Canada's 'Terrorist Cell' Pt.2

This thing is really bothering me. The media has descended upon the families of the accused like vultures. People are calling in to talk shows and spouting racist rhetoric. As my cat woke me up at 6:30am this morning, I watched a brief report that there has been calls to "look at Canada's Open Door Policy" in regards to our Immigration system in response to the arrests.

Some dumb bitch called into a show and suggested that Muslim women should try harder to "integrate" into society by not wearing their Burkas and Hajibs. It's part of their religious faith, their culture, dumbass.

What bothers me is that people are conveniently ignoring the fact that if the accused are guilty...nevermind that for now. People who are radical fundamentalists only make of a small portion of the Muslim community. It's similar to the population demographics of overt White Supremacists, Militia members, Black Nationalists and people whose radical views can potentially cause great discomfort to larger portions of society. More importantly, there is this sudden call for the same practises that occurred during the times when Colonists invaded foreign countries. Be like us and you'll be okay.

I read an interesting article in the paper yesterday where a reporter interviewed Muslim teenagers in an investigation about what is going on in the  schools. Kids are segregating themselves based on their cultural background. Here's what one young Muslim student had to say: "The first thing (people) think when they see a Muslim is that you're a terrorist. It's not a justification, but people get to a point where they're oppressed and spit it out the wrong way."

Another student says, "If you think that you can't get a job here because you're a Muslim, if you were called a terrorist at school, you might think ' what can I do about these white people?' So you might think, 'the only way I can defend myself is to bomb this place.' "

Now, this does not justify any sort of violence, but if youth are getting involved in radical fundamentalists groups, perhaps the root cause is the backlash that young people have faced post 9/11. I know that from personal experience, it is extremely difficult not to have growing resentment against people who are quick to label and judge you based on your cultural background. Here's another example: About a month ago, I was in a pizza shop and there were two young South Asian girls in line in front of me. the girls requested vegetarian pizza, and the man behind the counter told them that it would be a couple of minutes, as it was still in the oven. "Can you wait? You aren't going to bomb me or anything?" the girls looked at him, confused. I don't know if the guy was blind or something, but the racial epithet was directed towards people from a different country than he thought they were.

Another issues is the fact that the accused in the alleged terrorist plot are all Canadian citizens. So why should the government look at the Immigration system? While the majority of the suspects are either in their late-teens, early-twenties and I believe a couple of the suspects might be in their forties, can we assume that they were either born here, or emigrated to Canada at very young ages? In that case, they have been raised in a Canadian environment, so if they hold radical views, it was learned on Canadian soil. So why doesn't anyone address that?

I have always had a problem when Canadian politicans proudly boast about how multicultural Canada is, and who we 'tolerate' diversity, believing that Canada is 'so much better' than the history and present-day problems of overt racism in the US. That's bullshit. I have always felt that it is more insidious here....people are the same wherever you go - we have just masked our ignorance better. And it seems that in this case, the politicians will probably never address the most pressing problem: Why are these people who have spent their formidable years in Canada, allegedly want to bomb their home country? If our country is so great, Why is there such alienation and hatred?

In answering these questions, we must look within our own backyards. Our own racism and mechanisms that we use to alienate others who don't look like us. We must address the simple but powerful notion that yes, systemic racism does exist, people feel that there is no avenues for them to go to address racial harassment and therefore, resentment grows. PM Stephen Harper, Mayor David Miller and police chief Bill Blair will never address these issues because they have benefited from white supremacy, and any acknowledgement of racial intolerance from their own kin will be an admission of that, plus the admission that it is easier to burden people with racial and cultural stereotypes than it is to judge people on an individual basis. Here is a great article that addresses this issue.

Speaking about stereotypes, I received this confusing comment from Celeste on my Cynthia McKinney post:

First, Neal Boortz is NOT representative of what most white people think, secondly, Cynthia McKinney has to obey the law like everyone else. She simply thinks she doesn't have to because she IS a black woman.

Huh?

I take it that the commenter is under the false assumption that I was stereotyping white people using Neal Boortz's comments about a Congressperson being called a "Ghetto Slut" because of her hair and ethnicity, but then turns around and uses a stereotype that black women (or all black folks) think that we don't have to obey the law 'like everyone else."

Celeste, if you are reading this, please give me some examples of how black women feel that we don't have to obey the law. Also, I'd be real interested if you provide me with a substantial, well-researched examples of how black women have gotten away with not abiding by the law, perhaps I might do so myself.