Teaching ARAO to women who work in women’s services is something to dread. Not only because of the phenomenon of white women “owning” this work, in the ways that white women “own” much of social work, and work with people who can be termed “sub-citizens”: children, the elderly, abused women, immigrants, welfare recipients, others that are too numerous to name. Pretty much anyone who’s not an able-bodied white straight middle class man. Meaning the rest of us, yes?

But also because the levels of entitlement, overt racism and classism and deliberate exclusion that says very clearly, “I belong here, you don’t”. 

And “how dare you imply that I’m racist/classist?”

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No good can come of my reading the paper. Everyone who knows me, knows this.

I yell at the paper, I read particularly obnoxious quotes out loud, thus subjecting my innocent friends/victims to hearing my snarky analysis and comments, I throw the paper across the room.

It’s not a pretty sight.

But tonight I’m in Kincardine, Ontario. There are free copies of the Toronto Star in the lobby, nothing’s on t.v. and I have nothing to do.

Again, nothing good can come from this situation.

So, the article.

“An Ontario Superior Court judge says it is time to scrap the practice of routinely asking jurors in Toronto and the surrounding area if their ability to render an impartial verdict could be affected by the fact the accused is black.” 

I know the goddamn revolution hasn’t happened. I brace myself.

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I was first notified of this news in a thread on a discussion board I frequent.

Then I saw this link in the Huffington Post.

Some history: 

 I grew up listening to Q107. I listened to it from 1978 to the late 1980s. I don’t think there was a huge reason for me to stop, other than associating it with being younger and more immature. Sadly, there weren’t political reasons for why I stopped.

During the years I listened to Scruff Connors, Scruff and Geets, “the mighty Q”, I learned a great deal about the world I was living in. I learned about gender. I learned about masculinity, I learned which kinds of women are “sexy” and which are not, I learned about whiteness, I learned about race and racism and I learned about class and money.  I learned about what matters (the Maple Leafs, the Blue Jays) and what doesn’t (whatever the DJs named). It was a glimpse into a world in which white men said exactly how they felt, and were clear in their hegemony and rightfulness to be there. I learned that left-leaning governments only want to raise taxes and are not good for everyday people.

I learned all of that.

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I’ve gone to the North, aka the near north for those who truly live in the remote north of the province. But for those of us who live in the far south of Ontario, it’s north.

Racism. Classism. Old school, new school, new generations learning and teaching the same racist and classist bullshit. It makes me tired.

Example 1:

“Is an opinion oppressive?”

Depends, what’s the opinion?

“Well, I see all these drunk Natives when I try to walk downtown and I can’t even go there anymore. I just want to go shopping or buy my children ice cream and I can’t do it, I just drive everywhere.” 

Really. Have you thought about why you associate that behaviour with Aboriginal people only? You know that they aren’t the only people who do this, and other, much worse behaviour, right?

“Well…”

 And didn’t we just talk about how the media portrays Aboriginal people in you city as only doing negative things? Didn’t you already realize that this was a deliberate form of institutional racism?

Example 2 uses basically every square on the “Stupid White People Bingo” card*, non-ironically and would have been repeatedly if I hadn’t stopped her. She truly felt she was speaking her unique story, when I could have scripted her responses and even mouthed the words along with her if I wanted to.

“Native people are fine, some of my best friends are Natives, they invite me to their house and to their celebrations!”

 “But when I tried to join that women’s curling team and was told it was for Native women only, well that was just racism, against me!”

 “Why don’t they want to come to our annual arts and crafts fair? They’re welcome to but they never come. I’ve tried to invite them, I even went around personally inviting people, and nothing. I’m not even going to try anymore.”

If you really want people to be a part of an event, why not invite them to the planning stage, put an event together that everyone is interested in?”

“I don’t know what you mean, we have this annual arts and crafts fair, they just don’t want to join it.”

 “I’m not racist”

 “I’ve never held power, I don’t have any, I certainly don’t have white privilege. I mean, I’m white but I don’t feel privileged.”

Privilege is actually not always about how you feel. Our privileges (we have more than one or a few) are normalized, so when we experience them we don’t notice. That invisibility is what makes it privilege. 

“I don’t understand” 

 * * * * *

These days I wake up to the sounds of birds, trees, and sometimes rain on water. But I’m not at peace and I don’t relax until I’m home again. 

* * * * *

*Link to Stupid White People Bingo