Human Rights newsletter - When Colour of Skin Matters

Today is: Thu, 09 - Sep, 2010:

This day in 1953...
"Operation Snatch" takes Doukhobor children from their families Read More...

In 1899, Russia decided to rid itself of the Doukhobors, a pacifist religious sect that refused to serve in the Russian Army. Many Doukhobors fled to Canada, where they set up a communal life in rural areas. Even there, however, their non-conformist ways and their refusal to abide by any laws except what thy defined as God's laws, worried the Canadian government and police. Half a century later, B.C.'s new Social Credit government and Premier W.A.C. Bennett initiated "Operation Snatch" to punish Doukhobors for refusing to send their children to public schools. Starting September 9, 1953, RCMP officers went into Doukhobor communities and took hundreds of children away from their families. For almost six years, until 1959, these children were kept in former Japanese internment camps, taught "normal" Christian ways and beaten if they spoke Russian - or if they cried from loneliness. Once the children returned to their families, the government reasoned, they would moderate their parents' lifestyle. Of course, it didn't work. A 1999 B.C. Ombudsman's report urged the government to start the process of reconciliation for the children who were by then in their 50s and 60s. While the government of British Columbia issued a statement of "regret" in the legislature in October 2004, it has not apologized. Some of the adult children who were apprehended years earlier have been looking for legal compensation for their wrong, but thus far have been unsuccessful. Their children have attended public schools for years and they have established heritage-language courses within the public system. Today there are between 30,000 and 40,000 Doukhobors in Canada.

I’m literally sitting here with my computer on my lap, in my bathrobe (too much detail? Sorry) watching TV, awaiting the decision of the Governor General, Michaëlle Jean. After all, my first degree is in political science and my second in law – add to that a political junkie and there’s no where else I could be, instead of still sleeping in bed.

For the last couple days I couldn’t help but feel there’s some significance in the fact that the two most powerful people in Canada and the United States are black.

While George Bush is still President, everyone in the States is looking at Barack Obama to lead people into the future – even though it’s two months before he takes the reins of power. And while Prime Minister Stephen Harper wants to hold onto power, it’s now in the hands of Her Excellency, the first black person to stand as the Queen’s representative as Head of State for our country.

The Governor General’s role is usually thought of as mostly a titular and ceremonial post, but in this case Ms. Jean now finds herself deciding the political future of our country. Amazing that even in 2008, it’s interesting that a black woman is deciding the fate of four of the most politically powerful white men in Canada.

I think a typical response would be “who cares?” and I think that’s a legitimate question. So when does a person’s colour of skin really matter?

In certain parts of Canada, your colour of skin matters when you enter some music stores. I am told from many, many black and First Nations Canadians that I will never get the wonderful level of customer service they get. I guess they’re right – I’ve never had the wonderful level of customer service others tell me about, that is, having an employee follow me around, making sure they can answer any questions I have. I usually have to go and find a clerk.

Skin colour certainly matters when you’re driving a car in parts of Canada. I’ve never been pulled over for being white, and yet black Canadians have told me they got used to police pulling them over for random and various reasons, from the beginning of them acquiring a driver’s license.

Skin colour certainly matters when Canadians cross the border - and I’m talking while coming back into their own country – Canada. When I talk to dark-skinned men and women they very casually tell me the times they’re questioned at length or detained, when re-entering the country in a plane, a car or a ship. As I sit, slack-jawed, in total amazement at their stories, I have to sheepishly say that I’ve NEVER experienced what they have.

And tragically, all too often, colour of skin matters when Canadians want to rent an apartment, get a job or promotion, and even to enter a bar, wanting to have a night out with friends.

So, sure, let’s look forward to a day when colour of skin doesn’t matter. But we’re not there yet.

However, each and every one of us will decide in our daily lives and in our workplaces, how we’ll overcome our own stereotypes and prejudices to ensure that people get judged by their experiences and abilities...not their colour of skin.

So, I’m still sitting here (not dressed yet), waiting to see what Ms. Jean will do and think what an amazing time we live in.

Stephen

You are encouraged to forward or reprint the contents of this copyrighted article with the following notation attached:

Stephen Hammond, B.A, LL.B, CSP, is a speaker, trainer and author working in the field of workplace human rights. Articles, tips and his books Managing Human Rights At Work: 101 Practical Tips to Prevent Human Rights Disasters and Steps in the Rights Direction: 365 human rights celebrations and tragedies that inspired Canada and the world are available on his website www.stephenhammond.ca. Contact Stephen at 866-685-8338 or stephen@stephenhammond.ca

More Archived Newsletters

Contact Stephen today