This is part of a series of articles intended to illustrate the usefulness of treating atheism as a social justice issue, rather than trying to wall atheist discourse off from social justice discussions. Read the introductory post here. Read the second post here. One of the most common critiques of discussing issues of race in atheist …
Category Archive: race
Feb 26 2013
South of what, exactly?
One of the chief arguments pressed into service in defence of so-called “casual” racism – that is, racism that occurs as part of popular culture without any awareness of racist content on the part of the majority – is that in the absence of intent, acts are not racist. While we here know this to …
Feb 25 2013
Reflections on the Oakville Klan story
I want to follow up this morning’s post with a couple of things that were sitting in the back of my mind as I was reading. Canada’s polite racism, and the ‘tone’ crowd One of the defining features of racism in Canada is that it usually comes disguised in very neutral, inoffensive language. Canada’s myth …
Feb 25 2013
Black History Month: The KKK in Oakville, Ontario
This year for Black History Month I will be examining Colour-Coded: A Legal History of Racism in Canada, 1900-1950 by Constance Backhouse. Please read the preamble post if you haven’t already. Part 1 of this series is here. Part 2 is here, and a follow-up can be found here. Part 3 can be read here. Read Part 4 here, and its follow-up here. …
Feb 21 2013
Black History Month: Yee Clun and the White Women’s Labour Law
This year for Black History Month I will be examining Colour-Coded: A Legal History of Racism in Canada, 1900-1950 by Constance Backhouse. Please read the preamble post if you haven’t already. Part 1 of this series is here. Part 2 is here, and a follow-up can be found here. Part 3 can be read here. Regina is the capital city of the …
Feb 20 2013
Reverse appropriation
As much as we might like to ignore or obscure it, we can’t outrun our past. Many of the institutions we rely on were built, or at least conceived of, in a time when bigoted ideas were openly expressed and widely believed (unlike now, where they’re still widely believed but we at least have the …
Feb 18 2013
Black History Month: Sero v. Gault
This year for Black History Month I will be examining Colour-Coded: A Legal History of Racism in Canada, 1900-1950 by Constance Backhouse. Please read the preamble post if you haven’t already. Part 1 of this series is here. Part 2 is here, and a follow-up can be found here. Part of the main thrust of this year’s Black History Month …
Feb 12 2013
Wandata’s Trial and today’s Canada
While reading the chapter that informed this morning’s post, I was particularly struck by the number of parallels between Manitoba in 1902 and Canada in 2013. Now, to be sure, this is more than likely to be a big ol’ ball of confirmation bias – I have learned more about Canada’s history with First Nations in …
Feb 12 2013
Black History Month: The Wandata Trial
This year for Black History Month I will be examining Colour-Coded: A Legal History of Racism in Canada, 1900-1950 by Constance Backhouse. Please read the preamble post if you haven’t already. Part 1 of this series is here. It is either appalling ignorance on my part (if you wish to blame me) or abysmal historical instruction from …



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