The not so Great Racism in Canada Thread - Page 56

Architype · #**1101** Posted **Jun 10, 2020, 3:17 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Corndogger

Twitter's blowing up over CBC suspending Wendy Mesley for using "word that should never be used." Sounds like she was in a meeting preparing for a broadcast and used the "N" word when quoting a journalist they planned on interviewing for some show. Management was told and they must have went into panic mode. This is seriously out of control. Now you can't quote what people said? If I was her I never would have apologized.

I just heard the full N word used in a CBC radio documentary five minutes ago. It's a show about the Canadian slave trade, and it referenced N----- Rock, PQ. Seems like a double standard.

Corndogger · #**1102** Posted **Jun 10, 2020, 3:31 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Architype

I just heard the full N word used in a CBC radio documentary five minutes ago. It's a show about the Canadian slave trade, and it referenced N----- Rock, PQ. Seems like a double standard.

I think it's even worse. She wasn't on air when she said it. I wonder who turned her in? I'm guessing a producer if it was a meeting about an upcoming show. Nice environment to work in.

Corndogger · #**1103** Posted **Jun 10, 2020, 4:00 AM**

HBO Max has pulled "Gone with the Wind" from it's platform. How this makes things better is beyond me.

https://twitter.com/WSJ/status/1270542141559910401

dleung · #**1104** Posted **Jun 10, 2020, 5:35 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Corndogger

HBO Max has pulled "Gone with the Wind" from it's platform. How this makes things better is beyond me.

https://twitter.com/WSJ/status/1270542141559910401

Oh no, Trump's already pissed enough that a non-white country took the Best Picture award, without this disrespect to his MAGA playlist

lio45 · #**1105** Posted **Jun 10, 2020, 9:46 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Acajack

Lio needs to stay in cooling towers or physics. He could never work for the CBC!

True, but I probably wouldn't want to work for the CBC in the first place

Unless they pay really well AND let me do everything my way...

The one thing I'd have going for me there is fluency in both official languages (as well as a third). On a hypothetical CBC application, I'd make sure to specify ability to say the N-word in no less than three languages (four if you count Haitian Creole!)

lio45 · #**1106** Posted **Jun 10, 2020, 9:52 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

If that's your takeaway, I think you're missing the point by a country mile.

What other possible takeaway is there?

I guess I'll have to remind myself again that I'm engaging with people who are perfectly fine with an ethnicity-based apartheid in 2020 - I shouldn't be surprised that the concept of having only one single type of citizen feels weird to you guys. To me it's the other way around - this constant obsession with race, and this idea of having one school or one entity serving one race exclusively, feels completely alien and/or 19th century.

casper · #**1107** Posted **Jun 10, 2020, 10:28 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by dreambrother808

That was my experience working in construction as well, like stepping 20-30 years back in time. My life before and after it in other realms, educational, social, or occupational, was quite different. Much of what we think is acceptable or normal is merely what we see around us. Society keeps shifting and while there will always be those who lag behind or pass away still upholding outdated beliefs, that change is relentless. What we are seeing now is that younger people are seeking to accelerate that further.

I don't think its unique to construction. I once had an interesting discussion with an HR professional I know. She worked for one of the provinces and would investigate and try to resolve employee labour practice complaints before they entered a more formal process. It was interesting perspective. One day it would be dealing with an issue at a convent, the next a construction company.

She told me fire fighters were one of the more interesting bunch to work with. The dynamics of having a bunch of guys (sometimes) that live/work together for shifts that stretch several days creates a level openness and directness in language that you don't see in most workplaces. Add in a few female fire fighters into the mix and the dynamics become even more complex.

Acajack · #**1108** Posted **Jun 10, 2020, 12:32 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by lio45

True, but I probably wouldn't want to work for the CBC in the first place

Unless they pay really well AND let me do everything my way...

The one thing I'd have going for me there is fluency in both official languages (as well as a third). On a hypothetical CBC application, I'd make sure to specify ability to say the N-word in no less than three languages (four if you count Haitian Creole!)

Someone needs to get the memo about the N-word out to thousands of hiphop artists.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkNg3b-PdV8

Because my kids and their friends have tons of songs with the N-word in it on their iPhones, and they (and I can only assume millions of others of all colours in the U.S. and other countries) sing along to the lyrics all the time.

They're all doing the same thing Wendy Mesley did at the CBC: repeating someone else's words.

If I presumably have 25 or 30 teens (including several who are black!) in my basement screaming the N-word at the top of their lungs (because it's part of a song they like) what exactly should I do?

YOWflier · #**1109** Posted **Jun 10, 2020, 12:40 PM**

I think the rule regarding use of the N-word is quite simple.

It's not allowed (unless it is), and you're not allowed to determine if it's allowed (unless you are).

esquire · #**1110** Posted **Jun 10, 2020, 12:41 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Acajack

Someone needs to get the memo about the N-word out to thousands of hiphop artists.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkNg3b-PdV8

Because my kids and their friends have tons of songs with the N-word in it on their iPhones, and they (and I can only assume millions of others of all colours in the U.S. and other countries) sing along to the lyrics all the time.

They're all doing the same thing Wendy Mesley did at the CBC: repeating someone else's words.

If I presumably have 25 or 30 teens (including several who are black!) in my basement screaming the N-word at the top of their lungs (because it's part of a song they like) what exactly should I do?

As has been noted, Quebec is a little more laissez-faire when it comes to this sort of thing so I'm not sure there is anything you really should do...

That said, the "rules" such as they are around the use of the N-word seem way more complex in the rest of North America. I can't remember the details but I recall a big social media kerfuffle a year or two ago when a white woman was invited on stage at a rap concert in the US... she sang along with whatever the well known was but the rapper and crowd turned on her when she failed to self-censor the N-word.

What teens do is another issue, but I think it's safe to say that at this point, no non-white adult should ever utter the N-word in a professional environment in North America for whatever reason, even if quoting someone else. If only as an act of self-preservation.

Acajack · #**1111** Posted **Jun 10, 2020, 12:54 PM**

Just wanna say I am perfectly OK if anyone wants to sing along with this song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=197q4P2ud3U

esquire · #**1112** Posted **Jun 10, 2020, 1:00 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Acajack

Just wanna say I am perfectly OK if anyone wants to sing along with this song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=197q4P2ud3U

I sang along with that when Robert Charlebois appeared on stage at the 1997 Red Cross Flood Relief concert! I hope I didn't cause offence to anyone.

Not too many other people around me knew the words, though

Zany video that goes along with it...

Acajack · #**1113** Posted **Jun 10, 2020, 1:07 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by esquire

I sang along with that when Robert Charlebois appeared on stage at the 1997 Red Cross Flood Relief concert! I hope I didn't cause offence to anyone.

Not too many other people around me knew the words, though

Zany video that goes along with it...

At first glance it appears to have been filmed in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

Charlebois had a thing for Haiti, and Haitian Creole.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaGOwMsg-wg

kwoldtimer · #**1114** Posted **Jun 10, 2020, 1:15 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Architype

I just heard the full N word used in a CBC radio documentary five minutes ago. It's a show about the Canadian slave trade, and it referenced N----- Rock, PQ. Seems like a double standard.

Looking for an excuse to use the word?

esquire · #**1115** Posted **Jun 10, 2020, 1:17 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

Looking for an excuse to use the word?

You think CBC staff are chomping at the bit to say it?

kwoldtimer · #**1116** Posted **Jun 10, 2020, 1:17 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by casper

I don't think its unique to construction. I once had an interesting discussion with an HR professional I know. She worked for one of the provinces and would investigate and try to resolve employee labour practice complaints before they entered a more formal process. It was interesting perspective. One day it would be dealing with an issue at a convent, the next a construction company.

She told me fire fighters were one of the more interesting bunch to work with. The dynamics of having a bunch of guys (sometimes) that live/work together for shifts that stretch several days creates a level openness and directness in language that you don't see in most workplaces. Add in a few female fire fighters into the mix and the dynamics become even more complex.

A niece of mine finished top of her firefighters class but only lasted three months in the job - the harassment and sabotage was more than she could take.

JHikka · #**1117** Posted **Jun 10, 2020, 1:18 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

Looking for an excuse to use the word?

I find it incredibly difficult to believe that someone would go through the trouble to create a documentary on the slave trade on CBC Radio just to use a racial slur.

Acajack · #**1118** Posted **Jun 10, 2020, 1:19 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by esquire

You think CBC staff are chomping at the bit to say it?

I am sure that program was produced and canned some time ago. They probably didn't listen through it all before running it, but I bet a million bucks when the word came out during the broadcast a lot of people in the CBC building freaked out!

esquire · #**1119** Posted **Jun 10, 2020, 1:22 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Acajack

I am sure that program was produced and canned some time ago. They probably didn't listen through it all before running it, but I bet a million bucks when the word came out during the broadcast a lot of people in the CBC building freaked out!

100%.

It's touchy at the best of times but if I were a broadcaster I'd probably only say it at gunpoint right now.

kwoldtimer · #**1120** Posted **Jun 10, 2020, 1:23 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by JHikka

I find it incredibly difficult to believe that someone would go through the trouble to create a documentary on the slave trade on CBC Radio just to use a racial slur.

My comment was not in reference to the CBC ....