FROLITICKS

Satirical commentary on Canadian and American current political issues

Mar 11

Why are Affirmative Action Initiatives Under Attack in the U.S.?

by bcurry

It all started in June 2023 when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that race-conscious college admissions programs at Harvard and the University of North Carolina are unconstitutional, causing colleges and universities to shift to race-neutral policies.  This decision upended decades of legal precedent when it came to affirmative action policies among post-secondary institutions.  Since then, several lawsuits have been launched representing the latest front in a conservative campaign to roll back affirmative action programs in government and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in the corporate world.  Affirmative action programs are ripe targets, legal experts say, in part because nearly every state and locality has one or more that benefit women, minorities and other underrepresented groups.  Conservative activists have filed dozens of complaints against Fortune 500 companies alleging discrimination against White people.  Long-standing federal programs created to benefit minority-owned businesses now find themselves on shaky ground.  In the past, courts typically have upheld government affirmative action programs on the grounds that society has an interest in remedying past and ongoing discrimination.  All that is starting to change, largely because of recent court decisions.

One of the programs under attack is the federal Small Business Administration’s 8(a) program for minority government contractors.  The SBA had to overhaul its application process last year after a court ruled that the SBA could not automatically assume that Black, Hispanic, Asian or Native American business owners qualify as socially disadvantaged – a prior key requirement.  The Minority Business Development Agency was similarly blocked from using racial categories to determine applicant eligibility.

The Pacific Legal Foundation, a conservative public interest law firm representing many of the plaintiffs, noted that the vast majority of race-based government programs are operated by states and cities.  Fifteen states have race- and sex-based mandates that apply to most public boards, according to a survey released in 2023 by the Foundation.  In 14 states, the survey found similar requirements for 63 professional licensing boards responsible for social work, dentistry, pharmacy and medical examination.  All told, the Foundation reported that at least 25 states have such requirements in some form.  Generally, it is argued that preference for minority applicants allegedly violates the 14th Amendment right to receive equal treatment under the law.

Historically, African Americans were largely locked out of the skilled workforce.  A 1960 report by the Department of Labor found that Black workers make 60 percent less on average than Whites.  Meanwhile, the modern civil rights movement began challenging segregation in the South, and the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case led to the desegregation of public schools.  Responding to growing demands for racial equality, President John F. Kennedy signed an executive order in 1961 requiring federal contractors to “take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed, and that employees are treated during employment, without regard to their race, creed, color, or national origin.”  This was the birth of affirmative action initiatives in the U.S.

Many American businesses were confused about how to comply with the subsequent new laws, including President Lyndon B. Johnson’s Civil Rights Act of 1964, which encouraged businesses to diversify their workforces while prohibiting discrimination.  Critics argued that they would result in preferential treatment of Black Americans, claims that have persisted for decades.  Affirmative programs appear to have had a positive effect.  According to one 1973 study, the average income in 1969 of “non-White” young, college-educated men was 98 percent of the average of U.S. workers, up from just 80 percent a decade earlier.  Such programs are seen as attributing to helping to reduce traditional discriminatory patterns in the labor market.  In addition, the wage gains coincide with an explosion in the number of Black people enrolling in colleges, particularly in elite colleges — 417,000 in 1970, up 83 percent from a decade earlier. 

There is little doubt that affirmative action programs, no matter how effective they are, will continue to be under attack by conservative groups, whether in the courts and in local and state governments.

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Sep 9

Forecasts For Canada’s Population Growth By 2041 Reveal Interesting Trends

by bcurry

Today, Statistics Canada’s Centre for Demography released a new set of detailed demographic projections to 2041 on immigration and ethnocultural diversity for Canada and its regions.  The release notes that these new projections reflect the targets of the 2022–2024 Immigration Levels Plan released by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada in February 2022, as well as the most recent demographic developments, including those related to the COVID-19 pandemic.  What’s really of interest is the projected composition of Canada’s population and where the majority of people will be living.

The projections note that by 2041 Canada’s population will reach 47.7 million, up from 14.4 million in 2016.  More importantly, about 25 million of the future population will be immigrants or the children of immigrants born in Canada, accounting for 52.4% of the total population.  This compares to 40.0% of the total Canadian population in 2016.  The Canadian population in 2041 is projected to include 9.9 million to 13.9 million people born in Asia or Africa, depending on the projection scenario.  In 2041, about 2 in 5 Canadians will be part of a racialized group.  The concept of “racialized” population is derived directly from the “visible minority group” variable and therefore refers to the persons belonging to a visible minority group.  In terms of location in 2041, the vast majority of the immigrant population would continue to live one of Canada’s 36 census metropolitan areas (CMA), with Toronto, Montréal, and Vancouver remaining the three primary areas of residence of immigrants.

Needless-to-say, all of these projections have massive implications for socioeconomic policies among the three levels of government: federal, provincial and municipal.  Canada today is recognized as multicultural society, increasingly having to apply a host of policies in the next two decades to deal with ethnocentricity, diversity, education, systemic racism, immigration, employment, etc., etc., to name a few.  Different regions and localities will incur diverse impacts, especially when it comes to resettlement and labour markets.  It can be expected that many of the racialized population will represent skilled labour and entrepreneurial capabilities.  One can expect that there will be a good deal of competition among localities and provinces to attract and accommodate skilled immigrants and entrepreneurs.  In addition, we anticipate that our aging population, those 65 and older, will continue to grow, which obviously will have a significant impact on health care resources.  A good proportion of the racialized population within the total population is expected to be younger than the population as a whole.  Future growth in the Canadian economy will greatly depend on this youth segment of the population, and governments will have to facilitate the addition of foreign labour to the labour market through efficient and effective settlement policies.

In general, both Canadian and American experts have long predicted future increased multicultural elements in both societies.  What the Statistics Canada report highlights is the fact that the projected trends, especially for the racialized population, will greatly increase and accelerate in the next couple of decades at a faster rate than previously forecast.  In order for both countries to benefit fully from these trends, governments must first recognize the projected population changes and their future impacts.  Like everything else, there will be those in society who will oppose such trends, which, unless many things change, appear to be inevitable.  The fact is that if we accept these projections, than we must begin now to develop and adjust many of our socioeconomic policies.  Not to do so would be somewhat catastrophic and regressive!

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May 17

The Role of Conspiracy Theories in Radicalizing North American White Folk

by bcurry

As the recent tragic shooting and killing of innocent blacks by a young white supremacist in Buffalo, New York, demonstrates, there is the growing role of conspiracy theories.  The racist ‘replacement theory’ has become a common far-right ideology and has been connected to multiple mass shootings carried out by white supremacists, including the 2018 Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, 2019 mosque shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand, a Black church shooting in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015 and the 2019 shooting of Hispanics at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas .  Unfortunately, its central ideas are now promoted not just by violent extremists, but by right wing media personalities like Fox News host Tucker Carlson.

The conspiracy theory’s more racist adherents believe Jews are behind the so-called replacement plan.  Broadly speaking, the roots of this ‘replacement theory’ are deep.  In the U.S., one can point to past and current efforts to intimidate and discourage Black people from voting.  The antagonists’ view this as replacing” white voters at the polls — dating to the Reconstruction era after the 15th Amendment made clear suffrage couldn’t be restricted on account of race.  More recently, white nationalists marching at the Charlottesville, Virginia, rally in 2017 chanted “You will not replace us!” and “Jews will not replace us!”

There are Americans and Canadians who believe in conspiracy ideas about immigrants being brought into the U.S. and Canada as part of a political plot to increase non-white voters in support of so-called ‘liberal’ and ‘left-oriented’ political parties.  Besides Fox News, many of the followers prefer watching right-wing networks such as OANN or Newsmax.  Access to such networks is readily available on both sides of the border, often via the Internet.  Extreme nationalist groups in turn promote such conspiracy theories on their on Web sites.  Thus begins the radicalization of young whites, men in particular.  Regrettably, like other conspiracy theories, the ‘replacement theory’ has even been taken up by some right-wing politicians.  The fact is that such theories have no place in the traditional conservative thinking, and certainly not in their platforms.  In the U.S. in particular, one needs Republicans in particular to disavow such theories.

Don’t think for a moment that this theory is only believed by a small number of Americans.  In a poll released last week, the Associated Press and the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that about 1 in 3 Americans believe an effort is underway to replace U.S.-born Americans with immigrants for electoral gain.  The attention paid by many Republican politicians to what they see as a leaky southern border along the U.S. has been interpreted, at least by some, as a nod to the concern of white people who worry about being “replaced.”

However, while the majority of followers of replacement theory do not overtly promote calls to arms, there are smaller groups of white supremacists who are inclined to support violent tactics.  Indeed, they consider those behind the above noted horrific mass shootings as being saints in their eyes.  They sadly don’t hesitate to use such theories as a means to justify the use of violence.

The question for governments and societies is how to combat the spread of such conspiracy theories and the resulting climate of hate that they support?  There are no easy answers.  It may not be enough to just treat the associated violent behaviour as hate crimes, after the fact.  What is most likely needed is to confront and outright disown such theories and the resulting disinformation, especially emerging from certain media sources.  Political and spiritual leaders have to step up on a daily basis to speak against such divisive conspiracy theories and to promote unity and mutual respect among our citizens.  This will take a massive effort, particularly as hate mongering has simmered in our society for decades.  Much more has to be done to de-radicalize our youth in particular.  De-radicalization is the on-going process of hopefully changing a person’s belief system through such means as peer group and family intervention and various education schemes.

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Apr 16

Tackling Systemic Racism Which Continues to Exist in American and Canadian Schools

by bcurry

School segregation in the U.S. is defined as the separation of students based on their race to the extent that an institution can be racially predominant by black students or white students.  Currently more than half of all students in the U.S. attend school distracts with high racial concentration.  Racial segregation in schools has a long history that leads up to modern times.  Although enforced racial segregation is now illegal, American schools are more racially segregated now than in the late 1960s, especially in the Northeast U.S.  Much of de facto segregation between Black, Hispanic and White students is the result of where public schools are located and their respective tax base in support of the schools, often referred to as ‘residential segregation’.  Many of the underlying problems of segregation haven’t been solved, even if it’s no longer legal.

Unlike in the U.S., the vast majority of Canadian public schools are financially supported by the provinces, given that each province is responsible for education under the constitution.  While property taxes do support a portion of funding for schools, the province guarantees that additional funding is allocated based on the number of students.  This reinforces the need to ensure adequate funding intended to provide equal access, teaching and curriculum in each school district.  However, this does not preclude the issue of systemic discrimination occurring in schools where visible minorities, including Black students, are in attendance.  Most boards of education don’t deny there is systemic racism in their schools, and have introduced measures in the last few years aimed at dealing with it.  In Ontario, the Ministry of Education conducted a recent review that showed a disproportionate number of Black students are streamed into applied courses — meant for students seeking to go to college instead of university — regardless of academic performance.  This is referred to as ‘streaming for students’ which led to implicit biases whereby a disproportionate number of Black students were prevented from going to university instead of community colleges.  As in the U.S., the review also disclosed that many more Black students received suspensions than White students relative to their proportion of the student population.

Many American schools are segregated by ethnicity and poverty, and for some minority students — particularly the soaring Latino population — the segregation is also by language.  As a result, even the highest-achieving Black and Hispanic students are often denied access to advanced math and science courses in the later grades, although such access is more commonplace for their White peers.  In Canada, the same can be said for new immigrants in particular who, because of their presumed ability in English and their accents, are often forced into remedial classes despite good academic capabilities. Thus, they are being unfairly held back.

Some students believe a key solution is to hire more Black and other teachers representing visible minorities in both countries.  As the population becomes more diverse, it seems only too obvious that such teachers would be in a better position to understand and appreciate the daily challenges that non-White students face on a daily basis.  For example, in a 2016 census of teaching staff, one Ontario school board showed seven percent of staff members identified as Black, while 67 percent identified as White.  That’s in contrast to a student census, which showed 10 percent of its students were Black, while 13 percent were White.  The lack of ethnic diversity among teaching staffs can do nothing but accentuate the prevalence of systemic racism in the eyes of Black, Hispanic and other visible minority students.

While things have improved somewhat in both American and Canadian schools, a lot more needs to be done to deal with systemic racism in the education systems.  In order to ensure equal opportunities for all young people, more funding and resources are needed to raise the standards for public education in each country.  There is an evident need to ensure that school board members, administrative and teaching staffs are sufficiently educated themselves about systemic discrimination and its resulting effects on the future of these young people.  No issue could be more important as there will be even greater population diversity in the coming years.

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May 30

History of Racism Unfolded Once Again This Week in the U.S. and Canada

by bcurry

Two events occurred this past week in both countries that underlined the nature of historical racism.  The first is the one-hundredth anniversary of the Tulsa race massacre which took place May 31 and June 1,1921 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  In its 1996 examination of events, the Oklahoma Commission to Study the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921 was able to confirm 39 dead, 26 Black and 13 White, based on contemporary autopsy reports, death certificates and other records.  However, the commission gave several estimates ranging from 75 to 300 dead, some of whom we now know were buried in unmarked mass graves.  Following the bombings and fires, about 10,000 Black people were left homeless in Tulsa.  Property damage amounted to more than $1.5 million in real estate and $750,000 in personal property (equivalent to $32.65 million in 2020).

The second event is the very recent discovery in Kamloops, British Columbia, of a mass grave containing the remains of 215 children once housed in a former Indian Residential School that closed in 1978.  Canada’s residential schools were compulsory boarding schools run by the government and religious authorities during the 19th and 20th Centuries with the aim of forcibly assimilating indigenous youth.  From about 1863 to 1998, more than 150,000 indigenous children were taken from their families and placed in these schools.  The children were often not allowed to speak their language or to practise their culture, and many were mistreated and abused.  Large numbers of indigenous children were never returned to their home communities.  The school in Kamloops was the largest in the residential system.  Opened under Roman Catholic administration in 1890, the school had as many as 500 students when enrolment peaked in the 1950s.  The children’s remains — some as young as three years old —were found with the help of a ground-penetrating radar during a survey of the school.

What is even sadder about these two events is that they were never part of a history or civics curriculum in the U.S. or Canada until very recently.  The Tulsa race massacre was largely omitted from local, state, and national histories until 2020 when the massacre formally became a part of the Oklahoma school curriculum.  Until a commission launched by the Canadian government in 2008 to document the impacts of the system of Indian Residential Schools, few Canadians would have ever even heard of this part of Canada’s indigenous history.  When I was in high school in the mid-1960s, there was absolutely nothing in our Canadian history books about this “shameful” colonial policy.  It was only in 2008 that the then-prime minister Stephen Harper, on behalf of the Canadian government, formally apologised for the system.  The Canadian government subsequently signed an agreement with the Assembly of First Nations pledging to pay a lump sum in compensation to former students of Indian residential schools, expected to include tens of thousands of affected persons and families.

Systemic racism of course continues to exist today in both countries.  Denying its existence is denying the historical evolution of racially-motivated policies and activities perpetrated by governments and institutions in both countries.  As a society attempting hopefully to improve race relations, we need to be aware of our histories and to discuss their relevance and importance in order to really understand and appreciate our current situation.  Hopefully, as in the case of the above two cases, this much needed discussion should begin among our youth and teachers in our schools.

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Mar 19

Anti-Asian Racism On The Increase In North America

by bcurry

A recent study in the U.S. indicated that Anti-Asian hate crimes have spiked 150 percent since the pandemic began.  In Canada, a June 2020 survey by the non-profit Angus Reid Institute noted that, of those of East Asian descent surveyed, half reported being called names or insulted as a direct result of the COVID-19 outbreak, and 43 percent further said they had been threatened or intimidated.  Then came the March 17, 2021 shootings in Atlanta, Georgia, where six of the eight victims killed are of Asian descent — shootings subsequently being investigated as a possible hate crime.  Anti-Asian attacks in person and on-line have significantly increased during the past year in both countries.  Physical or verbal attacks have particularly occurred in major urban centers with large Asian communities such as Los Angeles, New York, Vancouver and Toronto.  Asian Americans and Canadians are increasingly fearful for their safety and even their lives, especially after the tragic Atlantic shootings.

People of Asian descent have been living in the United States and Canada for more than 160 years, and have long been the target of bigotry and racism.  In both Canada and certain U.S. states, there are hate crime laws in place.  However, hate alone without the addition of a criminal act is not illegal, and proving that a criminal act is a hate crime can be a difficult action.  Unfortunately, under the Trump administration, certain expressions used by the former president could be taken as anti-Asian in their context.  Former President Trump frequently referred to COVID-19 as “the China virus,” “the Wuhan virus,” and the “Kung Flu.”  All adding fuel to an already burning fire.  Blaming Asian Americans and Canadians for the pandemic outbreak unfortunately also became immersed in the propaganda of white supremists groups in both countries. 

What seems to be missing are national programs aimed at educating people about the contributions of people of Asian descent in both countries.  Such programs must emphasize that physical and verbal attacks on citizens, no matter what their colour, gender and ethnicity, is wrong and unacceptable.  Indeed, U.S. lawmakers have called for national action in the wake of the Atlanta shootings and for the creation of a national day to speak out against anti-Asian hate later this month.  Mayors in large urban centers have spoken out against racial attacks on their Asian communities, but much more needs to be done. 

It greatly saddened me and I’m certain many others that any particular group is being singled out by bigots and uninformed individuals.  Many of us know people of Asian descent in our communities who not only merit our respect, but also deserve our protection.  They are health care providers, educators, police officers, military personnel, researchers, engineers, entrepreneurs, and work in many other professions.  Like us, they are hard workers, raising families, supporting their elderly and living peacefully in the community.  It’s time that we all step up and condemn any further spread of hate literature and personal assaults on our Asian citizens.  As one Asian American activist recently noted, “Who marches for us?”

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Nov 25

What Does “De-funding of the Police” Really Suggest and Why?

by bcurry

Here in Canada and the U.S., certain interest groups have called for the de-funding of the police.  In 2020, prompted by several high profile incidents on both sides of the Canadian border, many Canadians took part in protests calling for an end to racial bias and misconduct by police towards Indigenous and racialized people in Canada.  Yet, the issues surrounding systemic racism can be found throughout society, requiring a more holistic approach.  Furthermore, a 2019 Statistics Canada survey found that just over 4 in 10 (41%) Canadians aged 15 and older in the provinces reported having a great deal of confidence in the police, while nearly half (49%) said they had some confidence. Less than 1 in 10 (9%) Canadians reported having low confidence in police—that is, not very much or no confidence at all.

Understandably, those who reported less or no confidence in the police were among distinct groups that included Indigenous peoples, visible minorities, people with mental or cognitive disabilities and bisexual persons (those who self-identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual or otherwise not heterosexual).  Even among these groupings there were differences in the reported level of confidence in the police.  While those who reported having had recent negative interactions with police expressed low confidence in them, the correlation between such negative interactions and their obvious discontent, whether legitimate or not, is hardly surprising.

My initial understanding of the de-funding of the police is that fewer police would be needed if more social services were available to handle cases involving these distinct groups.  The difficulty with the premise is that we are still a society where the rule of law must prevail.  As such, there will always be a need for certain degree of enforcement that will ensure that the majority of citizens feel relatively safe in their communities.  Indeed, the vast majority of policing should be about prevention by ensuring that violators of laws are safely apprehended.  In support of this societal goal, one only has to think of violent crimes, traffic violations, organized criminals, break-ins, terrorism, etc., etc.

Of course, how enforcement is carried out can always be improved.  Many recent community service innovations by police have involved greater liaison with social service agencies, community representatives and health care practitioners.  A first important step has always been to better educate enforcement personnel with respect to their interaction with these distinct groups, in particular persons with mental or cognitive disabilities.  The police are dealing with daily and difficult symptoms of a society lacking in sufficient resources to tackle poverty, inadequate health care, deficient education resources, mental illnesses, systemic racism, etc., etc.  Law enforcement is an inherent and essential part of our society and the majority will clearly oppose the de-funding of the police as promoted by certain distinct groups.  Realistically, this controversial concept is a non-starter — period.

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Aug 6

White Extremism in North America is Very Worrisome and Dangerous

by bcurry

Back in March of this year, I published a blog entitled Extremist White Nationalist Movements Worldwide and the Attack on Mosques in New Zealand following the tragic massacre of Muslims at a mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand by a self-proclaimed white extremist. On August 3rd, the 22 people killed in El Paso, Texas, extended a series of at least five fatal attacks over the past year directed at targets selected for racial or religious reasons, including shootings at synagogues in San Diego and Pittsburgh. Authorities allege the El Paso shooter posted a racist manifesto online on 8chan, an anonymous message board, prior to the shooting.

The numbers of people killed in terrorist attacks linked to Islamist radicals or the far right in the United States since 2002 are now virtually equivalent. The most recent attacks have involved domestic terrorism committed by individuals influenced by or belonging to groups associated with white extremism.  As a result of the El Paso killings, President Trump denounced the alleged white nationalist sentiments of the suspected killer. But his presidency has come to be defined by policies that are aligned with aspects of the white nationalist agenda and his penchant for fanning racial prejudices and anti-immigrant sentiments. His very racist and long-standing xenophobic phrase “go back to where you came from” was a big hit among supporters at Trump’s rallies.

I became particularly concerned after white nationalists held a violent rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017, when the President appeared not to immediately denounce the neo-Nazi marchers. It’s as if the President and the Republicans are avoiding the obvious emergence of groups representing white extremists who select targets based on race and religion.  As in the case of the post-9/11 combined efforts by U.S. national security agencies to defend against Islamist radicals, these same agencies must now work closely together to prevent further attacks by followers of white extremism. It’s time for the administration to recognize this fact and act!

Canada is also not immune to white extremism. On January 29, 2017, a young Canadian white male fatally shot six people at a mosque in Quebec City’s Sainte-Foy neighbourhood.  This was seen by authorities as a hate crime against Muslims. The shooter was influenced one way or another by right-wing extremism portrayed in social media and on the Dark Web.  More frequent attacks involving vandalism of mosques and synagogues have taken place in the recent years.  However, the trend is much older.  Indeed, Statistics Canada reported that the number of hate crimes committed in Canada jumped 35 percent between 2007 and 2008, and black and Jewish people were the most targeted groups for the attacks. Again, I refer you to an earlier blog entitled Right Wing Extremism is a Growing Concern in North American Communities published in November 2018 for more background on Canadian and American white extremist groups.

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Feb 12

Unbelievable — Racism Continues to Rear Its Ugly Head In The Southern States!

by bcurry

During the Sixties, I followed and studied closely the American news media coverage related the rise of the civil rights movement in the U.S.  The incredible emergence of movements led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and Stokely Carmichael greatly interested me at the time as a Canadian student of American history and political science.  My studies also looked at the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and the Black Panther Party. With the federal Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1968 and other U.S. laws which ended segregation practices and moved to protect civil and voting rights, it looked like Americans were on the right track to deal with overt practices of discrimination. With the election of Barack Obama as the first black President, it looked like the U.S. had finally overcome many of the inequities of its racial past.

However, some things just refuse to change. First, there are all those statues in the U.S. dedicated to the infamous period of the Confederacy which fought against the Union forces to conserve its abominable practices involving black slavery. You would think that people would have matured enough in the eighties, nineties and today to understand the real sensitivities that African Americans have today about a history involving inequitable and inhumane treatment.  Yet this doesn’t appear to be the case.  We now have the white Governor of Virginia, Ralph Northam, and his Attorney General Mark Herring acknowledging that they wore blackface at parties in the 1980s. Unbelievable!

Although both men have apologized for appearing in blackface, many Virginians are outraged by the admissions. Sure, both were young and college students at the time, but this is no excuse.  Knowing Virginia’s racial history, both men should have known better. What’s worst, they don’t appear to see any self-evident need to resign.  The sad part of the scandal is that it shows from a cultural perspective how much further Americans need to go to deal with its racial attitudes.  Hopefully, they have learned from these incidents and will work more closely with people of all races to deal with racism in its midst.  We in Canada must also learn from our own past and history of racism and discrimination. Given that this is Black History month, we owe it to our children to learn from history and move forward together into the future.

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Nov 1

Right-Wing Extremism Is A Growing Concern In North American Communities

by bcurry

On October 27th of this year, the deadliest attack on Jews in the history of the United States took place at a synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. This horrendous event is being treated as a hate crime against Jews.  On January 29, 2017, a young male fatally shot six people at a mosque in Quebec City’s Sainte-Foy neighbourhood. This was also seen by authorities as a hate crime against Muslims. In both cases, the shooters were influenced one way or another by right-wing extremism. On August 11, 2018, several Montrealers joined an ultra-right torch march through Charlottesville, Virginia, blending into a crowd that chanted ‘Blood and soil’ and ‘Jews will not replace us’. The participating Canadians were suspected as being connected to a neo-Nazis movement in North America and involved with La Meute, the largest far-right organization in Quebec.

The current Liberal government in Canada is so concerned about the rise in far-right movements in Canada that it has committed to providing $23 million over two years for multicultural programs and cross-country consultations on racism. Moreover, police-reported hate crimes have been on the rise in recent years in both countries.  For example, anti-Semitic incidents rose more than 50 percent in 2017 in the U.S. Hundreds of far-right groups with thousands of active members in Canada and the U.S. have been growing online and offline. Unfortunately, statements by President Trump and the tone set at his campaign rallies have done nothing to discourage the activities of far-right groups who are primarily responsible for hate crimes against Muslims, Jews and migrants.

One of the lasting effects of the violence in Charlottesville was its blow to the far-right’s ability to raise money and spread propaganda online. The follow-up exposure of the Quebec participants revealed their identities, ended up in some losing their jobs and friends, and forced them to drop out of the movement. Anti-fascist groups have also increasingly emerged to demonstrate against ultra-right extremists wherever they appear, sometimes unfortunately resulting in violent confrontations.  The fact is that there is a fine line between protecting ‘free speech’ and preventing ‘hate speech’.

Nevertheless, it would appear that the majority of Americans and Canadians want their governments to take a stronger stance against extremism, no matter what kind. However, the emergence of ultra-right extremism and resulting increases in hate crimes against particular groups have become a major concern for authorities on both sides of the border.  As citizens, we also have to remain vigilant and aware of hate-related activities within our communities.  As evidenced in Charlottesville, Pittsburgh and Quebec City, no community is immune to the influence of militant extremist groups, especially the young and vulnerable. By promoting love, respect and tolerance, each of us must do whatever it takes to address any groups promoting hate in our communities.  We cannot afford to ignore the existence of extremism.

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