Black faces, white allies

I read with interest Scott C's article ["Race and black faces," March 4] as well as Stéphane Alarie's series last October in the Journal de Montréal that inspired his reflections. While I agree that whites need to listen to people of colour in order to understand what racism really means, and while I appreciate some of the irony and hypocrisy that Scott points out, I feel that he is still missing the point.

It is precisely because racism continues to exist in Montreal in 2004 that efforts like Alarie's are useful. In order to fight racism here, it is the white majority that needs to change, that must have its hundreds of personal assumptions and social attitudes challenged, that needs to be educated. And who is better equipped to enter the psychic and cultural turf of this white majority than other whites?

If we hide behind some politically correct slogan that only people of colour can legitimately speak out about racism and that white allies should not actively participate in this process, let alone talk about "what racism feels like," then we are really just sitting back to smugly watch nothing change. Many otherwise decent whites without their own direct experience do not take seriously reports by people of colour about racist incidents and situations because of learned, and often subconscious, racist attitudes. When confronted by other whites like Alarie, who carefully document their experiences and present them in a way that gets you where you live, ordinary whites have an opportunity to see beyond the attitudes they absorbed growing up and to identify as human beings. Those whites who are touched this way are then morally likely to open up to more honest, human communication with people of colour themselves. Empathy, acceptance, respect, understanding - these are some of the precious and fragile human qualities that we need to nourish, the same qualities that racism poisons.

Whites educating other whites is not the whole process, but it is a constructive part of it and should not be automatically dismissed as just another form of white paternalism that further disenfranchizes people of colour. If you actually read Le Journal de Montréal, and not just occasionally glance at the pictures, I think you will notice that more serious reporting quoting people of colour as direct sources on racist incidents is on the rise. This is progress, n'est-ce pas? Veteran American anti-racism educator Jane Elliot has some useful insights on this question of whites educating whites (for example: www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/divided/etc/crusade.html).

As a person born with white skin, I do not pretend to speak on behalf of people of colour. But I do claim the right and responsibility to oppose racism. For the record, I sacrificed my "education" fighting racism at the Sir George Williams "computer centre riot" in 1969 and have been an activist in the increasingly multiracial labour movement since then. The struggle continues.

» Don McKay

Sick of spit

I feel compelled to respond specifically to Rob Coulas' stated enjoyment of spitting ["Frothing at the mouth," Letters, Feb. 25]. The new police call codes, if my past experiences are correct, will result in squat, as Montreal police seem to prefer remaining seated inside their cruisers, particularly in the winter. (Aside: I don't drive, but would it be unreasonable to post one cop during rush hour at the corner of University and René-Lévesque to prevent all those clueless morons from entering this intersection just as the light turns red, when they know they are just causing gridlock? Talk about an easy quota filler for an ambitious rookie).

The disgusting habit of people spitting on the sidewalks in this city is prolific, and it is not anti-social as the writer suggests, but simply ignorant. If the expectorator thinks that his behaviour is acceptable, then he should seriously consider checking his values and health. I've lived in many cities and have never witnessed as much phlegm flying anywhere but here. Furthermore, nobody ever seems to have a wad of chew as their source of spew, nor do they appear particularly phlegmatic in most cases, they just seem to spit as automatically as they breathe or curse. Although this mainly happens outside, I've witnessed this many times in stores and the metro as well.

The cause of this phenomenal need for expulsion escapes me, but this self-proclaimed anti-social gobshite is already part of the solution: designate an island somewhere for the likes of him and his ilk... wait, that's already been done, and the island is Montreal. Perhaps cholera-infected open sewers can be part of his anti-condo strategy as well.

» Eric Sanders

Corner captured

Kristian Gravenor's "Home of the Hustle," column [Kristian Perspective, March 4] was some of his best writing I have ever read. It plotted social/historic information in a local context, it was funny and it was mournful for the past as well as hopeful (with tongue-in-cheek) for the future. Plus, with that one column, he nailed the corner of Peel and Ste-Catherine.

May I humbly suggest that he write a series of corner-inspired columns in the future?

» G. Bradley

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