because my dad pretended not to understand French (although sometimes I was not sure whether he was actually pretending) could get annoying at times, but I am now so grateful that it was done. When my name “Sol” is called out during attendance, I feel pride in getting to explain that it means sun in Spanish and I love getting to wear my Argentinian jersey on game days. I now see my background as an asset and something that makes me unique. Labels will always exist in our society, but it is up to us to decide how we see and use the categories people lump us into. On one hand, if you choose to typecast me simply by what you see on the surface, you will completely miss the essence of my being. On the other hand, my Argentinian-Jewish background is paramount to the way I see myself and my family. At the end of the day, it all comes down to being open-minded and looking around you, not simply at what you perceive on the surface – You never know what you might discover.

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voices

EDITORS: Maud Belair & Zachary Brookman voices@theplantnewspaper.com

Seeing Colour Sean Hennegan Contributor The phrase “I don’t see colour” has become a dishonest, easy way to completely avoid responsibility for prejudice. If you are unfamiliar with it, it is commonly used to casually show your acceptance of all races. You may not realize it, but claiming not to see the colour of an individual’s skin can often do more harm than good. Not only is it blatantly false (short of an actual visual impairment), but it also strips people of their racial and cultural identity. Rather than teaching future generations to ignore differences between people, we should promote diversity and acceptance. “I don’t see colour” probably came from a thoughtful, considerate place. It likely originated as a message of acceptance and camaraderie between people of different races. That’s all fine and good on the surface, but its original purpose has been obscured. The popular phrase has unfortunately been appropriated by those looking to absolve themselves of responsibility regarding racial politics. Not seeing colour relieves you

of your personal duty to acknowledge sociocultural differences. Understandably, not seeing someone’s colour could be considered a higher, all-encompassing form of acceptance. By eliminating the superficial differences that divide us, we would in theory treat each other equally. The real problem arises when we think about why colour would even need to be consciously ignored. First and foremost, prejudice is simply unavoidable. Visually identifying similarities and differences is natural human behavior: Even children are applauded for separating visual traits and correctly naming them. It would be contradictory to suddenly disregard our physical differences for the sake of moral satisfaction. Our goal should be to accept differences and appreciate them instead of glossing over them. Second, colourism has commonly been the basis of discrimination. In colourist cultures, lighter skin and the absence of colour are equated with beauty and success. Treating everyone as if they truly are devoid of colour reinforces this culture. Claiming not to see the colour of another individual’s skin likely means

A Sea of Colour Olivia D’Elia Contributor My first day at Dawson was also the day I saw a sea of colour for the first time. I had never seen such a diverse community in a school before. I come from a francophone neighbourhood that you probably never heard of and pointing it out on a map would be like showing you where Narnia is. With that in mind, I knew that studying at a cegep in downtown Montreal would be in a certain way, a cultural shock. I made two really good friends within my first few days here. They had two completely different backgrounds from me. But one thing that we did all have in common was that we are all mixed race. I am Mexican, Italian and French, which makes me subject to multiple identity crises per week. I am not exactly “white” to the simplest term and not a “real” Latina in other people’s books. I am simply a result of an “avant-garde” family. Walking through the halls of my French high school I felt like an outsider, someone hard to relate to. I may have looked like them, if you squinted a little, but I didn’t share the same values. I couldn’t stay out passed 8 on week-

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nights and if I did I was with my cousins and I sure as hell wouldn’t be allowed to bring a boy over, ever. However here at Dawson I sink into the crowd, I pass unnoticed, which I personally believe isn’t a bad thing after sticking out like a sore thumb most of my life. I could go on and tell you how amazing Dawson is for anyone who has ever felt like an outcast. I could even go as far as listing you all the warm-hearted clubs the school has to offer, but I’d much rather discuss why this “feeling” exists. Mankind has always had the desire to divide and organize themselves into groups; the hunters and the farmers, the extroverts and the introverts, the intellectuals and the artists, the believers and the skeptics. I think the reason for this is to feel useful and to not be alone, which isn’t the base a bad thing. But the problem with grouping by race, is that the “groups” aren’t based on the person’s personality, dreams or skills but only on the color of their skin. This form of labeling is imposed against their own will and is completely unfair and unnecessary. This ideology has pitted races against each other for centuries now and these factions have even been put into a hierarchy with no scientific proof that puts one particular race

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that you treating them like you would treat a member of your own race, rather than being truly neutral. This hidden lack of neutrality goes hand in with completely disregarding the origins of cultural differences. As a result, you might unjustly hold people to your own cultural standards. If you hold every race and culture to the same standard, you might consider a foreign custom as rude, crass, offensive or impolite. Though many would think that racial indifference is a healthy way to treat people equally, it often becomes a thinly veiled way to impose personal values on other cultures. Many children are taught to ignore race and skin colour as an attempt to reach racial equality. However, this misguided ideology does not allow for important ethical development regarding race. Interpreting cultural, racial and physical differences is an important part of human development, and accepting them is equally important. If we silence sincere questions about said differences, we do not allow for a healthy development and a true understanding of equality.

above the other. This just leaves the ones in between, like me, even more confused. But today, in 2017, the rise of conservatism in the Northern countries should be an issue on everyone’s minds. Closing the border to refugees simply because of their skin tone and even their fate is becoming an increasingly valid reason based solely on fear of the generalization of the “group”. Additionally, in the political world, the easiest way to win an election, is to divide and conquer. I won’t even say the name of the man who swept an entire nation by following this medieval war strategy, because, quite frankly, I’m tired of hearing it. Is banning refugee status to all Syrians in the United States just because they all look like each other enough justification? Nonetheless, I don’t know where we will stand on this subject in a couple years from now, because it seems so far that every time we take a step forward, we undeniably take two steps back. But what I do know is that we don’t have to embrace each other’s differences, because this isn’t a perfect world, we unpretentiously have to respect one another because hating is all to exhausting when you can simply choose to co-exist.

J’ai mal à mon Québec Sid Djahlat Contributor I was born in Algeria, but have been a Canadian for 11 years. Yesterday night I came back home from an awesome Model UN conference with a big smile on my face. When I crossed the door, I could tell from the distraught look on my mother’s face that something was going on. Sitting on the couch in front of the television, everyone was on edge. News broke out: near Québec city, 6 men of Muslim faith were slaughtered in a mosque during prayer time. Still with my coat on, I was aghast. I was confused. I was overwhelmed with all kinds of emotions at once. I didn’t know how to properly express myself, so I kept on watching in silence, taking in as many bits of information on the terrorist attack as they came, hoping it would help me sort out what exactly was going on. First came the shock. How could this happen? In Québec, of all places, where my family and I were wrongfully led to believe was a haven of religious freedom. Before fleeing the climate of political instability and terrorism of post-independence Algeria, my family settled for a while in southern France. However, my parents thought their kids would have a better shot at life here in Quebec, and I am forever thankful to them for making that decision. The anger settled in. I was angry at the injustice and the unfairness. Six fathers died that night, some had their wife and children on the floor above them when the attack happened, and today, there is an empty chair at the dinner table. How could someone hold so much hate within themselves that would bring them commit such a cruel act of violence? I felt a knot in my throat, trying to hold back tears. My parents both were teary-eyed. I have never seen my father cry. The recent Muslim ban issued in the United States already made me feel tense, but now my fear is real. Although I am not a mosque-goer, my father regularly attends the Friday prayer. My little sister attends the Saturday Islamic school at the same mosque. Must they stop? A part of me believes they should, but another thinks we should not give in to fear. The best way to fight hateful ideologies is to keep on living as we would without them. Although I don’t personally know the victims of the attack, I feel attacked as well. My freedom has been struck. Not as a Muslim-Canadian, but as a Canadian. Like my parents, these families came here with hope of a better future and fully embraced Canadian culture, values and customs. My family, so far, has been lucky. I can sense that everyone is thinking “it could have been us.” It could have, but it wasn’t, and we thank God for it. We must remember that as tragic as this attack was, it was only the symptom of a larger problem. Honestly, it feels like we are in the middle of one of those societal crises we hear about in History class, except this time we can actually change what is going to happen. So I urge people to keep those issues alive, to not let them die out in silence. Because we still need Feminism. Because Black Lives still Matter. Because Love Is Love. Because I’m not a terrorist. Because I don’t want to see another #PrayFor_______ hashtag. Because we owe it to ourselves to leave this world better than we found it. J’ai mal à mon Québec. ‫“ َنوعِجاَر ِهْيَلِإ اـَّنِإَو ِهلل اَّنِإ‬

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science

VOL. 46 ISSUE 5 - FEB. 7, 2017

Section Editor: Sabina Elkins science@theplantnewspaper.com

Racial Segregation: A Geneticist’s Point of View Sabina Elkins Science Editor What defines race? This is certainly a loaded question. Some might say physical attributes, like skin color and body type; others might argue that culture and identity plays a more significant role. In either case, these differences are mightily subjective. However, there exists the possibility for a definable distinction from the objective point of view of science. The question becomes, is there a concrete genomic difference that separates races? The simple answer to this complex question is: yes. Analysis of the human genome has provided scientists with this response. It is possible for a geneticist to differentiate between DNA resulting from, for example, African and European ancestors within an individual. Through the study of alleles (which are different types of a single gene: e.g. the gene that codes for blue eyes versus that which codes for brown eyes) and other genetic markers, scientists can determine the evolutionary ancestry of an individual. This is the principle upon which genetic testing programs and sites like Ancestry. com opperate. They compare the DNA of their clients (along with other basic information: where you were born, your last name, your immediate family, etc.) to a massive database of the human genome. This enables them to even calculate in some cases the most likely people that

were your ancestors. More commonly however, the region(s) where one’s ancestors lived is the main result of the experiment. Mitochondrial DNA testing, Y chromosome DNA testing, and admixture testing, are a few of the complex analyses that are used to determine a person’s lineage. Despite these advanced processes, the testing is not always that accurate. The relatively small size of the database, along with the lack of uniform data from around the world, creates room for error. Moreover, all races have more in DNA common than the few documented genomic differences. Observable races are resultant of thousands of years of separate evolution and reproductive generations due to geographical isolation. Namely, a period of the past 3000 to 5000 years is said to contain the natural selection (which is the mechanism of evolution) that created differences in global races. These distinguishing factors range from expected, like skin type and disease resistance, to unexpected ones like small differences in the pathways of brain function. For instance there is the classic biology-101-course example of sickle cell anemia. This disease is hereditary and is simply described as a severe (often life threatening) form of anemia. It can occur in anyone as an unfortunate stroke of fate, yet it is most frequently found within Africans and African Americans, hence the link to racial genetics. The disease presents itself when an individual receives two of the same recessive gene, from either

parent. However, if they receive only one copy, then they have a malaria resistance (they are still able to contract malaria, but generally have lesser symptoms). This is one obvious example of a documented racial genetic difference among hundreds. This being said, racial differentiation in the way that we see it everyday is not a scientific distinction. The problems of racism and hate are not a result of fundamental biological differences, but of society. The reality is that humans are all just people. The human genome is essentially identical amongst us all; with small differences due to the aforementioned combinations of alleles present. There are many geneticists who want to do away with the use of racial separation in their field of study. For example, Dr. Francis Collins, a previous head of the National Human Genome Research Institute said that the link between genetics and race “is generally quite blurry because of multiple other nongenetic connotations of race, the lack of defined boundaries between populations and the fact that many individuals have ancestors from multiple regions of the world.” In other words, it is present but complex and imperfect. Essentially, while Collins does not deny the scientific proof of race-specific genes, he says their correlations are minimal and flawed, and do more harm than good. Difficulties arise in attempting to put people into boxes, because they often do not fit. There is still much that we do not know about human evolution and the cumulative genetic change we as a species

have undergone. This can lead to incorrect assumptions about populations and/ or individuals based upon what we think we know to be true about their racial category. Therefore, it can be a detriment to scientific discovery. Many other scientists share the same views and are calling for the end of this classification. Problematic genetic assumptions of this nature come into play within many other fields. For example, racial profiling exists in medicine. Many doctors will choose amongst drugs with similar functions based upon your race’s probability of exhibiting negative side effects. While this logic follows, the mixing of races due to globalization and intermarriage makes this guesswork increasingly more difficult and dangerous. A 90% chance sounds great on paper, but being the one out of ten people who experience potentially painful or detrimental unintended effects could make you wonder if there isn’t a more viable method to choosing treatments. Overall, it is important to recognize that while the correlation between society’s defined races and genetics exists, it alone does not have the power to segregate us. Racial genome differences can help us to better understand our ancestry and evolution, but are not concrete divisors. The separations they can make are often foggy and debatable; increasingly so as the world globalizes more and more every day. Objectively, we must be able to see that the roots of racism stem from societal closed-mindedness and not tangible differences among us.

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What’s your position for the plant? Editor in Chief What program are you in? Liberal Arts What’s your favourite thing about working for The Plant? Having a completed tangible issue completed every month; it's so satisfying. How would you define your cultural identity? I'm not sure if I have one. Both my parents are immigrants (one from Argentina, the other from Pakistan), but neither imparted much cultural heritage onto me. How would you describe yourself in three words? A Big Nerd

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