Ms. Atma Adoungotchodo, PhD candidate in engineering [École de Technologie Supérieure (ÉTS), Longeuil, Québec]. A picture taken from the Journal de Montréal
Thank you Ms. Adoungotchodo for sharing your refined thoughts on racism (published in the Journal de Montréal):
Your letter to the Editor is surely cleverer than many of our Canadian media (or propaganda ??) articles we read nowadays”. Best wishes in your PhD training!
Before translating it below, in Bambi’s mind, a vague concept like “systemic racism” is likely meant to control our societies. Period. As you elegantly wrote it, it is a way of not doing anything to solve the problem of racism.
———
“Since my arrival in Montreal in 2009, I have become more and more involved in the issue of racism against blacks. Not because I have experienced racism, but with the events of obvious racism happening nearby in the United States, it’s hard not to feel concerned.
However, the only thing that amazes me is how Canadian society, and Québec in particular, has appropriated these American problems and that now, we are talking about racism everywhere in Québec, to the point where we want to establish the name of systemic racism.
Systemic racism here?
To my understanding, to speak of systemic racism is to say that society is organized in such a way as to discriminate against people of certain races.
With the cultural diversity that there is in Québec, it is certain that there are people who are racist. With all the cultures that I have encountered since arriving here, surely I have experienced racism without even knowing it. Surely also that I made racist remarks towards other communities without wanting it.
Ignorance, or our perception, can sometimes lead us to say or think things that may offend others.
For me, the best way not to fix a problem is to blame a certain system. Who established the system? Who maintains or runs it? In my opinion, we get lost in semantic mazes that only lead us away from the real problems.
We need to help people become more responsible
When someone behaves badly towards me, I judge him/her individually. Just because a white cashier looked askance at me doesn’t mean I’m going to jump to the ceiling and accuse all white Québeckers of being racist.
Just because a black person received poor service in a hospital does not mean that all hospitals have a system that discriminates against blacks. I believe in helping people in becoming more responsible individually.
Yes, there are racist people! When you meet them, it is your responsibility to denounce them with all your energy so that they can be punished by the law and serve as a lesson to all the other racists in the making.
As much as it is absurd to say that blacks are lazy because a white man has crossed paths with a lazy one, it is as much unacceptable to accuse all Québeckers of racism because one or some Québeckers have behaved reprehensibly towards you.
We are all humans, and idiots are everywhere. Maybe the person you think is racist doesn’t give a damn about the colour of your skin. Maybe this guy is just stupid … or you’re the one exaggerating.
Speaking of exaggerations, I believe that in this category, the gold medal goes to the person who denounced her teacher for having used the word “negro” in her class. I believe that politicians should become more involved in these censorship regulations and stop waiting for extreme situations like the one experienced by the professor in France to take actions that clearly show the limits of individual freedoms”.
Atma Adoungotchodo PhD candidate in engineering at ÉTS Longueuil
The silence of Mr. Trudeau about the decapitation of Mr. Samuel Paty (teacher) is not only non-supportive of France, it is also insulting to this country (and indirectly to freedom in our world).
Bambi has also noticed the silence of our PM, even on the “International Day of Teachers”, as you can read below in the French tweet of Ms. Durocher (journalist in Québec) where Mr. Trudeau thoughtfully wished teachers around the world a happy day and participated in a related event.
As a former teacher, a devoted dad, and as a compassionate human being, what do you have to say about this tragedy Mr. Trudeau?
As the PM of a “multicultural country”, you could have said something human whilst also reminding us that we must not amalgamate Muslims (the majority; GOOD people!) with Islamists (the minority BUT radicals… Yes “truly-far”-radicals terrorizing both non-Muslims AND Muslims in the name of religion).
As the head a country, which is a member of NATO, perhaps you are doing work (with Turkey) behind the scenes. Who knows? If so, thank you.
Who knows? Your silence could be perhaps because you are scared of Islamists deep in side… If so, it is normal to feel that way, Mr. Trudeau: They are scary indeed!
Why are we providing the name of professors involved in N-word sagas in those articles, by the way?
In other media articles, it was mentioned that the personal address of teachers is being circulated (http://shorturl.at/fwJLW). Can you imagine? We are putting them at risk of being harassed in the safety of their own homes.
Plus, what about confidentiality, so precious to Canadians and used as an excuse in other circumstances?
To conclude this post, “I-word” is the only word that comes to Bambi’s mind.
Democracy is known as a political system with institutions that is supposed to allow citizens to hold/express their political preferences, to have limitations on the power of the executive (to avoid abuses), and to guarantee their civil liberties.
What is Mr. Trudeau doing? He is not allowing Canadians to express their political preferences (if not for his political party). Plus, whether he fully realizes or not, he is using our own tax money to let radical groups do the dirty job of monitoring us. In addition, he is using public money to silence a new legal political party (i.e., PPC). Is this normal and how would this provide a guarantee for our civil rights?
Stated differently, how is this different from using public money to fund his own party? He is using public funds to eliminate the competition. In Bambi’s mind, this is worse that the WE “Charity” scandal. This is a democratic scandal.
Bambi is asking this question, regardless of the political party and regardless of any political preference at a particular point in time.
As a former Liberal voter who truly believes in democracy, she is shocked.
We learned from La Presse today (English Google translation here: http://shorturl.at/kvzP3) that Mr. Erdogan is criticizing Macron’s attitude toward Muslims in France. He even “urged him to get treated” for “his insanity“. Can you imagine the irony and the low level of our world leaders?
First, as we say in good French: “De quoi je mêle Monsieur Erdogan :)?” It means: “why don’t you mind your own business, Mr. Erdogan?”
Second, and as reported in the translated text from La Presse, Mr. Erdogan said on TV:
“All that can be said of a head of state who treats millions of members of different religious communities in this way is: go for mental health examinations first“.
He even added: “Macron needs to be treated” and “What problem does the individual named Macron have with Islam and with Muslims?”
Mr. Erdogan also criticized France for supporting Armenia (as per the article above).
As a reminder, we are talking about the same “neo-Sultan” of a country that still did not recognize what it did to the Armenians and is now participating in a war against them. Just imagine Germany doing something similar to the Jews of Israel… Would the world accept it? So why is our world silent to what is happening to the Armenian people?!
What is more shocking to Bambi, although not surprising, is not Mr. Erdogan stupid words… it is rather the stupid journalism of our country (+ in North America) where we read in the same article: “This dispute comes on top of a long list of disagreements between Mr. Macron and his Turkish counterpart, who regularly defends Muslim minorities around the world.”
Mr. Macron does not want to reform Islam, contrary to all the articles by so-called journalists of our stupid times. He wants to address Islamist radicalism in France and protect its citizens, including its Muslims. We all know it, especially the latter.
The leftist alliance with Islamism is dangerous. It can backfire one day. One must only look at what happened in Iran during its revolution, as an example. Of course, no country is immune, including Lebanon (with influences from Iran, Turkey, or Saudi Arabia…) and of course, it does not matter what type of Islamism it is (or other words ending with “ism” by extension).
Islamism has become more than just a small threat to democracy, freedom of expression, and life in France. Indeed, this is like a war of visions of life. It is not normal to see French teachers terrorized and self-censoring themselves to avoid being decapitated like what happened to Mr. Samuel Patty :(.
Mr. Macron seems to be far from being a stupid man. He knows the difference between words ending with “ia” like Islamophobia and words ending with “ism” like Islamism. So are Muslims of France, Mr. Erdogan, rest assured.
Sadly, many of us in Canada (especially in English Canada) seem to have lost key historical and civilizational reference points.
Plus there is this reality, which was well put by Mr./Dr. Mathieu Bock Côté in a TVA TV discussion (at La Joute, including Mr. Thomas Mulcair) on the word racist (the saga of the professor at the University of Ottawa…): «On est victime de l’accouplement morbide du racialisme américain et du multiculturalisme canadien». It means: “We are victims of the morbid coupling of American racialism and Canadian multiculturalism“. It was refreshing to watch Mr. Thomas Mulcair (former leader of the NDP), a calm and deep thinker. What a contrast with his succeeder, Mr. Jagmeet Singh, who seems to be more like a man of his time [a shallow (yet theatrical) thinker].
You may think what is the link with France and why is Bambi bringing this up? Well, it all has to do with it. It is about control. It is about inducing fear in the mind of people (a teacher in the story above). The terror in France is just a radical method to achieve the same goal: Silence people. Of course, thank God, it is not comparable in terms of criminality. Yet, make no mistake. Fear does not need a real decapitation to overwhelm hearts and minds.
To come back to the topic of this post, if you want to be fair to all and truly prevent racism or words ending with “ia” (like Islamophobia), you have to apply respect as a principle to everyone, including the majority of a country. Yes, for sure, any minority needs to be protected but the minority of the minority (the radicals of a minority group) need to be pushed back by our leaders… same for those agitating them from abroad (Turkey and other), especially when decapitation is on the menu!
Israel has never been a piece of cake in the Middle East.
Arab countries and populations have
long feared and hated it, and vice versa.
Mr. Trump is surely an “orange show man”, knowing how to time his successes.
Regardless of all this, this is a
historic moment, even if the Palestinians are not rejoicing.
Recently, Sudan rejected Islamism and this is another historic moment for this country and for the whole region.
Now, it has made peace with the USA. It is even compensating the innocent American victims of terror.
People may say that tough pandemic
times are bringing former enemies together, and this is not an achievement by Mr.
Trump’s administration.
Regardless of what they may say, if he keeps surprising us with peace deals like that, Bambi will consider nominating him for the Nobel Peace Prize of 2021, whether he will re-elected or not ?.
Before reading it, Bambi has been reflecting about conflicts of interests and corruption in the past year, especially in the Lebanese context and its tragic economic consequences. Her question to herself has been the following: Was is worse in life? Political corruption or stupidity? She came to the conclusion that the latter may be more damaging to a society in the longer term (even if the people of Lebanon may not all agree about who is being stupid in their country… and despite their shared suffering from corruption). Imagine when both corruption and stupidity are combined, used to hide behind or to manipulate, etc. A dangerous mix!
Anyhow, you may say. Well, this is the third most indebted country with much challenges. This is not us (mind you, we are much indebted now!). What is Bambi talking about? Well, this reflection applies anywhere, even when there are more benefits to gain or more at stake in larger and richer countries. Plus, there is something called human nature in life.
Indeed, we would be swimming in total denial, if we think that we are immune to such issues (of corruption or stupidity) in Canada or elsewhere else. Actually, in Bambi’s non-expert citizen opinion, we should be more mindful about this in Canada, especially in our times when all the mainstream media articles seem to go in a single direction (no diversity of opinions like in Lebanon, imagine the irony!). Is this normal in a democracy?
Mr. Martineau would have likely not been able to publish his reflections in other media, which receive benefits from our federal government. The Journal de Montréal is one of the rare ones where you read opinions and others contrary to it, one next to the other. This is why Bambi enjoys reading this newspaper. Mind you, it is also one of the rare Canadian media where readers can still comment (contrary to the CBC and many others). The same is still true for the Lebanese media, thankfully and once again ironically. Isn’t it?
Of course, sometimes there are no bad intentions in our leaders, just some misjudgment or incompetence (especially when having to take fast decisions). However, how many times can we use this same argument to justify the behaviour of the same person or a same group, pandemics times or not?
Bambi is writing all this without having anything against Mr. Trudeau himself or his party for whom she has voted SO MANY times in her life thus far. Luckily, she opened her eyes and already shared that she did not vote for Mr. Trudeau the second time. For that, she is proud, even if she recognizes his good performance from time to time, especially lately (ex. on the international scene on a couple of occasions, in some internal affairs as well, etc.). Of course, it is never easy to govern. So imagine, in a pandemic (even if the latter can be conveniently used for political reasons). Of course, she also recognizes the talent in his party (and in all our other parties and independent MPs). She also observes increasingly “illuminated” people, especially in his party but also across parties and in our society. There is nothing wrong with being illuminated for sure, as long as we keep using our brain (SOS! Critical sense is badly needed).
Perhaps what matters the most here is to prevent future conflicts of interest, with all our MPs? Bambi listened to Mr. Blanchet yesterday (BQ). He spoke at the Parliament (she saw his short yet sharp statement on his own Twitter account). He presented four simple yet good ideas… but did anyone listen?
She also listened to the competent Mr. Pierre Poilievre (CPC). She then listened to Mr. Trudeau et al. and read about the positions of the Greens and of the NDP. Interesting political drama all this. Yet, no imminent change. If there is one day an election, will Canadians vote for the same old again? Most likely… but time will tell (she can hear her spouse’s words in her ears now: “We get the government we deserve“; he means “whom we elect“).
Bambi will stop… OK, here is Mr. Martineau’s sarcastic article for some fun.
——
“No matter
what you say about Justin, you have to recognize him as a great quality.
This man
takes care of his family and friends!
He takes
care of them very much. Not a day goes by without him pampering, pampering,
pampering them!
RED AND
GREEN
Look at the
legalization of the pot, whose second anniversary we are celebrating these days
– in a big cloud of smoke.
Who gets rich with this legalization? Who do we find in the organizational charts of the big players in this new industry?
Members of the great liberal family!
This is generosity!
We imagine our beautiful Justin, on the phone with his acolytes. “Do you feel like putting butter on both sides of your toast, folks?” Well, I have a note for you. Just one. Pot. Place your pawns well, I come up with a bill that will allow you to pass Go by collecting the pot … “
On the one hand, you allow young people to legally freeze their bones while you are in debt for the rest of their lives.
On the other hand, you spoil your boyfriends!
Isn’t that beautiful?
Another example of the magnanimity of our PM: the Aga Khan.
The man is all alone on his island and is bored to die. He calls his chum Justin to ask him if he won’t come for a walk.
Justin could have replied, “Come on, Aga, I’m the prime minister of the country, you know I don’t have time!” “
Well no!
Our PM didn’t hesitate for two seconds, and said, “Are you bored, Aga? Don’t be afraid, I’ll take my “Mille Bornes” game and arrive with all my family! We send the bill to taxpayers! “
This is a faithful friend!
And when it
came time to award a $ 43 million contract to an organization to run one of its
many aid programs, whom did our beautiful Justin pick, eh? Whom?
The first to
come?
No!
His friends
at WE Charity, who had given contracts to his mother, brother and wife!
That is
having memory! That is to be grateful!
FRIENDS FIRST
And yesterday, our Bureau of Inquiry told us that Justin’s government helped another member of the big Liberal family by awarding a $ 237 million contract to a former MP (shorturl.at/jDEHS).
Without a call for tenders!
Justin could have awarded this lucrative contract to another company that would have manufactured medical ventilators for less. Canada could thus have saved $ 100 million!
Did our PM do it? No!
He preferred to favor his friend’s business!
Even if it will cost us more!
To hell with the expenses: friends first!
With friends like Justin, you never get confused!
SHAME ON THE CONSERVATIVES!
And what are the Conservatives doing during this time?
They criticize Justin! They call him to account!
While our PM is perhaps the most generous politician in all of our history!
Mr. O’Toole, you should be ashamed of yourself!
We all dream of having a friend like Justin!”
Cartoon by Mr. Yannick Lemay (YGreck) taken from the Journal de Québec
In a Global News article entitled “Systemic racism ‘runs very deep in Canada’”, Ms. Chrystia Freeland said the latter “when asked about the dispute over Mi’kmaq fishing rights in Nova Scotia”:
Even if that was 100 percent true (not just by criminals who committed arson of fire in the fishery plant and van but by every family member of every fisher of every NS town/village), the words seem unwise, even if they may be courageous, because they are not put into context and they are tempered in any way whatsoever.
Bambi will rise above this conflict that she is not an
expert of anyhow, to just bring some perspective from a second life she had in
one of the most boiling regions of the world, much more than the province of Nova
Scotia for sure…
Lebanese political leaders, as disconnected from the population or as corrupt as they can be, at least ALL have the wisdom of calming things down. Even militia organizations despised by the majority have discipline and common sense when needed to stop abuses (and abuses there are constantly, and especially now).
In Bambi’s non-expert citizen’s opinion, Ms. Freeland
should have explained to the population, through the question of the journalist,
what is at stake in this conflict, out of respect for both Indigenous and other
fishermen.
What is the main blocking point in the dispute? Why
are we there and why have we been in this double bind Marshall judicial
decision of 1999?
Why can’t we be at a different place, like for example
our government helping the indigenous company in starting a business (as a start-up),
providing a loan, etc. ?
Why don’t these indigenous fishermen work in the other industry or the other fishermen one day in their industry?
Why should we have an apartheid of fishing rules, in
honouring not just peace and friendly treaties, but also common sense in our
country?
Bambi is not an expert of fishing, even if she grew up
by the Mediterranean sea and is a proud Atlantic Canadian. She just knows that people
get angry when they see double standard in life (even when it is in the spirit
of reconciliation, as Ms. Freeland said very well, thank you).
Is it normal to have one group fishing all year and
the other only during legal season? Even in the name of “moderate livelihood”
(even without a clear definition of the latter)?
By the way, why can’t Mi’kmaq lobster fishers fish MORE
than moderate livelihood? Why can’t they become owners of successful and rich businesses
down the road in 2, 5, 10 or 50 years from now?
In Bambi’s non-expert opinion, the above could be done
whilst having the same rule about fishing seasons for all, for equity and
democracy in our country.
Bambi will keep saying the same, even if a group of Lebanese-Canadians
(former Phenicians) decide to begin a lobster business.
She is convinced of this. This is democracy 101. She
will allow herself to borrow the words of a great natural psychologist (hello
Gladson, Dear brother-in-law or rather brother ?).
He said many years ago about Lebanon during her visit there: “Lebanon always
loses when one group takes control over the others, regardless of the group”.
He meant group in power or interest group. Bambi thinks that the same logic
would be a voice of wisdom in any country, including us in Canada.
This being said, she hopes from the bottom of her heart that the dispute will end. No one will be injured. Everyone will be fishing, eating, selling, and earning a living. When the pandemic will end, she hopes they will all celebrate lobster festivals together and we will eat their delicious products (same product of our same Dear Atlantic ocean!)!
To cheer herself up, sometimes Bambi likes to watch a funny short comedy clip on her phone before closing her eyes to sleep. Well, yesterday, she decided to watch “le cousin“, the first show of Mr. Gad El Maleh. She knows this show by heart, she repeats it with him (almost completely), and she systematically laughs each time.
OK, before telling you about le cousin, you may be wondering about this Mr. El Maleh. Who is he? For those of you who do not know him, he was born in Casablanca, Morocco (in 1971). He speaks Moroccan Arabic, Hebrew, French, and English. He studied for a few years in Casablanca at the Lycée Lyautey before moving to Montreal to study political science at McGill University where he lived for about 4 years. Following his journey in Canada, he moved to Paris where he studied drama.
Recently, Bambi discovered that this comedian is related (not by blood) to Dr. Gad Saad from Concordia University (the world is too small). Her good friend Katia, also from Montreal, knows him from school (he has always been a funny guy from his younger age, it seems).
Well, to come back to le cousin, this comedy show is moving for Bambi because it is about Québec and it reminds her of wonderful family time in Montreal! Nowadays, in our puritan times of political correctness, such cultural jokes would be sadly considered racist (what a stupid shame!)… but, mind you, racist to whom? To the French-Canadian accent Gad el Maleh is imitating or to the jokes about the Arab or Jew whom he is in real life or to Bambi who relates to all this :)? Needless to say that all the people Bambi knows adore him from her own family members to her friends!
To understand the context of the comedy show in question, one must go back to the Mirabel Airport, North of Montreal (preceding the Trudeau airport in Montreal). This is the airport where Québec immigrants used to land in the early 1990s. It is yellow (hence one joke about Canada being yellow and so beautiful :). It also had a section where families would be waving to you, from the second floor, behind a glass whilst you wait in the line-up to clear customs.
Bambi and her family used to spend much time at this airport, happily waiting for her father arriving from Beirut. They would be waving for him with smiles and balloons (like other families would be doing). This is why Mr. Gad El Maleh’s joke is too funny and yet so emotional.
Bambi will never forget her first impression of Canada on this June 17, 1990, upon their arrival to Mirabel Airport. She had the impression that the landing of their KLM plane, along with other airplanes at that airport, was FINAL (even for the crew members :)). This means no takeoff ever. What an odd (and silly) feeling. Perhaps because the trip was too long and the airport seemed to be in the middle of no where, so far away from Europe… and even further away from Beirut where they were torn from their loved ones the day before.
To come back to El Maleh’s comedy, one particularly funny scene in the show was when the Canadian custom agent opened his passport and described it on the phone to another colleague by saying: “It is written in Arabic and it opens upside down” 🙂 :)!!
Well, Bambi’s spouse attracted her attention that Lebanese passports do not open upside down like other passports from Arab countries. She forgot about that (a long time without a passport)! Maybe he is right because it is bilingual and it opens from its French side (written from left to right, contrary to Arabic). Still, the joke is hilarious even after decades :).
Well, this Gad El Maleh is talented. This comedy may have been his first ever. He was younger. Thus, more innocent or pure, so to speak. If you have time to kill and like to laugh in the language of Molière, see below!
Bambi got curious and googled him today to see how he sounds in English (he expanded his French career to the USA in the recent years). Well, he is funny too, as you can see below in the language of Shakespeare! The show is again short and it is called “Where is Brian”? It is a parody of how the people of France learn English.
