New Governor-General brings out Canada's racism

by The Canadian Editorial Staff

The appointment of Michaëlle Jean as Canada's new Governor General has brought out the latent racism that is a part of Canadian society. According to many elites and other Canadians who are upset with the appointment of the new principal regal representative of the Queen of Canada, Canadian society should primarily serve the "founding nations". The "founding nations" is a mythology which is based upon the racist premise that Canada was "founded" by affluent Anglo-Celtic and French Caucasians. This mythology ignores the fact that Canada, even thruought its colonial history was built by a multi-cultural constituency. This constituency included aboriginal in association with other peoples of African, and other ancestries, which helped provide vital defence against American military attempts to take-over Canada.

According to an apparent mentality that has been targeted against Madame Michaëlle Jean, "blacks" are at the lowest part of the Canadian racialist totem pole. Surely, according to the Canadians with this apparent view, Prime Minister Martin must have been "mis-guided" to appointment someone who is "Haitian".

Networks led by the right-wing CanWest Global, including their flagship newspaper, The National Post, have helped to lead an apparent racist charge against the new regal tenant of Rideau Hall. This charge to try to subvert the appointment of Canada's first black Governor-General have included alleging ties with Québec's separatist interests. It is unlikely that CanWest and others currently making such allegations, would be so zealous, if Mr. Martin had appointed someone from Quebec with a racial ancestry more "deserved" of a royal association. Other such racist allegations have also attacked her "experience"-level, as if the former Governor-General was any more experienced than her. Perhaps the editorial writers of The National Post, in association with other representatives of the Establishment media thought that Madame Michaëlle Jean should have been a Governor-General somewhere else, before she was appointed by Mr. Martin. The latent racism by other members of the mass-media that have chosen to "bite their tongue" somewhat, is evidence of the kind of disparaging remarks made by reporters that would otherwise be much more reverent toward a more "racially appropriate" royal.

For once, Mr. Martin has shown some leadership, with the appointment of the new Vice-Regal. The type of mentalities which have been the basis of attacking Madame Michaëlle Jean, undermines the development of Canada as a national community for all Canadians. CanWest and its sympathizers should be ashamed of themselves. Let us not emulate the United States in these areas, where institutionalized racism creates divisions in that society. Such racialist divisions have fostered political economic marginalization, alienation, and have created areas of mass social despair, and conditions for worsening crime, and violence.