(no subject)

[felis_ultharus]

Brad Wall, the Conservative premier of Saskatchewan, is suing the Canadian Press newswire because he feels he was misrepresented by one of its headlines: “Tape with Sask premier and Tory MP has racist, sexist, homophobic comments: NDP.”

The problem? Premier Wall only mimicked a bad Ukrainian accent to mock Roy Romanow, the child of Ukrainian immigrants. He feels that the headline unfairly links him to sexism and homophobia, when he was only being racist.

The premier must be trying to capture that elusive gay-but-racist-against-Ukrainians swing vote that makes or breaks Saskatchewan elections.

Comments

[retrogamerbear.livejournal.com]

Being called a racist for imitating a Ukrainian accent? If he had mocked an Irish or Scottish accent, would they have also accused him of racism?

I've never thought of mocking or poking fun at nationality as part of racism, although I know that it can be (mocking African or Asian countries as examples). Shouldn't that be called Nationalism? (ok bad joke...)

[em-fish.livejournal.com]

Being called a racist for imitating a Ukrainian accent?

I think it was the "....to mock Roy Romanow, the child of Ukrainian immigrants." part that raises the Racism Flag.

I know what you mean, though. I had to explain to my mother that Jim Carrey's Gandhi joke wasn't racist because the punchline isn't "Gandhi had a funny accent!" it's "Imagine a famous ascetic indulging in potato salad as a midnight snack!". People can be reactionary and miss the point.

[felis-ultharus.livejournal.com]

That's what I would've said, as well ^_^

[felis-ultharus.livejournal.com]

I think Emma nailed it -- it's because it was being used specifically to mock him. A faked accent isn't in itself racist, just its intention.

As for terminology, we're sort of in a complicated phase with that, I guess. In the 19th century, the words "race" and "nation" were used interchangeably to mean "ethnicity," and people talked of the "French race" and the "English race."

Now we make more of a distinction along the lines of visible/non-visible minority, but we have no comparable term -- ethnocentricity just isn't strong enough. So "racism" has stayed for lack of a better term.

Now this is getting heavy, so I should probably stop.

*tapdances in desperate attempt to lighten mood*

[peekaboo.livejournal.com]

I am randomly following links from friend to friend to friend in an attempt to get some fresh perspectives on my friends list. Therefore I've added you, if that is alright.

Myself? Originally from Montreal, currently living in Vancouver... Researcher by trade. Queer. I volunteer a lot. I organize events in my community.

[felis-ultharus.livejournal.com]

That's cool ^_^

I'm originally a BCer, living in Montreal. I'm not a researcher by trade, though I've been doing a lot of historical research for my website on LGBT history in Canada (http://thedrummersrevenge.wordpress.com/histories/).

(This has meant going back to a lot of primary sources, since a lot of these topics just aren't being researched at all.)

[peekaboo.livejournal.com]

That's an incredible project! I have a masters degree in art history and am a HUGE history buff. I imagine that I'll have an incredible amount of fun on this site. Thanks!