The recent capitol riots, the resurgence of neo-Nazis and white supremacist sentiments are present in our own backyards
By: Ruchika Gothoskar, Contributor
CW: white supremacy
On Jan. 6, 2021, supporters of United States President Donald Trump stormed the United States Capitol, claiming that the latest federal election was stolen from them, rioting loudly and violently against Trump’s imminent defeat. As police officers responded (with little to no urgency) and rioters broke windows and came fully armed, the online maelstrom was just beginning.
Social media was awash with Canadians glued to their televisions and refreshing their feeds, only to move on from the incident days later, having learned little about the insidious nature of white supremacist organizing. The general sentiment among many Canadians tends to be relief; contentment with the idea that, well, stuff like that just doesn’t happen here.
But the stark reality is that this “stuff,” meaning violent racism, white supremacist beliefs and outrageous conspiracy theory-driven drivel not only exists in Canada, but thrives and originates here.
One well-known white supremacist group that was central to much of the action at the Capitol in Washington was the Proud Boys. Founded by Canadian Gavin McInnes, the Chilliwack Progress writes that the Proud Boys are a right-wing group that is misogynistic and increasingly connected to white supremacist ideals.
Facebook and Instagram banned the Proud Boys in October 2018 for violating their hate policies and Trump famously declined to condemn the Proud Boys during a U.S. presidential debate with Joe Biden in September 2020. Instead, he told the group to “stand back and stand by,” even after malicious hate-fuelled tirades by the group and its supporters.
But the stark reality is that this “stuff,” meaning violent racism, white supremacist beliefs and outrageous conspiracy theory-driven drivel not only exists in Canada, but thrives and originates here.
Present amongst the rioters at the capitol were many folks who identified themselves as members of the Proud Boys; a group with roots that are unequivocally Canadian.
Trumpism also isn’t something reserved for those in the US, with pro-Trump sentiment and subsequent racist and white supremacist thought and actions seeping into Canada. Alberta Minister of Forestry and Agriculture Devin Dreeshen proudly attended a Trump rally, sporting the infamous "Make America Great Again" hat and even campaigned for Trump in multiple states back in 2016.
During the storming of the Capitol, a pro-Trump convoy took up close to three city blocks in Toronto, honking and proclaiming that they were trying to “Stop the Steal,” referencing the apparently stolen election.
Pro Trump convoy (about 2 city blocks long) headed up Yonge Street in Toronto right now. Interesting times. #StopTheSteaI I presume. pic.twitter.com/jXeVLOCrNY
— D. Jared Brown (@LitigationGuy) January 6, 2021
While such violent groups with such polarizing beliefs may seem distant even still, the truth is that pro-police, anti-government, white supremacist movements are alive and well in Canadian cities.
This summer, the destruction of Sipkne'katik First Nation lobster storage sites on the east coast was proof of continued violence against racialized peoples in Canada, as commercial fishermen incited violence against Indigenous fishermen while the Royal Canadian Mounted Police reportedly did nothing to help.
During the storming of the Capitol, a pro-Trump convoy took up close to three city blocks in Toronto, honking and proclaiming that they were trying to “Stop the Steal,” referencing the apparently stolen election.
Similarly, RCMP violently raided Wet'suwet'en blockades in British Columbia, the Ontario Provincial Police tore down 1492 Land Back Lane land reclamation camps in Caledonia, and in our very own #HamOnt, 2019 Pride events were interrupted by “hateful protests” led by yellow vest protestors who were fuelled by white nationalist sentiment.
Our innocent little city of Hamilton has some reckoning to do with the part it plays in white supremacist insurgence. Paul Fromm, a self-described white nationalist, was permitted to run for mayor in Hamilton, even after losing a mayoral race in Mississauga the year earlier, due largely to his pro-white, anti-immigration rhetoric.
Executive director of the Canadian Anti-Hate Network Evan Balgord cites that the neo-Nazi movement is aligning itself with so-called free-speech events or “men’s rights” events, which are increasingly popular on university and college campuses. This is something we’ve seen attempted at McMaster University, in our own Clubs department, too.
The reality is that Canadians don’t have room to be sanctimonious in the face of violence. Rather than painting our country as the place of harmonious maple syrup dreams and socialized health care, we need to come to terms with the ways white supremacy and racial injustice has become so deeply ingrained in our daily lives.
Rather than ignoring the signs of growing tensions, police brutality and the role that policing plays in encouraging and fostering anti-Black, anti-Indigenous and white supremacist sentiment, Canadians need to start taking an active role in advocating for anti-racism and anti-fascist policies and movements.
It is not enough to just claim that we are better without doing any of the hard work. It is high time that we come face to face with the extremism in our own backyards and address the ways white supremacist organizing has, and will continue to hurt Black, Indigenous and racialized Canadians if not dealt with headfirst in the coming months and years.
By: Alexander Sallas
"Universities have a fundamental obligation to oppose bigotry and closed-mindedness in all its forms."
I fear that this quotation, extracted from context and posted by the McMaster Facebook page as an accompaniment to Patrick Deane's monthly address, will be appropriated by misguided left-of-centre activists to license censorial behaviour.
Deane is referring to President Trump's travel ban and its detrimental impact on the historically inclusive university. He rightly asserts the necessity of and historical precedent for academic inclusion and openness, describing Frederick Barbarossa's valiant protection of foreign students in the 12th century. However, stripped of this framework, the quotation appears borderline Orwellian.
Can, and should, the university dictate the line between closed and open mindedness? No. Freedom of expression, after all, must include the right to offend. The poisonously regressive antithesis to this attitude currently infects not only our campus, but campuses across the continent. California's Higher Education Research Institute reported last year that 71 per cent of freshmen agree that colleges should prohibit racist and sexist speech on campus. The same study found 43 per cent of respondents believe colleges have the right to ban extreme speakers from campus.
The proclamation of the anti-alt right posters that tattooed the walls of our campus last November stated, "Any attempt to legitimize right-wing racist and fascist views in politics and society will not be debated," is wrong-headed and capitulationist. Opposition to expression is inherent close-mindedness.
The act of refusing to discuss plays into the opposition's hands. We must tackle opponents directly. We must prove flaws to destroy destructive movements, and we cannot do that if we ignore them. We cannot and should not claim the right to be censors. To deny another the right to speak, no matter how absurd their opinion may seem, is to stunt the development of your own perspective and argument by being closed-minded.
This leads to the question always dodged by those who would restrict free expression. Who should be the anointed moral arbiter? Who shall deem what expressions are bigoted and close-minded? The answer is that no person so qualified exists. The university exists not to oppose. Rather, it exists to provide a platform for discourse and facilitate conflict resolution through more speech, not enforced silence.
Deane's article argues, “Our universities, like our society, are only enriched and strengthened by diversity of opinions." I only hope his full article attracts as much attention as the easy to misinterpret quotation used by the powers behind the Facebook page.
As Deane writes, the travel ban was wrong-headed. Equally deplorable is any attempt to stifle free expression. I implore readers to read deeper than the social media quote presented and exercise their right to retort.
Donald Trump and I have one thing in common: we are both optimists.
Trump, for all his honking about the terrible fate of the United States of America, was optimistic that he could win a presidential election despite no political experience.
I was optimistic that our neighbours to the south (and our most important trade partner) would not engage with a clown like Trump and Hillary Clinton would win easily. Nearly all the polls had Hillary winning in a landslide, and even the cautious projections still gave her a 73 per cent chance of winning.
That is why I wrote and printed a Speculator piece about Trump losing. To pull the curtain back, the Silhouette’s glossy covers are required to go to print a day earlier than regular newsprint. That means we have to submit the Speculator on Tuesday nights.
Instead, I am wrong. That is not what kept me up on Tuesday night, it was the fallout that will come.
The United States elected a man who has more failed businesses than McMaster has overpaid professors, who called Mexicans criminals and rapists, who was endorsed by the Ku Klux Klan, who blatantly lied multiple times a day, who said he was “smart” for not paying taxes, who said he would commit war crimes, who lost access to his own Twitter account over the weekend for fear of what he might tweet, who wants to deport all Muslims, who wants to build a wall to keep Mexicans out, who believes climate change is a hoax created by the Chinese and said he will cancel the Paris Accord, who believes that the same-sex marriage legislation from 2015 is wrong and should be left to the individual states, who has joked around about committing sexual assault on camera, who has been accused of committing sexual assault by at least 15 women and who did not even know the election date. The list goes on.
And now, we look ahead and know we will not be moving forward. A man with this history, with these beliefs, with these policies, cannot push a country forward. Trump will only move them backwards and the entire world will feel the movement.
This needs to serve as a wake-up call for everyone. Intolerance is encouraged in the most powerful country in the world. We should not be naïve and smug – a default for Canadians when the United States fucks up – we should acknowledge this as a tragedy and take steps to address it in our own country because it absolutely exists.
In Hamilton, there are issues. The city had the second-most hate crimes per capita in 2015. While isolated incidents should not be used to represent the entire population, intolerance has a way of manifesting itself in the dark corners of our society.
We may not see the clues of hatred until a moment like this, where we wonder how we missed it all along.
The hints are not just the graffiti, arsons or slurs that happen in our city.
Kellie Leitch, a Conservative party leadership candidate, sent a press release describing the Trump win: “It’s an exciting message and one that we need delivered in Canada as well.”
Let’s remember that Stephen Harper vilified Muslims during the 2015 campaign too, and Harper would not march in the gay pride parade.
As hard as it may be, Canadians need to move forward in this bleak Trump-as-president reality. It was not our decision, but it is a burden we will carry.
We have to use this as an opportunity to evaluate ourselves and really turn our country into the place we believe it is.
