Content Notice: Virulent racism.
Brad Wall, the Conservative Premier of Saskatchewan, is normally a slime ball.
He still is, generally, but when he asked social media commentators to tone down their racist content following a confrontation that left an Indigenous man dead, the internet decided the best way to prove how not racist it was was to up the ante on anti-Native racism:
If Wall was hoping to pour oil on troubled waters, it appears there’s a mixed result.
Some people congratulated him for taking a stand on an issue that has polarized some members of the public.
“You are the great leader Brad! As a new Canadian, I’m highly impressed by your anti-racist view in Saskatchewan,” was one response.
Others criticized the premier.
“I am deeply offended though that you’d support laws that infringe upon peoples’ freedom of speech especially in the face of a calamity such as this,” one person wrote.
White people: More offended when you ask them to tone down the racist post-hoc justifications for murdering an Indigenous man than they are by the murder of an Indigenous man.
NO RACISM TO SEE HERE FOLKS.
“Is the racism of white people from the native people going to be tolerated still ’cause I’ve been called more names by Natives than I can count,” one man said.
Reverse racism doesn’t exist because there is no institutional power to back up anti-white prejudice. Moreover, anti-white prejudice held by the Indigenous is hardly unjustified. Have you seen the shit Canada and the USA is trying to pull with pipelines lately? Have you seen the near weekly news of “RCMP brutalize Native man during unwarranted arrest”? “Energy company x proposes pipeline #400 over Native land”? “Water supply well below national safety standards on Native reserve”? The list goes on.
Also, having shared many a late night train with Indigenous folks, I can tell you they don’t usually hurl insults at you unless you hurl insults at them. In fact, I would sooner take a car full of Indigenous men late at night than a pack of white fraternity boys. But if they don’t trust me because I’m white? I’m not going to throw a fucking temper tantrum. They have every right to feel that way about the majority demographic that abuses them.
“Wanna stop racism? Revamp those obsolete treaties and make every adult in Saskatchewan pay taxes. A society that treats people differently because of their race is an unjust society,” a commenter wrote.
IMMUNIZED. AGAINST. IRONY.
Jesus H Christ. Do they give irony shots out at Bible camp or something?
RCMP monitoring online comments
A spokesperson for the RCMP’s F division said it is “actively investigating” all social media posts for hate speech. They have not laid any charges.
Robert Innes, a University of Saskatchewan Indigenous studies professor in Saskatoon, said he’s not surprised by racist posts in Saskatchewan on social media — it’s the openness that surprises him.
“A lot of these people making these comments are not making them from false accounts — these are their own personal accounts and they feel perfectly safe and comfortable expressing these views publicly. That part is surprising,” Innes said.
He said the premier showed leadership by speaking out.
“We as a society, we have to really acknowledge that there is racial tension in this province and we have to really deal with those racial tensions,” Innes said.
“It’s the openness that surprises him.”
This is why I’m pissed as fuck at America. Throwing your fascist cheeto onto the main stage has emboldened racists across the world. “If Trump can say it, why can’t we do it?!”
A man is dead because of anti-Native prejudice. Many before him have died, and many more will continue to die, as long as we permit white people to live in ignorance of systemic racism (and to own guns).
-Shiv